He caught her hand as they slipped down the alleyway, trying to move as far as they could from the pursuit. The illusion would dissipate sooner or later, but it should lead the guards on a wild goose chase for a few moments longer. Emily glanced at Cat and saw he was trying not to laugh, even though they’d come very close to complete disaster. She felt a flicker of relief herself. They’d survived! Tam had survived! And that was all that mattered.
“They’ll be hunting for us for hours, in the wrong place,” Cat said. He was no longer trying to hide his amusement. “That should keep them busy until morning.”
He gave her a hug. Emily felt him wrap her arms around her, so strong and firm, then lifted her lips to meet his. The kiss felt as though it would go on forever...but, when they pulled back, their eyes met. Her heart started to beat rapidly. He asked a silent question, as he lowered his lips to kiss her again, and she answered, just as silently. His lips met hers again, just for a second, as his hands started to roam over her body. She felt a sudden flush of pure desire as her body reminded her, once again, of just how long it had been...
“Not here,” she managed, as his kisses grew more passionate. It was growing harder to think clearly. Imaiqah had claimed to have made love in Dragon’s Den, in a place where they could have been discovered at any moment, but Emily couldn’t do that. “Back in the inn, please.”
“Your wish is my command,” Cat breathed. She could feel his body pressed against hers, even after he pulled back. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Eighteen
EMILY AWOKE, FEELING...CRAMPED.
The bed was smaller than she remembered, wasn’t it? And it was hotter? And something was pressing down on her leg...her eyes snapped open as she started to panic, just for a second. Cat was lying next to her, one muscular leg covering hers; he was snoring, loudly, as he slept. They were both naked.
Emily swallowed hard, unable to deny what had happened. They’d come home, they’d kissed, they’d undressed...they’d gone to bed together. Her memories were a pleasant haze: it had been a long time, a very long time, but Cat had been very good. They’d made love twice before sleep had finally overcome them.
She studied his sleeping form for a long moment, admiring the muscles that were covered in runic tattoos. Caleb hadn’t been a weakling–the weak nerd simply didn’t exist in the Nameless World–but Cat was practically made of muscle. She found it exciting and terrifying at the same time. Sergeant Miles had told her, time and time again, that there were limits to her training. If she faced a stronger man, with the same or better training, she was in big trouble. Cat could overwhelm her, physically, any time he wanted. It should have made her feel unsafe.
Her eyes wandered down his body, wondering quite what had gotten into her. She felt...she wasn’t sure how she felt. She’d liked Cat, she’d found him attractive...she knew he felt the same way too. And it had felt natural, in the shared thrill of escaping danger, to allow that attraction to bloom. She was a magician. No one would judge her for sleeping with him. No one would judge him for refusing to marry her, either. It wasn’t as if he’d been her first.
And I wasn’t his first either, she thought. Caleb had been tentative, as if he’d feared he’d hurt her; Emily suspected, reading between the lines, that he’d got a lot of very bad advice from his roommate. Cat, on the other hand, had been far more aggressive; he’d known what he wanted and, perhaps as importantly, he’d known what she wanted. He knew how to make me happy too.
She shifted, uncomfortably, as she looked at her own body. There were faint marks on her breasts and her lips felt uncomfortably swollen, suggesting that perhaps they’d been kissing a little too hard. Her body felt grimy and sweaty...she winced, suddenly, as she realized she wouldn’t be able to get a proper shower. Perhaps she should go to the bathhouses. Cleaning spells just weren’t good enough.
Cat opened his eyes. “Emily,” he said. He looked tired–Emily wasn’t sure how long they’d actually slept–but happy. “Where’s Jade?”
Emily twisted her head and looked around. The other bed was empty. She concentrated, checking the wards, but only two people were in the bedroom. Ice ran down her spine, just for a second. Jade hadn’t come back after the riot?
“He’ll be back soon,” Cat predicted. He sat up, looking down at her. “Has anyone told you that you’re beautiful in the morning?”
