The City of Veils

by S. Usher Evans

  I didn't rise to the bait. "My patience is growing thin, Beswick. Give me the contracts, or this arrow goes into your chest. I promise you I'm a very good shot."

  "And I am a very well-prepared man."

  Footsteps echoed in the street behind me, above me, on the rooftop.

  I was surrounded.

  Chapter 33

  "You see, my dear, I run a very tight ship," Beswick said. "When I don't arrive at the right time, my men come looking for me." He picked a dust bunny off his jacket. "Now I'm going to continue on my way. My associates will be more than happy to deal with your…complaints."

  And with that, he stepped back into his carriage and it took off down the street.

  With a quick glance around, I assessed my situation. Two behind me, including the back guard who'd woken from his slumber. One to my right and left, and two in front of me. I had no more knockout powder, just a knife that wouldn't do more than nick someone. My best option would be to find an exit and run like hell…

  "Not so quick now, are ya?" one of the men grunted.

  I smirked. "Well? I'm waiting."

  But nobody moved—at least not toward me. Shadows appeared behind each of the men, and with one choreographed movement, the guards were disarmed. My heart dropped into my stomach as, too late, I realized who'd come for me.

  Disembodied hands yanked me backward then tossed me over a shoulder and hurried away. I didn't need to guess who they belonged to.

  "This is ridiculous," I said, struggling against the grip. "Put me down."

  My captor said nothing but ducked into an alley and roughly threw me to the ground.

  "Are you insane?" Felix barked, ripping off my mask with such ferocity that he probably took a clump of hair with it. "Going after Beswick like that? Alone?"

  "I had an opening and I took it," I said, rubbing my stinging scalp. "I had it handled."

  "You obviously didn't because half my squad is out there beating off Beswick's men," Felix said, pacing the room. "Do you know how stupid this was?"

  "I'm getting the measure of it," I said, coming to stand. "I didn't realize he had men tracking his movements. I won't make that mistake again."

  "You damn well won't, because you aren't leaving the castle again," he snarled.

  "Oh, yeah?" I crossed my arms over my chest. "We had an agreement—"

  "And you voided that the moment you got yourself surrounded by six men who could literally—literally—murder you with their bare hands."

  "I didn't void shit," I shot back. "I said I had it handled. You didn't even give me a chance to—"

  "Brynna, listen to yourself!"

  "I am listening to myself. You, on the other hand, are not listening to me," I cried, throwing my hand in the air. "I made a damned mistake. I make those from time to time. I'm human. But that doesn't mean you can overreact like this!"

  "This isn't a simple mistake," he said with a fierce shake of his head. "This could've potentially throw your entire kingdom into disarray. What am I supposed to tell the Council when you're taken prisoner by a known criminal? How am I supposed to tell them that you've been moonlighting as a vigilante and you're unable to make the next meeting because you're sitting in Beswick's basement, bloodied up?"

  I rolled my eyes. "You're talking in hypotheticals now. I wasn't going to get captured."

  "Yeah? Well your judgment is still impaired," he snapped. "Otherwise, why would you lie to me about being sick? Why go through all this trouble to entrap Joella—"

  I exhaled loudly. "Because she's working with Beswick."

  "You think I don't know that?"

  My jaw fell open. "You knew? And you didn't tell me?" I shook my head, barely processing what I was hearing. "And more importantly, you let it go on?"

  "I made sure to keep her off any important missions related to Beswick's interests," Felix said, wearing a look of moral superiority he definitely shouldn't have been wearing. "Gave her enough to keep her and her sister out of hot water."

  "And that makes it better?" I blinked a few times. "Felix, that's treason."

  "It's not treason. It's making the best of a bad situation," he replied. "That's something you have to do, from time to time, when you're in a leadership position. Not everything is black and white."

  "It is, in this case," I said. "Joella is compromised. Maybe she didn't poison August, but someone did. And it's clear you don't have an objective view of this situation."

