“Honestly, you're not such a bad person yourself, Princess.” Malik collapsed on the bed with a sigh. “In fact, consummated or not, I'm feeling rather lucky to have you as my wife.”
Six
“Found who?” Tobias asked, right before Kieran's lips landed on Lyneah's. When Tobey saw them kissing, and Lyneah didn't pull away, his gaze dropped to the floor.
However, Lyneah's post-kiss reaction was somewhat reassuring. When Kieran's lips departed, she shoved his chest and shrieked, “What the hell was that, Kieran?”
“That's how I greet all my lady friends, love. You don't have to look so cross. Besides, a few days ago, your lips were all over mine. I didn't think you'd mind that much.” With a careless shrug, Kieran turned to Tobias. “And to answer your question, Lyneah sent me on a mission to track someone down. I just found her, but I'm not sure how much information the princess wants me to disclose.”
“You're free to tell Tobias anything we've already discussed. He's part of our team as well, is he not?”
“No. Not really. And what the hell happened to the boy's head?” Kieran thrust his thumb at Tobey's forehead, where blood still glistened from his recent wound.
“Bar brawl,” Tobias answered simply.
Kieran looked oddly impressed. “No shit? Nice. I didn't know you had the stones for that.”
“Stop calling me Boy, by the way. I do have a name!” Tobias tried to speak up for himself. He didn't want Lyneah to think of him as a boy, and he certainly didn't want Kieran to keep putting the thought in her head.
“If you say so, Boy.” When Tobias was sufficiently teased, Kieran shifted his attention back to the more important topic. “Princess Lyneah sent me to find a woman named Carol Cassady. She's a renowned engineer and mechanic from Columbigo, the land across the sea. Lyneah's got a special task for the girl, but... I don't know. After meeting her in person, I'm not sure she's up to it.”
Lyneah thought she saw a customer trying to flag her down, but she ignored it. Her mission was more important than her menial job at Lucky's. “You don't like Carol?” she asked the mercenary.
“I'm not sure how I feel about her, to be honest. She's a bit... odd.” Kieran's broad shoulders were raised by a shrug. “But if she can get the job done, I suppose we can overlook her many eccentricities.”
“W-w-what job did you have for this Carol person?” Tobias asked. Even if the knowledge wasn't meant for him, he was curious.
“I'll tell you soon, Tobias. Honestly, I'd rather not discuss it here. There are too many people around,” Lyneah said. She glanced around the pub, where three different customers were watching her expectantly. “Where is Carol now, Kieran?”
“I've got her waiting in another pub, on the opposite side of town. The better part of town.”
“Very well. After I finish my shift, will you escort me to her?” When she saw Kieran's eyebrow raising, she quickly added, “Don't look so cross! My shift is over in thirty minutes! You don't have to wait that long.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” Tobias preemptively flinched as he asked the question. If Lyneah declined, he knew he'd be heartbroken.
“Of course, Tobey. Your shift ends when mine does, and I'd rather keep you with me.”
“Damn, this boy is like a leech,” Kieran complained. “At some point, Princess, you're gonna have to cut the cord and let the baby go his own way.”
Tobey started to open his mouth to defend himself, but Lyneah spoke on his behalf. “Tobias is with me because I want him with me. I returned to Lundun because I wanted him close. If anything is true, I am the one who will not leave him alone! In fact, the thought of leaving him behind as I embark on another mission is... deeply saddening.”
“Well, it doesn't sadden me, that's for damn sure.” Kieran collapsed into the nearest chair and lightly pounded the tabletop with his fist. “Now, if I'm going to wait here for the next thirty minutes, you better bring me some drinks. And they better be free, too. After all, you've got me doing all sorts of crazy work for you, Princess. You need to show your appreciation somehow!”
“Then I'll fetch you some whiskey,” Lyneah said with sneer. “I believe that is your poison of choice, is it not?”
“Aye.” Kieran leaned back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. “Whiskey. I never say no to whiskey.”
