by Devyn Jayse
My sister looked around her. "This is a perfectly good place."
"I don't mean the house."
Garren stood nearby, watching me, and I didn't want to sound churlish and ungrateful.
"The living arrangements are lovely, better than the lodgings I have, actually." I was babbling and had to stop as I was making her case for her. "I meant that I can't live a life where I would constantly have to hide and look over my shoulder. I can't live scared that one day the prince's men will come for me. I'd rather live in the Blights and know the dangers around me than constantly be on edge, waiting for the sword to fall down on me."
"But you would be safe..." Gwen trailed off, turning to Garren.
He remained silent, as impassive as rock.
"You know the prince better than anyone," I said.
Her flinch at my words made me feel equally angry and guilty, but I had to drive home the point that I wouldn't be safe. Not really.
"I love you. More than you'll ever know." I hugged her tightly.
She clutched me back and whispered into my ear, "I miss you. I think of you every day."
"I do too," I said, leaning back and looking down at her belly. I looked back up to find tears had gathered in the corners of her eyes. "I'll make my way to you if you ever need me. I'm not too far away."
She nodded and reached out to give me one last hug then turned away. I knew she didn't want me to see her cry, so I turned toward the garden door. I heard her footsteps as she left the room, and Garren followed her.
When he came back, he finally spoke, "You're certain?"
"I am."
He studied me thoughtfully. "You know he still has people out to get you. The best option would be to disappear here, right under his nose."
"Is that a guarantee that he'll never find me?"
His silence spoke volumes.
"If he's bent on destroying my life, he will continue to follow me as long as he wants to. If I move here, I risk exposing my sister to his wrath. I can't do that. I can't bring harm to my sister and her child."
"As you wish," he replied simply.
I gave the room around me one last look and allowed myself to imagine a life for myself there. I would be able to see Gwen and her child regularly. Then I shook off my fancies and pulled the hood back up over my head.
We managed to slip out the castle as easily as we had come in, with another casual encounter with Amer the guard.
The walk back to The Rebel Hare was as silent as the walk to the castle had been.
23
"Hello, Penny," I said as I slid into the chair closest to her. She looked up from her bowl of food.
"Good morning, Dare," she replied, spooning a mouthful of porridge into her mouth.
"How are we spending our day today?"
"I want to go to the port. There's a bookseller there that gets new books, and I haven't visited in the longest time."
"That sounds nice. Have you ever been before?"
"No, have you?"
"No," I lied, unwilling to explain how I had sneaked out of the castle with Tobin several times to go to the port.
Still feeling raw from my brief meeting with my sister, I gave Penny a smile. She was licking the last of the porridge off her spoon.
"It should be interesting for the two of us, then," I said.
She got up, and I followed her outside. A man followed us out, keeping some distance between us and giving us a sense of privacy.
"Who's that?" I asked her, glancing back at the fellow behind us.
"That's Finn," Penny said.
"Where's Ragum today?"
"He's busy, so Finn came instead."
The weather had cooled. The sun was bright, but the clouds kept us away from its warmth. I wondered if I had been foolish to insist on living in the Blights. A part of me felt guilty and that I had made the selfish choice to stay away from my sister. Had I made the right decision?
"Dare?"
"Yes?"
"You seem like you're sad."
"I guess I am."
"Why?"
"I'm missing my family."
"Oh."
"I miss my mother," Penny volunteered.
"I miss mine too," I replied.
"Where is yours?"
"She died when I was much younger. My sister and I took care of one another afterwards."
"That sounds just like Vin and me. We only had each other." She waited a beat before asking, "What happened to your father?"
"He wasn't around." I didn't want to go into the complicated relationship I had with my father and how he valued the crown more than his flesh and blood.
"Mine neither."
"Is Blaze a good older brother?" I asked, moving the topic away from the thorny subject of fathers.
Her eyes lit up. "He's wonderful! People think because he's so busy I never see him, but he always makes time for me and asks to hear all about my day. He's a good listener. He plans surprises for me. Actually, one of his last surprises was helping set up the women's shelter for me."
Huh. I hadn't known that was his initiative. I wondered if the dangerous outlaw could have a heart of gold under that gruff exterior.
Penny must have noticed the look on my face. "He's done loads of good things like that, but he doesn't take any credit for them. He says they'll affect how people perceive him." She gave me an anxious look. "You won't tell, will you?"
"No, I won't. It's good that he does nice things for people. Do your friends like him? Is he friendly to them, or does he act big and scary with them too?"
Penny looked away from me. The sudden silence was awkward.
"Penny? What's wrong? Is he scary to your friends?"
Her shoulders slumped. "I don't actually have friends."
I frowned. I hadn't noticed that, but she was right. Penny never had girls her age around her. She was always surrounded by Blaze's men. I never thought about that because I assumed she saw them when I wasn't around.
Tobin had been my friend throughout my life.