Emily blushed, furiously. No one, apart from Caleb, had ever said she was beautiful and meant it. Well, no man. Alassa and Imaiqah had insisted that Emily’s face had character, but she rather suspected that meant she wasn’t classically beautiful. Lady Barb would have smacked her for obsessing over her looks, if there had been any point. There was no way she’d ever be as pretty as Alassa.
“Your blush runs all the way down to your breasts,” Cat said, tilting his head as if he was trying to remember every last detail. “It’s quite striking.”
“...Thank you,” Emily managed. She felt...comfortable. A man, a strong man, was sitting up in front of her...and she felt comfortable. They were both naked and she still felt comfortable, even though she was embarrassed. “I...”
She swallowed, hard. “How long until we should start panicking?”
“Jade knows better than to let himself be seen,” Cat said. “I think he’ll have found a safe place to doss down for the night.”
He swung one leg over her, leaning down to kiss her lips. “There are better things to do when we wake up...”
The door shook, then opened. Emily froze, torn between embarrassment and fear. It had never been a problem at Whitehall, where there were signs and countersigns to inform one’s roommate that one had company. But here...it had never occurred to them to put a sock on the door, not when they’d been undressing each other as they stumbled into the room. And Jade was standing there, staring at them.
She wanted to cringe into the bed, or run, or quietly cease to exist. Jade had seen more of her than she cared to admit, back in Martial Magic classes, but that...that hadn’t been when she’d been sharing a bed with his best friend. She was naked and Cat was naked and she wanted to run. Sharing a tent with five men had been bad, but...but this was worse.
Jade’s face darkened with anger. “What the hell are you two doing?”
Cat shifted backwards, his face darkening too. “What does it look like we’re doing?”
“Cat,” Emily started. “I...”
Jade spoke over her. “I spent the last seven hours running their men ragged, then sleeping in a ditch. And you have been here, acting like...”
His eyes slipped to her breasts, then looked away hastily. Emily swallowed hard, looking around for something to hide her nakedness. The blanket was out of reach, too far for her to grasp without using magic or dislodging Cat. She kicked herself, silently, for allowing herself to be caught in a delicate situation. Jade would never look at her the same way again.
“Like what?” Cat demanded. It took Emily a moment to realize he was drawing Jade’s attention to him. “Jade, you’re being...”
“My wife and unborn child are in prison,” Jade shouted. “We have to get them out before she gives birth! And here you are, playing around when you should be...”
Cat swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood. “Jade, you’re being silly,” he said, sharply. “Grow up.”
Jade punched him, hard. Cat’s head snapped back, but the force of the blow wasn’t enough to stun him. There was an instant where time seemed to stop, then he hurled himself at Jade, knocking him to the floor. Emily could only stare in horror as they rolled around, trading punches as each of them tried to bang the other’s head off the ground. If the wards hadn’t been designed to ensure that no one could hear anything from their room, she was sure the innkeeper would want to evict them.
Or at least charge a higher rate, she thought, as she covered her breasts with her arms. And these two idiots...
She cursed under her breath. Jade and Cat were friends...had she ruined it? Or would they be the b
est of friends again, after they’d stopped trying to kill each other? Men were supposed to be simple, but she’d always found them a closed book. It hadn’t been particularly amusing to realize that men felt the same way about women.
Her patience snapped. She gathered her magic and froze them both in place, pushing down on the spell as they both tried to counter it. They’d succeed, eventually, but–for the moment–they would be quiet. She took a long breath as she summoned a towel and stood, wrapping the towel around her. Her body was still more exposed than she would wish, but at least it was something.
“You’re both being idiots,” she said. She could feel them both trying to cancel the spell, although their counterspells were accidentally cancelling each other. “We–all three of us–agreed that we would do everything in our power to rescue Alassa and we’re going to do it. I don’t think that...”
