Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  “Sir, you have a wife, and I am very tired from my trip into Hanra today. I need my rest before the big trip tomorrow. My horse, Sage, hates it when I ride tired,” I said as I turned the doorknob to open my room. I slowly started to back my way through the doorframe.

  His eyes filled with disappointment, and he lost the excitement on his face. “That’s all right, maybe next time.”

  I watched as he walked away from me before quickly darting into my room and shutting the door behind me, I leaned against it and sighed in relief. I locked the bolt so Rathgar couldn’t return and went into the bathroom for a well deserved bath. I stayed in there longer than I thought and by the time I returned to the bedroom, it was dark outside the windows. I dressed in my nightclothes, and got into bed. My mind raced on why we were returning home so soon. Is the trade further along than I thought? I needed to get the information on the trade and fast. I began listing ways to get the information in my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

  I was woken the next morning by Kate lightly shaking me. I peeked from under the covers and noticed it was still dark outside. I groaned and finally got up so that Kate could help me prepare for the morning’s travel. She drew a hot bath for me and prepared my travel clothes. When it came to doing my hair, I asked her to just tie it up. When she did, she almost looked upset. After packing up the remainder of my things, I made sure my daggers were in their sheaths and tied to my belt. I swung my pack over my shoulder and turned to Kate.

  “Thank you for helping me while we have been here, Kate. You are an amazing handmaiden.”

  She gave me a small smile as I handed her a pile of gold to thank her. I swear I could see tears swelling up in her eyes. I gave her a small hug and made my way to the stables. It was still before dawn, and only a few servants were awake and roaming the halls of the castle. By the time I made it out to the stables, I was already feeling the winter chills. I pulled my winter cloak out of my pack and tied it around my neck.

  I found Sage in one of the stalls. As soon as she saw me, her ears pricked up and she began watching my every move. Her tack was out on a table beside the stall door. The stable boy had cleaned it and arranged it so it would be easy to tack her and go. I pulled her out and tied her to the post. She was already brushed and ready. I placed the blanket down on her back then the saddle and secured it around her stomach. I tied my second bag to the back of the saddle and fastened her bridle. As soon as I was done, Sage began kicking at the ground; she was raring to go.

  I mounted and lead Sage out to the front of the castle where I was to meet with the rest of the travel party. The king’s coach was already there with Captain Malik standing beside it holding his horse’s rope. As I approached, I gave him a nod before falling into my position. Sage continued to move around in our spot; she was anxious to get going and didn’t want to behave. I tried to pull the reigns and stop her, but she wouldn’t. I leaned forwards and rubbed her neck, but that just made her more excited.

  “You really don’t know how to control your horse, do you, Callie?”

  I turned to find Asher approaching on his own horse. He stopped beside me and grabbed the reigns from my hands and placed them on Sage’s neck. She stopped fidgeting instantly. I shot Asher a curious look, and he just smiled.

  “With you holding the reigns, it makes her feel like we are about to go. If you relax the reigns, she knows we are just standing and waiting,” he said with a smug yet cute smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that I just couldn’t resist but return back.

  “Thanks, Asher. I guess I still have a few things to learn.”

  Everyone went quiet as Malik pulled his horse around the front of the travel party. He mounted and waited until everyone had their attention on him.

  “The king would like to return as quickly as possible, so we will be riding at a quicker pace and as long as possible before having to make camp. When we do stop, the staff will set up camp quickly and efficiently, and we will set off before dawn the next day as well. We are hoping to return back to Terralyn within two days. We leave in ten minutes.”

  Before we were ready to leave, King Rathgar came out of the castle and joined King Jarrett in the coach. They stayed in there for a few minutes before Malik reminded them we were about to leave. King Rathgar joined us all outside, and his eyes fell on me and widened when he saw me sitting on my horse beside Asher. He approached me and placed his hand on Sage’s neck. She took a step back from the shock of a new person touching her. I know how you feel, Sage, I thought as the king’s creepy stare returned.

  “Miss Callie, it saddens me you have to leave before you had the chance to grace me with your company. Maybe next time you return to Oslor.”

  “King Rathgar, while I thank you for your hospitality, I will not be gracing you with my company,” I said as Malik gave the signal for us to leave.

  I grabbed Sage’s reigns and waited for the horses in front of us to move. The king took his hand off my horse and stepped away from the travel party, though his eyes remained on me and his jaw had dropped from my response to his proposition. We slowly made it out of the castle grounds and towards Hanra. Asher leaned in and tapped my hands for me to do the same.

  “What did the king mean by grace him with your company?”

  “Last night, the king tried to proposition me, but I shot him down and will continue to do so.”

  Asher laughed so loud that it made Malik look back towards us and give us a stern look. He stopped instantly but still lightly chuckled under his breath.

  “We are going to talk about this again later when the captain is not near us,” Asher said as he turned back to face the front.

  I couldn’t respond. Why would he even want to talk about my sex life? It was something I never talked to anyone about, let alone someone I had only met days ago. As soon as we made it out of Hanra, Malik picked up the pace of the travel party. King Jarrett really did want to get home quicker. The winter winds bit at my skin, and I pulled my cloak in tighter.

