Two-Faced (Assassin at Court Series Book 1) (6 page)

Chapter 19

U
nfortunately, my roommate was still in our room when I returned. She sat on a chaise near the door as if she had been waiting on me. I walked past her without sparing a glance in her direction.

“Skyler, I am sorry,” she said after me.

I kept walking and sat on my bed. I could not do this with her right now. I was already emotionally wrung dry. Maybe if I buried myself under my comforter she would get the message.

“Come on, Skyler, please don’t stay mad at me.”

I finally looked at her and damn it I wished I did not. Her eyes were doing that thing they did where they swelled up with tears.

I let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine, Emily, I will not stay mad at you. Are you happy now?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I suck and am a horrible friend. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut. My mother is right. I talk too much. She says it is why I will never make a suitable Lady. I need to learn to be seen and not heard.”

All of my anger toward Emily drained out of me and redirected itself at her mother.
Who said things like that to their child?
I really, really hated High Nobles.

I patted the bed beside me, inviting her to sit down. “Your mother sounds like a bitch Em.”

She looked at me incredulously then doubled over in laughter. “You have no idea.”

A knock at the door cut off her laughter.

“Hi, Emilia. The Queen gave us permission to go out and tour the royal city. She’s even offered to send a guard to escort us. A few of the other girls and I, who have never been to Pleith before, figured we would take her up on the offer. Do you want to come?” The newcomer was Charlize Grace from the House of Danvue.

Emily’s expression lit up then just as quickly deflated. “No, you all go ahead.” I heard the longing in her voice. She declined the offer for my benefit.

“It’s okay Emily. I don’t mind if you go.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

I was sure and I told her as much. It would be selfish of me to let her stay behind just because I was not invited.

She hopped off the bed, but she also pulled me up along with her. “Come with us. It will be fun?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m good. I don’t think I am invited.”

“Of course you are. Right Charlize?”

Charlize blanched a bit, but she gracefully and quickly recovered. “Sure, Skyler can come.” She looked like the words pained her to say.

I wanted to insist that I not go. I would rather walk barefooted on nails than spend the evening with a group of superficial teenage nobles. I said yes because I knew Emily wanted to go and she would spend the evening feeling guilty if I stayed behind.

The trip into the city did not turn out to be as bad as I thought it would. Our
group
consisted of Charlize, Emily, Rosemary and myself. The other who remained in the competition stayed behind. Having visited the city of Pleith before, they had no desire to explore it again. They preferred to stay in the palace and play at being royalty. Pleith was every bit as lovely as a royal city should be. A thousand lights glittered against the night sky and decorated street after street of homes and businesses that boasted medieval-inspired architecture. I did not pay much attention to beauty of the city when I first arrived. I was too nervous and focused on the mission at hand. The city outside the walls of the palace bustled with life. It consisted of soldiers in the royal army, off duty palace guards, visiting nobles and Common People employed by the royal family. The Common People here were nothing like the Common People of Arythmia. There seemed to be less of a division between the wealthy and the poor. The wealthy had just as much money but the poor had a little bit more than the people of Arythmia. Maybe that was why things were so bad for the Common People everywhere else. The royal family had a limited perspective of our plight.

Our quartet sat in a plush booth inside one of Pleith’s more reputable taverns. The guard assigned to escort us disappeared somewhere inside the large establishment with a lovely blonde. The tension was thick when we first departed the castle, but now several hours into our excursion the girls seemed to have relaxed around me. We were still not friends, but they were cordial. The tavern was full of soldiers. I could tell they were not off duty guards because of the way they carried themselves. They were less refined and more rowdy. One of the more brazen ones approached our table.

“Good evening ladies. What brings y’all to this fine establishment?” He slurred his words as he spoke.

No one at the table immediately acknowledged him and it must have pissed him off. “You girls think you’re too fancy to talk to a lowly soldier.” He sounded offended now. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded wad of money. “I know what interests y’all. I have money and I can pay.” He grabbed Charlize’s arm roughly. “What about you? How much will it take to make you come home with me for the night?”

“I suggest you let her go and leave us alone. Now.” My voice was low and polite. Only he and the girls at the table could have heard me. I did not want to make the situation worse by making him feel as if he needed to save face in front of his fellow soldiers.

“What’s that girlie? I didn’t quite hear you. Did you say you wanted to come with me instead?” He smiled a crooked grin at me. It only served to make him that much more unattractive. He was a large, brawny man with a crooked nose that rested at an odd angle as if it had been broken one too many times. If he was not careful, it was going to be broken one more time.

