Page 13 of Her Blind Deception (The Dark Reflection #2)

Chapter Thirteen

I t was a relief to be outside of the palace. I didn’t realise that until the carriage had already trundled through the gates, until we were rattling down the sloping road into the press of Lee Helse, swallowed by the bustle of carriages and horses and street sellers, and I began to breathe a little deeper. Cotus flicked the horse’s flanks lightly, glancing back at my window more than once as I hung my head out and guzzled the air like I was starving for it. It was saturated with smells, far more so than the ever clean and crystalline palace, but the air went down easier all the same.

The tavern was relatively upmarket, in the mid-levels of the city; not quite Peak Street, but not the Trough, either. The sort of place where I might avoid being recognised.

‘You shouldn’t go in there alone,’ Cotus muttered as he handed me down from the carriage.

‘Why?’ I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

‘It isn’t safe.’

‘Cotus, I used to live in a tavern.’

‘Yeah, well, you don’t anymore. ’

I turned away so he couldn’t see me rolling my eyes. Like I was ever safe. ‘I don’t need a minder. And I won’t be long.’

‘Last time you said that, you came back married.’ I didn’t miss the resentment in his tone.

‘I doubt I’d find a priest here. And since my current husband is still alive, I don’t think they’d perform the ceremony even if I did.’

He scowled down at the road, his ears reddening.

‘Oh, come on, don’t be such a limpet,’ I said, my voice heavy with exasperation.

‘I have to tell you something,’ he muttered, and I had the distinct impression that, whatever he had to tell me, he was picking this moment just to harpoon my good mood. ‘There’s been talk among the snatchers.’ He speared me with a significant look. ‘Last night, I had a drink with a few of the folks I used to run swoon with. They were tossing about stories of a girl in the Yawn.’

It felt like a band had snapped around my chest and squeezed. So much for breathing easier. ‘What kind of stories?’

‘Someone’s been raiding the swoon patches.’

‘That could be just a rival gang.’

‘Maybe. But Bruno swears he caught sight of a girl fleeing through the trees.’

A brief, violent attack of guilt turned my stomach. I had thought the swoon would keep her in the Yawn, that she would hunt the flowers illegally traded throughout Lee Helse in the form of a powdered drug instead of plucking up the courage to return. But I hadn’t anticipated how sordid I would feel now that I had proof the strategy had worked . ‘And what explanation have they come up with? ’

‘That its some fall spawn monster trying to lure them into the trees.’ He rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing me from beneath a flop of red hair. ‘The new king executed someone for her disappearance. How long are you going to leave her there?’

How long? I had hoped there wouldn’t be an expiration date. Because even though I had hopes of learning something useful tonight, I was still no closer to finding a way to end her exile without losing everything. But if she had been seen, how far would those stories carry?

How long before Draven heard them?

‘Do you really think this is the right place to have this conversation?’ I hissed, shooting a glance down the street.

‘You said we were doing it to protect her,’ he pressed on, his voice tight with desperation. With fear. ‘You said you needed to sort out the threat to her life.’

‘I’m working on it,’ I snapped. ‘That’s why I’m here.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean that you need to trust me.’ Massaging the space between my brows, I released a sigh. ‘I want you to go and tell all of your snatcher friends that your cabin is being watched. Tell them to stay out of that part of the Yawn if they want to avoid being arrested.’

‘Alright, but it’s not just that. She hasn’t touched the last lot of supplies I took her.’

‘She’s probably too scared because there are bloody snatchers stomping all over the place,’ I snapped. ‘Do a good job at convincing them all to leave off, Cotus, or I’ll round the lot of them up and charge them with trading in unsanctioned magic.’

He blanched. ‘You wouldn’t do that. ’

Taking a breath, I tried to calm the anxiety that made me want to lash out at him. He was my ally. I needed him to stay that way. ‘No. Of course not. But I need you to understand how important it is that you’re convincing. I want you to go and find them right now.’

‘I can’t—’

‘You can absolutely leave me here.’ Calm, I reminded myself. Reasonable. I offered him a smile. ‘I’ll be alright. I know the city well enough to find my own way back.’

