by Spear, Terry
But Tarn didn"t. He"d never seen his brother act so concerned over a woman. He paid most little attention, used to their chasing after him because he was the crown prince and should he ever take over from their uncle, Creshion would be king. And now here he was with some unknown fae, rescuing her, carrying her off to the cobra fae kingdom, sharing a room with her, even sharing a ride on his horse! No, there was something else going on between them, though Creshion had tried hard to shield how much he was interested in the woman from him and Eaton.
Tarn was glad that the queen"s spy headed south and didn"t follow Creshion. Tarn suspected, though, that the man was investigating where Creshion had been and learning for himself what the prince was up to. The spy knew now that Creshion was returning home and had no need to follow him in that regard.
“We could kill him,” Eaton said.
Tarn frowned at his cousin. “What?”
“The spy. We could eliminate him.”
Eaton was always able to read Tarn. He couldn"t read his mind, but just the same, he always knew what Tarn was thinking, most likely because the two of them were often thinking along the same lines.
Tarn considered the idea of eliminating the queen"s spy for a moment. He didn"t like leaving Creshion to his own devices should robbers waylay him and the girl. But he did like the idea of ridding themselves of one more of the queen"s spies. Creshion was her nephew, yet she treated all of them, Tarn, Eaton, everyone in the kingdom as if they intended to assassinate her.
Certainly, she"d had trouble in that regard, not that it wasn"t warranted, but to think anyone in the family would do such a thing?
“The spy can"t have traveled far in the opposite direction,” Tarn said.
And before either said another word, they turned their horses around and galloped off to take care of the menace. Tarn was sure the spy could cause dire consequences for his brother should the man learn what Creshion had been doing.
Creshion didn"t know just how determined Tarn was to keep his brother safe from harm.
He did not want to be the royal crown prince if Creshion should get himself killed instead!
Tarn had way too much fun doing as he pleased, while no one expected him to be accountable for his actions. And it also gave him ample opportunity to try and learn who had murdered their parents. Then if Creshion didn"t let him get involved, he would take down the murderer himself.
Eaton"s expression radiated enthusiasm. He felt the same as Tarn, concerning the queen"s lack of trust in them and eliminating the queen"s spies had been a new fae sport of theirs.
Someday, Tarn was sure that Creshion would thank him.
***
Sessily couldn"t believe that Creshion had cured her stable master, and she began to think of the prince in a new light—not a guy who had no feelings whatsoever, but someone who buried them so deeply, she was certain no one ever saw them in him. Was his hard exterior all a façade?
What had made him that way?
Not that she didn"t try to keep up her own appearances with people she didn"t know. The less they really understood her, the safer she was from being discovered.
She relaxed in front of Creshion, and he slipped his arm around her waist. “Lean against me and you can sleep. Tonight, sleep in my bed. I will make a pallet for myself on the floor.”
She couldn"t believe his change of heart, although when he spoke the next words, he made her smile. “Else, you will look like death warmed over before the ball. How will that look to my uncle"s people when I wish to show you off as my lover?”
Now that sounded more like the man she was coming to know.
Much later, she was dozing in his arms, when she and Creshion heard men moving about in the woods next to the path they rode on. Instantly alert, she knew the way they skulked about, they were not to be trusted.
Chapter 9
Sessily was sure they couldn"t outrun the men heading through the woods to meet them, and she knew Creshion wouldn"t want to leave his horse behind and fae travel.
All of a sudden to her astonishment, she felt a wash of magic flood through her veins and knew at once he"d given back her own power to fae travel.
“Go,” he said harshly. “I"ll take care of them.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Let them come out to us and see what can happen when they take on one as powerful as yourself, who is almost as powerful as me.”
She glanced over her shoulder at Creshion and looked at his bleak expression, although his eyes sparkled a little with humor.
“You are stepping on dangerous ground, my lady,” he said, leaning forward, brushing his lips across hers. “Have I not told you that when you challenge me, I"m twice as determined to prove you"re wrong?”
She looked at his lips and wanted more of a kiss, loving the way his brows arched in amusement. His nearly invisible smile warmed her, and she smiled back at him, her most evilly appreciative smile. “Then prove it.”
He stopped his horse and before he could dismount, she hopped down. She tried not to show how much it bothered her to hit the ground with her booted feet, the way her legs buckled slightly, her whole body wilting a bit. Riding horses just wasn"t for her.
Creshion dismounted beside her and took her hand in his, then kissed it like he"d done before, his blue eyes gazing into hers. “You will ride as well as me someday.”
She snorted at that. “I would do better to work on my skills at eliminating bad fairies.”
Five men suddenly burst forth from the woods, all carrying bows and arrows. Not good.
They were dragon fae. They were the most capable of archers. What were they doing in the cobra kingdom?
“Come with us, Prince Creshion, and the lady won"t be hurt,” one of the young men said, stepping forward. He was dressed all in green as if he was a hunter out for sport. But the fact that he knew the crown prince of the cobra kingdom and was only targeting him, not Sessily, made it appear as though he was on a mission of his own, not participating in just some random thievery.