  "That's bullshit," Felix said hotly. "I'd pin my entire career on their loyalty."

  "Well, you shouldn't!" I shot back. "There were eight people who knew Kat wouldn't be in that room. August is dead, and Kat and Beata were meeting a Nestori woman, which leaves five people: Yourself and your so-called inner circle. Now if you don't see how that could possibly be an issue, maybe it's time you re-think your position here."

  He licked his lips, and the bit of indecision felt like a victory parade. "Brynna, these people…the four I mentioned, I'd trust them with my life. I trust them with your life—"

  "You trusted them with August's life and look what it got you."

  He recoiled as if I'd slapped him.

  "Felix," I said, not liking the way he was looking at me. "I'm not doing this because I hate you. I'm trying to find out who's responsible and, more importantly, who's trying to kill me. If I find out who in your circle is the leak, it'll lead me to the mastermind." I sighed. "Please let me do this, because you are obviously incapable of being objective here."

  "So what part of August's death were you investigating when you took on Beswick?" Felix asked evenly.

  It was my turn to be wordless. "Beswick is one of my suspects, so—"

  "You're a piece of work, Brynna," Felix said, as a carriage rolled up behind him. "It's time you go back to the castle. And stay there."

  A large procession of bloodied guards escorted me back to the castle, and none of them would look at me. But I didn't care. In my mind, they were all derelict in their duty, most of all Felix. I was still seething that he knew about Joella, and couldn't shake that he was hiding more from me. Perhaps he did know who the poisoner was, and he was protecting his staff. Perhaps he, himself, was the poisoner. It was a thought I hadn't completely dismissed, especially considering how much he hovered over me.

  Unsurprisingly, when I returned to my room, I was locked inside, but I didn't intend to stay there. In the few nights I'd been out on my own, I'd brought back more provisions for just such an occasion, including extra special gripping gloves I could use to climb down the tower. If I worked quickly, I could get back out there.

  But when I ripped open the floorboard, my heart sank into my stomach. All my stuff was gone.

  I frantically searched through the closets, the floorboards—anywhere I might've stashed a secret pouch of powder or an extra crossbow. But Felix had had this entire room picked clean. For not the first time that night, I released a long string of curses toward my captain, running to the door and banging with all my might. I didn't care if I broke the door down; in fact, I was hoping for it.

  "Step away from the door."

  Oh, how could he sound so calm. "Screw you, you son of a bitch!"

  The lock turned over and the door swung outward. Felix walked past me, an unreadable look on his face. No less than ten guards waited outside the hallway as he closed the door behind him.

  "We need to have a discussion about what happened tonight."

  "Do we?" I asked dryly. "I'm so tired, Felix. I don't want to."

  "Tough." He sat in the chair, wearing a stoic look and remaining quiet for a few moments. "I want to apologize for keeping Joella's involvement with Beswick a secret from you."

  I snorted. "You? Apologize? That's new."

  "Brynn, I'm trying," he said, and I made a gesture for him to continue. "She'd offered her resignation to me when Beswick first approached her, but we both thought it would be best if she continued on in a limited capacity. She's told me everything she told Beswick, on her honor,
which—" He shook his head as I tried to interrupt. "Yes, I still believe to be worth taking."

  "Beswick doesn't have her sister anymore," I replied. "Now he's just blackmailing Joella, or so he said last night."

  "Which means that she remains stuck," he said. "Beswick has friends on the Council who could pressure me to fire her, and I would have no recourse."

  "I wouldn't allow it."

  "Godfryd would," he said. "And as it stands, I report to her. Technically."

  "Godfryd is in bed with Beswick?" I shook my head. "Is everybody?"

  "Yes, in one way or another," Felix said. "Which is why, even if you had proof of his treason, they might not do anything about it."

  "Well, now we'll never know. I wasn't able to get the contracts because you interrupted me before—"

  "Beswick was long gone before we showed up," Felix said. "I made sure of it."

  My face warmed. He was right, but that didn't mean I wanted to admit it.