Lyneah hurried to the bar, not to fetch Kieran's whiskey, but to collect food for customers who had ordered a long time ago. For some reason, she was determined to perform her job to the best of her ability, even though her time at Lucky's was likely coming to an end. When she glanced across the room at Tobey, she felt a dull ache in the center of her chest. If Carol agreed to work for her, she would be leaving him again. They would be parting ways again. Since Tobias was probably the only person in the world who ever truly made her happy, it was a devastating thought.
At the end of thirty minutes, Lyneah and Tobey reunited with Kieran, who led them out of the pub and onto a crowded street. He assured them it was only a ten minute walk to their destination, but after being on her feet all day, Lyneah was exhausted. Tobias must have noticed, because he asked, “Are you alright?”
“I'm fine. I'm only a bit tired.”
“N-n-no,” Tobias stuttered, “I mean... about your father. You just heard some terrible news about him, but you didn't really have a chance to mourn.”
“That's very considerate of you, but I assure you, I'm fine. His death, while sad, was hardly surprising.”
“Well, if you need to talk about it later, I'd be happy to listen.”
“Thank you, Tobias.” As always, he was the sweetest person in the world, which made her more sad than happy. Lyneah didn't need to be reminded of what she was about to lose.
“Well, here we are,” Kieran announced when they reached their destination. When they entered the pub, he thrust his thumb in the direction of three men, whose forbidding faces betrayed their dark nature. “You remember Marcus, Arthur and Soren, right?”
“Ah, yes. Of course,” Lyneah replied. “The three mercenaries we met in Rockchester. It's lovely to see you all again.”
They must not have shared her sentiment, because none of them replied. Tobias hated to think of the princess being subjected to their company, since they were some of the most frightening men he had ever seen. Marcus had a glass eye and no shirt. Apparently, he wanted to share his rippling muscles with the world. Arthur's face was a canvas of scars; it looked like he had survived an encounter with a meat mincer. Soren had two black eyes and a split lip: evidence of a recent scuffle. Even though Kieran's mercenary friends were supposedly on the princess' side, Tobias stayed close to Lyneah as they passed the unsavory trio.
“And here she is!” Kieran declared. He stopped in front of one of the tables, where a young blonde woman was watching them with curiosity. “This is Carol Cassady, the famous mechanic you were looking for.”
“Weeeeell... I don't know if I'd say famous... but sure, I've built some stuff!” Carol said with a shrug.
At first glance, Lyneah doubted she was looking at the right girl. Carol looked strange, to say the least. She had paired her red gingham dress with extraordinarily clunky combat boots. Her hair was pale and super-long, and tied into lopsided pigtails. Oddly enough, she was wearing two different shades of lipstick: black on the top, red on the bottom. Her violet-gray eyes were magnified by a pair of huge, bottle cap glasses, and her tan top hat was littered with flowers, decorative gears and clocks.
“You're Carol Cassady? Really?” Lyneah didn't even try to hide the skepticism in her voice.
“Oh yeah. For sure. It's nice to meet you, Princess Lyneah.” Carol offered her a hand, which Lyneah reluctantly shook. “Lyneah, huh? What a super-classy, super-fun name!”
“Fun?” Lyneah was blinking in confusion.
“Yeah. It's way better than Carol, anyway. Godddd, what a boring name I have! For years, I told people to call me Lorac—which is Carol backwards, by the way—because I hate
d my name so much. But then I invented a new high-powered vacuum and named it a Lorac too... which was kinda a mistake, in hindsight, because suddenly I had the same name as a vacuum and it was weird. The nothing sucks as well as Lorac jokes were getting out of hand.”
“I... see.” When Lyneah sank into the chair across from Carol, she was scratching her head in confusion.
Carol suddenly turned her attention to Tobey. As she studied him, her eyes practically doubled in size. Behind her huge eyeglasses, they looked unnaturally huge. “Holy sheeeeeoooooot! This is by far the cutest boy I've ever seen! Where did you find him and how can I get one for myself?”
Carol's compliment immediately had Tobey blushing. He wanted to answer her question, or greet her, or say something, but she had tied his tongue with her praise.
“Tobey is a bartender at a pub called Lucky's,” Lyneah replied. “And no, you can't have him.”
