A scuff behind her made her turn and bring her rapier up.
The sight of Darren almost made her pause. His arm moved, and she tried to leap out of the way of whatever he threw at her, but it slammed into the side of her head and brought stars to her eyes.
She staggered, swung wildly, and heard him laugh. “Funny how we never get the one we’re expecting.”
Behind him, the hallway exploded in fire.
Chapter Eight: Starbride
From above, Starbride heard a crash. The sound of someone crying out in pain echoed down the stairway. A rush of heat billowed downward, and a flash of light brought the dim stairway into stark relief.
Starbride resisted the urge to rush up the stairs. She pressed her sleeve to her mouth and crept through the smoke. More yelling came from above and another cry of pain. What had Katya gotten into?
Someone ran up the stairs behind her. She lifted a pyramid, but Freddie slid to a stop on the dimly lit landing below her, hands raised.
“What’s happening?” they asked at the same time.
He hurried to her side. “I followed a woman through several streets. Took me forever to figure out it wasn’t Maia. Why did you come in alone?”
She almost smacked him. “I’m chasing Katya.”
“Katya’s in here?” He pulled his mask out of his clothes and slipped it on.
“Upstairs, by the noise.” More smoke drifted down the steps. “We have to hurry.”
He took the lead, but she kept her pyramid out. Light flickered from the third floor, a sure sign of fire. Now there were more voices, more footsteps. Pennynail and Starbride flattened against the wall as people hurried past them, all of them dressed in filthy rags or leather ensembles not unlike Pennynail’s. Starbride tried to peer into their faces.
“Katya!” she shouted. “Brutal! Maia!”
Several members of the fleeing mob took a cue from her and started screaming. She and Pennynail continued their climb.
Brutal’s huge form emerged from the smoke. He kept two people at bay, both of his attackers with cloths tied around their noses and mouths. Pennynail drew a dagger and leapt to Brutal’s side. Starbride slipped past them and ducked to stay near cleaner air.
The hallway was on fire; the flames nearly blocked access to one of the rooms. Starbride peered inside it to see a figure against the wall, almost on its knees. It shook its blond head and coughed. A long rapier glittered in its grasp.
Starbride fixed her hood around her mouth and nose, kept low, and dashed past the flames.
The air moved over her head, as if something just missed connecting with her skull. She tossed her flash bomb over her shoulder. It struck something and shattered in a burst of light. She skidded to a halt as someone cried out.
Darren backed away, his face recognizable even with his fists pressed to his eyes. She saw it sometimes in her nightmares, asking how many times he could cut her before she screamed. He waved his sword blindly. Starbride ducked out of the way and hurried to Katya.
When Starbride touched her shoulder, Katya tried to swing her rapier, but she seemed unsteady, staggered even. Starbride batted the blow away. “Hold on to me!”
The flames in the hallway crept up the walls. Katya draped an arm around Starbride’s neck. Starbride covered Katya’s nose and mouth and led her past the flames.
In the hallway, someone rammed into them. He gave way as easily as a bundle bag of sticks. “Keep hold of me,” Starbride said to Katya. “I won’t let you go.”
But more people dashed from the rooms like rats. “Brutal!” Starbride tried to yell above the screams. “Pennynail!” Someone grabbed at her ankle, some poor soul who’d fallen in the press. Starbride jerked her leg loose, but she couldn’t offer the fallen person help, not while supporting Katya. Her stomach turned over at having to leave a person under so many feet.
A cry of pain sounded from up ahead, and then Brutal moved through the mob. They parted for him like the tide, occasionally smacking against him and then rolling to one side or the other. He reached for Katya and hauled her over his shoulder.
“Hang on to my arm!” he cried.
“Wait, wait!” Starbride clung to him and looked for the fallen person who’d grabbed her, but there were so many people, too many panicked faces, too much smoke.
