Page 37 of Princess of Draga

The glowing paint showed a figure in front of them and Adelina felt a chill run down her spine. “Nadyah?” she called. For a fleeting moment fear flashed through as she wondered if the figure in front of them was Nadyah, or if they were evenhuman.

“Princess?”

Relief flooded Adelina. The adrenaline still tingled in her veins from the irrational fear. The dark did strange things to hermind.

Draga Terra was only sunless for four hours and then two hours of twilight at dusk and dawn. The lack of light played tricks on her mind after so many cycles in thesun.

“Remember to call me Lina from now on and this isElle.”

“Ofcourse.”

They continued to make their way through the tunnels, farther and farther into the city. “Did you wear a disguise?” Adelinaasked.

Nadyah’s seductively husky voice filtered through the darkness. “I did not. No one will recognize me yet, despite being assigned to you. Those who might from my courtesan work at the House wouldn’t dare say anything out in theopen.”

Adelina nodded and then remembered Nadyah couldn’t see her. “I have a favor to ask of a friend. I hope you don’t mind if we visit a tavern or two,” she said with asmile.

Something brushed against her arm but Adelina knew it was simply the dark playing tricks on her mind. There couldn’t possibly be anything else down here. Spirits of the dead were notreal.

It didn’t take long for them to reach the second-circle with her nerves pushing her forward. Adelina couldn’t quite convince herself there wasn’t something else down there with them. Giselle climbed the ladder marked with the glowing blue paint and lifted the cover after listening for a moment. She was up and over like a cat – all grace, power, and speed. Nadyah went up next and then Adelina followed, relief filled her as she breathed in the fresh air. The cover was back in place before anyone was thewiser.

Over a century ago all the covers to the tunnels had been welded shut when the sewage system had been overhauled and turned into power. When the two of them had discovered an open entrance in their exploration of the palace grounds, they’d spent long nights fixing that from the inside. They’d installed interior locks and scrounged up an old map of the tunnels from the library. It had been their little secret eversince.

Adelina glanced at Nadyah’s profile with her sapphire cloak and gorgeous blonde hair. Her courtesan could be trusted – she’d sworn an oath, but having anyone other than Giselle know of this secret put her onedge.

The three of them stayed close to the buildings and out of the actual street. Avoiding inebriated citizens with common sense absent was in their best interest. A row of taverns separated the second-circle from the third-circle. The second-circle of the capitol was mostly businesses and markets. It was where the well-off and the poor easily mingled. Some streets were nicer than others and the quality of the products varied from neighborhood to neighborhood, but it was clear from the name of each business and its symbol what was soldinside.

Hov-carriages were few and far between so late. Taxis were all that roamed the streets. The night was silent as they made their way to the largest tavern of them all, theLadrole. Nadyah stopped dead when she realized where they were headed. The hov-tram passed overhead and bathed them all in a flickeringlight.

“Is something wrong, Nadyah?” Giselle asked. Her eyes narrowed insuspicion.

Adelina studied her courtesan and wondered why she looked so afraid. Did she know about this place and the rumors surrounding it? “It will be fine, I promise,” Adelina said, trying to soothe her fears. “The Prince of Thieves is not as frightening as hesounds.”

Nadyah shook her head. “I don’t trust a thief with your life,” shewhispered.

Adelina considered what that might mean for a second before shrugging and walking into the thieves’ court. Varan may not be the most trustworthy, but he was honorable. “I have known the prince for a few cycles now, Nadyah. He has not recognized me through my disguise in all the cycles I’ve known him.” She tugged on her silver-white hair and smiled at hercourtesan.

“He has hidden retina scans, and print identifiers on every cup.” Nadyah still didn’t sound convinced as she trailed behind the twoprincesses.

Adelina wasn’t sure how to make her feel better. “I have lenses over my eyes with a hidden program that gives a false identity when scanned. They aren’t only to change the color. Same with my hands; there is a ring that is linked to the program on the retinal scan, giving my created profile as Lina, jeweler of the third-circle.”

Nadyah’s eyes flicked to her golden contacts and the gloves on her hands. “That should beenough.”

Adelina was intrigued the courtesan knew so much about Varan, she’d have to ask her about thatlater.

There was a crack of lightning and the skies opened up when they entered the prince’s courtyard. She and Giselle held out their arms to catch the sweet rain. Adelina breathed in the scent of night-blooming violets that only opened when the night’s rain fell on their petals. The scent intertwined with the spice of the winterflowers Varan grew. Adelina loved Draga Terra with her entire being. Everything about her planet was beautiful and exquisite in its own way, especially thepeople.

Laughter bubbled out of the tavern and into the courtyard. Giselle grinned at her. The blue hair and golden eyes made her nearly unrecognizable. Adelina kept her hood up as they entered. The skintight leather pants and waterproof cloak shed the rain like water on oil. Her boots didn’t make a sound as they weaved in and out of the crowd towards the back where Varan held his unofficialcourt.

A cheer went up as someone threw a knife so sharp the air whistled. It landed with a thud in the wall, narrowly missing the target standing there quaking with fear. Adelina didn’t want to know his transgression. Instead she turned to the man with golden blond hair and emerald eyes. He flipped another knife with breathtaking skill and then caught it, instantly throwing it as hard as he could. The answering thud came with a small shriek. Blood trickled from the man’s face, but it was barely ascratch.

“Your precision is astounding,” Adelina said with a smile. Her voice was quiet but it carried through the conversations like a lover’s whisper. Varan turned to her and his entire face lit up, shedding the anger like a secondskin.

“Lina darling! Come here my lovely, I’ve missed you so.” The Prince of Thieves held his arms open wide with more knives in eachhand.

Adelina walked into his welcoming arms and hugged him, kissing him briefly on the lips in greeting. “I’ve missed you as well,friend.”

“And you’ve brought your sister,” Varan’s grin widened as he then huggedGiselle.

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