“Do we kill them or only slightly injure them?” Sessily asked Creshion, clearly for all to hear.
Two of the men standing on either side of the leader chuckled, their eyes sparkling with dark amusement.
“Give her to me, Duke Tully, if you please. I will teach the girl some manners,” the tallest of the men said, then winked at her.
But Sessily would teach the man some manners of his own.
Creshion gave Sessily"s hand a squeeze, and she thought he meant for her to keep her talent leashed for the moment. She realized then if they were going to work as a team in a situation like this, they needed to decide on a code beforehand.
“Duke Tully,” Creshion said, his voice soft with dark intent. “What brings you to the neighborhood? Don"t you have any well-connected travelers to accost in your own kingdom these days?”
The duke frowned. “We tried to catch up to you yestereve, but we were waylaid ourselves by common thieves in the turtle fae kingdom. What is the world coming to?”
“Ah, I see. So today when we are traveling through our own kingdom with our own escort, you decide to take us hostage. Being rather rash these days, aren"t we? Still vying for the princess"s hand? Thinking that ransoming the crown prince of the cobra kingdom would prove your worth to the royal family? I understand she has lost her heart to another and no amount of coin will change her mind.”
Duke Tully didn"t take the bait, but motioned instead to the south. “If you mean your brother and cousin are your escort, they no longer watch your backs.”
Sessily tried to keep her expression neutral, but she was having the most difficult time doing so. Two of the duke"s men were watching her while the duke and the other two men concentrated on Creshion. She was certain they knew he could be dangerous. And she was just as certain that they didn"t think she could be.
But what was this about Creshion"s brother and cousin following behind them? And if that had been the case, what had happened to them?
She felt
Creshion stiffen with the news. She thought he might have been reassured with two of his capable cobra fae watching his and Sessily"s back, but now they were on their own.
Why hadn"t he told her about them?
“Do you wish me to dispatch the rabble?” Sessily asked, looking straight at the leader of the men. She knew to always take out the leader first, when confronted with a group intending harm. But she wanted to know just how harshly she had to deal with them before she did anything permanent that she could not undo.
Duke Tully smiled at her. “She is charming, Prince Creshion. Where did you pick her up?
Maybe I should keep this one a while longer, just as entertainment.”
“And have men-at-arms from two fae kingdoms at your doorstep?” Sessily asked.
The man"s lips parted, then he smiled marginally. He tilted his head to the side and bowed slightly. “Who, may I ask, am I addressing?”
“No one of consequence,” Creshion snapped, squeezing Sessily"s hand in warning.
“All right,” the duke said, then to his men added, “be careful with the woman. We wouldn"t want an incident on our hands should she prove to be someone of import and we harmed the lady"s sweet sensibilities.”
“You are a charmer, sir. I will let you live,” Sessily said brightly, removed one of her feathered long needled hair pins, and threw it like a dart with the skill of a master assassin.
The men were so stunned, no one reacted fast enough. Not even Creshion. Although as soon as he saw the duke grasp his neck and the hairpin sticking from it, then the duke collapse to the ground, Creshion cast his vine spell on one of the men, preventing him from using his bow and arrows against Sessily.
She ran with the agility and swiftness of a deer, attacking the next man, who dared ready his arrow in her direction, poking him with a delicate pin attached to her gown. He sank to the ground beside the duke.
She was too close for either of the last men to use their arrows on her, but a dagger would work just fine.
Creshion pulled his pistol out of its holster. “She has just put your lord and friend to sleep for a while. You will not harm her. As to the other man, the vine will release him in due time.
Put away your weapons, and you shall live another day.”
The men cast wary looks in Sessily"s direction. She cast them her most winning smile, the one that she used to placate someone who was highly annoyed with her. She didn"t want to hurt any of them if they hadn"t done anything really bad. Although in her line of work, other assassin fae would not have hesitated to eliminate the men, slipped off into the shadows of the trees, and vanished with no one the wiser.
She could have done the same, but she was her father"s daughter. And like him, she had a different assassin creed to live by. Kill only those who were a true threat to fae kind. These men only wanted money. Not anyone"s death on their hands.
Well, not until she"d taken out their leader and one of their men. Then she was certain they were rethinking the duke"s position to not let any harm come to her.
The duke began to snore and his two remaining men looked down at him.
“Step away from him, gentlemen,” Sessily said, her voice quiet but commanding, “so that I might retrieve my weapons of trade.”
At first, they didn"t move as fast as she would have liked, and she pulled out another hairpin so fast, they both jumped back. Not that they would be beyond her reach as she could throw them from quite a distance and her mark was accurate.
“Farther back, gentlemen,” Creshion ordered, waving his pistol at them to move away from the duke and the other man so Sessily could get her pins without interference.
She pulled the hairpin from the duke"s neck and the dress pin from the other man"s arm, and resituated them where they would remain safe and secure, though the pins would have to be coated in sleeping potion again for them to have any effect.
The one man, who remained standing, resheathed his dagger. “Who are you, my lady?”