"Not even one?" I asked.
Penny shook her head and then shrugged in embarrassment. I realized that some drawbacks existed with being the sister of the Blights' leader. People were scared of being friends with you. I didn't want to make her more uncomfortable.
"What about me? Am I not a friend?"
If anything, she seemed more awkward. "Yes, but you also escort me. Vin warned me against becoming friends with escorts and guards. He said familiarity will create loose boundaries, and they won't take responsibilities as seriously."
"What?" I let myself sound offended. "I will still be good at my job if you're my friend or not."
"Really?" Her eyes brightened.
"Really," I told her seriously. "I promise I will take as good care of you whether we are friends or not, but I would much rather we were friends because it would let us have a much better time."
"You'll be my first friend." She sounded enthusiastic.
I smiled at her. "Tell me more about what we're going to do today."
"I really want to go to the bookseller. He sent a note letting me know he was holding some books for me, and if I didn't get them, he had another buyer."
"You like books?"
"I love them. They help me discover new places. Most of my friends live in books." Her eyes shone.
I thought of the huge library in the castle. She would have loved it. I'd never had much use for books, preferring to be outdoors instead of constantly studying, but I suddenly realized how privileged I had been, growing up. My parents had given us the best governesses and promoted our learning though other court members didn't put much stock in it. My father had insisted that we learn languages, having seen their use in his line of work. My mother had wanted us to learn so that we would not be dependent on anyone. My education was a blessing. I'd never appreciated it at the time, hating my lessons, but I was realizing how fortunate I had been.
"Have you ever been to the castle?" I asked, wo
ndering if she had seen the library before.
She shook her head.
"They have a large library up there."
"What's a library?"
"It's a place that has books, and you can borrow them and return them later. You don't need to buy them like at booksellers," I explained. "It has hundreds and hundreds of books. They're stacked one atop the other on shelves that go all the way up to the ceiling. You need a ladder to get to them all."
"Really?" Her eyes were as wide as saucers. "Can anyone go?"
"Yes, it's open to all residents of the castle. I think some people from town go up there. They give you a card, and you write down your name whenever you take a book out. You're expected to return it when you've finished it."
I laughed aloud at the amazement on her face. I didn't think she believed me. I wished I could be there the moment she saw the library. She would love it. She would have to be dragged out.
"Maybe one day, you can go there and take out some books," I said. "It would save you money from having to buy your books all the time and wait for them to get here."
She bit her lip. "I don't think Vin would let me go up there." She turned thoughtful. "But you could go! Oh, you would, wouldn't you? You could bring them to me."
"I can't." I hesitated, glancing back at Finn, but he was some distance away. "I can't go back to the castle."
"Why not?"
"I left it for a reason, and there's no going back now."
She looked downcast.
"I'm sorry, Penny. If I could, I would go back."
"It's okay. I still have the bookseller," she replied, cheering herself up.
"What kind of books do you like reading?"
"I like the stories about pirates and riders."
"Riders?"
"Yes, the luwian riders. There aren't many books about them, and the tales are old, but they're so much fun. I wish people would write more about the current riders. But I suppose they're busy because they have adventures all the time."
I smiled at her. I had lost myself in many worlds, having adventures myself along with the characters I read about. "Do you believe they're real?"
"Yes, of course!"
"Have you ever seen a flying horse before?" I continued to tease her. I knew luwians were real because my father had mentioned them in my presence. He listed the Royal Riders as a potential threat if they chose to turn against us. They would be the only threat that the kingdom would be unable to hold off. Having the castle situated so high meant protection, but with the luwians, horses with the ability of flight, the castle's location was no longer an advantage.
"No, I haven't, but that doesn't mean they're not real. Dragons are real, and I've never seen one."
"I don't know what I would do if I saw a flying horse," I mused.
"I'd ask if I could ride it."
"You'd like to go soaring among the clouds?"
"Yes, it would be marvelous!" Her eyes shone.
I laughed at her enthusiasm. "Then I hope that the day comes when a luwian visits and we can go flying over the castle and across the sea."
"Then we could catch pirates!" Penny laughed.
We spent the rest of our walk discussing the merits of being a pirate or a luwian rider.
The bookseller's store was located two streets away from the port. That street was quiet, with wide lanes. The store was situated between a tailor and an apothecary.
Penny and I stepped inside while Finn waited outside.
The bookseller himself was a middle-aged man with a balding head. His gray eyes twinkled behind his glasses when he saw Penny. "Hello, Miss Penelope. I didn't expect to see you so soon."
"The runner told me you were going to sell the books to someone else."
He chuckled as he walked over to the bookshelf behind the counter. "Did he, now? I told him no such thing. Maybe he was eager to get me some business."
He rummaged through the bookshelf, removed five books, and put them on the counter in front of him. "Here you go, these are fresh from the ship."
I recognized two stories I had read when I was younger. Penny seemed to have the same taste in books as I.
