Page 16 of Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers

“Leave.”

Dismissed, he doesn’t waste time, practically throwing himself out the door. Finally on my own, I resume my pacing, running a hand through my messy hair. It probably looks worse than it usually does thanks to my agitated movements, but that’s the least of my problems right now.

There’s a light knock on my door, and before I can roar at whoever it is to leave me the fuck alone, the door opens, and someone slides quietly inside. Only one person would dare enter my room without permission—Alyx.

Turning around, I see her glance back over her shoulder with a wry smile, amusement written on her face.

“One of your rats just passed me in the hall.” She closes the door behind her and turns to face me. “He looked like he was going to pass out when he saw me . . .” Registering the tension in my body and the flat expression on my face, she trails off and frowns. “Crux? Is everything alright?” she asks carefully. She knows something is up. She thinks she knows but isn’t going to give it away, in case she exposes herself.

That makes me mad.

“I don’t know, Alyx. Why don’t you tell me?” My voice is deceptively light as I cross my arms over my chest, trying to keep my cool. However, I’m not able to hold myself back and find myself speaking again before she has the chance to answer. “How was your meeting with the king?”

Cursing loudly, she shakes her head and glares at the door as if she can see through it to the man she passed. “Fucking rats,” she growls, realising what must have happened before she got here. Huffing out a frustrated sigh, she pushes her mass of unruly hair back from her face so I can see her glimmering green eyes.

“I was coming here to tell you what happened.”

Raising a single brow, I tilt my head to the side. “I know what happened. The king stumbled through the Lowers, telling everyone he passed that he was looking for you. Everyone is talking about it. Thankfully, they just think he’s a noble and not the king.”

I’m angry, really fucking angry. If it wasn’t the king and his guard dog, I would have him killed for exposing Alyx like that. Talk about being conspicuous. He’s probably never had to lie low a single day in his privileged life and thought he was being stealthy as he bustled around and caused a fuss.

“That was the guy you saved the other day? The fucking king, Alyx?”

Her face shuts down as I speak, and she mirrors my stance and crosses her arms. “I didn’t know that at the time.”

Hissing a breath through clenched teeth, I close my eyes for a second as I attempt to regain my composure.

“What did he want?”

My rat only caught the end of the conversation and couldn’t hear everything from his position. While I know the king offered her a deal and wants her to work for him, I don’t know the details. Who does he want killed, and why does he want Alyx to do it? Doesn’t he have enough soldiers to do that for him?

Alyx takes a deep breath, her expression contemplative as she tries to decide what to tell me. That makes me nervous. She never picks and chooses what she tells me, and we tell each other everything, so why is she holding back now?

“He needs someone on the inside, and he asked me to be the one to do it.”

Time seems to pause for a moment, and I feel like I’m in a dream—no, a nightmare as I watch the horror about to unfold, but I am unable to do anything to stop it. She can’t mean what I think she does, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be so foolish to accept.

“On the inside. As in, inside the palace?” I hiss.

I’m getting ready to laugh with her over the stupidity of it all, but her expression tells me everything I need to know, quickly souring my mood further.

“Fucking hell, Alyx. He wants you to sneak in and snoop around? For what, information?”

Her neutral expression cracks, and dread rises in me like an insidious tide, threatening to wash me away. “It’s not quite that simple . . .” Sighing, she shakes her head. “Look, he asked me to pose as his fiancée, and as queen-to-be, I’ll have access to every part of the palace, where I can get information. I have the training of the Lowers but the knowledge of the Uppers, which makes me one of the only people who could do it.”

I wait for the punchline, my eyebrow raised expectantly. When it doesn’t come, I laugh out loud, but there’s no humour in it. She’s speaking in present tense, like she’s already thought this through and has made her decision. That must just be a slip of the tongue, though, because Alyx would never accept something like this. She hates the stumblers more than anyone else.

“Are you serious?” I shake my head. What has this kingdom come to when our useless king is trying to hire assassins to be his bride and help him run the country? “I hope you told him what to do with his offer.”

She steels herself, her expression determined. “I’m going to say yes.”

“No.”

The word comes out before I’ve even finished thinking it. It’s an order, a flat denial. There is no fucking way I’m letting her do this, and I’m sure it shows on my face. This isn’t the way to speak to Alyx, as it will just make her want to do it all the more, but I can’t stop myself. I won’t let her leave us, leave me, to do this.

Shock crosses her beautiful, stubborn face. “What do you mean, no?” Indignation colours her words, and in any other situation, I’d apologise for speaking to her like this, but not now—not when she’s trying to leave.

“He’s going to pay me,” she explains, forcing her tone to lighten. “Plus, think of all the things I’ll learn about the castle. This will make us rich. That’s what you want, right?”

---