by Emma Dean
Finally she reached the markings she and Giselle had made cycles ago indicating the end of the first-circle and the beginning of the second-circle of the city. The luminescent paint the only light deep underground. Adelina grabbed the rungs and hoisted herself up the ladder and waited when she reached the top, listening carefully. No hov-carriages seemed to be in the area and footsteps were far off.
The princess lifted the cover and slid out of the old sewage tunnels, replacing the cover before anyone was the wiser. Nearly all of the covers across the capitol had been welded shut decades before when the entire system had been overhauled. Adelina and Giselle had fixed that from the inside. All the tunnels led to the palace, the epicenter of the capitol. She could go anywhere she pleased with no one the wiser.
Adelina made her way through the streets of the second-circle. The second-circle was mostly businesses and markets. It was where the well-off and the poor easily mingled. Some streets were nicer than others and the quality of the products varied from neighborhood to neighborhood, but it was clear from the name of each business and its symbol what was sold inside.
She passed Giselle’s favorite bakery and went down a darker alley. The Jewelers’ Guild was tucked in the middle of a good and bad neighborhood in the second-circle. It was unusual for such a profitable guild, but Adelina understood the placement. The guild broke the sky with jeweled towers and stained glass. It stood out among the other businesses like a gleaming gem, allowing anyone with skill to apply.
The few people on the streets ignored her, heading for the taverns and bars they preferred at this time. The hov-tram passed overhead, bathing her in bright light before plummeting her back into darkness. Adelina kept to the sides of the streets, it was safer that way.
There was a large open space before the guild and chances of someone seeing her were high. Adelina checked to make sure her hood was in place and then rolled her shoulders back. She had to look confident to avoid any unwanted confrontation. The princess strode forward and her cloak furled behind her.
She had to slip off her glove to place her hand on the door to the guild. It recognized her prints and opened just wide enough for Adelina to slip through. It was a pretty program she had created. Adelina checked the ring and then slipped her glove back on before making her way through the dimly lit guild. Most of the masters would be at home and asleep. Any apprentices still working would be at their tables and would pay her no mind.
There was one person in the entire guild who knew her identity. The ring she’d made was embedded with a program which disguised her prints. Adelina had written an entirely new identity to work under. The same went for the lenses over her eyes to change the color. Draga amethyst would have given her away instantly. If her family ever approved of her work she would transfer the details to her real identity. That day didn’t seem likely though.
Adelina silently made her way up the spiral staircase and down a hallway to the main offices. She knocked on the guild master’s door and waited patiently. She heard shuffling and grumbling before a slice of the door became see-through and his eyes found hers. They widened in surprise when he recognized her disguise and the door opened an instant later.
“Lina, I didn’t expect to see you for a long while based on the information I received from the palace,” Calix said. He stood aside to let her in. His work covered one table and then the main desk held nothing more than a few shreves. The master’s passion was still working with gems when he could.
Adelina bowed low to her master and once he acknowledged her she threw off all pretenses. He hated protocol more than she did.
“You look tired old man,” she said before walking to a plush couch he had along one wall. Adelina flopped into it and stroked the velvet. “Working late again I see.” The alcohol in the glass on his worktable looked strange among the glittering pieces she could see from across the room.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, settling in his chair at his worktable. The guild master was in his third century and it showed. The lines of his face, and the papery thin skin covering his bones made her think he would break apart if he were ever to fall.
Calix was known across the galaxy for his exquisite work. He’d been commissioned for the last three coronations as well as every royal wedding and event. When Adelina had come to him five cycles ago begging to secretly apprentice, he’d refused of course. He was a mean, crotchety old man who hated everything but his gems. Somehow she’d won him over after bringing him her work on her second attempt.
He’d kept her secret, surprisingly enough and never bothered to blackmail her with it. Said it was too tiring the one time she’d asked.
“I had commissions, Master Calix. It would be difficult to explain why I was late on the delivery.” Adelina untied the pouch from her belt and selected the items she’d been working on; two necklaces and a pair of matching earrings. Her favorite though was the engagement rings. She would imagine the love and dedication the couple had, how the person who commissioned her would detail their desires so completely. Every single ring she made held the love of the commissioner. Adelina adored that and knew she was a terrible romantic.
“I keep getting asked who my apprentice is, ‘who is this Lina.’ You’re sure you couldn’t meet with them in this?” Calix gestured at her disguise before tapping his temple.
The guild master had implanted a high tech magnifying device the moment he could afford one. Adelina was jealous. She could never get away with such an implant. It was too ‘unnatural’ for a princess. Calix inspected her work and muttered under his breath something that sounded like begrudging praise.
He shook his head and carefully placed the pieces in velvet cases for the customers. Then the guild master counted out her gold and handed it to her. Adelina slipped it in her pouch and carefully tied it back on her belt. “How you come up with these designs…you have very little training yet your settings are perfect. How do you manage it?” Calix asked with a strange, one eyed glare. His other pupil was too dilated to really focus on her. He grumbled again and shook his head, tapping off the device.