“Wowsie wowzers. I'm assuming this pub's called Lucky's because he works there?” Carol grinned wildly as she continued to flirt with him. “Because you'd be pretty damn lucky to find a boy like him!”
“What about me?” Kieran, who had spent most of the time crossing his arms and scowling, suddenly spoke up. “Am I not cute?”
“Nah, you're more like handsome... in a big lug kind of way,” Carol dismissively told him. She removed her glasses and continued to study Tobias' face. “So... does Tobey talk or do you just keep him around to look pretty?”
“I t-t-talk,” Tobey answered quietly, wincing as he stuttered.
“Awwww. He's so precious!” Carol cooed. “I just want to wrap him up in a blanket and swaddle him and squish him like a bug in a big old hug!”
“Anyway,” Lyneah spoke loudly, hoping to redirect the conversation away from Tobias. “Back to the topic at hand. Kieran has told you what I intend to do, has he not?”
“Uh huh. You wanted me to fix an old radio tower,” Carol said with a shrug. “Sounds easy enough.”
For Tobias' sake, Lyneah explained her plan. “Forty years ago, when my father took the throne, he dismantled every radio tower that was built in the previous century. King Nikolai thought the radio was a dangerous invention because it made it too easy for people to spread their ideas. Well, now I'm hoping this radio tower will save us. I want to spread my ideas. I'm going to repair it, broadcast to the nation, and ask them to stand with me against my mother.”
“Couldn't that be d-dangerous?” Tobias asked.
“Of course. Anything I try has the potential to be dangerous, but it's the best plan I have. It's the only way I can reach a lot of people very quickly.”
Kieran added his voice to the conversation. “After Rory's death, my brother's army was broken up. They scattered, and a lot of them left Dovyr. If we can get Rory's army to converge in a single location, and we can inspire others to join us too, the princess might have a chance.”
“I don't know. It sounds r-r-risky. Won't your mother hear the broadcast too?”
Tobias' opinion had Lyneah frowning. “I suppose that's always a possibility, but if we could somehow limit the range of the broadcast...”
“I can do it,” Carol spoke up. Under the table, her foot brushed against Tobias' leg, which had him blushing once again. “I'll fix the tower and I'll tweak its range. Easy peasy.”
“You sound very... confident,” Lyneah observed.
“I'm super-confident in my abilities, especially when there's money involved.” Carol leaned across the table, closer to the princess. “There will be money involved, right?”
“Yes. But I'm afraid I won't be able to pay you until after I've taken the castle. I'm afraid I can't even guarantee that I'll succeed.”
“Nah, of course you'll succeed!” Carol exclaimed. She rapidly shook her head, which made her pigtails whip and spin. “Now that you're working with me, Your Highness, your success is practically guaranteed!”
Seven
“No!” When Kitt realized it was Francis Doon knocking on her door, she tried to close it in his face. “Go away! I don't want to talk to you right now, Doon.”
Of course, he wasn't one to be easily dismissed. He seized the door handle and pushed his way in. Fortunately, Kitt and Malik had separate bedrooms, so he didn't have to worry about crossing paths with her new husband.
It was the day after the wedding, and Doon had questions. They kept him awake, haunting him. “Kitten...” When he tried to reach for her hand, she held it behind her back. “Kitt... tell me it's not true... tell me... please.”
Kitt went to her bed, folded her arms over her chest, and stared intently at the floor. After everything he put her through—including a marriage she never wanted—she couldn't bring herself to look at his face. “Tell you what, Doon?”
“They say your marriage was consummated last night. That's what I heard. But it's not true, is it? You didn't...?”
There was panic in his eyes, which she could have easily put to rest with the truth. It was cruel to let him believe it, but Kitt wanted him to suffer a bit. After all, he made her suffer all the time. She didn't say anything to confirm or deny it, she just closed her eyes and sighed. Doon could believe whatever he wanted to believe.
“So... you did?” Doon was practically in tears, which was highly uncommon for him. It made her feel doubly guilty for failing to put his worries to rest. “You were forced to... to lay with... and... and it's my fault?”
