by E. A. James
He rolled his eyes. “Very well.”
Grinning with triumph, she pushed off the wall and leaned fully against her Gargan friend. Despite his rigid texture, his clothing felt soft and smooth. But he kept her close—kept her standing and not sliding down his shirt—as he guided her back to their small beds.
“We still should warn Maylorn,” Leonie said, slowly lowering herself to her bed. She huffed. “Someone needs to tell them something, especially with assassins on the loose.”
“You say that like they’re a plague that just formed last night.”
“Might as well be,” she grumbled.
Adrik turned and asked one of the guards to speak to the King about sending a messenger to the Kingdom of Maylorn.
“Yes, sir,” one guard said, moving stiffly as he marched out of the room.
“Happy?” Adrik asked her.
“A little,” she admitted. “Thanks.”
He nodded.
She stared at the ceiling and squirmed, memories becoming more clouded the longer she tried to focus on them.
Last night, the door had opened—hadn’t it? Or something had moved in front of the door? Was there a secret entrance somewhere?
The thoughts clarified nothing, just making her head ache and her chest tightened. When the hour and a half came and went, she practically shoved herself off the bed and stumbled toward the door.
Adrik rushed to her side and let her lean against him. “You’re relentless,” he murmured.
“As are you,” she said.
He snorted.
Once they stood right in front of the guards, she panted out, “Do you know how the assassin got into my room? Who were the guards on duty outside my room?”
The guards glanced at each other. The one in front of her—a brunette with dark eyes—stepped forward and answered. “I’ve only heard that he entered through the door. I’m unsure which guards were stationed there, and I’m unsure if they have gone unpunished or not.”
She furrowed her brow. “Come on then,” she said as she limped toward the door, Adrik a heavy but strong crutch. “Let’s go to the scene of the crime and take a closer look at everything.”
The guards stood off to the side as she and Adrik wandered around the guest bedroom. But they found nothing new. Sealed windows, only one door to the room—
Leonie glared at the covers scattered over the floor from where she had rolled off the bed.
“You alright?” Adrik whispered in her ear.
She shivered, attempting to press closer against him. She pulled away instead, feeling cold. “Yes. Just frustrated.” She looked at the guards. “Were any of you at least near this room—or in the hallway—last night? Did you see or hear anything important?”
They all shook their head, except for one—the brunette with the dark eyes. He stared at his feet, face contorted like he was in pain.
Leonie pointed to him. “You. If you know something, you must say it. There’s too much at stake to keep quiet about such matters.”
The guard blew out a taut breath. “Well…I wasn’t right here, but I was stationed at the very end of this hallway. I heard you scream, and when I ran to this room, there weren’t any guards in front of it or in front of the Gargan’s door.”
Adrik stiffened.
The other guards sneered at him, and he hunched in response.
“Where were they?” Leonie asked.
The guard shrugged. “I don’t know, Young Duchess. I came into your room, and a few seconds later, others came running into the room to assist me. No one was far away, just…”
“Not close enough,” she said. She pressed her knuckles against her chin, her brow furrowing. “You know nothing else.”
“I don’t, truly,” the guard said.
Adrik growled, his grip on Leonie tightening a little. “So you don’t know why she was left defenseless last night?” He stepped forward and postured up to the guard.
Leonie tugged at Adrik, but he didn’t budge. The effort caused her to wince and huff. “Adrik, one thing at a time. We need to figure out what happened, not attack each other.”
“Not yet,” he muttered, relaxing a little against her soft weight.
“Do you have a guards’ station or something?” Leonie asked, remembering her own kingdom’s buildings for such occupants. “Some place in the palace or the kingdom where the guards are assigned their duties.”
“A few,” the guard said quietly. “The station for assignments within the palace is on the ground floor, in the Southwest tower.”
“Then that is our next destination. Someone has to know something about last night, and I’ll scour this entire kingdom until I find him or her.”
“As will I,” Adrik said slowing, scowling at all the guards.
The guards’ station was nothing more but a cramped room in the corner of the rectangular tower. There were a few chairs and tables within it, notes and schedules scattered everywhere. It was a disgraceful mess.
The guard coordinator on duty walked up to a glass shelf and motioned toward the piles of papers. “These are the schedules and duty assignments from the past month.” He searched through them. “The one from last night should be right on top, but I don’t see it.”
Adrik guided Leonie down into a chair, his fingers brushing over her bandages. Once she was settled—facial muscles relaxed—he stormed over to the guard and shoved him to the side. “I’ll find it. Why don’t you and your men do your job right for a change and watch the doors for me?”
