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Chapter 3

Theo

There was a time when knights did great deeds. When they rode into battle, rescued princesses, and hunted beasts.

But the battles had been won. Rulers no longer wore crowns. And the beasts were trapped in the woods.

So this morning, Theodric Rydder, sworn knight to the House of Holtzfall and oathbound descendant of Hartwin Rydder, was hunting a rogue heiress instead.

The revelers from the night were stumbling out of the Ash Lounge, blinking blearily into the dawn. Theo worked against the tide of tipsy patrons, keeping a lookout for her shock of dark hair amidst them. Last time Theo had retrieved Nora from here, he’d found her standing on top of a table, building a tower of champagne coupes, the crowd of 1st-circle bright young things cheering and gasping as the glasses teetered. When Theo had entered, Nora’s head turned toward him. It was a tiny movement, but it was enough to send a shiver through the glasses, cascading them to the ground, shattering all around her and illuminating in the club’s lights like stars.

In the morning light the broken glasses on the ground just looked like scraps of last night, mixed in with discarded gloves and lost baubles. Daylight sapped the glamour out of places like this. Only a few stragglers still lingered among the debris. Those either too drunk or too wealthy to be expelled.

In one sweep of the room Theo could see that Nora wasn’t one of them.

Every Holtzfall was to have a knight with them at all times. Even Mercy Holtzfall’s brothers had them. They were powerless in the wake of losing their own trials, but they were still appendages of the most powerful woman in the city. The last thing anyone needed was a repeat of Felicity Holtzfall’s ransoming fifty years ago.

Or of Verity Holtzfall’s murder.

Nora, as usual, thought she was the exception to the rule that governed everyone else.

Theo had been woken sometime in the middle of the night by Commander Lis Rydder, leader of the Holtzfall knights. And for just a second, before sleep cleared completely, he was back in the last time he was woken like this. The night Verity Holtzfall died.

The night Alaric had died with her.

And then Lis had spoken. “Honora is missing.”

It was years of training that made it easy to let duty flood in and drown out the grief. By my oath, I will protect them at all costs. The refrain that guided the lives of the Rydder knights thrummed through him.

Nora had slipped her guard.

Of course she had. It was Nora.

The other knights had been taking bets for the past week on whether Nora would come willingly to the Veritaz Ceremony. Or if she would dig her heels in, demanding to inherit directly from her grandmother, the way she would have from her mother. Even though her mother had only had one daughter to inherit. And her grandmother had multiple grandchildren who were now eligible since Verity’s death. In which case, the knights would no doubt be ordered to drag her in to compete.

And now, with hours to go until dawn and the beginning of the ceremony, she was missing. And Theo knew it was anyone’s guess whether she was planning on coming back willingly. Because Theo knew Nora. Better than almost anyone did.

Which was why, amidst barracks of other knights, he was the one being roused in the dead of night.

“She hasn’t shared her evening plans with me, Commander,” he’d told Lis, reaching for the shirt and doublet that were carefully folded on the trunk at the end of his narrow bed.

Lis pressed her mouth together in frustration. It was as much a show of emotion as Theo ever saw from the Rydder commander. “She’s a fool going out without a knight.”

“A knight didn’t do Verity much good.” Theo knew even as he spoke that he was bordering on insubordination. “Commander,” he added for good measure.

Alaric’s name had barely been spoken since the night of Verity’s death. And Theo didn’t speak it now. But his absence hung in the silence between Theo and Commander Lis.

Theo’s brother had been the best knight in a generation, chosen at only eighteen to become Verity Holtzfall’s sworn knight. The one who was responsible for the life of the Heiress.

And he had failed.

Verity was dead.

Alaric was gone.

Not even knights were too valorous for rumors. And in the hours after the barracks had woken to the news that Verity Holtzfall was dead and Alaric nowhere to be found, the word that spread was that Alaric wasn’t dead. That he’d failed to protect Verity and fled to avoid punishment. Like Sigismund Rydder had three hundred years ago, traveling across the sea to escape the retribution of the Holtzfalls when he had a dalliance with Meritt Holtzfall. It was years before he was found. But he was. Hunted down by other knights, his own kinsmen. When they’d brought him back, Fidelity Holtzfall ordered him to lash himself to death. And bound by the oath in their bloodline, Sigismund Rydder had done it.

But Theo knew his brother.

Alaric would never abandon his duty. He was the best of them. Not only because of his skills, but because of his principles. He despised injustice, cowardice, and disloyalty. He was the sort of knight they used to write tales of back in the days of the ancient woods. He would never abandon his duty.

As headlines filled with speculation about Verity, the barracks filled with speculation about Alaric. There was a trail of blood leading away from Verity’s body. Like a wounded knight who might have gone for help. Or a body that had been dragged into the river. The knights who had trained with Alaric wondered who could have bested him in a fight. No one had landed a blow on Alaric in the training ground since he was twelve.

And then Lukas Schuld was arrested. Found with Verity’s stolen jewelry. A scrawny man with an inclination for gambling and drinking. Not the type of man who could easily have defeated the best of them. And yet, there was no doubt in Theo’s mind, Alaric would have kept his oath until the end.

Theo had always been glad for his oath. For his duty.

They were lucky to be born Rydder knights. Their father had taught them that. Most people went through life searching for their purpose. Many died without ever finding it. Rydder knights were born with their purpose. They protected the line of succession that protected the rest of the city.