  "I won't lie, you made a monumental mistake tonight," Felix said. "But I can also understand why you wouldn't include me in your planning. I understand why you suspect my men."

  I sat up. He was being awfully mature about this—which raised some red flags. Was he concerned I might fire him? Concerned I might spill the beans on Joella and get her fired? Or, as I suspected, was he trying to win me over to prevent me from investigating him further?

  "And you were right," he said with a sad shake of his head. "I haven't been objectively assessing suspects. Tonight showed me that I can't just blindly trust people to do what they say. Or to be as sick as they appear."

  "If you want me to apologize for tricking you, I won't," I replied.

  "I'm going to look at every one of the people you mentioned," Felix said. "Including Beata and Katarine. I don't think they're responsible, but they could have inadvertently said something to someone. Maybe even locate that Nestori witch."

  "Good," I said, sitting up. "I'll help."

  "Ah, no," Felix said with a smile. "You're not leaving the castle anymore. I thought we went over this."

  I blinked at him. "But what was this apology if not telling me you were completely wrong?"

  "I was wrong not to tell you everything, but I was absolutely right to save your ass, and absolutely right that you completely screwed up in going after Beswick by yourself," he said. "The two ideas are not mutually exclusive. Beswick had nothing to do with the poison, either, so don't even start with that."

  At that, I was back on my feet. "You didn't even give me a chance to try to get out of it—"

  "Because you shouldn't have gotten into it in the first place!"

  I gnashed my teeth together, furious. "You can't just keep me in here. I'll tell people. I'll have you fired."

  "Who? The Council?" He smirked. "Do you know the complete shitstorm you started by even mentioning that deal to Ilara?"

  "I knew they weren't going to go for it," I said, though I wasn't confident in that assessment. "I was just giving him something to bite at."

  "The only one who's going to get bitten is you, I'm afraid," he replied. "The Council has requested an emergency meeting in the morning for you to tell them all about your little chat. Based on the color of Garwood's face when he told Kat, I would clear your morning because you're going to get it. Unless, of course, you'd like to tell them that you put every other treaty we have in jeopardy so you could catch a low-level criminal?"

  I swallowed. "I'll think of something."

  "I'm sure you will. You're quite good at lying." He rose and walked to the door. "Have a good night."

  I winced as it slammed shut.

  Chapter 34

  My door remained locked until midmorning when Beata brought my food. But she was accompanied by Riya, whose hatred of me was palpable. With eagle eyes on me, she kept a tight grip on her sword, waiting for me to rush her.

  Just to screw with her, I jumped toward the door. Predictably, she unsheathed her sword with one movement, pointing it at me. Beata cried out in surprise, nearly knocking over the carafe. I sauntered over to the table and inhaled.

  "Smells delicious. Thanks, Beata," I replied with my gaze on Riya.

  "You need to mend fences around here," Beata said with a frown. "Or you'll find yourself without any friends."

  "Don't tell me you'll stop being my friend, Beata," I said with a mock pout.

  She scowled at me, the first negative reaction I'd gotten from Kat's chipper girlfriend in the weeks I'd known her. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked to the door, shaking her head at Riya, whose sword remained out and pointed at me.

  "Down, girl," I said, sitting at the table and helping myself to some bread.

  "Careful your food isn't poisoned, Princess," Riya replied. "None of us are too keen to test it for you anymore."

  Proving a point, I slathered some butter on the roll and stuffed the whole thing in my mouth.

  "Brynna, what are you doing?" Katarine asked, walking into the room with a stack of papers. She looked at Riya, who was basically snarling, and smiled encouragingly at her. "Riya, I think Felix needs you downstairs."

  "It's not smart to leave her by herself," she said, but, nonetheless, put her sword away. "I'll be right outside."

  "I'm sure you will," Katarine said, closing the door behind her. She looked at me and pursed her lips. "You have made quite a mess, my love."

  "Have I now?" I said, taking a much smaller bite of the roll. "Please, do enlighten me."

