Page 9 of Golden Queen (Idrigard #1)

"Not my blood," I assured her. "Where's my cousin?"

"He left an hour ago," Igraine supplied.

"Shit! Well, I need some...assistance, then. Can I borrow a carriage...and a strong man?" Thinking better of it as I remembered the weight of the fae man, I added, "Two strong men."

Anetta's eyes went wide. I could only imagine what she thought I had done, probably murder if her calculating look back at the other courtesans was any indication.

She nodded to Raitha, who turned and sprinted down the hall without hesitation.

"Tell me as much as you can,” Anetta said.

Before I could speak, she caught sight of the shirt visible between the edges of my coat, where the blood had plastered the material to my skin. "Do you have time to change?" she asked.

I was amazed at how quickly Anetta was jumping in to assist me—Igraine and Raitha too. They were true friends. And they knew me. They knew who I really was.

I shook my head. "We have to move quickly. Someone is injured."

Igraine turned and followed in Raitha's footsteps down the hall, presumably to tell her to act quickly.

"Are you sure you aren't hurt, Sera? That is a great deal of blood," Anetta reached up to push the braid off my shoulder as though searching for injury.

I took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "I'm fine." I could tell she wanted to demand to know whose blood it was, but she wouldn't. The courtesans of the Mouse's Ear were well practiced in maintaining the secrecy of Windemerian nobles.

Raitha and Igraine rushed through the doorway, followed by two men. Barrett, a courtesan I knew, and another bulky-looking older man I'd never met.

I gave them minimal details about what we were doing, and then we left to find a dull black carriage waiting on the gravel drive behind the pleasure house.

It took less than five minutes to reach the street with the row of houses. I leaned my head out the window, peering at them carefully to ascertain which one it had been.

"That one!" I said, pointing to where a dark stain could be seen on the grass. The man in the rough, brown coat was still at the edge of the lawn. I could see the outline of his body in the shadows.

I had already explained to the men about my pursuit, so they had me wait in the carriage while they retrieved the fae man from the bushes.

The big one turned out to be Aggie, the groundskeeper. He kept a wary eye out for anyone approaching, and the handle of a very large hammer in his hand.

I watched nervously as he and Barrett pulled the fae man from the bushes and carried him to the carriage. They visibly struggled with his weight held between them, and I marveled at the fact that I’d managed to drag him so far.

The carriage rocked as they hauled him in, propping him next to me on the seat. Though his breaths seemed steady and strong, his head lolled listlessly. He didn't stir as the men climbed into the seat across from us and the carriage took off back to the Mouse's Ear.

As we bounced over the stones, I reached my hand up to steady his head, to keep it from striking the back of the carriage.

I felt the same oddly pleasant sensation touching his warm skin, the same unknowable urge to linger there, to run my hands over his face, his neck, and through all that thick, dark hair.

That thought had my toes curling in my boots just a little.

I kept my hands still, though. I knew how wrong it would be to touch someone when they had no choice in the matter. Even if it was their own magic that made me want to do it—the magic of the fair folk.

It was impossible to stop my eyes, though, as they drank in the still, beautiful image of him in what looked for all the world like peaceful repose.

His clothes were finely tailored. They were black and made from what looked like very expensive materials. His coat, especially, looked like some kind of silk. The weave was so fine it was almost invisible, and the texture of it was strange under my fingers.

I caught Barrett's gaze. He waggled his perfectly sculpted brows.

I jerked my hand away from the fae man’s coat sleeve, where I had apparently been manhandling the material. I couldn't blame that on fae magic.

"Shut up," I told Barrett with a wry grin.

"He's fae, you know," Barrett said quietly.

Aggie's eyes shot to the man in alarm.

"I know," I told Barrett. "But how did you know?"

Barrett laughed softly. "I know a fae male when I see one, Sera." He grinned suggestively. "Can't you smell the blood?"

I could, but for some reason, I didn't want to admit that to him. I didn't know why. "I only know he's fae because I put a dagger in his heart, and he is not dead."

Barrett snorted in surprise, leaning forward conspiratorially. "You have to tell me that story, young lady."

"Later," I assured him. "But suffice it to say, it was an accident." I chewed my lip anxiously.