“Adrik,” Leonie scolded softly, shaking her head.
Adrik didn’t look back at her, his eyes focused on his task.
The guard shrunk away and stood by one of the doors, the others standing along one of the tower’s large windows.
A moment later, Adrik turned around and held three sheets of paper in his hands. “I found them.” His eyes scanned one page, and then the next one, and then the last one. “Two guards—Ahmed and Wallah—were scheduled to stand in front of her door between ten o’clock and midnight. No one is scheduled after them. The same is true for the two guards stationed outside my door, but they left a few minutes after Ahmed and Wallah.”
All the guards present went stiff, eyes wide.
The guard coordinator stuttered. “That—that can’t be right.” He approached Adrik and reached for the papers. “May I?”
Adrik cocked an eyebrow—or shifted his stony brow accordingly—but he did hand the guard the papers.
He went through them quickly and paled. “I…I can’t believe such a huge oversight was made.”
Adrik crossed his arms, frown deepening. “I don’t think it was an oversight.”
The guard coordinator went even paler.
Leonie waved at them to obtain their attention. “Who assigns the guards their duties?”
“The royals send assignments and they are doled out by coordinators,” the guard said, wheezing a little. He sucked in a breath and gawked at the papers.
Leonie’s face scrunched. “There isn’t a captain of the guard or anything like that? The chain of command goes straight to the royals?”
The guard coordinator nodded.
“Princess Froda,” Adrik said, lips curled in a snarl.
Leonie lowered her gaze and shook her head. “But…Mathsus didn’t answer my prayer. She had proved me to be the fool. What would killing me gain her?”
“I say we ask,” Adrik said. He turned to the guards. “Where is she?”
The guard went rigid, shoulders raised and gloved hands clenched into tight fists. “No,” he choked out. “No, she would never do such a thing. She’s an opinionated person, but she would never stoop to assassination! That’s absurd.”
Adrik got into the man’s personal space and shoved the papers against his chest. “Where are Wallah and Amed then? Perhaps they won’t be cowardly in the face of truth.”
The guard flinched. “I…I don’t know.”
Adrik spun around and returned to the glas
s shelf, his large hands looking through all the papers once again.
“We have our honor,” the guard said, shaking his head. “We’re an honorable people—accepting, tolerant, noble. What you’re suggesting…”
The rest of the guards stayed quiet, their gazes locked on Adrik.
Leonie shifted in her seat. “I pray that you’re right,” she said softly, her fingers patting her bandage. “I wish to prevent chaos, not cause it.”
Adrik turned back around slowly, several papers crumpled and crooked in his hands. He glanced over them and blinked rapidly.
Leonie's chest went cold. “Adrik? What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I can’t find today’s schedule, but these…” He walked up to her and dropped some of the pages in her lap. “They show Amed and Wallah guarding the dungeons for the past several months.”
“So?”
Adrik shook his head. “There hasn’t been anyone in the dungeons long term for over a year. The Kingdom of Sallimor has only reported having minor crimes committed within it.” He looked at the guards. “Unless I’m mistaken and you lot have a horde of murderers you’re hiding.”
“No!” the guard cried. “But—but it’s not unusual to have guards stationed in places such as that. Security is security.”
“Fine,” Adrik said, glaring. “But is it normal to have the same two guards on the same exact shift for several months until last night, when they were ordered to guard a Young Duchess’s door for a couple of hours?”
Leonie glanced through the papers and found that this was indeed the case.
The guard’s mouth hung open, and he turned to his fellows. They just shifted on their feet and fiddled with their fingers.
Adrik’s glare deepened. “Take us to the dungeons.”
Leonie nodded. “That’s a good idea. If nothing else, we must clear this mess up.”
The guards relaxed a little, though he was still a shade too pale to be comfortable with this course of the conversation. He clasped his hands together tightly, breaths heaving out of him.
Leonie grunted as she stood, papers falling to the floor and her feet swaying. As Adrik rushed to her side—his arm a solid pillar for her to lean against—she said, “Come on. Now. Take us there.”
In the palace courtyard—in the very center of it where the ground was made out of stone rather than foliage—there was a wide wooden door with several key holes all over its smooth surface. Sunlight gleamed over the door and the bronze key holes, and it seemed to glow a blinding gold.
The guards marched up to it, the guard hanging back with his lips pressed tightly together.
A few guards moved to the side, turned, and tilted their heads back. The other guards continued on to the door, their gloved hands taking out various shaped keys from their respective pockets. Then they all went to specific spots on the door and pushed their keys in the right places.