She shook her head as she stepped past them and walked into the washroom, closing the door firmly behind her. She just didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t as if they’d abandoned their duties to make love, was it? Sergeant Miles would probably have knocked their heads together, or dragged the boys onto the track and forced them to run for miles, but she didn’t have the power or presence to do that.
Hanging the towel on a hook, she poured water into a basin, warmed it with a spell and washed herself down. It wasn’t a real shower, let alone a bath, but it would have to do. She inspected her body, noting that there were a handful of other bruises around her legs, then washed them with a little soap. The soap felt scratchy and old–she didn’t want to think what had been used to make it–but it was better than nothing. Midway through the third wash, she felt the freeze spell snap completely. A dull thud echoed through the air as the boys hit the ground.
She tensed, half-expecting them to break down the door and start throwing punches or hurling hexes at her. Men didn’t like having their anger cut off in midstream, perhaps especially when they were halfway to working matters out themselves. Sergeant Miles might have turned a blind eye, instead, if the boys had solved their own problem. He understood young men at a level Emily knew she couldn’t match.
Nothing happened. She allowed herself a moment of relief–at least they wouldn’t be screaming accusations at her when she was completely naked–and then dried herself thoroughly. It definitely wasn’t as good as a bathhouse, but it would have to do. She wrapped the towel round herself again, then carefully opened the door. Men could be dangerously unpredictable. Who knew which way Jade and Cat would jump?
Jade was sitting on his bed, looking pensive. Emily tensed, looking around the room, but there was no sign of Cat. His shirt and trousers were missing too, as was his sword; she guessed he’d gone out to calm down. And get food, she hoped. Her stomach rumbled, uncomfortably. She hadn’t eaten anything since they’d headed to the brothel.
“Emily.” Jade looked up at her. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” Emily said, stiffly. She didn’t really blame Jade for being frustrated–he was under a lot of stress–but he shouldn’t take his feelings out on his friends. “We didn’t...we didn’t intend to hurt you.”
Jade colored. “I just thought you were wasting time. And I am sorry.”
“Good,” Emily said. “What happened to Cat?”
“He went out to check the streets,” Jade said. He looked down. “I hope the two of you will be very happy together.”
Emily sighed. “We will reunite you with Alassa,” she promised. “Whatever it takes, we will do it.”
“...Thank you,” Jade said. “But can we crack the wards?”
“There’s no such thing as an impregnable defense,” Emily said, firmly. Sergeant Miles had said as much, time and time again, and she believed him. “We just have to find the key to unlock the defenses.”
She found her clothes and started to get dressed, rapidly. “We’ll think of something,” she assured him. “What happened last night?”
“I did my bit to stir up the riot,” Jade said. He had his back to her. “A handful of soldiers got taken down, a handful of rioters had a little extra protection...it kept them busy long enough to keep them from chasing you.”
“They sent a small force after us,” Emily told him. “We didn’t make a clean break.”
She wrapped her hair in a headscarf as she told him what had happened, starting with Tam’s arrival and ending with their narrow escape from the guards. Jade listened quietly, asking a number of questions that surprised her. He’d never struck her as being politically aware before, although he was the Prince Consort. But then, he’d had plenty of reason to learn. His origins gave him a viewpoint–and an understanding–that Alassa lacked.
“Blast,” Jade said, when she finished. “I thought you had gotten clean away.”
“We almost did,” Emily assured him. “It just took a little longer to make a clean break than you thought.”
Jade took a long breath. “Do you trust him?”
Emily shrugged. Tam was Imaiqah’s cousin, but she barely knew him. There was no reason why he couldn’t be secretly working for the king–or why he couldn’t have switched sides after the purge. And yet, the soldiers clearly hadn’t expected to encounter one magician, let alone two. She rather suspected they’d intended to trap Tam, not anyone else.
