by Katy Haye
“I told you to stay at home, Kiri.”
Lyo strode towards the young woman blocking our path. She didn’t look the biddable, stay-at-home type. Instead of being cowed into stepping back, she folded her arms and glared at him. “You should have been back hours ago. I thought I might need to drag you out of trouble.”
He spread his arms, slightly mocking. I’d thought at first this was a wife or girlfriend, but I amended the relationship to sister. I thought I could trace a resemblance between the two, and they weren’t talking like lovers. “As you see, I have managed to survive the evening unscathed.”
Her expression hardened further. “You’ve picked up a stray.” She widened her glare to encompass me. I lifted my chin and faced her evenly. I wasn’t going to be intimidated by a Surranese refugee. I might be in disguise, but I was a princess.
“Yes…” He took a breath, then turned to me, expression quizzical. When he spoke, it was as though we’d met at a palace reception. “Forgive me, miss. I didn’t ask your name.”
And I hadn’t volunteered it, for obvious reasons. I tried to think of a false name to give him, but my mind blanked entirely, short-circuited by his expectant smile. “I’m Relle,” I said at last, giving him the pet name that was rarely used. It might put them in mind of the princess, but dozens of Muirland girls born about the same time had been named for the royal baby, so I hoped they’d think nothing of it.
“Relle,” he repeated. My name rolled off his tongue slowly, as though he was reluctant to let it go. I blinked. When he said my name in a Surranese accent, it sounded completely different from when my mother or brother said it. The hairs on my arms lifted and I pulled my cloak closer around me. “Relle is going to give me a hand,” he told Kiri.
My gaze on the girl sharpened. Did she know what her brother was about? Was she party to his plan to break into the palace? Did she know what object he was seeking?
She turned back to me, her attention sharpening as much as mine had. She spoke to her brother, but looked at me, her lip curling. “You’re planning to trust a girl you met on the street tonight?”
She said the words in a nasty tone. My chin lifted at the slight. “I made an agreement with Lyo, not you,” I snapped. I glanced at Lyo and took a step forward, away from the pair of them, continuing my route back to the palace. “I have to get back. You can catch me up when you’re done arguing.”
I began to walk. Lyo followed, which I expected. I hadn’t anticipated that the sister would also trot alongside.
“What else have you picked up, Lyo? Is that…” Her words trailed off and her eyes widened. “Have you got a dragonette?”
“Shh!” Lyo spun to her, his eyes darting around the street. “Keep your mouth shut!”
“Gods!” I could see white all around her eyes now. “Where did you get that?”
“How did you know?” I demanded, my eyes dredging the empty air above Lyo’s shoulder. That was the second time someone had been able to see the creature when she was either hidden or invisible. I was staring at Lyo’s shoulder, where I knew the dragonette to be, and there was no sign.
“I could smell it,” the girl threw at me, as though that should be obvious. She was still facing her brother. “The only person in this kingdom who has a – one of those – is the king. Did you steal it?”
“I—”
I tore my attention away from thoughts of people who could see invisible things. “Actually, I stole it,” I told her, pleased by the surprised blink I got for that.
Lyo nodded shortly. “Relle gave me the creature. I’ve agreed to find a new home for it. In exchange, she’ll get me inside the palace. Now, will you go back to Scopgot Lane?”
She backed a step away, but the retreat didn’t signal her compliance. “You’ve taken stolen goods from this girl? Goods that have been filched from the king? Are you mad?”
Lyo’s hands rested on his hips. “We’re planning to steal from the king, you know that. One thing more hardly seems to matter. It’s probably a bonus – will muddy the waters.”
“We don’t need what she gave you, we need—”
“Enough!” Lyo snapped. A shame, because I’d love to know what it was they were really seeking. “You will go home, Kiri. I will be back later. Do not try to follow me; it’ll take as long as it takes.”
Her bottom lip pouted. I’d thought she was close to my own age, but perhaps I’d been generous. When she sulked, she looked closer to twelve. Perhaps it was just that this Kiri didn’t hear the word ‘No’ often enough to do her good.
