Page 17 of Heirs of the Cursed

Jehanne raised her eyebrows in astonishment. “Was all that necessary?”

“Yes,” she said immediately.

“All right.” Her friend nodded and sat on her mattress. “What’s wrong?”

How could she tell Jehanne the information she’d obtained from the soldier without her thinking she was out of her mind?

Naithea tried her best.

“What do you know about the Fallen Kingdom?” she asked.

Jehanne shook her head. “Not much.”

“My mother never spoke of Ro’i Rajya, as if she feared that doing so might invoke something ancient and evil,” Naithea recalled. “But Bellmare is one of the most loyal cities to the capital. I’m sure you must have grown up hearing all sorts of stories about it.”

“Thea, I grew up in Hamleigh and you know it.” She pushed back her wine-red hair and rested an elbow on the mattress. “Are you okay? Why are you so worried about it, all of a sudden?”

“The soldier . . . He did more than give me money in exchange for my services.”

“What did he say?” Jehanne bristled slightly at her best friend’s words, curious.

“He mentioned that two souls who should be locked away had vanished,” she recited Leonel’s words, etched with fire in her mind. “I don’t even know what that means.”

“Perhaps it means nothing. The soldiers had been drinking hours before any of us arrived. And I know you. I saw you come out of The Grumpy Dwarf with two bottles of wine.”

“Oh, come on.” Naithea rolled her eyes. “Just because he was drunk doesn’t mean it isn’t true. There’s a reason they’re here, Je. Aren’t you at least a little worried?”

“Of course I am!” she replied and, noticing the loudness of her voice, Jehanne sighed. “The Royal Army’s presence doesn’t bode anything good. You know what happened the last time they were here.”

Naithea remembered it. The soldiers had destroyed half the city in search of one of the king’s favored mistresses, who had escaped from the capital. The rumors that had traveled all the way to Bellmare, bringing the soldiers with them, said that the young woman had witnessed something sinister that Kirus Allencort had no intention of revealing to anyone.

The hetaira hadn’t been seen ever again.

“All the more reason why we must know who these cursed souls are. His friends said Leonel somehow saved the kingdom. But if that were so, they wouldn’t be here.” Naithea draped a cloak the color of waves on a dark night over her shoulders, pulling the hood up to conceal her unmistakable boreal eyes. “Will you come with me or not?”

Jehanne shook her head, tearing at the calluses cracked by the needles from days of sewing. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give Madame Dimond any more reason to throw me out.”

Years before, Madame Dimond had arrived in Hamleigh in a luxurious carriage with nothing but empty promises on her lips. She’d convinced renowned healers to treat Jehanne’s ill younger brother and, unlike Iseabail, he’d survived.

Naithea couldn’t blame her. Her friend’s family depended on her work and the opportunity her employer had granted her.

“You’re right,” she acknowledged. “I’ll talk to Madame Dimond and—”

“What will you do if she decides you can’t leave?” her best friend asked nervously.

“I will convince her to do so,” Naithea assured her.

The clientele at Bellmare were typically known for their presence until dawn. Naithea only needed a couple of hours to find out what was happening. She would be back just in time to see the drunken Bellmarians wandering around the tavern in search of a woman to warm their beds, and maybe she could earn a few extra vramnias so as not to upset Madame Dimond even more.

Jehanne nodded, and Naithea knew she was trying to convince herself that it was a good idea to aid her sister.

“I know someone who might be of help.”

Naithea crossed her arms. “I’m listening.”

“He’s a delusional old man, or so I told myself when I went in search of the bracelet Madame Dimond had requested of him,” she told her. “He sells black magic artifacts.”

That last revelation caught her attention. She took a step closer to her friend so that no one else would overhear their conversation even though they were all alone. Naithea hadn’t heard of wizards in a long time. It was a dangerous trade, especially when men from the capital were nearby. Like rebels and other threats, the king had hunted them down to near extinction.

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