Kitt nodded solemnly. Malik never touched her, but everything was Doon's fault. She couldn't deny that much. She was stuck in a life she never wanted, and in the end, she only had him to blame for it.
“Kitt... Kitten... God...” Doon dragged his hands through his hair and fell to his knees in front of her. “I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I should have saved you. I should have done whatever it took. I'm sorry.”
When his head fell on her lap, Kitt shoved him away. “You shouldn't have taken me to the castle in the first place, Doon. You forced me into Lyneah's shoes three times. Again and again, you refused to let me go. You refused to let me go home, and you refused to let me stay on your airship. But why should you care? You have your money, your title. You may not have me, but you never wanted me... did you? I can't believe I ever thought I loved you. Who would be foolish enough to fall for a man who would only ever be incapable of loving her back?”
Doon laid his head on her bed, and when he looked up at her, there was a storm of pain in his eyes. “Kitten, I--”
“Don't call me that,” she interrupted him. “Kitten. I don't want you to call me that anymore. In fact, I don't want to talk to you at all right now. I wish you'd just go.”
“Kitten...” Doon repeated his nickname for her, refusing her request. He reached for her hand again, and when she tried to pull away, he held it tighter. “I did want you. I do.”
“I could have been yours.” Kitt was on the verge of tears, so her words were barely more than a whisper. “I could have been yours. But now I'll never be yours.”
“Don't say that,” he pleaded with her. “Don't say something like that to me. You're being cruel on purpose.”
“But it's the truth, Doon!” Kitt yanked her hand from Doon's grasp and slid back on the bed, away from him. She grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it to her chest, as tightly as she could. As she watched him stagger to the door, she had never seen him look more hurt or vulnerable. She was seeing a side of him she had never seen before, and yet she couldn't bring herself to put him out of his misery, not while she felt so utterly and completely miserable.
“I'll get you out of here, Kitt. One way or another. I just need to--”
“Don't bother,” Kitt interrupted again. “My husband is here. Why would I leave now?”
When Doon turned in her direction, his eyes flashed with rage. “That man is not your husband, Kitt! If anything, he's Lyneah's husband! Let me take you out of here, and when Lyneah returns, let Malik be her burden. You can return to your life in Lundun, as a barmaid, or... or if you feel up to it...” The r
age in his eyes softened, replaced by something resembling tenderness. “You could be my first mate.”
“I might have accepted that offer... once upon a time.” Kitt laid her cheek against her pillow and blinked back her tears. “I don't know if I can be the same person that I was.”
“Don't be ridiculous!”
“But it's true, Doon!” Kitt shrilled at him. “I feel changed by this. My heart was broken by you, shattered by you, again and again. There's nothing left of me in here.” She pointed at her chest. “How do you expect me to forget what you've done? To forgive? For goodness sake, you were applauding! How do you think that made me feel?”
“Applauding? What do you mean?”
“At my wedding. You applauded with everyone else. It made me feel horrid!”
“What did you expect me to do, huh? Boo? Hiss? Scream in agony? Drop to my knees and wallow in despair? I would've been tossed from the room! What did you expect from me?” Doon suddenly kicked the door so hard, it nearly ripped from its hinges. He had so much suppressed rage flowing through his body, the outburst was impossible to control. When Kitt shrieked and hid behind her pillow, he immediately regretted his tantrum. “Kitt...” When he tried to approach her, she tossed her pillow at his face “Kitt, I'm sorry!”
“Go away!” Kitt screamed at him. “I don't want to see you or speak to you again! Just leave me alone!”
Doon left her room, but not before punching the wall on his way out. When he slammed the door behind him, he thought he heard Kitt sobbing, but he wasn't sure. Doon knew he wasn't worthy of her tears. Hell, he was barely worthy of breathing the same air as her.
He was halfway down the hall before his frustration got the better of him. He pulled a dagger from his coat and hit the wall with its blade. He struck as hard as he could, at least a dozen times, chiseling nicks all over the stone. When his fit of rage subsided, Doon pocketed his dagger and ignored the puzzled stare of a guard who watched him.
Sky Pirate (Belles & Bullets Book 3) Page 4
