Page 7 of Golden Queen (Idrigard #1)

I decided to head back, feeling some sort of prickling unease at the nape of my neck.

I reached Antevemer street again much further from the pleasure house than I expected.

I didn't realize how far I'd strolled along the canal while I pondered the future.

Luckily, the streets were packed with people out celebrating King's Day, so I didn't feel in any particular danger as I walked with my hood pulled up and my eyes downcast.

The streets emptied as I continued, though. I belatedly realized I was alone when I thought I heard a scuffle and turned to see that no one was behind me at all, or in front of me for that matter. I reached a hand inside my coat again and found the handle of my sword, just in case.

Something felt...wrong. Something smelled wrong. An acrid scent was in the air, like smoke and metal.

I hurried my steps, listening intently. Ahead of me was the end of a tall fence where another street crossed Antevemer. I flinched, my feet drawing to a halt as a shadow moved across the circle of yellow light cast by the gas lantern.

I watched silently, hardly daring to breathe. Had I imagined it? When nothing happened, I sighed, chastising myself for dramatics. I took a deep breath, glancing behind myself again just to be sure, and then continued.

I had almost reached the corner when my footsteps echoed, and I knew someone was walking behind me.

I kept going, not wanting to betray that I knew someone was there. They were making an attempt to keep in rhythm with my steps to mask the sound, but they were not very good at it. I heard them clearly.

And then the shadow at the corner of the fence moved again, and I knew I was being herded.

Who or why, I had no time to wonder as I sprinted out into the street.

I wanted to put as much distance as I could between the person behind me and the corner of the fence, where I knew for certain another person was hiding.

I edged as close as I could to the wall on the other side so that I would have the bulk of the stones at my back, and then I pulled my sword from its sheath.

A large man wearing a black cloak stood on the sidewalk where I had just been standing. He was holding his hands up in a placating manner. Another stepped out from the corner of the fence, and I saw, to my surprise, that it was a woman.

"Hello there," she said. "We didn't mean to startle you, did we, Gudren?"

She had what I assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile, but it ended up just looking forced and indifferent. Her head was covered in a tightly wound cloth in the style that many of the city's mill workers favored, and she wore a simple gown of some indeterminate color in the dim lamp light.

The man took a step forward, lowering his hands. "No, no, we didn't mean to startle you, miss." I held my sword out to my side, still pointed to the ground, as he continued. "I was just coming here to meet my sweetheart, Brita." He nodded in the direction of the woman.

I nearly breathed a sigh of relief and chalked the whole thing up to my paranoia, but Brita glanced upwards when he said, my sweetheart.

It looked like little more than an unconscious reaction to his words, but it told me all I needed to know.

She was the furthest thing from that man's sweetheart.

And there was only one reason they would lie.

I gripped my sword tighter and kept an eye on my periphery. "Well don't let me stop you," I said, carefully. "Feel free to be on your way." I motioned with my sword in the direction of what I could now see was Lahamra Street intersecting Antevemer.

The man glanced at the woman. She met his gaze for a breath and then turned back to me. "Are you heading back to the...where is it you're heading, dear?" she asked.

And I knew the woman had almost said, are you heading back to the castle? These people were incredibly stupid, but they knew exactly who I was. I realized I was in a lot more danger than if they had just been a couple of thieves who happened upon a likely victim.

I didn't answer. I just studied the woman, trying to assess whether those were bulky clothes or pretty sizable muscles beneath her gown.

"We could accompany you," the man added eagerly. I slid my eyes back to him warily. "It's very dangerous to be outside alone for a woman in this part of the city."

"No, thank you," I said icily. "I'm also meeting others. They'll be along very soon." I hoped they would believe the lie and be deterred from their plan, whatever it was.

The man made a show of looking up and down the street before turning back to me. "I see no one here. Perhaps your friends were waylaid. Let us see you back to safety—"

"I said no," I cut him off, letting my tone convey the message that I was serious. "Now, kindly fuck off and leave me alone."

"What language for a princess," said a grating voice from the shadows at the street corner.