“Fine.” She spun away, then spun back. “Shall I take … your burden? It’ll only get in your way.”
He huffed. “That would be helpful.” He handed the entirely invisible creature over. I watched, hovering close and breathing carefully. I smelled nothing.
Kiri turned her shoulder to me and marched off.
“What did you both mean about the smell?”
Lyo had been about to set back in the direction of city square and the palace. He turned back, brows lifting.
“You both said you smelled the dragonette. I can’t smell anything. What’s the smell that told you she was there?”
He grinned. “Dragons smell of blood and fire. Dragonettes smell of berries and fire. Their different diets,” he added, as though that might be my next question.
“Why can’t I smell it?”
“Because you’re not expecting to? I don’t know. You’d need to ask the fae. They’re the experts.”
And there was zero chance I’d ever be able to sit down and chat with a fae. Lyo was the closest thing I had to an expert. I wished the dragonette was there so I could have a proper sniff. I still wasn’t sure I wasn’t being teased. “What does fire smell like? Burning? Smoke?”
He shook his head. “Not burning. Fire itself. Lean close to a fire and you should spot it.” He glanced up at the sky. “Come along, it’ll be dawn soon.”
That leant speed to my feet. I needed to be safely back in my room at the palace before the maids came in to open the shutters and lay out my clothes for the day.
We passed through a city square that was busier now than it had been when I’d passed earlier. Dawn workers were making their way to their workplaces. I took the street that led to the west side of the palace.
Unease gripped me once more. I still didn’t know what Lyo wanted in the palace, and I had a great many misgivings about getting him inside. For a start, what if he saw me there as the princess and recognised who Relle really was? I reminded myself that he hadn’t seen my true face – but he seemed able to see through magic. What if he could smell the real me?
The absurdity made me chuckle and Lyo threw me a glance. “Something’s funny?”
“No, I – No, nothing.” The palace loomed over us. We were getting closer and I knew nothing about my acquaintance except for his name and the fact that he could sense magic and smell dragons. A breeze blew down the street, tugging at my hair with chill fingers. I slowed. “What do you want in the palace?”
He slowed to match my pace. “I won’t do anything to harm your royal master, I swear it.” He grabbed at a branch that overhung a garden wall, tugging off a leaf. He shredded it to pieces. “And I’m not going to tell you what I intend to take. You can ask all you like, it’s better if you don’t know.”
“I’ll find out after it’s gone,” I pointed out.
“Maybe, maybe not.” He ran his hand alongside the wall beside us, refusing to look at me. He was infuriating. Perhaps his sister had a point.
He stood straight. “How do you sneak in and out, then? You didn’t go through the main gates, I’d have seen you.”
“There’s a way through. I’ll show you, although…”
“Although what?” He was intent on my face. Which meant he couldn’t see what I saw just past him.
“Although that’s not going to happen tonight.”
“What do you –” He followed my gaze. “Ah.”
There were ofte
n a couple of guards posted on the outside of the palace walls. There weren’t usually half a dozen of them blocking the street between the palace and Lord Navre’s home.
My heart surged into my throat. Was this because the dragonette had been found missing – or was it for me?
Lyo dragged me aside before the soldiers spotted us. My pulse was pounding as he slammed me back against the wall.
“Hey!” a male voice called.
My father’s guards were well trained. I shouldn’t have expected so obvious a ploy to work. Of course they’d seen us. And by trying to hide, they’d seen something they wanted to check out.
“Just play along,” Lyo whispered, his breath hot on my cheek.
And then he turned his head and covered my lips with his.
8 – Crawling with Guards
Shock kept me rooted in place, every one of my muscles frozen by the sudden, intimate touch. It wasn’t just that I’d never been kissed by a man, but that I couldn’t remember ever being kissed by anyone, not so much as a brush of their lips against my skin.
Lyo held absolutely still, too, as though he were shocked at his own action. And then I realised: I wasn’t being kissed now, either. Lyo was feigning affection so the guards would take us for a courting couple and dismiss us. This wasn’t how a kiss ought to feel.