I didn’t give him a chance to object again, heading for the glowing windows of the tavern as thunder rumbled a warning in the grey sky. A creaky sign swung in the wind above the door, the paint fresh and bright, depicting a neat yellow crown and the words ‘The King’s Arms.’ Fitting.

It was bright and bustling inside: a large room segmented into niches with different styles of tables and seating, loud enough to have a quiet conversation that wouldn’t be overheard. A long, polished bar ran the length of the room, at which bustled a bar tender with a drooping moustache and a harried look about him. I spotted a handful palace soldiers immediately, lounging on a circle of low settees in the bowels of the room, recognisable by the fact that they were all wearing the same standard-issue grey tunic and some were still lugging around their swords.

Lester looked up, and immediately he locked onto me, recognition flaring in his face. I raised my eyebrows just a little, before heading for the bar and perching on one of the stools. The bar tender flung his cloth to the counter and darted over.

‘Can I bring you something, madam?’ he asked, his eyes gleaming. Even without jewels and in a simple dress from Leela’s own wardrobe, I stood out in a place like this. The beauty was too intense, the glamour almost too much, to avoid attracting attention. When I had been queen for long enough for the wider public to become familiar with my face, I’d never be able to pass unnoticed. I was too recognisable.

I ordered, and he carefully selected a glass, holding it up to check it for smudges. From behind the bar, a portrait of the late King Linus in all his ceremonial finery stared down at me with cold indifference, and I flicked my gaze quickly away. The bar tender set the glass down and poured my drink.

‘Make that two,’ a masculine voice said and Lester slapped a hand on the countertop as he settled into the chair beside me, releasing a few coins onto the polished wood.

After the barkeep poured a second glass and moved away to serve another customer, I sized up my drinking companion. There really wasn’t a lick of resemblance between this soldier and Draven. One was dark where the other was fair, one swarthy where the other was pale. Lester was freckled and large featured, and looking at me with a slanted gaze that made me think he knew exactly what I was up to.

‘What are you doing here, Your Majesty?’

‘Actually, I’ve come to see you.’

‘Have you now?’ With a flick, he pulled a dagger from his belt, and I flinched like he was about to stab me. But he just began picking at his fingernails with the blade. ‘And what would someone as mighty as yourself want with little old me?’

‘Maybe I’ve come to offer my gratitude to a man who protects my court every day.’ The words were buttery and matched well with my sweetest smile .

‘Oh sure, and I’m the king of Oceatold.’ He frowned and waved his dagger in the air. ‘None of that flattery business, now. I know better than to buy it. Speak straight with me or this conversation is finished.’

The congeniality cooled on my tongue. Well, it’d been worth a try. ‘You could stand to brush up your manners, soldier. I’m your queen.’

‘But only because you bonked the little princess on the head, ey?’ He dropped a wink.

I stared at him in mingled rage and horror.

‘Don’t fret, queenie, your secret’s safe with me,’ he snickered. ‘You might consider me something of a co-conspirator, as it were.’

Fire and brimstone, was Draven really so stupid as to trust this man with that secret? This man who had uttered that secret in a crowded tavern?!

‘Think about where you are right now,’ I warned.

‘No one can hear us.’ He gestured his dagger in the direction of the bar tender. ‘Billy is deaf as a stone in this ear. Everyone else is busy swilling as much larger as they can while it’s on cheap.’

‘Even so, I’ll ask you to be more discreet.’ I exhaled slowly and leaned back in my chair as though I was just as relaxed as he seemed to be. ‘I’ll admit I’m surprised Draven shared that with you.’

He grinned in a crooked, cynical way. ‘Hasn’t he told you? We’re brothers, the king and I. Well, half-brothers. High Lord of the shit jobs, that’s me.’ He cocked his head, his fringe flopping into his eyes. ‘Can’t you tell?’

‘You look nothing alike,’ I said somewhat irritably. I didn’t like his flippancy. I didn’t like that he was being so familiar with me when I knew so little about him.