I heard shuffling footsteps, and then a tall man in long black robes with wide sleeves stepped out of the shadows.

He leaned heavily on a cane held in front of him.

Most of his face was hidden beneath the wide cowl of a hood, but I could see the outline of a white beard and deep creases running down his long, pale face.

I did not wait to see what else he said.

I turned and lunged off in the direction of the brothel, keeping my sword in my hand as I pushed my feet across the paved surface of the road.

I heard a shout and a muttered curse at my back, but I thought I had surprised them enough to give me a good head start.

I ran as quickly as I could, not daring to even look behind me as the sound of my own boots slapping against the road filled my ears.

As I passed by a line of identical white houses, I saw with horror that there was a man standing in the middle of the street, as though waiting for me. I darted to the left, sliding through a gap in a stone wall.

I came out into a sizable courtyard that even had a few tall trees. I prayed that I would not be trapped inside a walled garden. This side of Antevemer was much nicer than the other side, where the slums stretched away for a mile or more.

I kept going, racing across the courtyard, feeling my lungs begin to seize and burn. I dared not stop, and still dared not look behind me, since I knew the man from the road was giving chase. I could hear the sound of pursuing footfalls right up until I ran off into the grass.

I kept running and running, passing small houses, a park where several stone benches sat grouped around a central depression in the ground, and still I pushed on. As I passed by another row of houses, I saw a thick hedgerow.

I hesitated, slowing my pace as I judged the obstacle in my path. I was unsure if I would be able to scale the hedge, or whether it would be thin enough to push through.

I finally dared to look behind me and saw the big man in the cloak, Gudren, running past the stone benches. I moved, turning left, sliding along the hedge towards an opening in the row.

Gudren didn't stop. I heard him crash through the hedge, thinking to cut me off. I turned back towards the houses instead of through the opening and hoped he would not realize I had doubled back.

I ran again, but I slowed as I reached Antevemer.

I quieted my footsteps as I peered up and down the street.

I saw no one. I took off again in the direction of the brothel, keeping to the grassy areas in front of the houses where I could so that my steps did not make as much sound as they would on the road.

I made a mistake, though, as I reached the place where I had seen the man waiting. I slowed cautiously, looking for him, when I should have kept running at full speed. He leaped out from behind a house and grabbed me.

I swung out with my sword. He was too close, and I couldn't get any power behind my swing.

He took me to the ground, face-first. He smelled horrible, like stale urine and onions as he pushed my face into the grass.

I saw his rough brown coat hanging down in my peripheral vision and heard his muttered command, "Stay down! "

My hand had fallen from my sword. I madly scrambled in the grass trying to find it, nails digging into the damp earth as I searched.

The man's weight left me suddenly. I took my chance. I thrust my hand into my pocket and pulled my dagger out as I pushed myself up from the grass.

I turned and thrust at the same time, feeling the blade sink up to the hilt in his chest—like a hot knife through butter.

I had only a single moment to marvel at the way the mellitrium had gone so easily through bone and muscle before the man was clasping my upper arms with his hands and I met his startled gaze.

His strange black eyes were wide and intense.

"Fuck," he said, matter-of-factly. He looked down at his chest. "Fuck," he repeated, drawing the word out on a breath. And then matter-of-factly again, "That is in my heart."

He groaned and sank to his knees, and I...I tried to catch him.

I could not have said why I tried to catch my attacker or why I tried to soften his fall as sudden, deep regret pulsed through me.

I went down with him, his hands still on my arms, and mine now clasping his forearms.

When my knees hit the ground, I put my hand out and felt something soft, something covered with fabric. I looked down to see a man in a rough, brown coat lying on his back, staring sightlessly up at the night sky. The stench of stale urine filled my nostrils.

I looked back at the man in front of me. I couldn't understand. My mind quite literally whirred in all directions, trying to find some purchase with which to grab onto so that I could understand what had just happened.

The man pitched forward. I had to scuttle away to keep from being pinned beneath him as he fell to his side next to the smelly man in the rough, brown coat.

I stood, finding my sword. It only took me another heartbeat to understand what had happened.