I kept my voice low, but my tone was no longer polite. “Last chance. Walk away.”

“What about you?” He began another round of crude comments as he reached for Emily. Whatever foul words he would have said were cut short as I stood over Emily and forcefully knocked his hand away from her. She wasted no time scooting between the seat and me, sliding as far away from the offending soldier as possible.

His friends chuckled in the background. He turned livid. He raised a hand to backslap me, but I caught it mid-strike. I pushed off the table and used the momentum to knee him in the stomach. He doubled over in pain. I could have left it at that, but I was pissed and far from finished with him. While he was doubled over, I took advantage of the opportunity and smashed my booted foot into his face. Bone and cartilage crunched beneath it. He dropped to his knees. I bent down and grabbed the same hand he grabbed Charlize’s shoulder with. I squeezed and squeezed until the bones splintered. I brought my lips inches away from his ear and whispered, “Next time when a Lady says leave her alone,
listen
. Now one of two things can happen. You can pick yourself up and limp away or you can continue annoying me and I can use the knife I have strapped to my leg to slit your vocal chords. Nod once if you choose option A.”

He nodded once.
Smart man.
When I turned back to the table, three sets of eyes looked at me with expressions that were equal parts horror-stricken, shocked and amazed.  Our guard chose that moment to make an appearance. All of the commotion must have compelled him to check on us.

“You are about five minutes too late,” I said across the room. “But can you make yourself useful and escort us back to the palace please?” I demanded more than I asked him but at least I said please.

My plan was to return to my room and go to bed when we arrived back at the castle, but everyone else had other plans. Charlize, Rosemary and Emily crowded around me in our room bombarding me with a million and one questions.

“You were amazing. Where did you learn to do that?” Emily wanted to know.

“Can you teach me?” Charlize pleaded.

“What did you say to him?” Rosemary inquired.

You would think if they wanted answers they would allow me to get a single word. Then an urgent knock echoed through the room.

“Skyler, are you alright?” Zander rushed into the room.

I was so happy to see him I jumped up from my position on the chaise and met him in the middle. His arms immediately went around me and he pulled me into a quick kiss.

“I’m okay,” I told him.

“I apologize for not being around after the trial. I would have escorted you into town myself had I known. I was busy having a discussion with my mother.” He said the latter part through clenched teeth.

I was not ready to think about the
discussion
he had with his mother.

Zander finally became aware of the other girls’ presence in the room. “Hello, Ladies,” he said a little awkwardly. His guard immediately went up. He transformed before my eyes from Zander to Prince Edwin Alexander the Fifth. He straightened his spine and squared his shoulders and delivered a Princely dip of his head toward Emily, Rosemary and Charlize. When he spoke to me again, his voice sounded like the Zander I knew even though his posture was now wrong. It was too rigid and serious. “Will you meet me for breakfast in the morning as usual?”

I smiled teasingly at him. “Do you even have to ask?”

He placed his forehead to mine. ”Yes. You might decide this is all too much for you and you would rather go back to a simpler life.”

Whoa. Where did that come from?
I wanted to ask what he was talking about, but I couldn’t with an audience. Instead I kissed him on his cheek and said, “Never.”

I did not mean to lie to him. When I spoke the single word, it was not a conscious effort. The response automatically rolled off my tongue as if it was the only possible answer to his unspoken question.

After Zander left, I turned back to the girls. All of their mouths hung open. I even think Rosemary may have drooled a bit.

“He is gorgeous up close,” Rosemary fawned.

“I am so jealous,” Charlize gushed.

“When you two get married, can I be one of your ladies-in-waiting?” Emily pleaded

“Ooh, me too!” The other two swooned.

My cheeks heated. I was not used to being the center of attention. I tried to usher Charlize and Rosemary out and Emily to bed, but none of them would hear of it. They kept me up for hours with talk of Princes and weddings. I was not used to having girlfriends. I admit it felt sort of nice. The three of them were an endless, perky collection of excited chatter. I grew tired long before they did. I convinced them to disperse by finally agreeing to them being my ladies-in-waiting if I married the Prince. It is not lost on me that I lied for the second time that night.
The Prince and I were not getting married. Common girls turned assassins did not marry royalty.

Chapter 20

B
reakfast the next morning consisted of an assortment of fruits, breads, and juices. I almost groaned when I bit into the warm loaf of freshly baked, honey-glazed bread. Delicious food had come to be like frilly dresses were to me. A luxury I overindulged in to make up for years of going without it. I suspected Zander had picked up on my love of food.

