Page 59 of If The Crown Fits
“I wouldn’t go that way if I were you.” A voice came from behind us.
It was Rhen. I swerved slightly in panic. I could feel Cai tensing up next to me. Rhen knew exactly who I was, what I was, and I knew how loyal he was to Lance. Our odds weren’t exactly looking good.
“There are guards stationed on the roof that side. Follow me.” I met Cai’s eyes, his questioning whether or not we could trust Rhen. I didn’t think we had much of a choice. He placed Cai’s other arm around his shoulder, easing the weight for me, and together we walked to what appeared to be the servants’ quarters.
He stopped at a small trapdoor in the floor. “This leads out to the woods behind the manor.” He pulled open the trapdoor and helped Cai climb down. I stopped to look at him for a moment as I placed my foot on the ladder.
“Why are you helping us?”
“One day, you’ll find out.” He eased me down and closed the trapdoor above us. It was pitch-black, but I could feel Cai’s heavy breathing next to me.
“Are you okay to walk?” I asked Cai, who muttered “Yes”. I dragged my hand over the stone wall as we walked through the dark passage, until a small stream of moonlight leaked in at the end. Cai and I climbed out of the passage and, sure enough, we were in the woods behind the manor, just like Rhen had said.
Cai sat against a tree trunk and I placed my hand against it to keep from swaying. “My men are still back there,” Cai said, his voice a combination of sadness and worry.
“I’m sure Rhen will do something to get them out.”
“You seem to have a lot of faith in this man.” I couldn’t sense the tone he was saying it in.
“He did just save both our lives.”
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Cai said, and I felt my stomach drop. Straight to the cold hard truth it is, then.
“I just saved your life. A ‘thank you’ would do as well.”
“I’m fairly sure you’re the reason it was in danger in the first place.” He let out a chuckle and then a sigh. “I cannot believe Lance has the necklace.”
“Well, it’s your fault you told him where it is.”
“I couldn’t just sit there and watch him hurt you.”
“Why not?” I raised my voice, forgetting for a moment that we couldn’t be too loud, or we might be discovered. “You knew I wasn’t Eloisa, just some stranger, an imposter. Speaking of which, how did you find out?”
“I saw a portrait of Eloisa in one of the studies at the manor house.”
My shoulders fell a little. I hadn’t thought Lance would be stupid enough to forget something like that.
“Not that it matters much now. Lance could be dead for all we know, and the necklace is gone.”
I proceeded to sigh very loudly.
“That’s only if I was silly enough to tell Lance where the real necklace was.”
I pulled the string of jewels out of my pocket and Cai’s eyes filled with relief.
“I didn’t think I’d have to steal it more than once,” I said, more to myself than to him.
“What do you mean you stole it?”
“That’s what thieves do, they steal things. Even Lance should have known better than to trust a thief.”
“A thief?” Cai said in confusion.
“Yes.”
“A thief?” he repeated and my brows furrowed.
“I’m pretty sure that’s what I just said. Why are you looking at me like that?”