  The ride went on longer than I thought. We made it to the boarder just after lunch time and hit the forest shortly after that. We continued to ride until it was too dark to see ahead of us. The scout had found a clearing where we quickly set up the tents and fires. I watched as Malik and King Jarrett stepped into the king’s tent shortly after camp had been set up. While the food was cooking, I took it as a chance to question the king.

  I knocked on the tent post and stepped inside. The king and Malik stopped talking as soon as I entered. I stood by the door and waited for them to address me.

  “What do you want, Callie?” Malik asked.

  I took a deep breath and let loose. “Why wasn’t I allowed to see what King Rathgar was showing you both yesterday? I am your advisor. I should be allowed to see what this trade is about.”

  Malik started to speak, but King Jarrett cut him off. He stood from his seat and started walking towards me. “You will get to be involved when I fully trust you because as of right now, I don’t, and if you keep pushing the agenda, you will never know. Whether you are my advisor or not. Remember, I didn’t pick you as my advisor, you won the chance. That doesn’t mean I have to trust you right away.”

  “But, sir –”

  “No, there will be nothing more on the subject until I am ready. Now go and stay away from me for the rest of the trip home. I don’t even want to give you the chance to keep pressuring me on the subject.”

  I just stood there staring at them both. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, that because I wasn’t chosen, I would have to earn his trust to be included in things that were part of my job description. King Jarrett took another step forward.

  “Go!” he shouted.

  I left the tent and instantly had all eyes on me. I held my head high and walked over to the second campfire. The guards seated around there got up as soon as I got close enough and moved to the other one. I could tell they didn’t want to get on the bad side of the king either, and I couldn’t blame them.
I stared into the flames, and my thoughts ran rampant in my mind. My blood boiled. How can he expect me to do my job if he won’t allow me to know what he is doing? I balled my hands into fists and punched the log I was sitting on. Behind me, I could hear footsteps, and I instantly knew it was Asher coming to sit with me. I sighed as I knew he wanted to talk about earlier with King Rathgar. At that point, I wasn’t in the mood to talk about stupid things such as a creepy king that wanted me for the night.

  Asher sat beside me on the log and handed me a bowl of the stew the cooks had made. We sat in silence while we ate, and I was curious as to why he had decided not to talk. After the horrible scene with the king, it was nice to have someone with me that just liked my company. By the time Asher and I finished our food, the other guards were starting to retire to their tents. I said my goodnight to Asher and stepped into my tent alone.

  I woke to rushing sounds outside my tent. The other guards were already awake and eating their breakfast while the servants took down their tents. I quickly dressed and packed up anything I had taken out of my bags and placed them in front of the tent opening. As soon as I stepped out into the clearing, Asher handed me some food. I thanked him and ate it as fast as I could. Before I could even take two steps away from the tent, the servants began dismantling it and packing it away in the back of the coach.

  After we ate, I tied my things to the back of Sage’s saddle and gave her an apple before mounting. We got in our travel party positions before waiting for Malik’s signal to leave the clearing. Our pace was even quicker than the day before, and after the fight the king and I had in his tent, I could tell he would be wanting to get back to Terralyn fast. Throughout the ride, I would lean forward and rub Sage’s neck to reassure her she was doing a great job. Every time I did it, Asher would be watching me. I could see a small sparkle in his eyes when he watched me. There was something about him that made it easy for me to be around him.

  By the time we made it to midday, we were only a few hours off from the main city. We quickly stopped and made sure our horses had a drink before moving off again at the quick pace. I sat back and watched the scenery go by, and before I knew it, we were back in town. We rode through the main street and into the courtyard of the castle grounds. We stopped and waited for the king to go inside before dismounting. I untied my bags and realised that Malik was standing there waiting for me. I said my goodbye to Asher and agreed to meet up with him when I had time to myself before turning to the front stairs.

  “You will not be needed for your duties tonight. We will see you at breakfast in the morning.”

  He turned and walked away from me before I could get a word in. His tone cut deep, almost like he was the one angry at me, not the king.

  I made my way up to my quarters, saying hello to any servants that spoke to me on the way. When I made it there, I realised the door was unlocked and slightly ajar. I gripped one of my dagger hilts and slowly opened the door. I checked my surroundings, but the room was empty. Although, on one of the couches were large scratch marks. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I remembered the scratching on my windows back in the guards’ quarters before starting my job as advisor. Is someone after me? Does someone know who I truly am? Maybe an animal got in somehow? I couldn’t dwell on it. The next day I would go see Abigail and see if she knew anyone that could fix it.

  I placed my bags in my bedroom and returned to the living room. That was when I saw it. There was a letter sitting on the table. I ripped it open and saw it was from Fletcher.

  Callie,

  I know you went out of town with the king, but when you get back to Terralyn, I need you to come and see me urgently. Something has happened that needs your attention.

  Love from Uncle Fletcher.

  Uncle Fletcher? I guess he needed a way for his letter to actually get through. I laughed at the thought of the crazy old guy actually being my uncle as I changed out of my travel clothes and into something more comfortable. I strapped my daggers to me and fastened my plain black cloak around my neck. As I left the castle, the guards asked me where I was going. When I said I had no duties so I was going into town for shopping, they didn’t question it.