‘Everyone is always quick to point that out,’ he muttered. He knocked back his drink, guzzling the entire glass before he smacked it down on the counter and ordered another. ‘Come on, let’s have it. What do you want from me?’

I kept my face carefully blank as the bar tender refilled the glass, and when he’d trotted away again, I said, ‘I want to make sure you’re being careful.’

‘Careful?’

‘You and your other co-conspirators. ’ Sipping my drink, I watched him closely. If this guess played right, I might be in for an interesting conversation. If I was off the mark, he might decide he was done talking to me. My heart was beating too fast, and I had to keep it from showing, had to come across as utterly sure of what I was saying. ‘There are too many of you hidden with the palace guard. It’s a risk, especially with the court so stirred up after that showcase of an execution.’ Far better to package my guess as commentary than to ask it as a question. If I was wrong, I’d tip my hand and he’d see the trick. If I was right, he’d either flare up and demand how I knew there were others hidden among the palace guard, or he’d simply swallow the whole lot down and respond without question.

‘Yeah, well, you’ve got to break a few eggs to make an omelette. Draven knows what he’s doing,’ he said. He didn’t challenge the comment. He seemed to be relaxing into the conversation, enjoying his gin. Unlike me. He had essentially confirmed one of my worst fears; whatever I was part of, it was bigger than just my deal with Draven. There were others involved. I felt light-headed.

‘He certainly likes to make it seem as though he does,’ I said without thinking about the words, still reeling.

‘He really ruffles your feathers, doesn’t he?’

‘What?’ I was momentarily side-tracked from my dread by the question. ‘He does not.’

‘Yes he does. You get this funny look about you when you mention him, like you’re doing something you shouldn’t.’

I folded my arms. ‘That’s because I don’t like remembering that he exists. I assume you know how we wound up married in the first place.’

‘I didn’t,’ he said with a sly smile, ‘but I’m starting to fill in the blanks.’

I ignored the comment. ‘Whatever I think of him, it’s vital that there are no mistakes in the next stage. Can you get messages to your other people easily?’ I snipped, pushing beyond my best guesses in a vague effort to guide the conversation back to what I was interested in talking about.

He stiffened, his gaze narrowing. ‘What exactly do you know?’

‘I’m not across all the minor details yet,’ I said hazily, but he was clamping up tighter than a clenched fist. Picking the dagger back up, he directed the point at me.

‘He hasn’t told you anything, has he?’

‘Of course he has,’ I lied.

‘I said talk straight, and you’ve still been twisting this conversation from the start.’ Lester groaned and slumped down in his chair. ‘Why did he pick you? Of all the women in that bloody suvoir, why pick the one in the middle of a fight? I knew from that first moment you’d be trouble.’

I realised I’d never really considered that question myself. It niggled at me, but I pushed it to the side as something to think on later. ‘I suppose I can at least appreciate your honesty.’

‘I’ve been punched for it a few times.’

Noting the crooked slant of his nose, I believed it. ‘You’re more honest than your brother.’

He sighed, shaking his head. ‘He’s going to be pissed with me. His own bloody fault for marrying you in the first place.’

‘Why weren’t you at our wedding?’ I asked, trying to steer us back into friendlier territory. ‘I would have thought you’d be one of the witnesses.’

‘Wasn’t invited.’

‘Then you mustn’t be very close.’

He actually laughed. ‘Yeah, well, all of Draven’s relationships come at a knife’s edge. From what I’ve seen so far of you, I’d say you’re no different. We have a knotty history, but I’m loyal, so don’t think you can use me in some plot.’

‘You’re very suspicious of me.’

‘Your reputation precedes you.’ He took another long drink. His cheeks were flushed with the heat of the alcohol, and whatever he’d said about his intention to tell me nothing, he didn’t look like he was about to end the conversation. He seemed the type whose lips would grow looser the more he drank.

‘Whatever Draven has said about me, I’m sure he’s been exaggerating,’ I said.

‘Got nothing to do with what he’s told me. I’ve been with the guard for the whole charade of your rise to the throne. I know you’ve got your maid scurrying all over the place collecting secrets, and I’ve seen you work a room. The very fact that you’re queen is testament to you being craftier than I like.’

