“What?” I stammer, looking behind me and turning to Alistair. “What did he say?”
“The princess of Acantha just died,” he tells me, leaning towards my ear to speak more clearly. “This man said she died in her sleep. I think she was supposed to be coronated before fall? I don’t really know. But that’s one less tyrant for us.”
His words remain in my ears and in my head just as he pulls away, and they’re sticking to every corner in my head like settling dust.
The procession here in the town hall is for me. The dead princess.
But why did they say I died in my sleep?
I would get it if they mentioned the fact that I was sent on The Hunt and got attacked along the way. But why would they lie and say something completely different?
“Huh,” the old woman says. “No name?”
“No name,” Alistair confirms before her friend can answer. “They don’t disclose the names until coronation, remember? We only get news about Heirs being born, and after t
“Oh.” Alistair stares at me. “Is that true?” I can’t speak. I try to open my mouth, but it seems like my jaw has been locked. I can’t even properly look him in the eye. All I know is that my skin is tingling from all the eyes that I can feel are on me, watching my every move. But of course, I’m particularly wary of Briar. Who is he? “Well.” Alistair turns to him when I don’t say anything. “Lo here is from Gailis, where she served a Noble family. You might have seen her there a couple of times.” “Oh, really.” Briar’s smile turns into a glorified sneer. “Which Noble family did you work for?” No, this can’t be real. This can’t be happening. The only high-rank person I know from Gailis is Governor Celso, and I can’t use his name in a situation like this. At least not in a specific context. “The Taverns,” I invent wildly. “They’re close to Governor Celso.” “Ah.” His face lights up, with realization and a mix of something els
In a brief moment of clarity, I see Briar aiming his knee on my face with a wild expression, like he wants nothing but to finish me off.For the first time during this whole fight, I feel it. The fear that this might turn into something more serious than I anticipated, that this whole thing might not even be worth it. The possible consequences flash before my eyes as blood continues to flow down my nostrils, his armored knee rushing towards my face to crack open whatever is left intact. I close my eyes, waiting for it to come, to end—“STOP!”Alistair’s voice rings out in the field. Or maybe that’s just in my ears. Either way, I sense the slow decline of the energy in the place. I open one eye, then the next, only to see that Alistair is standing over me while Briar is on the ground.“What was that for?” Briar demands, quickly getting to his feet. “Why did you push me?”“Because you’
“Prostitute?” I explode. “A prostitute? Seriously?”“Yeah,” Gynith says with a small smile, which quickly vanishes. “Fake prostitute, by the way. Emphasis on ‘fake’.”“Prostitutes,” I repeat weakly, leaning against the sink, barely able to support my weight. I feel like my knees just turned to jelly upon hearing that word. “And you agreed to this?”Jossie and Gynith exchange dubious looks, like this is something they never really considered before. I don’t know why, but that annoys me more than anything. Have they never really thought about this? Have they never stopped to consider why this is their role?I let out a breath to prepare for a tirade, but Jossie beats me to it. “Look, Lora. I didn’t say it’s a perfect plan with zero snags. Either we’re in it, or we’re not. And the only way to be in it, to be in the actual operation and the
“Let’s go,” Gynith urges, suddenly getting out of her bunk and jumping to my side. “Come on. We need all hands on deck. This is bad news.”Bad news indeed. I don’t want to move. “I can’t.”She looks baffled. “What? Why? Lora, this is no joke.”“I know.” I gulp, my gaze flitting from her face to the window. When she widens her eyes questioningly, I say, “Because. . . .”I can’t continue. My tongue seems to have frozen up. For a second, my desperation almost wins and I nearly confess to her about everything. Who I am, what I am, and where I’m supposed to be. I open my mouth to begin, but Hendrik’s yell in the distance stops me from making this mistake.If I don’t go out, there’s still a chance Hendrik might find me. If I do go out, he will surely recognize me.That is, if he doesn’t already know that I’m here.
Gynith takes me to Alistair’s office, and to my surprise, the things that were displayed there when I first came are no longer around. It’s nothing more than a bare room now, and I think it’s because of the inspection. Alistair most likely hid everything, because they would surely draw suspicion. And he’s not alone in the room. “Hey, Lora,” Jossie greets me blandly, sitting on the floor in the corner, her arm draped around a big bag. “Where have you been hiding?” I don’t answer, mainly because Alistair is looking at me. “Did I do something wrong?” Alistair and Jossie exchange glances, and he bursts out laughing. Usually she joins him, but tonight she looks somber. A little annoyed too. “Well, I brought you here because of this.” He gets the bag from Jossie, opens it, and lifts one of its contents: a strip of shimmery red fabric. “Your dresses for the mission.” “Our prostitute attire,” Jossie says dryly, flashing him a pointed look. “Fo
"Is everyone ready?" Alistair's voice is ringing across the field. Tonight is the night of the mission, and every single one of the members of the group, including those who aren't included in the quest, are gathered here to listen. Those of us who will join are all dressed up, with weapons hidden in unconventional places, standing before Alistair and taking in all the things he's pointing out at the map of the fortuneteller's shop called Kismet's Wheel. "Women, Briar will take you in and present you to Ylendez, the fortuneteller and the owner of the place," he announces. "Ylendez will take you in and immediately make you work. You will be facing the customers of the brothel. Since I will go there first, I will be there waiting for you. And after Briar collects the fees for your services, he will be joining us shortly." He points at a big square space in the blueprint of the shop, but my gaze is fixed on him.
I try to pry the man's hand off my wrist, but he holds on. In fact, his grip only gets tighter as he pulls me through the door and leads me to another narrow hallway.There are a series of doors on one side, and I know immediately even without looking that these are the rooms for the clients and the prostitutes they chose.The man opens the first door he sees and shoves me inside, where I stumble on my feet and nearly fall face first on the floor. I fumble around and feel the mattress before he turns on the lights and closes the door behind him."Take off your dress," he orders as soon as I get to my feet. He takes a chair beside the bed and watches me intently. "Slowly."With shaking hands, I lift my hands to the straps of my dress. His gaze is lustful, pinned on me as though I am already undressed.Should I really do this? Do I really have no choice?I swallow hard. I just have to play for time. I don't know if anyone is coming to save me
Alistair and I exchange looks. This is the first time I see genuine, chilling dread in his eyes, much more intense than that time we saw the guards in the marketplace, and in turn it makes my heart go crazy with fear.Knowing that people are after us is scary, but not knowing what gave our whole operation away is what makes me want to cower in the corner.The footsteps grow louder, closer. Alistair grabs my hand and steers me along the hall, kicking open the first door we see and rushing inside. There’s a window in this room, and it seems that it’s exactly the thing he’s looking for, because he immediately jumps on the bed and pries the window open before turning back to me.“Come on,” he urges, beckoning at the window. “Let’s go.”My panic reaches its peak. “What?”“Let’s jump through the window.” He pulls me on top of the bed with ease. “Come on.”I h