And with one pull of the lights, the door opened, and I was free.
I inhaled the warm night air and trotted out into the night, listening for the sounds of footsteps. When none were following, I made my way toward the stables, where Joella was standing guard with Coyle. I crept silently to the darkness, crouching low and waiting.
"Shame the princess has come down with something," Coyle said. "Though I'm sure it makes our life easier."
"Infinitely," Joella said with a severe laugh. "She's such a pain in the ass. And she makes Felix run all over the place after her. If you ask me, she should stay in the castle where she belongs."
"Think she'll stay after she's crowned like Llobrega says?"
"Fat chance." Joella stopped and turned behind her, as if she'd forgotten something. "Hey, I forgot to check on something for Riya. Can you handle this by yourself? I'll send over Monty after a bit."
"Sure, sure," he said. "Without Princess Pain in the Ass wandering around, things are pretty silent."
"You, too, Coyle?" I shook my head. Nobody liked me, it seemed.
I kept my distance from Joella as she most assuredly didn't seek out Riya but went out of the castle grounds. She grabbed a stashed black cloak from underneath a bale of hay right outside the castle, covering her royal guard uniform. When she got to the city center, I ascended to the rooftops to follow, keeping her shiny shoe buckles in view as I followed her to the eastern side of the city.
She finally stopped in a dark alley where another figure was waiting. I sat hidden behind the ledge, listening.
"…found the poisoner. Or a merchant ship, I think."
"Oh? Who is it?"
I released a low growl. I knew that voice—Ignacio.
"Not sure. She could also be bluffing," Joella said. "She's not nearly as smart as she thinks she is."
"I've heard that from multiple people."
"Oh, come on," I whispered.
Joella and Ignacio spoke in hushed tones, and I could only catch wisps of their conversations. When they parted, Joella kept to the shadows, her cloak billowing behind her.
I waited until she was far enough away that Ignacio wouldn't hear her scream then came up behind her with a knife. She jumped, but stopped moving as soon as the blade pressed into her neck.
"You little snitch," I growled. "I should slit your throat and cut out your tongue."
"P-princess?" she gasped, her body trembling. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question," I said. "I saw you meeting with Beswick's man about the poisoner. You're lucky I don't kill you right here. Are you responsible for my brother's death?"
"You don't understand," she whispered desperately. "It's not what it looks like."
"Oh? Because I told you I was close to finding the poisoner, and here you are, telling the man who did it—"
"Beswick isn't responsible, I promise you," Joella said. "I swear to you, he's not."
I tightened the blade against her skin. "What's the word of a liar worth?"
"Brynna, please." She disarmed me with a quick break but didn't run. "Just listen to me for one moment."
I folded my arms across my chest. "Speak."
"Beswick has my sister in his little web. She was in a lot of debt, and he was going to kill her if she didn't pay or…get me to feed him information from the castle." She slumped. "I swear, I haven't told him that you're The Veil or anything else about that."
"Then what are you telling him?"
She licked her lips. "Information about what you're doing as princess, things to do with his business, that kind of thing."
"And that I was close to finding the poisoner," I finished with narrowing eyes.
She sighed. "I hadn't been able to bring him any news of value, so I thought he'd be interested in it. He wasn't." She shook her head. "I have to figure something out this month or else he's going to double my debt. I'm sorry, I'm…I'm desperate."
I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth, struck with a brilliant idea. "Maybe we can help each other, Joella."
"What are you talking about?" she asked with a nervous look.
"I'm going to give you something to give to Beswick, and in return, you're going to get me close to him."
Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"That's my business." I glowered at her. "As you've proven you can't be trusted."
"I'm working for Beswick, but I have no idea who poisoned you," she said. "Or Prince August or your father. I swear."
"You lied to me about working for Beswick," I said. "So you've got to earn back my trust. Can you get a message to him?"
She nodded stoically. "When I have information to give Beswick, I go to the bakery in the town square. Buy three yeast rolls. Then I meet with him at his club on the eastern side."
"Then I suggest you hit up the bakery tomorrow."
"What am I going to tell him?"
"Tell him…" I smiled. "That the Severians are going to be making a deal with the princess and cutting him out. And if he'd like to see the new treaty, you'll bring it to him personally."
Chapter 32
"How are you feeling?"
I jumped at the sound of Felix's voice, nearly taking his head off. "Wha?"
"I asked how you were feeling," Felix said, sitting down on the edge of my bed.
"Like shit," I said. It was mostly the truth. I did feel like shit, but only because I'd gotten in just before dawn. Without Felix on my tail, I'd made the most of my free evening and taken out more than a few low-life criminals. But that, of course, meant I was struggling this morning.
"You're killing yourself," Felix said, laying his hand on my leg. "This can't continue, Brynn."
"Just a little head cold," I said. "I'll be right as rain in a few days."
"As long as you take it easy."
I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll take it easy today."
But once I was awake, I did anything but. Alone in my room, I paced and pondered. How I was going to get alone with Ilara today? And how I could put together a non-binding agreement that would cut Beswick out completely?