“Now,” Brutal yelled. Starbride had to go with him or risk joining whoever was on the ground. Katya’s rapier dropped. Starbride grabbed it and kept it tight to her side lest it cut someone.
Pennynail met them at the head of the stairs, two dead men at his feet. Brutal and Starbride caught him in their wake, Brutal still leading the way. Starbride held on to him and Pennynail held tight to her. When they hit the street, they kept going, all the way out of the Warrens and through Dockland. Brutal didn’t put Katya down until they were outside the city and a bit into the trees where Averie waited with their horses.
Chapter Nine: Katya
Katya had to wonder how many times she’d woken up without remembering going to bed. It always took a few groggy moments for things to fall into place. “Maia,” she whispered. A heavy hand on her chest kept her from sitting up.
“Lift your head and you’ll regret it,” Brutal rumbled.
Katya opened her eyes. “I saw Maia.”
“You and everybody else. Pennynail thought he was dogging her through the streets.”
“But…” Katya tried to think. “Darren hit me.” She took a deep breath and coughed. “Why does my chest hurt?”
“You breathed in smoke. Someone lit the building on fire, but they didn’t bank on at least one of us not charging in like a loon.”
Katya glared at him. “You, I suppose.”
“No, I was Mr. Crazy right behind you. Starbride, however, kept her head.”
Katya vaguely remembered being saved by Starbride’s quick thinking. “I thought it must have been the spirit of love.”
“She saved you without my brawn or Pennynail’s skill…or a Fiend.”
“What are you—”
“A good crack to the head would have felled you just as easily if you’d had a Fiend. Maybe what you lost was your common sense.”
Katya tried to keep glaring, but the truth of his words sunk in. “Perhaps.”
“Hmm, maybe you didn’t lose all your sense.”
“And where is my beloved now?”
Brutal continued to stare at her.
Katya rubbed her forehead. “All right, all right, lesson learned. I will follow the plan from now on, or you may throw this series of events into my face at every opportunity.”
His mouth twisted as if he wasn’t sure. “She’s outside. I wanted to have a little chat with you first.” He stood and passed out of view.
A moment later, Starbride smiled down at Katya and sat on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Better for seeing you. I’m sorry I worried you, Star.”
“I want you healthy before I yell at you about your trust issues.”
“I’ll stay in bed forever then.” She tried to leer, but her head ached too badly.
“Well, since you have a mark against you, I can finally admit mine.”
Katya lifted Starbride’s hand and kissed it. “You saved me, Berth, spirit of strength. What could you have possibly done wrong?”
“I didn’t tell you that my mother is coming to visit.”
Katya blinked and tried to think of what that might mean. Her lovers’ mothers had never seemed like a consideration. Now here came one who would one day be her mother-in-law. Still, the idea wasn’t that upsetting. Even if the woman was as fierce as Starbride made her out to be, she couldn’t hold a candle to Katya’s mother. “I’m sure we’ll get along.”
“Oh, she’ll love you, especially your title.”
“I’ll be the spirit of patience.”
Starbride’s cool lips pressed against her forehead. “Glad to hear it. You won’t mind staying in bed for a few days, then.”
Katya did su
mmon up the energy to leer then. “If you promise to stay with me.”
“Rascal.” She brushed Katya’s hair away from her forehead. “When I saw you in that room, and you were barely moving…”
Katya caressed her warm cheek, guilt tying her up inside. “Star—”
“I know how it hurts when someone you love is in danger. But I still trust you to watch my back.”
“Understood.” And she supposed it would have to be. After all, her Fiend never gave her the ability to trust someone else to do what was right, what was safe. Her Fiend never cared to protect anyone. She’d have to trust those around her to protect themselves and then help them as she could.
It would be a hard lesson to take to heart.