Every morning we met for breakfast, the crystal and gold inlaid table in the garden was decorated with a plethora of delicious treats. It was admittedly more than two people could eat. I sometimes wondered where it went after the servants cleared it away. Did they dispose of it or give it away? I guiltily thought about all of the food that was cleared from our table. It would be such a shame if they simply threw it out with the trash. There were thousands of Common People in the cities that neighbored Pleith who would appreciate it. I told Zander as much over breakfast. He admitted not knowing what the servants did with it, but vowed that he would direct them to package it up and deliver it to the nearby cities. The Common People in Pleith probably did not need it as much. Most of them served in the royal army or worked directly for the palace. Thus, they earned better wages than their counterparts across Anthame.

“Are you going to tell me where you learned to bring a grown man to his knees?” Zander eyed me curiously once we finished our breakfast.

His expression was approving rather than condemning, which spoke volumes about how evolved his thinking was compared to most men in Anthame. Learning to fight, even in self-defense, was not proper behavior for a lady.

“My brother,” I half lied, half told him the truth. My brother had taught me basic self-defense skills in addition to our archery lessons as a young girl. But even he would be appalled by my actions in the tavern the previous night. The Assassin’s Guild was responsible for the weight of my skills. From the moment I agreed to Samael’s offer, he brutally trained me day and night until I was a well-honed lethal blade. He kicked my ass and left all sorts of bruises littering my body, but it was a welcomed assault. I was willing to do whatever it took to make sure I would never be vulnerable at the hands of a man again. Now, I could take out a group twice as large as the trio that attacked me with one hand tied behind my back.

Our conversation steered toward the competition. Zander warned me that the next trial would be a confirmation hearing. Each of the remaining thirty girls would be called before the High Council, made up of the King, the High Nobles that directly advised him and Zander himself. The Queen would also be in attendance to judge the girls. From what he explained, it was basically one large bully session. We would be attacked with questions about secrets and scandals they had dug up relating to our Houses. Zander told me about the trial so that I would be prepared for it ahead of time. Anthame law required that the High Council confirm any bride the Heir of the House of Roth selected as a suitable future Queen. Zander could marry whomever he chose, but unless she was confirmed by the High Council, she would never be Queen.

Our conversation had steered into deep waters. He was making his intentions to select me as Anthame’s future Queen clear.  Soon, it would be impossible to keep my deception going. Once selected, a proclamation would go out across the kingdom. Whoever contracted me to kill Zander would know immediately that I had gotten close enough to the Prince to make the kill. I would then be forced to show my hand. I obviously was not going to kill, but I now realized I could no longer simply disappear without an explanation either. Once it was clear I was not going to complete the contract, the Assassin’s Guild would send someone else to kill Zander, and probably me out of spite. It would not be as clean and as untraceable as whoever took out the contract originally wanted, but if he wanted the Prince dead as badly as I suspected he did, then he would make an exception. The only option I had left was to come clean about everything. I needed to tell Zander what I was and the real reason I was at the palace. My fate would then be in his and the King’s hands. I would be executed for treason, but I was willing to accept that over the alternative: save my own skin by fleeing the palace without revealing the truth and leaving Zander vulnerable to a threat he was not aware of.

Resigned to my fate I parted my lips to confess my deceit, but a small, hyperactive voice interrupted me.

“Zander, is it time to go yet?!” Kiera bounced up and down excitedly.

I eyed him questioningly.

“I promised her she could go riding with us today. I hope you don’t mind?” he said in an apologetic tone.

Was he kidding? She was his little sister. It would be selfish beyond all reason for me to have a problem with her spending time with us.

“I don’t mind at all,” I assured him. “But you and Kiera should go out alone today. I am sure she misses having you all to herself?”

The hopeful look that crossed Kiera’s face confirmed it.

Zander thought I stayed behind out of thoughtfulness. He was correct, but not in the manner he assumed. It was me trying to place distance between myself and the two of them. I was telling Zander the truth the very next time I had a moment alone with him. My time with him was up, and there was no use dragging it out any farther. Any additional moments we spent together would only twist the knife deeper I was about to drive in both of our hearts.

I returned to my room to a folded piece of paper sitting on my bedside table. A sick feeling started in my stomach and grew as I unfolded it and read the short, concise words printed on it:

Be outside the palace walls at sunset.