  I started down the road, but before I made it into town, I darted into the forest and changed course towards Fletcher’s house. Once I made it there, I could see there was no lights on again inside and all of the doors were locked. I sighed. He had invited me there and yet each time he insisted on me coming through the window. Just because I was an assassin didn’t mean I had to be sneaky all the time. I found a window that was unlocked and slightly open. I pried it open enough so my body could slip through, and I landed on my feet with only a small noise. As I slowly made my way into Fletcher’s living room, something felt off. I could almost feel the presence of a second person in the room with Fletcher. When I lit up the lamp on the table beside the hallway, my suspicions were correct.

  “Mal, finally you came,” Fletcher said, with a smile on his face.

  “Fletcher? Who is this?” I asked, pointing to the strange man standing beside him.

  He was a tall man, strong. He had black hair that was just long enough to actually look messy when he wanted it to, and boy was he handsome. His green eyes pierced right through me, and his smile melted me to the core. I shook myself on the inside and told myself to stop swooning over a stranger.

  “This, my lovely Mal, is Killian, my new assassin.”

  15

  “New assassin? You’re replacing me?” I almost couldn’t believe it. After all the hard work I had put in to get so close to the king and Fletcher was replacing me now. My heart raced. It was a feeling I had never felt before, almost like I was panicking. I couldn’t let him replace me; I wouldn’t let it happen. “How do you know he is better than me? I’ll fight him for the job.”

  “Mal, calm down. You are not being replaced.” He paused for a moment and allowed me to calm down. I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. “Let me explain. While you were gone with the king, something happened in town. You will probably hear about it when you return to the castle, but a small group of people stormed the castle demanding to know about the trade.”

  I almost fell to the ground at what I was hearing. I had no idea why people would have known about it when I don’t even know the details. “Fletcher, how do the people of the town know about it, the King won’t even tell me about it yet? Do we have a leak in the castle?”

  “Possibly, I have no idea. So, I called on Killian to be my eyes and ears around town. While you can’t be everywhere at once following the king and trying to get information, we need someone to see what is happening around town.”

  We started discussing the possibility of who the leak in the castle could be, along with what Killian’s job would actually be. He seemed like a good assassin, and although I hadn’t trained with him in the guild, I could see he knew what he was doing. We went through how all of our correspondence would be and how often I would need to sneak out and meet with them both. Fletcher offered for Killian to stay in his spare room so that he didn’t have to rent a room at the inn.

  After a while, I remembered that I wasn’t needed at dinner at the castle so Fletcher offered to cook us a meal. We continued making plans, and I reminded Killian that if he was to send me a letter at the castle, it had to be under the name Callie. They both understood that my cover was not to be blown or the whole operation would be finished. A few hours later, I decided it was time to return to the castle. It was still early, but I didn’t want anyone to wonder why I was out so late. I left Fletcher’s out the front door, and Killian followed behind me.

  “I look forward to working with you, Mal. It’s going to be fun.”

  He gave me the same smile that almost made me melt when I had first seen him, and his eyes shone in the moonlight. He was definitely good looking. I pulled myself together and answered him before I turned away.

  “It was nice meeting you, Killian.”

  Although Fletc
her’s house was in the backstreets of Terralyn, there was still a lot of people hanging around. It took me a while to navigate my way back out onto the forest road. When I did, I felt a tingle on the back of my neck and my hair stood up. It was the feeling as though someone was following me, but it felt different this time.

  “Hello, Mal.”

  I stopped in my tracks. The voice sounded familiar, but it was neither Fletcher, Killian nor Emil. A lump formed in my throat, and before I turned to see who it was, I grabbed the hilts of my daggers in preparation to strike. As I slowly turned, I lifted the daggers slightly out of their sheaths.

  “There is no need to attack, Mal. I just want to talk.”

  There was the voice again, I could finally see the person in the shadows, but I couldn’t make out who it was. Their voice lingered in my mind, but I couldn’t place it.

  “Who are you and how do you know that name?”

  The person laughed. “I look forward to working with you, Mal. Don’t worry, I heard it all.”

  The lump that was in my throat had now fallen to the pit of my stomach. My cover was blown. I gripped my daggers harder and pulled them from their sheaths. I lunged forwards and attacked. The person that knew couldn’t be left to live anymore. The man drew his sword and was ready for me. There was only moonlight in the forest, and even then it could barely be seen through the tree canopy. I had to rely on my instincts and the shape of the person to calculate how to attack. His stance was one I had seen before. It was taught when training in the king’s guards. Maybe this person is the mole? The thought finally crossed my mind. It was the only way he knew to follow me to my meeting with Fletcher and how he found out my cover.

  Our blades clashed in the air, and the force pushed me back. He was strong with a sword but not as strong as me. He moved closer and took a swing, thinking I was off balance. Normally, it would have worked, but I ducked under the blade and came up underneath and attacked his side and chest. My blades cut his clothes and tore into his skin. He stepped back a few paces, and before I could attack again, the moonlight finally lit up his face. It was Asher.