Page 2 of Bride of the Midnight Prince

“He sent me to get her,” I reply quickly.

The woman regards me. “Who are you?”

“I have no idea,” I say, hoping to alchemize her suspicion into sympathy. “I only remember waking up in these clothes and being told to obey the orders of the people with the long ears and the wings.”

The woman turns her frown from me to Elizabeth. “Go back to Lord Nothril’s chambers. This girl doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

Excellent. I’ve undermined my own sanity. I snatch Elizabeth’s arm before she can move. “No. She has to come with me. The one with the crown that looks like it would be very painful to sit on told me to get her. He wants her in the throne room.”

“Lord Nothril will kill us all if she goes missing,” the woman says fiercely, pointing at Elizabeth. “I won’t have the lives of my other servants jeopardized because orders have been misunderstood. It’s my job to make sure everyone stays beneath notice so that none of us incur wrath. And with what has happened to little Princess Pavi today, Lord and Lady Nothril are going to be extra furious if something goes wrong.”

Elizabeth’s jaw slackens. That movement is enough for me to grit my teeth. This girl doesn’t deserve to be tortured any more than she already has been. I’ll see if I can figure out a way to redirect the fury at her disappearance from the other human servants.

“Yes ma’am,” I reply, dragging Elizabeth away before she can tuck her chin and return to her post. “I’ll make sure none of us incur wrath.”

The woman looks like she wants to protest, and I hate the fear shining in her eyes. I wish I could bring her with me. But I’ve got to get Elizabeth out of here. I must. I’ve never had a failed raid before—and this one isn’t going to be my first.

“I should stay,” Elizabeth whispers as we turn the corner. “I don’t want the others to be hurt because of me.”

“If others are hurt, it isnotbecause of you,” I reply fiercely. “I’m getting you out of here, and you are going to be safe. I will come back for the others.”

I will come back for that woman, and she, too, will be safe.

Elizabeth doesn’t reply, her courage waning with a guilt that I cannot assuage. She leans on me heavily as I navigate the darkness. My shoes make soft sounds but soon, light begins filtering from ahead. Her weight against me isn’t much, weak as she is from malnourishment and ill treatment. This day will begin life anew for her. It will take time, but she will heal.

Most wounds heal, after all, if given enough time.

I grind my jaw and push onward.

When we spill out into the fading light, clogged with mist, someone is waiting for us.

The Valehaven tailor immediately rises from his hiding place behind one of the few shrubs that grow in this festering hole of a court. His spectacles are in disarray, his waistcoat smeared with dirt, and his eyes, normally glazed, flash with adrenaline. Elizabeth lurches in shock, huddling closer to me.

“It’s alright,” I say, still whispering. “Go with him now. He’ll get you to safety.”

Alarm turns the tailor’s voice thin. “You’re not coming?”

“I still need to get the prince’sollea,” I reply, disentangling myself from the girl and prodding her forward. “This is my last chance before our big raid to get it.”

And I need to make sure Lord Nothril gets mad at me, and not his other servants.

“You cannot go back in. You’ll be caught. We’ve delayed long enough as it is!”

“Please don’t go back in. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you!” Elizabeth cries.

The only bad that would come of something happening to me would be my work being halted.

“You can’t go back in,” the tailor repeats.

I flash a grin. “Watch me.”

The tailor sighs deeply, rolling his eyes to the tops of the scraggly tress. The girl’s brows pinch together nervously. He takes her by the shoulders and guides her away as I duck back into the tunnels. I check the bandages over my face and set a vigorous pace.

I shuffle through the bag slung over my shoulder and pull out my mask. It covers the full face, with tiny ivy leaves stitched over its entirety. I’ve been successful this long because I don’t leave anything behind.

Now it’s time to see just how much I can get away with.

“You’ve just got to rob a vicious Nothril prince, announce to the entire Court that wants you dead that you’re the one who freed their slaves, and not get caught,” I mutter to myself, and grin. “Easy.”

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