I smiled benignly. ‘I look out for myself, that’s all.’

He was quiet for a while as he squinted at me like his vision wasn’t quite as straight as it should’ve been. I sipped my own drink and considered whether I should nudge him deeper into his cups by challenging him to a drinking game.

‘I can see the fascination,’ he said finally. ‘I don’t like it, but I can see it.’

‘You what?’ I asked, nonplussed.

‘There’s something fierce in you, ’ he continued, as though I hadn’t spoken. ‘Not to my taste, personally. I’d prefer my battles to remain outside of my bed. But I can see the fascination.’

‘Well, how fortunate for me.’

‘It’s going to be a bloody disaster,’ he sighed, raising his glass as though in toast. ‘An absolute bloody disaster. And he’s stopped listening to me. I don’t suppose you’d wield whatever hold you have for Draven’s good instead of his undoing?’

I said nothing, surprised at the turn in the conversation. What hold did he think I had?

‘Thought not,’ he said after a moment, knocking back the remainder of his drink and smacking it back down on the counter top. ‘He knows where you are, queenie. Best hurry home and explain what you came to talk to me for.’

With that, he left me at the bar to re-join the other soldiers, a few who gave me assessing looks. The fact that even the palace soldiers didn’t recognise me was ridiculous. I had the sudden, violent sense that I might be torn from the throne before anyone beyond the courtiers had a chance to know who I was. To know what I’d achieved. To know what I’d sacrificed. Did they even know I’d been one of them? And now that there was a king by my side once again, would they even bother to know?

I thought about the whispers Leela brought me, about the way the courtiers talked about me like I was nothing more than a whore who had slept her way to the top. Thought about the complete lack of recognition in the eyes of my grandparents. It drew me too far back, to before Madam Luzel, when I was helpless and ignored. When no one cared if I lived or died.

The people of this city would know me, I decided as I pulled my cloak tighter around me and headed for the door. They would know my face. I would slap it on the wall of every business in the country, right next to my late husband’s. This face I had done so much to keep. It deserved a place on their walls.

As I stepped back out into the street, I briefly regretted sending Cotus away. The rain had begun to fall harder, turning the world dark and cold, and I was going to have to endure it to find a way back to the palace now. I could look for a coach for hire, or I could walk.

So I began to wander down the road, sticking to overhangs and hunching low into the hood of my cloak to try and keep out of the rain, just another dark figure trying to get out of the weather.

Not that there were many others doing the same. The rain seemed to have driven everyone from the street. As I passed an alley with a dark belly I couldn’t see the end of, a shiver of misgiving passed over me, but I dismissed it as paranoia. Just because I’d been attacked once on an empty street didn’t mean I would be again. But all the same, I couldn’t shake the sense that I was being watched.

I glanced behind me, catching sight of two figures a way back who turned down another street almost as soon as I clapped eyes on them. My heart rate soared. Darting down a side lane, I increased my pace, repeatedly glancing over my shoulder. I couldn’t see them anymore, but I couldn’t quiet the fear crawling across my skin. My instincts had kept me alive this long, and I trusted them. The lane hooked around, curving sharply and narrowing. I glanced back again, but there was no one in sight.

The corner was blind, and I considered turning back. I didn’t know these streets as well as I did the Trough. I could wind up getting hopelessly lost if I just took off in random directions in hopes of finding a busy road. Perhaps my best bet was to go back to the King’s Arms with my tail tucked between my legs and ask Lester for help.

I rounded the bend, and there was someone standing in my path. Tall. Hooded. Reaching for me. I screamed, dodged out of their grip, but they were fast, getting a hold on my cloak. I slammed an elbow into their stomach then smashed my heel onto their toes, earning a grunt of pain as I snapped open the clasp of my cloak and darted away. But another figure emerged from one of the streets ahead, barrelling towards me. I turned on a dime, veered back down the way I’d come, collided with two more. They grabbed my arms, held tight as I squirmed, kicked, spat every swear word I knew, landed a heel to one of their legs, bit one of their hands. Something clamped around my neck. My vision went dark.