She paid for them, looking pleased with her purchases as we left the store.
"Want to go with me to The Fortune?"
Penny hesitated.
I laughed. "I know you're eager to go back home and start reading."
Penny grinned. "Yes. I'm sorry. I'd love to go with you, but I would think of nothing but the books waiting for me. I'm a fast reader. It's a good thing, or you wouldn't see me any time soon."
"I wish I could say the same, but I always left my reading for nighttime, when I was stuck indoors. During the day, I was too busy getting into mischief outdoors."
"Do you still get into a lot of trouble?"
"Yes," I replied, thinking of what had brought me to the Blights.
I didn't know about the fresh trouble that was waiting for me.
24
Penny and Finn left me at the doorway of The Rebel Hare, and they continued on their way. I looked after them. I wondered why Blaze had never had me take Penny straight to their home. I shrugged, this method was easier for me.
I took my usual way to The Fortune. As I walked I noticed the people walking towards me glance behind me and their footsteps marched more quickly. As soon as I saw the next alleyway, I stepped through and leaned as close as I could against the wall and pulled out my dagger.
Not long after, a man stepped through. I wrapped an arm around his neck and raised my dagger to his neck. He stilled.
"Who are you?"
"Your death," he replied.
I pressed the dagger closer to his neck and watched droplets of his blood form. "Wrong answer, try again."
Sweat formed on his brow. "I was sent to kill you."
"Sent by who?" I asked, certain that I knew the answer.
"Prince Jasper."
"How did you know what I looked like?"
"He shared a drawing of you. He told me to look out for an unnatural-looking woman masquerading as a man and carrying a sword."
I wondered what to do. If I let him go, he would be back to assassinate me. He wouldn't be the first man I killed, that had been a bad encounter in town years ago. And he wouldn't be the second. But I was hesitant to make him my third to die at my hands. The first two were self-defense. This would be murder. It felt wrong.
The man shifted and I added a little more force behind my dagger to discourage him from getting any ideas of escape.
"I was given a message."
I eased the dagger a little.
The man took several gulps. "The prince told me to relay this to you as I took your life. He said he wished he could be the one to see you die but, since he can't, he will enjoy torturing your sister and watching her bleed instead."
Fury made me cut into his neck. He let out a high sound. I eased up on the pressure. A trickle of blood ran down into his shirt. "It probably isn't the best idea to make the person holding a sharp blade to your neck angry."
"I can't believe you'd slaughter me all cold-blooded like this."
My incredulous laugh filled the alley. "Are you joking? You were following me with the intent of killing me yourself."
"But not like this," he said sullenly.
I shook my head at the ridiculous situation I was in. And I quickly made up my mind. "I want you to return to the prince."
He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for sparing my life, you're a true noblewoman."
A snort escaped me. "Hold your horses, that wasn't my full message. I want you to return to the prince and tell him that for every hurt he inflicts on my sister I will repay him tenfold and I will make sure that he dies painfully."
"I can't tell him that, it will be my death!" The man's eyes went wide.
"You can perish at his hand or at mine."
He gulped and gave me a nod.
As he left to go I was pretty certain the prince was never going to get my
message. And if his assassin didn't return to him Prince Jasper would know he failed and he would send more after me.
I had to find a way to end this before he got me killed.
25
The bell let out its customary cheerful greeting as I pushed open the door to The Fortune.
Oscar was leaning over the counter, squinting over an object I couldn't see. "Hello, Dare," he said without looking up.
"How did you know it was me?"
"From the sound of your step," he replied, still engrossed in his task. "You have a lighter step than most of the men that walk into this store. I rarely get female visitors, so it was an easy deduction to make."
"What's that?" I asked, peering at the scroll of paper before him.
Thick runes marked the paper. It appeared to be some sort of map, but of where I couldn't tell.
"A customer brought this in and asked me if I could make any sense of it." He finally looked up. "I've spent most of the morning going over it, and I'm no further along than I was when I started."
I pulled out one of the stools under the counter and sat on it. "Mind if I give it a look?"
"Go ahead. Try to tell me what you make of it." He slid the map over to me.
I turned it around so I could view it as he had and studied the shapes of the runes marking the scroll.
"It doesn't appear too old. The quality of the parchment is the same as that used for the past few dozen years, at least. And the ink is holding well."
The colors weren't faded. The markings were in bold strokes.
"You're right."
"The patterns in the runes here repeat themselves, so clearly, they all stand for the same thing. Have you tried uncovering the letters yet?"
Oscar withdrew a small sheet of parchment, and I could see he had identified the same runes I had. I hadn't told him anything new.
I concentrated. Something was off about the map. I squinted at it, trying to figure out what it was. When it came to me, I laughed in delight. "Oh, that's clever!"
"What is it?" Oscar frowned.
"It's not a normal map."
His frown grew deeper. "In what manner?"