“I thank you and all of your constituents for your honest clarification in this unfortunate misunderstanding then.”
He took my hand so gently, the scene at the Sip Room might not have even happened, then guided me up the steps to the jail. Once we were inside, he gave me a half-hearted shove and grunted toward the two who already had their wrists tied.
He closed the door tightly and turned the wooden piece that prevented anyone from opening it.
“What the fuck?” he asked Ender once he seen the damage to Keif’s face. They were both fucked up, so I didn’t understand why he was raging at Ender. Unless he knew… about the secret root dealings.
“Klarissa said we were done doing business earlier. She doesn’t need my Nirvana Root. Maybe she’ll see the need for it if her son’s face gets tore up too bad. Hm?”
“Enough!” Messiah loudly demanded before turning on me. “Well, you brought us together, which is it? Hm, come now. Ender or Keifer?”
“That’s not what this is about,” Ender scoffed with a chuckle of exaggerated disbelief.
“Kantor doesn’t involve himself in the politics of his House.” Messiah groaned, flashing Keifer and apologetic smile. “This is about Chalice. So, I ask again, Love, which is it?”
My face flamed so warmly I thought I’d pass out. He couldn’t be serious…. Maybe he was. Three pair of eyes lay upon me. I felt them crawling over me, drinking in my every breath and twitch. I was being flayed, but I wasn’t sure if it was to examine me or to make a point.
I stepped between Ender and Keif, unsure if I would confront Messiah or simply search for some sign of jest.
I was tired of being fucked with. Exhausted and inebriated past the point of riddles and secrets. Two could play that game. Messiah was fucking with me, and I wasn’t above fucking back.
I closed the two steps between us and leaned forward like I might hug him. Instead, I skimmed my hand against his throat and curled it around the back of his neck. Allowing my breath to fan against his opposite ear, I whispered the most scandalous thing I could think of. “Why do I have to choose?”
His hand, long since frozen at my elbow, abruptly flew away from my body. He stepped back as if he had been burned and his eyes darted about.
“Out. Both. Now. Go!” He frantically demanded while pointing at the other two. I laughed without care. Had I really shaken him so far past his reserved demeanor that he was reduced to one-word responses? Oh, the joy I basked in for that split second. It almost made up for his performance.
They waved their still bound arms but moved along as he had bid. With a victorious smile, I started after them.
“No! Not you.” Messiah’s tongue discreetly painted his lips, and he shook his head as if I had put him on the spot. “Stay. Sit… just. Relax…”
I covered my mouth, but I couldn’t help it. I laughed in the most unladylike manner while he scrambled to collect his Cognac from the drawer. He followed the guys outside and slammed the office door behind him. I could see his shadow lingering on the other side, which only made it all the harder to collect myself.
Chapter Sixteen
What’s Forbidden
Keif
Things couldn’t get any worse. I had been caught in a public space with a forbidden woman. Caught, being salacious with a young lady I didn’t speak for. A young lady that came from the second highest House in the land.
I inhaled the swampy scent that lingered around the dock and pawed my aching face. If I survived this, it wouldn’t matter. Klarissa would never allow me in the mansion again. I’d end up on Ender’s surgery table, awaiting him to pronounce me if I tried.
“Here,” Messiah called.
I opened my eyes to find him standing over me, a dagger in his left hand. There wasn’t anywhere to back up to, my back was to the damn jail. After a moment, I realized he meant to free me, and I held my hands out.
He quickly sliced the ropes and held a hand out to me. It took a moment for me to trust that he wouldn’t hurl me into the water, but I finally took his hand. He had the kindest eyes I’d ever seen on a Krypt.
“I thank you. For seeing Lady Chalice of House Krypt to water when she fell ill. Your kindness will not be forgotten,” he told me in a voice that was eerily relaxed, and far too low for a magistrate.
“Are you fucking serious? Are you…” Ender seethed until Messiah rushed him. His back connected with the wall, and Messiah slapped his cheek roughly.
“Are you fucking serious? Do you know what this could do to her reputation? Her prospects for a future?” Messiah snapped.