My opportune moment came when Joella switched out with Riya as my room guard around noon. I changed into one of my nicer tunics, pinning my gold circlet to my hair, which I'd braided about as well as Beata. Then, I went to fetch my new best friend.
"We're going for a walk," I said, appearing in the doorway and catching Joella's eye. "If anyone asks, I went to stretch my legs."
She nodded grimly and followed without saying a word.
Ilara had been put up in the southern wing of the castle; I'd thought it would be nice for her to have a view of the water when she woke up. As we entered the hall, I counted the Severian guards, marked by their brown and red uniforms, instead of the blue and white of Forcadel. They nodded to me, although I felt their eyes on me as I passed.
The attendant at the door jumped to his feet and bowed. "Your Highness, I wasn't aware that you'd be paying us a visit today. I thought you were ill?"
"I needed some fresh air," I said with a forced smile. "I thought, perhaps, Ilara would have a moment to speak?"
"Let me fetch her," he said, ducking into the room. A moment later, Ilara appeared in a shapeless white dress that ended just above her ankles. Her black hair was stick straight and falling to her hips at least, pinned back with a beautiful jeweled barrette.
She flashed me a wide, happy smile. "I'm so glad to see you're feeling better. I'd asked your captain if I could send you a healing tincture, but he declined."
"He's a little overprotective," I said, squeezing her hand when she offered it. "Would you like to take a walk with me?"
"Oh, please," she said, glancing behind her. "I'd love some fresh air."
With Joella trailing us, I took Ilara down to the gardens where we wouldn't be overheard. In order for this to work, I needed this conversation to remain between the three of us.
"It is so nice to get outside," she said, turning her face up to the sun. "
I could spend every day out here."
"How are you liking your time here in Forcadel?" I asked, stopping to admire a particularly pungent white flower.
"Oh, very much." She beamed. "Yesterday, I spent some time in your fantastic square, before a kind merchant took me out for an afternoon sail around the bay. It's quite impressive, this city you have here. Even this garden is so luscious."
"I used to play here as a girl," I said with a soft smile. "My brother August would chase me, and I'd hide under that bridge or behind the well. Once, I thought it would be a good idea to hide in the well."
"Was it?" she asked with an amused smile.
"I know Felix heard me crying, but he ignored me until the morning," I said with a glower.
"Your captain has been in your life a long time, then?"
"Longer than I'd like," I replied. "I sometimes think he still sees me as that little girl stuck in a well."
"Perhaps," she said before turning to me. "I know you didn't just take me out for a walk to these beautiful gardens to stretch your legs."
"You're right," I said, looking at Joella and dismissing her with one look. "I wanted to talk about your agreement with Johann Beswick."
"Oh." She looked away. "I'm not sure I should discuss those with you. My minister of economics said—"
"Beswick is a crook, and he's also the one who's hitting the transports you're paying him to protect," I said, placing my hands on my hips. "So you're paying him a lot of money to get half your shipments."
Her mouth dropped open, and she covered it with her hand.
"It's not your fault," I said, by way of an apology. "Beswick likes to entrap people and make them believe he's the only one who can save them from their problems, when he's the one who put them there in the first place."
"We give him a thousand gold pieces per month to protect Severian glass from the border to the ocean, and another thousand to transport it into Forcadel." She furrowed her brow in anger. "But I'd long suspected it wasn't as official as we'd been led to believe. Beswick takes more than he should, and his methods of dealing with disagreements aren't ones I like." She sighed. "But as it stands, he's the only one who'll do business with us."
"Surely there are other merchants out there," I replied. "You can't just have Beswick."
She made a helpless gesture. "Of course not. But he's the only one who'll meet with me. I was devastated that I couldn't attend your dinner. Such an opportunity lost because I couldn't sit up."
"It's fine," I said, patting her hand. "There will be other dinners, I'm sure."
"Perhaps, but none that I will attend," she said sadly. "Your captain stopped by this morning and strongly urged us to pack up and leave before your coronation."
"He did, did he?" I'd have to talk to Felix about that. "Don't worry about him. There are others in the city you can meet with. I'll hold another dinner. Maybe tonight."
"It's no use, Brynna," she said sadly. "There aren't many who are willing to deal directly with us. It's a treacherous journey from Severia to the coast. Half our glass is damaged or stolen en route. We already sell it at the lowest price we can, so the profit margins aren't…" She sighed. "Unfortunately, my beautiful homeland lacks natural resources. And so we are where we are."
"I'm sure," I said. "What if I promised you a free royal guard escort for all your shipments to the coast?"
Her eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
"We'll have to finalize this with the Council," I said, hoping they would give me an out. Two thousand gold pieces per shipment was quite a lot of money for Beswick to lose; that would have to get his attention. "And it might not be forever. Just temporarily, until I can find a way to get rid of Beswick. Then, I promise you, I'll try to find you a better solution."
"Even one protected shipment would mean so much to my glassmakers," she said, tears in her eyes that she wiped away quickly. "And I suppose we'll begin the process of packing up our things. I'd hoped I could stay for the coronation festival, but I understand the situation I've put you in. I just hope we can return before the sandstorms become too terrible to travel in."