*
Katya spent a week in bed under the watchful eye of not only Starbride, but Averie and Dawnmother as well. She ached to investigate the strange Maia sighting, but her family and friends wouldn’t let her shift until she could walk without her head threatening to explode. Crowe came by several times to report that he’d heard nothing else about Maia and could only conclude that Darren and Roland had decided to see if they could kill any of the Order. Whether Maia had actually helped them remained unclear.
The day that Katya was ready to be on her feet again, she decided to take care of an easier matter, one that had been in the back of her mind. Rumors about why she hadn’t come out of her apartment for days abounded, according to Hugo. The leading rumor had it that she was hiding from Castelle Burenne. Katya had to nip that rumor in the bud, and there was only one way she could think of.
“Star, we better meet Castelle and get it over with,” Katya said after Averie helped her dress. “We can’t have people saying that I’m either scared of her or that you’re physically trying to hold me back.”
Starbride laughed. “You couldn’t keep me away.”
They dressed simply but elegantly, Katya in coat and trousers and Starbride in one of her Allusian outfits, fitted trousers and a loose shirt held tight with a bodice. In the halls, they followed the gossip until they found who they were looking for.
Katya expected her breath to catch upon first sight of Castelle; she expected to feel a pang in her heart. She paused a moment and waited for the crowd to part, for her first glimpse after two years.
Castelle’s curly black locks were still lustrous, even though the top of her head was hidden by a hat with a wide, floppy brim. Rakish, as always. Her eyes were as bright as turquoise, and she’d added a small tattoo that curved around her right eye. As Katya and Starbride moved closer, Katya saw it was a thin vine of roses, thorns and all.
Castelle smiled, her teeth shining in a face only slightly darker than those around her, a nod to the barony she hailed from, a land close to Allusia. She ran her fingers along the brim of her hat before she pulled it from her head and executed a bow that managed to be teasing and elegant at the same time.
“Your Highness,” Castelle said.
Katya’s heart thumped, a feeling that almost surprised her enough to keep her from speaking. Castelle was beautiful, Katya told herself, but she was also the past. “Baroness, I see you’ve been keeping well.”
Castelle smiled as she straightened and kept her hat by her side. Her trousers were fashionably tight, but her blue coat was cut far too short, just at her waist, and its sleeves ended halfway down her arms, showing her white shirt underneath. The style was several years out of date, but the way she moved, her confidence, made it seem that fashion had it wrong, not her.
Before Castelle had a chance to speak again, Katya said, “Have you met Princess Consort Starbride?”
“I have not had the pleasure.” But she’d probably heard of nothing else since her arrival.
Starbride stepped forward gracefully, and Castelle’s eyes narrowed, a sign that she liked what she saw. Katya nearly smirked. Castelle liked almost everyone she saw. Flirting had been one of the many lessons Katya had learned from her.
“I am honored, Princess Consort,” Castelle said.
Starbride smiled warmly, maybe to try to convince Castelle that she was completely outclassed, if Castelle had any designs on taking up where she and Katya had left off. “Please call me Starbride, Baroness.”
“Then I must be Castelle to you, or Cass, if you prefer.”
Starbride inclined her head. Courtiers clustered around them and watched as closely as hunting birds; their heads whipped back and forth from one speaker to another. “I’ve heard you are an adventurer, Castelle.”
“A bit of this and that. I’ve recently been on the coast playing thief catcher for a count.”
“And how many have you caught?” Katya asked in her court drawl.
She winked. “Enough, Highness.”
Still a flirt, as if they had no history at all. Katya glanced away as if bored. She beamed at Starbride then, as if she’d forgotten Castelle even existed. She could almost hear the gossip starting in the minds around her.
Starbride took the hint and bestowed a beautiful smile up at Katya. “That’s very interesting I’m sure,” she said, half over her shoulder, to Castelle.
“Well,” Castelle said. “I’m sure you’re very busy. Please, don’t let me…” She glanced back and forth between them.
Katya waved, and the crowd parted for them. She waited until they were around a corner before she pulled Starbride half behind a statue. “That was perfect. You were perfect.”