I backstepped a few paces. If he was willing to do that to family… I began looking around for, for what I didn’t know. An oar? Driftwood? Pfft.
“Do you want to see me toss her to Lake Last? Is that what you’re trying to force me to do here?” Messiah barked, slamming his fist against the wall of the jail.
We all sobered. Instantly. He was right. If the Upper District heard of this scene we had caused, Ender and I would both be branded, but Chalice, she would end up being tossed into a lake that ate flesh from bone.
“Go to the house of Lady Nayana’s son. He isn’t home, but his woman is. I have orders from Nayana herself to interrogate the Lady,” Messiah said as if we had already made some silent plea bargain.
“What about us? What about all the witnesses?” I sputtered.
“The peasants know the story. They’re the ones who created it. One of you three must have touched a heart or two.”
Messiah
I hated extracting from women. Not that I wouldn’t do it… I just needed a drink first. I sighed, took one last swig of the Cognac and headed back inside.
Chalice’s eyes were trained on me while I took the chair from my desk and placed it so that we could face one another. The normally dark jewels were now black. She despised me right now, and she wasn’t wasting the pretense to hide it.
Her fingers were tightly laced in her lap. Her legs were crossed and the top one twitched with what I knew to be bottled emotion. She was biding her time, I could see it all over her face. She wasn’t as used to this game as I was.
“I’m sorry I hit you…” I began, only to stop when I saw the smile waiting in her eyes. Damn it. Why didn’t any of them understand? It would kill me to have to execute a woman. But to execute one that I loved? It had killed me to see it… I knew they would have to kill me, I could never. Not Chalice.
“No. You know what… I’m not sorry. Do you want to know why…”? My eyes narrowed dangerously, only to slowly open as I found my senses a split second later. “You do know why.” I sighed, plunking my weight down onto the chair so loud it barked against the floor.
“Yes, yes. I know why. Because Atticus will be upset. Atticus might have his plans ruined. Isabella wouldn’t like it and Ender might smack somebody over it. There are a million reasons why I can’t live my—”
“Live.” I scoffed on a high-pitched laugh. “Living will be the last thing you do if—”
Ender and Keif Kanter saddled past the window, a slumped form stretched between them.
Chalice stared expectantly at me, waving her arms in a silent bid for me to finish my thought. I held a finger up and hurried for the door.
“What the fu…” Chalice began when she saw the unconscious prisoner. My finger froze on Chalice like a witching stick. She really had to work on that tongue. Keeping company with the Kantor boy wasn’t helping matters.
The guys lugged Lady Nayana’s daughter-in-law inside. Chalice, meanwhile, had darted from the chair and found a corner to hide in. It almost made me laugh; she really thought I would harm her. The wistful smile lingered, albeit ill placed, while they kicked the chair aside and secured the prisoner to the cuffs dangling from the wall. She was a short thing, her toes barely found good ground.
“Are you sure…?” Keifer began.
I gave a solid throaty sound of affirmation and waved toward Chalice. “Put that one in the cell and you’re free to go,
gentlemen.”
Keifer’s jaw dropped, Ender afforded all of a snap glance my way, and Chalice tried to break for it. Ender caught her on a whirl. She kicked her feet, connecting with Keifer a time or two before Ender secured her on the floor. The pair of them took the better part of a half an hour trying to get her into the cell.
“M… Messiah.” Keifer’s eyes were on the cage and his mouth hitched just so. His concern didn’t have to be voiced, he wore his heart on his sleeve.
“She is a Krypt. This is Krypt business.” I tipped my head toward the door, and Ender patted his shoulder.
“Try not to kill each other on the way home,” Chalice spat from her cage.
In the drawer of my desk I found the familiar cloth bundle. The metal within clinked together all but offering themselves to my cause in their own language. On the table beside my prisoner, I spread out the array of instruments that would extract the woman’s every secret.
Candle sticks offered enough light to make them gleam. I picked up the scalpel and held it to the flame. My attention lay on the prisoner in the chair, her head was still slumped and a bit of drool rest on her lip.