Aggie made a low, whistling sound. He was sitting up tensely, eyeing the fae man with clear suspicion and fear. He had the fingers of one hand wrapped around the handle of the hammer on the seat beside him. "Let's hope you have time to explain that to him when he wakes up."

I didn't reply as I felt the carriage moving from the paved road to the gravel drive behind the brothel.

Anetta stood, wide-eyed, holding the door open as Aggie and Barrett carried the fae man from the carriage. She and I trailed after them as they navigated a narrow set of stairs and deposited him into a tiny room, barely more than a closet.

The brothel's doctor, a slight man with a cloud of white hair around his head, stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

Anetta turned to me eagerly. "I hope it's alright that I called the doctor. He was already here—"

"Of course, Anetta. Thank you." I gave her a grateful smile.

"So, what happened?" she asked, fairly buzzing with curiosity.

I explained it all while Anetta stared at me with her mouth hanging open in shock.

"Mother's bones, Sera! I'm glad you're okay! But who would have been chasing you?"

"I don't know. They knew who I was, though. I’m sure of that. And the old man was the one calling the shots."

"Did you get a good enough look at him to be sure he wasn't one of the eldermen?" she asked, voicing a thought that had also been running through my mind.

"I'm sure he wasn't one of them, but whether or not they might have hired him, I can’t say."

"I know that many on the council are displeased that your cousin does not sit the throne," Anetta said.

The way the council coveted the idea of crowning Arkadian was no secret, but as one of the most respected courtesans in the city, Anetta had greater knowledge than most. Her powerful clients often used her as an outlet for the grievances they couldn't voice in their daily lives, so she brought me more news about my kingdom than anyone in the court.

"They are the ones most likely to be behind it," I admitted, feeling a jolt of unease at the idea of venomous snakes lurking inside my council chambers.

"At least you can be sure that your uncle was not part of it," Anetta said. "He’s the only one who stands to lose everything if something happens to you."

I gave her a tight-lipped smile. "That’s true enough." Arkadian would be king if I died.

After so many years of abuse and near tyrannical control, Markus might convince himself that I will be no threat under the yoke of whatever husband he forces upon me, but he would fear the wrath of King Arkadian Lithaway.

Anetta and I speculated a little more about who might have been responsible for the pursuit, ultimately coming up with very little explanation, aside from the obvious ransom schemes.

"You must be more careful, Sera," she said after a while.

"I am always careful.” I smiled reassuringly. We both knew it was a lie. Even if I had not been born with a greater regard for self-preservation, Arkadian had given me the skills necessary to defend myself.

We lapsed into silence as we waited. I leaned against the wall, but pushed off quickly, feeling my muscles ache with the need to move, to take some action, to do something.

"I'm sorry the room is so small," Anetta said, startling me from my anxious vigil. "This is all we have. King's Day has us full up. You're lucky we even managed this small space with all the horny lords roaming the city."

I couldn't help but laugh. "It'll do," I told her gratefully. "And I'll compensate you for it all."

Anetta frowned, "I don't require payment for helping my friend."

"I know that," I told her, "But I will anyway."

The doctor stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. He gave me a sympathetic smile and shook his head.

"Will he be okay?" I asked, tension making my neck and jaw ache fiercely again.

The doctor shrugged. "He should be awake by now. I don't know why he still sleeps. You say it was a dagger?"

"A mellitrium dagger," I answered.

He nodded as though he already knew that. "Do you have the knife?" he asked.

I pulled it from my pocket and held it out. I saw it at the same time the doctor did. The dull, graphite-colored blade ended in a clean line where the point had broken off.

"Gastriyak!" the doctor cursed in the old language of the first kings of Windemere. He didn't even bother to take my knife. "That will need to come out."

"I will, of course, compensate you well for your—"

The doctor barked a startled laugh that made me trail off.

He shook his head vigorously. "No, no, no, and no.

I will not be sticking my fingers inside that man.

I don't have the herbs or tonics to put him out, and if he wakes up in the middle.

..well, he's likely to take my head off before I can explain why I'm poking around his heart. "

"Well, what will happen if it's left in there?" I asked incredulously.

The doctor shook his head in a way that left no doubt that the man would die.

"We can tie him down," I began.