Leonie, with Adrik’s aid, limped up to this ground-door as the guards pulled it open. A stairwell led downward into pitch blackness.
She stopped right in front of the top step, a shiver dancing over her flesh despite the heat in the air. She bit her lip and squinted, but nothing in the darkness came into detail. Inhaling shakily, she took one tentative step in front of another until she was on the top step.
“I’ll keep an eye out,” Adrik whispered. “You’ll be okay.”
“So will you,” she whispered back, eyes blazing with stubborn determination.
Together, they descended into the darkness, the guards trailing behind them. The lower they got, the cooler the air was and the more solid the steps felt beneath her feet—no chips, no cracks.
The sunlight above her—behind her—was like an angelic ghost whispering at the back of her head. Leonie’s neck ached, the urge to turn and stare into the light twisting into a physical pain. The front of her tickled, anxiety squeezing her veins and tormenting her mind. It was like walking through a sea of blackness, footsteps behind her obscuring the sounds in front of her.
She released a quivering breath, her hand ghosting over Adrik’s chest. She couldn’t feel a heartbeat beneath his rough exterior, and she tensed.
“It’s okay,” he repeated.
“I know,” she said.
Softer, orange light flickered some distance beyond.
Leonie’s right foot tapped the flat ground in front of her. No more steps, just a small source of light far ahead.
She breathed easier and moved faster. At least now, the goal was visible, and the footsteps behind her reminded her of the support she had.
The light was one torch of many, lighting several rows of rusted iron bars—empty cells, vacant chains. The torches created blacker than black shadows, light squirming over the walls and floor.
Leonie peered into each cell as she and Adrik walked past them. And sure enough, they were all empty. “Wait, where are the guards?” She looked down the long hallway, distant bars blurred in her vision. “Ahmed? Wallah? I’m the Young Duchess of Asawiss, and I wish to speak with you.”
One of the torches crackled.
Leonie sucked in the chilled, still air; her blood roaring past her ears. “Come on,” she said, limping forward. “Maybe they’re…” She shook her head.
“They could be hiding,” Adrik said. “If they’re truly a part of something nefarious, that is.”
She glanced at the guards behind her. “Check each cell.”
“For the men?” one of them asked.
“For anything—a clue to their whereabouts, anything.”
They nodded. And as they backed up and entered various cells, she and Adrik continued onward. Her eyes scanned the bars, the bricks, the chains—her insides clenched. “Why is this place so big if it isn’t needed?”
“I’m sure it was needed, once,” Adrik said. He canted his head toward her, his temple a breadth away from her own. “In truth, it bothers me when a kingdom seems perfect, like this one. Often, it means secrets are being too well kept.”
“That’s a very pessimistic way to look at it.”
“I think you mean realistic.”
“According to you.” She turned to him, her head rubbing against his and sending warmth down to her torso. Her mind spun and her heart beat quickly for a few seconds. Then, she whispered, “There’s good in this world—enough good that you shouldn’t write it all off because of bad experiences.”
“You realize you were nearly murdered in bed last night.”
“And then I was rescued, and it was good people who came to my aide.”
His eyes brightened, even as his eyelids lowered.
Heat bloomed within her, leaving her breathless. She inhaled his earthy scent and closed her eyes. Perhaps it was pathetic to want what she couldn’t have, but he felt so solid against her—his voice rumbling through her flesh, his smooth eyes so dark and enticing—
“What’s that?” Adrik whispered.
She jumped, blushing for some reason. “What’s what?”
He pointed to the cell to her left. “That triangular brick.”
She forced herself to pull away from him and look where he pointed. Through the bars, below the high-hanging chains, there was a yellowish brick in the center of the wall. It was a crooked triangular, the surface jutted.
Leonie glanced to the cell at her right. No triangular brick.
She and Adrik entered the left cell, the door creaking as she pushed it aside. Her fingers slid over the bars until she stumbled against the back wall, her palm pressing against the triangular brick. It moved a little, to the side.
Adrik placed his hand on her lower back.
She curled her fingers around the triangle, her nails digging into the stone creases around it. She pushed the brick, tugged at it, and then she twisted it slightly.
It turned.
She twisted it halfway around, and then the brick popped out. She pulled it out all the way, dropping it to the ground and blinking owlishly at the new gap she had just created.
Staring back at her, was a wrought iron latch – presumably for the door that must lay hidden beyond.
“Guards!” she called as she grabbed the latch and lifted it.
The entire wall groaned, sinking backward a few centimeters.
Leonie released the handle and furrowed her brow. “Is that all it does?”
The guards rushed into the cell behind her. “Young Duchess?” one of them said.