“They really did a number on you, hmm, love?” I softly mused.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Chalice stammered behind me.
Ah. There it was. That little spark of fear. The one that would sober her almost instantly.
“Messiah?” Chalice panicked further.
I left her with my name on her lips and grabbed the prisoner’s forehead, my thumb and index spanning her hairline. Her lashes fluttered enough for me catch a pale blue flash before they closed, and a groan escaped.
The scalpel was still smoking. I used the blunt side and brought it closer and closer to her temple.
“Messiah stop,” Chalice hissed behind me. I ignored her and held firm to the task at hand.
A breath from the prisoner’s flesh, her eyes shot open and she started screaming. I threw the scalpel down and sniffed like I was bored. The instrument landed atop the other tools and made that dreadful noise again.
“Messiah please! Stop.”
“First you follow me from one end of town to the next… now you don’t want to see what I do…” I tsked and grabbed the prisoner’s jaw, forcing her to look at me. Chalice’s cries were suddenly being matched by the prisoner. “Stop screaming. I haven’t even started yet, darling. Surely, you’ve some dignity under all that dirt,” I said to the prisoner on a soothing tone. I pressed my thumb to her upper lip, and she froze. Her eyes went wide, and she clenched her thighs so tight and fast the chains holding her ankles screeched back at her.
“Silly woman. I’ve no use for you.” I laughed, shaking my head and hopefully dismissing any notions toward improprieties.
“Leave her alone! She’s done nothing to you,” Chalice yelled. She banged her fist against the bars as if they stood some chance against the metal.
“No. You’re quite right. She hasn’t done a thing against me.” I sighed and stepped back a bit to study the chained woman. “Care to tell her what you’ve done, dear? You could save us both a great deal of time… and pain.”
“Don’t be a monster,” Chalice begged, “Please don’t be another monster…”
The way she choked on her words tore at my heart, but I couldn’t give in. I had a job to do, and Chalice had a lesson to learn. A few, actually. Better I teach them than Atticus.
A scroll lay in wait on my desk. I stretched it out using my utensils to hold the thing open so I could read it at a glance.
“Tamara of House Rocham, wife of Sir Lochlan and standing accused,” I introduced her with all the gusto she was looking for. Scandalous wench that she was, snaring one prince while conniving with another over his throne. “How do you plead to the charge of treason?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Chalice slowly rise to her feet. She peered through the bars with a bit more interest. Lady Tamara, however, was trying her best to bring her arms toward her torso. It was natural, the guarding.
“Please,” she whispered so softly I almost didn’t hear it.
“Say again?” I did my best to bark.
“Please!” she shrieked. The startle of it caused her chains to rattle and the sobbing started once again.
“Ah, now, you must have some… opinion. I mean it is your faults and fate we are discussing here, is it not?” I encouraged, pulling my stool over toward my work area.
Her lower lip quivered, and her teeth started to chatter, but she held her silence. An amused hmm escaped me. Both at my luck and her resilience. I didn’t want to turn to blood and nastiness, nor had I looked forward to humiliating the woman… but she had to work with me. Give me something.
I reached out and snatched her ankle, taking my time to peel her slipper from her foot. The hysterics started so quickly I didn’t have time to reach the second one, the door shot open and violently banged against the wall. Chalice, spooked by the noise, scrambled to the shadows in the corner of her cell.
Uncle Icarus bent his head to pass the doorway. He flashed me a pleasant, genuine smile before turning to give Father the floor.
Atticus marched past Icarus and his mound of tan hides. He took one look at the woman in the restraints and all but spat on me. I moved my shoe aside and it landed on the woman’s discarded slipper.
From my peripheral, I saw Chalice hunker down a bit behind the cot. Uncle Icarus saw it, too, his pale blue eyes snapped to the shadows with a hawk-like quickness. He was quite skilled at what he did. No one else noticed, and thankfully he wasn’t of a mind to call her out.