"Look why don't you just…stay," I said, after a moment. "It's ridiculous that you should travel during the middle of stormy season. Is your kingdom running fine without you?"
"One hopes."
"Then just stay until the coronation. Felix can deal with it. Let me handle this Beswick thing and then we can get down to the business of real negotiations, all right?"
She grinned brightly. "Thank you, my dear friend."
That night, I played like I wanted to go out, but Felix refused. I fought with him for an hour, finally breaking down into tears about how frustrated I was that things weren't going faster, how bad I felt, and so on and so forth. The poor bastard ate it up, tucking me into bed and drying my eyes. It made me feel a little guilty that I was tricking him, but if everything went as it should, he wouldn't be the wiser.
Once I'd been left alone long enough, I went to my door and opened it, finding Joella waiting down the staircase.
"I have a meeting tonight with Beswick," she said.
"Excellent," I said, joining her on the bottom step. "If it's a trap, I will kill you. And your sister, her daughters, and that new infant baby boy."
She stumbled. "What?"
"Do you think me an idiot, Joella?" I said evenly. "I wanted to make sure I had insurance. If you try anything stupid, I will end every single one of them. And don't think I won't, either."
It was a lie; but Joella didn't need to know that. She just needed a reminder of what was at stake.
She swallowed. "You went to my sister's house?"
"Of course I did." I continued walking, lowering my voice. "But if you don't screw me, there won't be any problems. Your nephew is a handsome little guy, isn't he?"
"Y-yes, he is," Joella said quietly.
We left the castle without another word.
As promised, she walked into Beswick's club, the guard at the front allowing her entry without a glance. Beswick was waiting in a room on the third floor. I had a good vantage point across the street, but I wasn't able to hear what he was saying. I pulled out the small crossbow I'd retrieved from the clocktower and loaded it with one of my listening devices with a fifty-foot string. Then I aimed toward the window and waited. Joella appeared exactly when I wanted her to, and right when she slammed the door behind her, I released the arrow. I pulled the cup to my ear and listened.
"…don't slam the door so hard."
"Sorry," Joella said. "I'm a little nervous."
"Don't be. Come sit at my table and tell me about this new treaty."
"She's offered Ilara a full royal guard from the border to Forcadel," Joella said. "Apparently, she's trying to undercut you. That's what she said."
"Ah, that poor girl. Does she really think it will be that easy?" He chuckled and my blood boiled. "I have ways of making sure that never happens. Perhaps I'll have my friends on the Kulkan border come with their hats out. It'll be interesting to see if the princess is so swayed by their sad remarks, too."
"I'll let you know what I hear," Joella said, standing. "But I can't… She can't know I was the one who told you."
"I have many spies, Lieutenant," he said evenly. "Although you've done well. This is the first I've heard of this latest development. Continue to get close to the princess and find out all you can, especially if she somehow surprises me again."
"I will." Joella stood. "And…my sister?"
"Oh, dear. Your sister's debts are long since paid." I could picture that evil smile growing on his face; I'd heard this a thousand times before. "But if you'd like to continue your employment in the captain's guard, you'll do well to keep feeding me information."
Joella said nothing but turned and walked out of the room. Poor girl; I could've told her that was going to happen. But also, if I was successful tonight, she wouldn't have to worry about him again.
"Asher, get the carriage, I'd like to visit our friends at
the Hound's Tooth tonight." He rose and left the room. Once the room was empty, I yanked my listening device out of the window and wound it back up. Down below, Beswick stepped out of the building and into a waiting carriage. I counted four bodyguards with him—one inside, two on the front, and one on the back.
I loaded my crossbow with a sack of knockout powder and aimed at the carriage. It hit next to the man on the back, exploding in a puff of smoke. Not three seconds later, the back guard slumped forward and off the carriage.
I cursed as the vehicle came to a stop and the remaining three guards came to see what the noise was. They kicked their compatriot, calling to Beswick, who poked his head out. He glanced around at the sky, frowned, then called them back in. They took off at a much faster pace, and I followed on the rooftops.
I loaded up another knockout powder, but with the carriage moving so quickly, I couldn't get a good shot in. Every time I got ahead of them, they'd take a left, and I'd have to scramble to catch up. I'd just have to go for it, I decided, and rushed forward, grabbing a well-placed clothesline as I wafted to the ground.
I landed in the middle of the road, and the horse screamed to a stop. Without missing a beat, I aimed and fired my crossbow, and the two men in front slumped over after a breath. The carriage door opened and both Beswick and his fourth guard came out.
"What the hell is this?" Beswick said, looking at the men on the ground. "Who the hell are you?"
I lifted my crossbow. "Your contracts, please."
"I'm sorry…what?" He cocked his head in my direction.
"The contracts you have with Severia and Kulka," I said, taking a step forward as the guards shared a confused look. "I want them. You will give them to me, or I will take them off your body."
"Oh, right, I think I've heard about you," Beswick said with a slow nod. "You're the little creature who keeps interfering with my business, or trying to, hm? Getting some poor souls out of deals, that kind of thing."
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