The sensation that overwhelmed me then was disappointment. I had no idea how it felt to be kissed, and it looked like that situation wasn’t likely to change now. Unless I altered matters.
I forced my startled body to move, spanning my arms around his warm waist. Through his shirt, his lithe muscles were firm and strong. The frozen chill inside me began to be replaced by heat. I tilted my head slightly and opened my mouth so I could touch my tongue to his lips and taste him.
Lyo twitched with shock, and then he uttered a noise that made the strangest feeling run through me: something like fire erupting along my bones. I didn’t just want to kiss Lyo. Now, I wanted to eat him; make him a part of me. Confusion spiralled through me. Then Lyo kissed me back and my head just about exploded.
His tongue touched mine while his hands spanned my back, reaching warm to the top of my backside, his fingers splaying over my curves. I pushed against him, and he pushed back. I was squashed between the cold wall and his hot, strong body, and I loved it.
“Hey! Enough of that!”
I was dimly aware of the shouting voice. Lyo pulled away with a curse and I saw past him. One of the guards was bearing down on us.
I realised I was panting and shame flooded me. I was a princess, not a bitch in heat. But a small part of me revelled in what had just happened: if that was only kissing, perhaps being married wouldn’t be so bad…
“What’s your business?” the guard demanded. “You shouldn’t be hanging around here.”
I glanced up. I recognised the guard, although he wasn’t often assigned to my area of the palace. He glared, seeing only the girl I’d disguised myself as.
My brain was still addled from that kiss, so it was fortunate that Lyo was quick-thinking. “Very sorry, sir.” He looked up to give a nod of respect to the guard. “My girl works here.” He jerked his thumb at the wall I was crushed against, suggesting that I was a servant in Lord Navre’s house beyond. “We were just saying goodnight. You know how it is.”
The guard evidently didn’t know how it was. He eyed Lyo in distaste, then focused on me, sneering. “Does your master know you’re lifting your skirts for foreign scum?”
Indignation replaced the heat of our kiss. “I’m not—”
Before I could complete my verbal laceration of the guard, Lyo pulled me aside. “Very sorry, sir. I’ll see her safely home now.” He nearly dragged me towards the metal gate.
“Stick to your own kind,” the guard called after Lyo. “Stop trying to steal our women.”
“Come on,” Lyo muttered. He reached through the ornate iron gate to the latch inside. My head still spinning from the guard’s words – as well as from the kiss – I stumbled after him. I glanced back. The guard was still watching us, arms folded, a mean expression on his face.
I wasn’t sure whether I was more shocked by his description of me, or of Lyo. “Do – do many people talk to you like that?” I was aware of tensions in the city as the flow of refugees from Surran showed no sign of lessening, but up until now it had been an abstract thing, something the maids whispered about. With just a few words, understanding had crashed over me.
Lyo didn’t pause, pushing his way through the overgrown gardens. “Some do. Some only think it.” He glanced back. “You must live a protected life in the palace if that’s the first time you’ve heard abuse like that.”
He wasn’t watching, so I let my lips twist into a bitter smile. “I don’t get out very often,” I told him, truthfully enough. My heart sank at the thought of returning to the palace. The night had been tense and scary and … exhilarating. I felt more alive now than I had for months.
And it wasn’t as though I had a great deal to look forward to when I returned. Marriage, to a brutal, wife- and child-killing king. I touched my lips as they tingled in memory of my kiss with Lyo. Would King Zalar’s kiss make me feel like that? Distaste soured my mouth. Wouldn’t that be worse, if I enjoyed his caresses even though he was a monster? I shook my head. I might lack experience, but instinct told me it couldn’t always be like that. It was as much the man as the kiss. I bit my flushed lip. I was … attracted to Lyo. I shook my head again. That was impossible. I’d only met him tonight. And he was a criminal. Like calls to like, a voice announced in my head. I tried to ignore it. Lyo was plotting against the king. And isn’t that what you’re doing, too? the voice sneered again. That was different. My father had wronged me. I was redressing the balance. Are you sure?