His voice was filled with awe, and she was certain that the word would reach the dragon fae kingdom in no time, that a woman had quickly dispatched two of their highly skilled archers, one who was a duke at that.
What would the duke think when he woke from his long spring nap? Would he be angry that a woman had bested him? She normally did not let anyone see what she could do. Although she was certain the men would not ever think she was an assassin fae. Just someone who was very good with needlework and used the pins in her defense should she be accosted on a road like this one.
Creshion slipped his arm around Sessily as she rejoined him next to his horse. “I will have your word, gentlemen, that you will try nothing further or I will leave you like your fellow fae who is tied up in greenery at the moment. You would then be at the mercy of thieves and such,” Creshion said. “Maybe someone such as yourselves, who would wish to ransom a duke and his men, might come upon you and where would you be then?” Creshion smiled, and Sessily loved the way he could smile like that—the look wickedly handsome.
The one man bowed his head in silent agreement. Then he said, “The duke will want to know who the lady is.”
She hid a smile. “No one of any importance.”
“Nay, you travel alone with Prince Creshion. You have an impressive and unique way of handling a matter to your own satisfaction, my lady. I know you are not of the dragon fae, although you would give credit to our kind had you been. I would know of where you are from, which fae kingdom, before you leave us.”
“I cannot say,” Sessily said. It would probably take a very long time for anyone from the dragon fae court to learn who she was, but it would not be prudent to just come out and tell them the truth. Let them enjoy the game of paying for spies to infiltrate the cobra kingdom and learn who she was.
The man"s eyes sparkled with a sprinkling of silver. “The duke will not stop in his quest to learn the truth.”
Creshion helped Sessily onto his horse, then mounted behind her. “Good day to you,”
Creshion said. “Better luck in your next mission.” Before he nudged his horse to canter, he asked, “What happened to my brother and cousin?”
“They headed south, but we don"t know why.”
Creshion ground his teeth, then nodded, and nudged his horse into a gallop.
“You didn"t tell me that your brother and cousin had been following us. How long have you known?” Sessily asked, annoyed that he"d kept such a thing from her.
“This morning. I knew they were at the tavern last night, but hoped to leave before they arose. Both are late sleepers. Both were up early, waiting for me, insisting they watch our backs.”
Sessily didn"t speak for some time, then she said, “They know we slept together.”
He let out his breath in an exasperated manner. “You slept on the floor. I slept in the bed.”
She gave a mirthless laugh. “As you said anyone who saw us take a room together believes we are lovers.”
“Husband and wife,” he corrected.
She looked back at him. “Even your brother and cousin?”
“No, they think we"re lovers.”
She shook her head and looked to the north again.
“I couldn"t say we were husband and wife. They would know it wasn"t true. I would have to have my uncle"s permission first.”
“If I were a male assassin, you know we would not be having this discussion,” she said, highly annoyed. She would have arrived, done her job, and left without anyone being the wiser.
Creshion laughed.
She glowered at him.
“Sorry,” he said, not sounding like it in the least. But then he quickly sobered. “If it pleases you to think thus, just remember a male assassin would have had a much more difficult time entering the castle. Three have already died trying to eliminate the queen. As a woman, you will—”
“Why do you want her dead?” Sessily asked. She should have asked a long time ago, although she hadn"t much choice about where she was going. In that i
nstant, she remembered he had not clipped her wings again to prevent her from fae traveling right out of his arms, which were wrapped securely around her as he held the reins in one hand.
“She is the worst sort of changeling, Sessily. A woman who abuses her position as queen and the fae abilities that were given her years ago. She has killed more of the cobra fae than I care to think about for nothing more than a need to show who is in charge.”
“But it"s more personal than that,” Sessily said quietly, guessing that was the case.
Though she wasn"t privy to all fae court news, and certainly not one that she had never visited, she still had heard something about the former king and queen of the cobra fae court dying. Not why, or when exactly. Just that some years ago a new king had taken charge and his wife was a changeling.
“She had my parents murdered,” he said, “when my brother and cousin and I were young.”
Although Sessily was galled to hear the news, she had to learn the whole truth. “You are sure she was the one who had it done? No doubts whatsoever?”
“Even if she hadn"t done such a deed, she has had many of my kind killed, stating that the fae were treasonous and planning to depose the king. My uncle has allowed her to get away with what she does. I don"t believe he knew that she had his brother and sister-by-marriage murdered.”
“But you"re sure?” Sessily asked. Any queen had every right to eliminate treasonous courtiers. But not if she was not even the queen at the time, and her brother"s brother was king and his wife, queen. Still, Sessily was certain the way Creshion spoke, his voice dark and dangerous, he knew for a certainty the truth of the matter. And she had to know for her own satisfaction what that truth was before she attempted to eliminate the queen.
“I saw her pay to have them murdered. Though at the time, I didn"t know that"s what she was paying the men to do. They cut my father"s and mother"s throats so quickly, I couldn"t even cry out to warn them. And Quinnette watched the whole bloody affair, never looking away, making sure they were truly dead.”
Sessily"s heart went out to Creshion. He had to have been devastated. Had his brother and cousin known? Who else knew the truth?