Adelina shrugged, self-conscious under his admiration. “I read everything I can find and then work in my spare time. I have been doing this for many cycles now. The perfection is debatable, but if I’ve managed it, it is only due to your tutelage.” She stood and kissed him on the cheek. He waved her away in annoyance, but a small corner of his mouth turned up in a nearly invisible smile. “Would you mind blocking out my schedule for these dates?” Adelina tapped her simulcast to the shreve on his desk with her schedule.
The weeks before her ball and all the way through her sister’s coronation was blacked out with weeks to spare. There would probably be a wedding as well and if she needed to update it again it would give her an excuse to escape the palace during the madness. “There is sensitive information on that file, so please keep it private as always?” Adelina requested.
“Of course, now leave this place before someone sees you. I will send your next lesson by vid, encrypted with your little program.” He shooed her out of his office and went back to his worktable.
Adelina left with a smile. She’d needed this, this stolen freedom to be who she wished to be. With a bounce in her step she made her way down the spiral staircase and back out into the night. She stepped down into the street and heard the guild door close behind her. It was true night. There was no sun in the sky and the two moons loomed heavy over the capitol. They were partially obscured by the clouds and with little warning except a crack of lightning, rain fell from the sky in sheets.
Adelina held out her arms and breathed in the sweet scent of night-blooming violets that only opened when the night’s rain fell on their petals. Adelina loved Draga with her entire being. Everything about her planet was beautiful and exquisite in its own way, especially the people. She turned and made her way through the street towards the thieves’ court. She had a delivery for the prince as well.
Someone snatched her arm
and yanked her into a dark doorway. Adelina didn’t even think. She reacted just as Alpha had taught her. Her hand was quick as lighting as she struck up and hard. Instantly her attacker released her and coughed, holding his throat where she’d hit him. Adelina ran down the street as fast as she could until she heard a familiar voice call her name.
Adelina paused in the downpour and turned slowly. “Alpha?” she asked carefully. If it wasn’t him she had other problems.
Her guard stumbled out of the doorway, wheezing with his hand to his neck.
“Alpha!” she exclaimed, running up to him. “I am so sorry; you shouldn’t have grabbed me as you did!” Truly he should have known better, after all he was the one who taught her to take care of herself against a potential kidnapper.
Finally he regained his voice. “Good work,” Alpha croaked. He massaged his neck and cleared his throat. “Now explain to me what in the seven hells you are doing out here on your own?”
Adelina arched an eyebrow at him and lifted her hood back over her hair to hide her face in the shadows. She was free of the palace and her title for one night, protocol no longer required until morning. “What does it look like I’m doing?” she asked, turning back to her original path.
He grabbed her arm again and whipped her around. Adelina pushed him off and her hand came up, ready. “You may be my guard, but I am not your princess at the moment,” she warned. “Do not manhandle me.”
Alpha raised his hands up in surrender and took a step back, eyeing her warily. “All right, I apologize. You scared the life out of me, Lina. I went to check on you and you weren’t in your rooms.”
She shrugged and turned back. He would follow or not it was up to him, but she wasn’t going back to the palace until she was ready. There were only so many hours of darkness. Adelina picked up her pace. The larger, blue moon bathed her and the city in its light. As they grew closer to the tavern the sound of laughter and shouts grew. Adelina smiled. It had been too long since she’d last seen the prince and his court.
“Lina, please explain to me what’s going on.” Alpha was annoyed and miffed that she simply ignored him.
Adelina sighed and glanced sideways at him. “You’ve only been my official guard for a few weeks now. You are the first to notice my disappearance. Perhaps hiring someone so close to me was a mistake,” she joked, making sure to smile at him so Alpha knew she didn’t mean it. It was something that hadn’t occurred to her though it should have.
Adelina had been sneaking out for cycles now and no one was the wiser. She’d figured out how to disable the alarms to her doors and windows once the security system had been activated for the night. It wasn’t difficult to do once she’d spent an entire cycle learning how to program and work with different tech devices.
It had been a secret project of hers ever since she’d learned the palace was essentially her prison until she came of age. Twenty long cycles before she could go out in the capitol with only a guard or two. Until then it was a full regiment. The first twenty cycles of a royal’s life were the most fraught with danger. Children were impressionable and easy to manipulate.
“How long have you been sneaking out?” he demanded, his voice pitched a bit higher than normal.
Adelina reached the row of taverns that separated the second-circle from the third-circle and stayed close to the buildings. She didn’t want to tangle with anyone coming out of one of the taverns inebriated and with their common sense lacking. She counted as they walked. Hov-carriages were few and far between so late. Taxis were all that roamed the streets.
“About four or five cycles,” the princess finally replied. Her waterproof cloak shed the rain without soaking her clothes.
Alpha nearly stumbled. He regained his senses quickly and caught back up to her, eyes darting every which way. His mind was in overdrive, threats could be in every corner with her so exposed. It was clear across his face. Finally she stopped him. The largest tavern in the ring was across the street, the Ladrole. He couldn’t act like this once they entered otherwise there would be problems with the court Adelina couldn’t afford.