“No lingering feelings, then?”
“Only for you.”
Chapter Ten: Starbride
After Katya left for a meeting with her parents, Starbride stayed in the hallways of the palace, being seen, as Katya called it. She didn’t loathe it as much as she used to. Some of her newfound confidence had come from the consort’s bracelet, but not all. She’d dreaded wearing it in the beginning, suffered the demands on her time by scheming courtiers, and hated the way nobles pretended to be her friends while waiting for more grist for their rumor mill.
Elevation in rank hadn’t made her feel above everyone around her; an increase in responsibility had done that. The adventurous side of her life put her above the palace’s petty schemes and torments, even as an inner voice reminded her that petty schemes and torments could be just as dangerous as Roland. That voice sounded a lot like Countess Nadia, who’d told Starbride that nobles and courtiers weren’t above killing to get what they wanted.
Lady Hilda, who’d once fancied herself Starbride’s competition, had stayed out of the way since Starbride had become princess consort. Starbride had no illusions that she’d given up, though. No doubt she waited and hatched some colorful scheme. As courtiers and nobles bowed in the hallways, Starbride couldn’t let the idea bother her too much. After all, she had position now.
She also had pyramids in the pouch at her belt.
Lady Hilda had missed her opportunity. Starbride let herself feel immense pride that she hadn’t made that mistake; she’d accepted Katya. Now she just had to accept everything that went along with Katya.
The Order had discussed preparations for the fall festival and keeping the royal family safe. They’d talked of the crown prince, of the king and queen, of the child princess and prince, but no one spoke of who would defend Katya. Everyone assumed she could take care of herself. But they hadn’t seen her crumpled against a wall, dazed to the point where she couldn’t even run from a fire.
Starbride wouldn’t argue that Katya should stay indoors and hide behind guards. After years of freedom, that would drive her mad. But the other Umbriels weren’t Roland’s only targets; hadn’t their last mission proved that?
Up ahead, Starbride caught sight of Castelle turning a corner and leading a troop of nattering courtiers. All of them, men and women, laughed and flirted with her; she did the same. When Starbride first arrived at Marienne, she would have thought they were just having a bit of fun—her fragile ego assuming it was at her expense—but now she knew that everyone was always grasping after something.
Castelle h
ad a quick word to her followers. They glanced in Starbride’s direction, lips pursed or amused, before they hustled away.
Starbride and Castelle bowed, just enough for each one’s station. It warmed Starbride’s belly that she outranked Katya’s former lover. It wasn’t jealousy, she told herself, just satisfaction.
“Princess Consort,” Castelle said after she’d straightened. “Starbride. I hoped we’d run into one another again.”
“And why is that, Castelle?” She couldn’t bring herself to say the nickname. It sounded too much like shortening an Allusian name, an intimate practice.
“If I may say, I admire your directness. I’ve heard it lamented many times that you don’t play court games. May I walk with you?”
Starbride shrugged and continued walking while studying Castelle out of the corner of her eye. She was lean, but not without curves. Barely taller than Katya, she was far taller than Starbride, and she had power in her frame, even under her clothing. Like Katya, she was built for adventure.
“Court games?” Starbride asked.
“The politics game, the getting-ahead game. My father used to call it the courtier shuffle.”
“I would have liked your father.”
Castelle glanced at her as if surprised, and her face softened into an almost affectionate look. “Many did. He…” A slow, calculating smile took over her mouth. “Do you even think about it?”
“What?”
“Your lack of guile. Are you cunning, artlessly or not?”
Starbride fought the urge to get angry, like she always did with these people. “I say what I think, that’s all.”
She felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and turned to find Castelle watching her with a pinched brow. It made the tattoo curving around her eye wrinkle. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just…Honesty is hard to find here, real honesty, I mean. A lot of people use the word as an excuse to say whatever they want, the meaner the better. You’re rare.”
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