They lived to die for the Holtzfalls.

“I’ll find her.” Theo pulled on his shirt. By my oath, I will protect them at all costs.

Commander Lis appraised him as he laced up his shoes. Theo felt sure she found him lacking next to his brother. But she nodded. “She needs to be at the house by dawn.”

Nora wasn’t wearing a locanz, of course, another rule she liked to exempt herself from.

All the Holtzfalls were meant to keep the small charm on them so they could be found at a moment’s notice. Nora’s locanz charm was a pair of diamond stud earrings that were magically paired with a wristwatch Theo wore so he could track her down. When caught without the locanz earrings Nora would dramatically declare that they didn’t match anything in her closet. As if Theo didn’t know her closet was the size of most people’s homes.

But without magical means to find her, Theo followed a strange trail of journalists’ whispers. A white stole left at the Ruby Rose Club, silver hairpins at the Paragon Hotel bar, a twenty-thousand-zaub bar tab at Rik’s. Now Theo picked up a pair of charmed glass shoes from under a cocktail table at the Ash Lounge. He’d half expected to find Nora at the end of the trail of expensive breadcrumbs, sipping champagne and waiting for a ride to her grandmother’s house.

But the sun was rising, and the city was beginning to rise with it. Which meant that either Nora had made it to breakfast in time on her own, or she was playing a dangerous game with her grandmother’s patience.

Among the lingering revelers dotted around the lounge, Theo spied Freddie Loetze. Third in line to the Loetze shipping fortune and notorious rake about town. Nora, Theo knew, found him deeply boring. But there were only so many people in the 1st circle, which meant she also found herself in his company a lot.

Freddie Loetze was allergic to being alone. This time the salve to his solitude was a pretty girl with bright red hair that hung to her waist. Freddie was known for picking up girls with stars in their eyes, promising them the moon, and then dropping them like a bad habit. Nora, in turn, had made it her habit to pick them back up, hiring them into one of the many Holtzfall households. At this point, Theo guessed half the housemaids in employ of the Holtzfalls had been hired by Nora.

“Freddie.” Theo moved through a maze of tipped-over chairs and discarded glasses toward where the other boy sat. He had to say his name twice more before the Loetze boy looked up, blinking blearily. Freddie’s bow tie hung loose over a shirt that was no doubt only still crisp and unblemished due to the charms on his cuff links.

“A knight without an heiress, what a sight.” Freddie’s words were slurred and his eyes heavily lidded. “There are no Holtzfalls here, so you can be on your way.” The scarlet-haired girl in the crook of his arm glanced up at the name Holtzfall. Now Theo saw her clearly, he realized she was wearing a dancer’s costume, her makeup exaggerating her features for the stage. Bright gray eyes went to the symbol on his chest. The Holtzfall woodcutter stitched into the breast of his doublet. The symbol of the Rydder knights.

When Theo didn’t move, Freddie waved one hand dismissively. “Shoo, boy, shoo.”

Theo could have laid Freddie Loetze out like the foppish rag doll he was. He stood a full head taller than the other boy. The years Freddie had spent not lifting anything heavier than a canapé, Theo had spent relentlessly training. But Freddie wasn’t worth Theo’s sweat.

And so Theo waited, standing over the settee where Freddie was currently drooped with the redheaded dancer. Predictably, it didn’t take long for Freddie to wilt. “ She left.” Freddie brought his glass to his lips before realizing it was empty; he waved and snapped his fingers at the barman, who ignored him.

“Nora,” Theo clarified.

“Nora.” Freddie’s lips curled up in a nasty snarl. “Awfully informal for a guard dog. That should be Miss Holtzfall when you’re talking about your masters.”

Theo was already turning away, but Freddie’s words stopped him, his shoulders tensing in anger. Knights were meant to be above pettiness and ego. Theo knew his oath. He knew his place in the city and among the Holtzfalls.

There was a time when knights did great deeds, dueled enemies, and saved damsels…

“Do you have something to write with?” Theo asked the man at the bar, who was loosening the sleeve garters over his white shirt tiredly. The barman passed him a pen from his front pocket, and Theo scribbled down instructions on the back of a paper napkin.

“Knights,” the barman snorted ruefully, rolling up his cuffs. Theo handed the pen back and returned to the booth where Freddie and the girl were.

“I thought you were leaving,” Freddie groaned. “Listen, knightling—” His boldness ended with a flinch as Theo’s hand skirted close to his face. But it wasn’t a blow, he just handed the napkin to the redheaded girl. Instructions were scribbled on it of where to go if she wanted a maid’s job in the Holtzfall mansion.

Some of the girls who found themselves in Freddie’s company were foolish enough to really believe that he loved them. That he was going to make good on whatever promise he’d made. But most were smart enough to be in it for the money. And as Nora once said, being a Holtzfall maid paid well and required less faking it.

The girl took in the words on the napkin swiftly. Freddie made a clumsy grab for it, but the girl had the speed of a sober person and tucked it into the neckline of her dress. She met Theo’s eyes, giving him a tiny nod of understanding.

Theo moved away, though not fast enough to miss Freddie’s lewd joke about whether the napkin in her neckline was an invitation.

“You knights just can’t resist a damsel in distress, can you?” the barman remarked as Theo passed by. He was almost at the door when the man added, “Your brother was right about you.”

The mention of Alaric stopped Theo in his tracks.

But when he turned around, the bartender was gone.