“Why hasn’t she taken a flea bath, already?” Atticus barked, shoving his finger into Tamara’s chest. He was too busy glaring at me to notice anything, or anyone else.
“What the fuck are you waiting for? You know the drill? Strip them, walk their shame away, and toss em from the damn cliff…” He put his wide-eyed face next to mine and opened his mouth in disbelief. Those were the moments I wanted to forget that he was my adopted father. I wanted to forget what power he belonged to.
“I am the authority here,” I reminded him. All signs of humanity left his eyes. They were nothing but black murderous slits. Despite Icarus pulling him toward the door, his presence lingered in the dingy jailhouse long after he had left.
“I don’t want to die. I… Please help me,” Tamara begged.
I nodded without looking toward her. It was the simplest of requests, and I would, as I always did, give the simplest of answers. But I already knew she wouldn’t accept. They never did. I’m not sure I blamed them. I’d think it a trick too, if I were in their spot.
“I can help you. You don’t have to die.” I looked at Chalice for a moment, before forcing my attention back to the matter at hand.
Chalice
How long had I watched him while wishing I could be at his side? Fuck. Here we were, only I wasn’t at his side… I was next on his list. I was certain of it, his every backward glance continued to remind me of it.
I wanted him to leave her alone. Nothing made sense. What had she done? What treason? Was helping me to the Sip House treason? That had nothing to do with her. A thump brought me from my thoughts.
“Right then…” Messiah softly said to the woman. “You were about to help me. So that I don’t have to kill you.”
The lady shrunk from him, whimpering over the sound of her chains.
“Messiah, stop!” I called, hoping that thump had been the door closing.
“Hush, now,” Messiah sang like I was a child. “Lady Tamara, come out with it. The time is now. You stand accused of treason. Of seducing and plotting with Lazarus of the Iron Inlet to overthrow Lady Nayana and assassinate her only living heir, your husband.”
That pitiful whimpering and crying began again. Why wasn’t she defending herself?
“Who the fuck is Lazarus of the Iron Inlet?” I screeched over the sound of her distress. It wasn’t like I would know him, but it seemed to me, if the woman stood accused there s
hould at least be someone bringing the charges!
“Lazarus… of the Iron Inlet. Our once intended brother-in-law,” Messiah explained. When I didn’t catch on, he sighed and shook his head. “Ah, Chalice. Lazarus of the Iron Inlet is who Reverie was off to marry when her accident happened…”
“Fuck you! I won’t hush. Leave her be!” I screamed, thumping the heel of my hand against the bar. It was useless, it wouldn’t budge, but I was irate, and it felt good on some hopeless level.
Who was this asshole that was intended to Reverie but publicly declared himself to be laying with another? The humiliation of it burned through me. I didn’t care if she wasn’t around to feel it, I felt it for her.
“Bring this accuser. You bring him to me, Messiah!” I demanded, thumping my palm in time with the words. He looked at me like he was lost. I twirled around, paranoid that someone had seen me through the window. Who was I kidding? Atticus. I was terrified Atticus would see me and figure out the mess I had caused.
How terrible… there was a woman preparing to be executed, and I was worried about facing Atticus Krypt?
“You see, Lady Tamara… We,” Messiah waved between he and I, “have history with Sir Lazarus. All you have to do… is tell me that you laid with him, not for ill intent, but because you were in lo..”
“I didn’t lay with anybody. I swear by the Fated Few,” Tamara frantically wailed. “By all that is sacred! I swear it! No! It is all lies. I’ve never been to the Iron Inlet, I’ve never even been off the mountain.”
Messiah
“Lady Tamara.” Her voice ate mine every time I attempted to begin. “Tam… Tamara. Lady! Have a shred of dignity.”
There was no talking her down. It had happened. Just as I knew it would. They were too terrified of being tricked.
“I gave my word, and I shall give it again. You will not die… if you allow me to help you. I need you to confess.” I needed her to confess to being in love. It was imperative she say it. Chalice was a perfect witness. It would dismiss the treason charges. I would find a way…
Chasing the Night (The Krypt Series Book 1) Page 13