“I think we can trust him, provisionally,” she said, carefully. It was vanishingly rare for a merchantman to actually go back on his word, let alone betray his family. Tam would do everything in his power to ensure he got the best terms possible, but he’d stick to his word once he’d given it. No one would ever trust him again if he betrayed his word. “But...we have to make sure he doesn’t know everything.”
Jade stood. “I’m going to wash,” he said. “When Cat comes back, tell him to save some grub for me.”
Emily met his eyes. “Will you be alright? The two of you, I mean?”
“I think so.” Jade removed his sword belt and picked up a towel. “It isn’t the first time we’ve had a fight over...over nothing.”
Nothing, Emily thought, sourly. It could be worse, she supposed. They could have been fighting over her. But if it clears the air a little, who cares if they blacken each other’s eye?
“I put a handful of broadsheets on the table,” Jade added. “Have a look. See if they made a serious mistake and actually managed to tell the truth.”
Emily watched him go into the washroom, then turned her attention to the broadsheets. A handful seemed to have been printed only an hour or two ago, the ink having run a little instead of having been left to dry. The writing was largely clear, but a handful of words were blurred. She read it slowly, reminding herself–again–that she really needed to convince someone to write a dictionary. Phonic spellings were an absolute headache. A single word could be spelt half-a-dozen different ways.
It soon became clear that whoever had written the broadsheet either didn’t have the slightest idea of what had happened or had been given some very specific orders on what to write. It wasn’t a brothel that had been raided, he insisted; it was a merchant house. And the merchants had been conspiring with certain elements–the writer wasn’t very specific–to raise food prices right across the city. Thankfully, His Majesty had personally sent his soldiers to arrest the merchants and hang them for their crimes against His Majesty’s subjects. She couldn’t help feeling, as she read the fawning tones, that the writer was quietly taking the piss. His praise was so exaggerated that it was hard to believe he meant a single word.
Jade stepped out of the washroom. “What do you think?”
“This guy needs surgery to remove his lips from the king’s buttocks,” Emily said. She didn’t think Nightingale had fawned so much, at least when she’d been watching, and he was a professional butt-kisser. “I almost feel sorry for him.”
“Hah,” Jade said. “Anything useful?”
“I’m not sure,” Emily told him. “The writer insists the soldiers took prisoners, but who?”
She
considered it for a moment, trying to stay away from the conclusion she knew to be inescapable. The soldiers hadn’t caught Cat or her, let alone Jade. And if they had caught Tam, after they’d parted ways, they wouldn’t be fool enough to tell the entire city. No, it was far more likely that they’d rounded up a handful of prostitutes, pimps and rioters and sentenced them to summary execution. It was the sort of thing she’d come to expect from a medieval justice system.
The pimps probably deserve it, she thought, remembering the pimps she’d ordered evicted from Cockatrice. They’d been no better than her stepfather, damn the man. They claimed to protect the women, if a customer decided he didn’t want to pay, but as long as they got paid they didn’t really care. And they kept most of the profits for themselves. But what about everyone else?
She skimmed through the rest of the broadsheets quickly. Half didn’t seem to mention the riot at all, choosing instead to claim everything was wonderful; the other half followed the party line, including praising the king for his swift action. She wondered, morbidly, if anyone actually believed Randor had given the order personally. It was far more likely to have come from the Captain of the Guard or the Custodian of the Watch.
And no one is going to believe the official figures either, she thought, as she read an article claiming that twenty thousand rebels had been killed by the soldiers. Who would be foolish enough to believe that an entire chunk of the population had been slaughtered?
There was a tap on the door. It opened, revealing Cat. He looked grim. Emily tried to meet his eyes, but he didn’t look at her. She felt...she didn’t know how she felt. Ideally, if they had been starting a relationship, they would have done it when they weren’t under so much pressure. It would have been easier to develop a relationship without the pressure of needing to rescue a friend from jail.
“You have to come with me,” he said. “There’s something you have to see.”
Jade buckled his sword into place. “Coming,” he said. “What’s up?”
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