“You need to relax,” she told him. “Act as my friend and comrade or you cannot come in with me. You will have to be on your own.”
Alpha glared at her. “You don’t mean to go in there,” he said, jerking his chin at the prince of thieves’ tavern and place of business.
She cocked her head at him and crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s exactly what I mean to do. Varan and I have been friends for a few cycles now, and we also do business together.”
Alpha’s eyes widened. His jaw dropped and he stared at her as though he’d never seen her before in his life. A part of her felt a thrill of excitement at the new respect and interest she found in his gaze. “How could I have missed this?” he asked. “We’ve been best friends our entire lives and you never told me.” He looked rather put out.
“The only one who knows is Giselle. I couldn’t tell anyone, especially not you. You wanted to be a guard since you could speak, Alpha. Why would I have told you when you would have notified everyone?” They were best friends, but he worried overmuch and it was difficult for him to simply relax.
Alpha’s brow furrowed in annoyance. “Fine, I’ll leave you be. We will go in as friends, but only so it looks less suspicious when my eyes never leave you.” He looked down at her and there was a heat there she hadn’t seen before. Adelina caught her breath as he sparked that flame alight inside of her.
Alpha touched her face and she stepped back, knowing anyone could walk out and see them, but with her disguise…He followed her until her back hit the wall of the building and she gasped when he pressed against her. His mouth was suddenly on hers and his hands gripped her roughly. Alpha’s kiss was passionate and hungry. His tongue danced with hers and he left her breathless.
He pulled away before she could react, before Adelina could rip the fabric and score her nails across his skin. She wanted to bite his lip hard enough to bleed.
She wanted more.
Alpha’s mouth against her ear tickled. “You never cease to amaze me.” He stepped away and gave her a grin, indicating she should lead the way into the thieves’ court.
Adelina took a second to catch her breath, staring at him through half-lidded eyes. “You will pay for that,” she said, pushing off the wall to cross the street.
His kiss had set every nerve ending on fire and every inch of her skin tingled and begged for more. The ache between her legs was back and it demanded fulfillment. Alpha had no idea what he’d started. Adelina stalked to the main gate, irritable and flushed. She shook out her hands and walked through the archway into the main courtyard.
The tavern was enormous. It took up nearly an entire city block. The bottom floor was the bar and tavern. The second floor had rooms for rent, and the third floor was where Varan had his personal office and various other business offices. Adelina never asked for too many details. She was still a princess after all and could only overlook so much.
The guard nodded to her from his post in the guardhouse and she saluted him. Alpha watched everything with a wary eye, but said nothing. The shock and surprise on his face was obvious though. When Adelina entered the tavern the loud voices hushed for a second and the pitter patter of her heart increased as she wondered, as she did every time she went out, if this was when someone would recognize her through the disguise.
The patrons went back to their alcohol, food, and conversations. They ignored her and Alpha as she crossed the room to the back corner. It had the largest table in the place and a man leaned back in his chair against the wall, grinning at her the whole way across the room. Adelina smiled in return. His playful grin was difficult to refuse. His emerald eyes glinted at her and he stood when she approached. “Lina, my darling.” With open arms the prince reached out for her.
Adelina gave him the kiss of greeting, a slight brush of her lips against his and then she pulled back to get a good look at him. “You look well, Prin
ce Varan.”
“Oh sweet girl, you know you can simply call me Varan, no need for strict protocol in this court.” Varan gave her a wink as they sat at his table.
With a brief flick of his finger a maid was instantly at his side, setting up new glasses and pouring the sweet alcohol he favored. It was made from his own crops of winterflowers from what Adelina heard. The drink was delightful, and very, very strong.
As soon as the waitress disappeared Adelina felt more comfortable. Varan was one of the few who employed people to wait his tables and not bots. He said it was more cost effective, but Adelina knew it was because a person had more cunning than a bot and could spy for him among the many patrons who visited his tavern. The thief could give the Spider a run for their money.
“Who’s your new friend?” Varan asked as he offered a plate to each of them. A large platter of various foods was placed in the center of the table and Varan selected what he wanted with his fingers.
Adelina excitedly chose her own food. Varan’s chefs were renowned, hailing from across the galaxy and she loved the variety. Alpha kept his hands in his lap and his eyes on everything that moved. He was out of his element and it showed. She would have to throw some truth in with her lie.
“He is a friend who just became a guard in the palace. I wanted to show him a good time in celebration,” Adelina said with a shrug, shoveling food into her mouth with her fingers. The spices were delicious and the meat cooked to perfection. She took a sip of her drink and it paired beautifully. Clove and spicy winterflower mixed with the spice of the meat was exquisite.
Varan’s eyes were sharp and he relaxed slightly at her admission. The prince had known Alpha was a guard the second he set eyes on him. “Poor taste dear girl.” Slowly he sipped his drink and glared Alpha down over the rim of his glass.