I watched Lyo’s back as he forged a path for us through the gardens. For a single, insane moment, I wanted to ask him to take me with him. I wanted to abandon the palace and all the choices that had been made for me and vanish into the city and a house on Scopgot Lane.
… And what on earth did I suppose I’d do there? Make a living from thievery? I wasn’t good enough to make a career of it. I was many things, but not arrogant. I’d been successful tonight by chance, because the palace offered such great opportunities for me to deprive the king of one of the baubles he loved so much. And perhaps because of my magic. And using that was definitely not a long-term plan.
No, it was time to return to the palace, hope my absence hadn’t been noted, and prepare for my wedding. Lead gripped my limbs, making it hard to move.
“Come along.” Lyo had noticed my slow pace. He glanced back. “There’ll be a way through, Relle. There always is.”
I wished he meant out of my constrained life and not just out of this jumbled garden. I pushed through the grasses that tugged at my skirts, catching him up. We reached the end of the garden where the wall turned ninety degrees and continued in another direction. “Looks like this is as close as we can get,” Lyo said.
“What’s your plan?” We’d have to get out of the garden, and then cross the alley that was now filled with palace guards. I shivered. We could try to wait until they moved away – but what if their presence had been prompted by my absence rather than that of the dragonette? They wouldn’t leave until I was found, and I couldn’t return to the palace until they left…
“I’ll take a look.” As though he were taking a walk in the park, Lyo ran to the corner of the wall and darted up it, clinging to the top with his head over the edge so he could see the other side. My jaw slackened. Surranese acrobatics were another sort of magic. The wall was so high I couldn’t even reach the top if I stood on tiptoe and stretched my arms. And he’d just run up it as though it were flat ground.
He dropped down, twisting so he faced me when he landed. “All clear. It looks like the guards checked the area and now they’re waiting at the end of the street so no one can get past. No one’s here.”
I nodded. That made sense. There weren’t e
nough guards to mark every yard of the walls. “How do I get over? Can you show me?” Skills like that would be useful in getting me in and out of the palace.
“I’ll boost you up.” He dropped onto one knee. “Step up.” He patted his thigh. I looked at him doubtfully. Even with that boost, my fingertips would barely reach the top of the wall.
“Come on,” he encouraged. “It won’t get easier if you stare at it. Trust me, I’ll get you up safely.” He grinned. “You need to show me how to get into the palace, after all.”
Of course, it was business for him, nothing more. He’d get me out of this garden because I was useful. I stepped onto his waiting leg, spanning my hands across the wall in front of me for balance.
“Good. Now, hold steady. I’ll push you up.”
I nodded. His hands went around my shins and he stood so we both rose. The top of the wall was closer, within reach if I extended my arms. I could touch the top. If I were a Surranese tumbler I’d doubtless be able to get myself up. But I wasn’t.
“Hold tight. This might jolt.”
The breath whooshed out of me as he threw me upwards, grabbing my legs again when I thought I must fall. My shins were pressed against his chest, and the wall top was now level with my eyes.
“Can you reach the top?” Lyo asked, a little breathless.
“Yes.”
“Hold it for balance. I need you to stand on my shoulders.”
I glanced down. I seemed ridiculously high up. “I’ll try.” I leaned my arms across the broad top of the wall, elbows bent.
“That’s good, you’re doing great.” His voice floated up to me again and I realised I was getting a lesson in Surranese tumbling, after all. I hadn’t thought it would be as uncomfortable as this. They made it look effortless.
“You’ll have to let go of my legs,” I pointed out. My fingers tightened on the edge of the wall just at the thought.
“Okay, your right first.” His grip loosened, and I clung to the wall as I lifted my foot gingerly. Lyo took my heel and guided me to stand on his shoulder. My foot found the right spot. “You’ll need to put your weight on me,” Lyo pointed out. “You won’t hurt me.”