Page 16 of A Serenade To The Elf Queen
Garrett’s bedchamber should be in the eastern building.
“Hit that searchlight again,” a female guard orders as she saunters down the spiral staircase. Her pink ear muffs are so adorable until I see the feline Grimsbane mask covering her face.
“We just did a sweep,” the sentry wearing the scarlet wolf crest of House Clayborne complains.
“If you want your lordling to live, do as I say,” she says sharply.
I keep myself in the shadows, biding my time until they disappear. There goes my plan of scaling the wall. I creep under the cover of darkness to enter through the servants’ quarters until I reach the silver doorframe of Garrett’s room.
I can pick every single lock in Aelfheim but this one will be difficult. It’s dwarven made.
Made to be as sturdy and stubborn as the creature who created it,Aerin once told me.
It’s not impossible but it will take time to unravel the hidden puzzle inside the metal piece. I check the entry to the adjacent room. Thank heavens whoever is in charge of security in the Elvarstyne keep is not bright enough to use this lock on every door. I break into the study easily. Now, it’s simply a matter of waiting for the searchlight outside to pass.
I clamber over the rail as silent as a mouse. It’s a little slippery from the night dew but I regain my balance quickly and leap towards his balcony. My feet land nimbly on the cold marble floor. No one hears me, not even the night wind.
With one push of the white door, Garrett’s room is sprawled before me in all its splendor. Light flickers from the tiered candlelight at his bedside. My grip on the dagger tightens. Now comes the hard part. A male lies asleep beside Garrett wearing nothing but a wolfish mask on his face.
Another Tiamat assassin.
I will have to kill this other guy too. Better them than the innocent children.
This is the right thing to do,I tell myself repeatedly.
But I find myself stalling the inevitable. I pace the room nervously, taking the time to look at the lovely wooden carvings in the glass cabinet. I poke at one, an adorable plump cat. The bat next to it is cute too.
“I knew you’d come for me tonight.”
Blood drains from my face at that silken voice.
Garrett moves slowly, careful not to wake the sleeping male beside him. He raises a finger to his mouth, signaling me to keep quiet. Even with the blanket draping over his shoulders, I can tell he is all muscle; chiseled and honed to perfection. A skillful warrior of the temple of Kvatosh, servant of the God of War and Chaos himself.
This dagger in my hand must seem like a toy to him.
There is pity in Garrett’s eyes as he gazes over the muscular back of the undressed male beside him, riddled with countless gruesome scars. “My father struck a deal with the Guild of Assassins in Tiamat for his service. This guy is my personal guard until the Archon is complete.”
“Not much of a guard if he’s out cold,” I mutter softly. “The Aeonians said the Grimsbane are cursed with a face so hideous that people die from a single glimpse.”
“Those old farts are filthy, fucking liars. He is beautiful,” Garrett curses, pulling the duvet to cover the assassin’s body. The Valorian’s animosity towards the Elders is baffling. He practically works for them.
“I’m guessing you evaded the other one?” he asks, his voice rumbling in the quiet. “It took almost all the coins in my father’s coffers to bring the two of them. A century’s worth of harvest.”
“Rainer hired twenty-seven of them,” I blurt.
“Then you are well prepared for tomorrow.” Garrett smiles, wiping the traces of Black Orchid poison from his neck. He must have used it on the Grimsbane guard, but I can’t figure out his reason. “Why have you come tonight?”
I don’t answer him.
“Pick up your sword. I’ll honor you with the duel you want,” I say, backing away as he prowls closer.
He ignores my words, gathering a book from his nightstand.
“You will not win, my queen,” he says, casting a sympathetic look at me. “I have won the Tavas seventeen years in a row now. Your knight Aelfric in his prime, has only won four.”
“Aelfric is still in his prime,” I grumble quietly.
“So why are you here instead of him?”