  "I have Garwood, Vernice, Godfryd, and even Zuriel banging down my door to speak with you this morning," she said. "They all want to know what could've possessed you to broker a deal with the Severian queen without their input. And a deal so clearly designed to favor the Severians."

  "I was using it to get the attention of a hardened criminal," I replied with a smile.

  "I'm sure that'll go over well," Katarine replied, shaking her head. "When the Kulkans and Niemenians find out, they'll want their own sweetheart deals. And it's not just that, the merchants will want to know why the Forcadel royal family is intervening. We have suppliers of glass other than the Severians. There are many on the border who swear allegiance to you. What will we tell them about how they'll suddenly have to cut their prices to stay competitive?" She exhaled. "This is a very big mess, Brynna."

  "Well, then just have the Council veto it," I replied, grabbing an orange and peeling it, more to stay busy than because I was hungry. "That's what I thought they'd do anyway. Just veto whatever I said."

  "They…Brynn, technically, they can't." She handed me one of the books she'd brought with her and opened it to a marked page. "International treaties are the sole responsibility of the royal. So if you signed—"

  "It was a verbal agreement," I said. "I'll just tell her it's not going to work."

  "First, you've got to talk to the Council," she said. "They've requested a meeting at noon today to talk with you. I suggest you and I come up with some ways to make them happy before then."

  I might've felt more righteous in my shame had I actually procured something of value from it. But Beswick was out of my grasp, his contracts safely in his pocket, and I was nothing more than a princess in trouble with her Council. Still, I held my head high as I walked into the room, taking my seat and folding my hands on the table.

  "Well, out with it," I replied. "I know you want to."

  "You have potentially ruined several lucrative treaties with our neighbors," Garwood began. "I cannot fathom why you would enter into an agreement with the queen of such a poor country."

  Katarine had advised me to keep my opinions and responses to myself, and just let them get their tongue lashing out of their system. To keep myself focused, I pressed my thumbnail into my palm, the pain reminding me that this was temporary, and that speaking would make it worse.

  "The Kulkans will be furious," Vernice said. "They're already annoyed that you've allowed that desert-dweller to stay in the castle as long as she has. But they allowed it becau
se they thought it was merely a place to land, not that you were devising ill-advised treaties."

  I pressed my nail harder into my wrist.

  Now Godfryd spoke up. "I have to send my already stretched forces to help move glass? Glass? You couldn't have bargained for something worth more value? The cost to move your soldiers won't even come close to the amount of money Forcadel could make off the shipments."

  "It won't be our glass, it'll remain theirs," Garwood replied with a sharp look at me. "We're just the glorified escorts."

  I glanced at the remaining two; Zuriel was waiting his turn, and even Octavius was actually awake. I would be curious if he'd have anything of value to add, or if he'd just echo what the others had said. Instead, surprisingly, Zuriel gave me a wink. Perhaps they weren't all angry at me after all.

  "Well?" Garwood said. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

  Slowly, I rose from the table. Katarine and I had practiced what I'd say, and the words came from my lips as if I were being controlled by some puppet master.

  "It's clear I miscalculated," I began. "The Severians have a hard life, and I was swayed by their requests for help. I did not sign any official documents, therefore, any agreements I made are bound by my word alone. With your approval, I will undo what I've done, and seek non-royal means to help the Severians." I ran my tongue over my teeth with disgust. "I apologize for causing such discord on the Council."

  "Well, now," Octavius said with a grin. "That sounds just fine, Your Highness."

  Garwood shot him a furious look. "Verbal or not, it still constitutes an agreement. You can't go around agreeing to things without letting us know."

  "It won't happen again."

  "And I just cannot understand why you would think you could make such an agreement in the first place," Vernice said. "Perhaps it's time we consider that she is not the right person for the throne."

  I quirked a brow, my thumbnail now close to drawing blood from my palm.

  "Ana, don't be ridiculous," Garwood said. "She's the heir—"