Page 74 of Wicked Thieves
Her boots sank into the gravel as she stepped out of the coach, going seemingly unnoticed when the Watchmen around her were too preoccupied making themselves scarce when they noticed their captain had arrived. Whatever Aeric had done to receive such treatment or respect had clearly worked on each and every one of the men who crossed paths with him.
She followed Aeric through an opened archway where the gates were left wide open. The twins nowhere to be found when she glanced over her shoulder to see if they were following.
As they emerged through the shadows of the archway, Anelize stared at the towering ivory walls of Castle Rime across the inner yard, beyond a gravel path that rounded a frozen lake. The spires were gleaming beneath the blankets of snowcoating them and the stories visible from where she stood all held windows trimmed in red wood.
It was beautiful.
The architects and builders responsible for creating such an intricately built home for the Amaranth bloodline had put much care into their work. All for such a terrible man in power now.
As they entered through arching glass doors enforced with silver metal, they stepped into the main entrance of the castle. Lower ranked guards posted throughout the halls stood taller when they noticed the captain and gave him a quick salute by placing their fists over their hearts and lowering their heads slightly. The same went for the Watchmen patrolling the narrow winding corridors Aeric led her through. He hardly seemed to notice their attention, or if he did, he was unfazed by the dozens of eyes on him. Anelize couldn’t say she felt the same way when those eyes landed on her before taking in the white and blue of her attire before deeming her unimportant.
Unlike her uniform, the rest of the servants who steered well away from Aeric as though he were a fearsome beast, wore dark clothing with a hint of burgundy lining the hem of their skirts or the collar of their tunics.
Eventually, they reached a stairwell that led them to a heavy wooden door. Aeric pushed it open, revealing a brightly lit hall by the flames dancing in the sconces along the walls. A long burgundy rug with embroidered golden patterns along the edges led them forward where she noticed that, to her left, the moon had reached its highest point in the sky, visible through the ceiling to floor windows that overlooked the city beyond. Painting the icy landscape and trees surrounding Castle Rime in a blue hue.
To her right, however, were paintings in ornate gold frames hanging along a vast wall. Each one depicted men, women, and children of varying ages seated together and dressed in their finery. The royal family in all their glory displayed through the generations as they slowly appeared to grow older with age on every painting they walked past. Slowly seeming to dwindle in numbers the farther they traveled down the hall until she stopped to survey the portrait of King Amaranth, who sat proudly upon his throne. And beside him was a young boy she recognized. Though he appeared to be a shell of the prince she’d come to know as there was no life reflected in his blue-green eyes. Nor a smile upon his lips. Castian looked no older than ten in this portrait as he stood to one side of his father’s throne.
They both bore the same shade of gold in their hair and shared the same eyes.
But the sadness upon Castian’s face was unmistakable. Unlike his father, who looked on imperiously, void of any sort of emotion.
As if the painter had forgotten to give either of them any semblance of the word.
“Come on,” Aeric said when he came to stand beside her upon realizing she’d stopped following him. When she glanced up at him, she noticed he wasn’t looking at her but at the portrait of the king and prince. His face stern, his wandering eyes lost to his thoughts.
Anelize stole one more look at the painting before eventually trailing after him when he turned on his heel to walk away, faster this time.
It wasn’t long before they reached the end of another hall, where she noticed a large rounded wooden door ahead. Whenhe pushed it open, she realized they’d finally reached the infirmary.
The room was expansive with several white beds on either side of the stone walls occupied by several men. All sleeping restlessly with poorly done bandages wrapped around their arms and heads. Lancet windows on either side of the upper walls allowed natural light in, but there was still a single burning candle left upon a long oak desk across the room. Shelves and an armoire filled with vials and jars caught her attention, but they were all quickly forgotten when a man entered through a single door on the other side of the room.
He was muttering to himself, holding a few small vials in his hands. A distinct white liquid inside them. He wore a light blue tunic and pants similar to the uniform Aeric had given her. His black hair dusted with gray was pushed back by a gray band fashioned by a cloth, darkened by sweat.
“Saints!” He released a surprised yelp when he spotted Aeric and Anelize watching him. He nearly lost his grip on the vials, clinking them together as his hands closed around them tightly. “Oh, Captain Maren. You frightened me.”
Aeric snorted as he said to Anelize, “Don’t mind Horia. Even his shadow manages to scare him. It took him about half a decade for him to stop stumbling over his words around me.”
Horia’s russet skin darkened around his cheeks at his words. “W-what a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting you to stop by so soon. And who might…this be?” His black eyes shifted to Anelize, watching her nervously as his hands fidgeted with the vials.
Aeric glanced at Anelize. “Your newest assistant, as requested.”
Horia blinked. “Oh, of course you are. How foolish of me.Pleased to meet you. I’m Horia, but of course you already knew that. And you are…”
“Anya.” She stepped toward Horia and introduced herself before saying, “Thank you for granting me the opportunity to work under you. I have heard many great things.”
The physician hadn’t heard Aeric’s low snort as he began musing about his tasks and the infirmary. He led her toward the desk and began rummaging through the drawers, explaining where he kept everything in detail.
When she glanced over her shoulder, she spotted Aeric walking toward the Watchmen sleeping on their beds. His attention unwavering, attentive. Ever the respectable Captain of the Watchmen. If she didn’t know him as well as she did now, she would have thought him just that. A hunter who wanted the Vedrans dead, as the rest of his men and king did.
Only she knew better now. She saw the hatred simmering beneath the surface as he stared down the men who hunted his people.
His eyes found hers, clearly catching her in the act of observing him. Arching a questioning brow in her direction just as Horia said, “Miss?”
She whipped her head to Horia, who was looking at her expectantly. He may look older than her, but he reminded her of a child as he fidgeted with the vials in his hands.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Aeric did a poor job of hiding the smirk that invaded his lips, and she bit back a sneer. When he tapped on the place between his brows, she forced herself to relax her face. That seemed to please him greatly and this time there was no hiding his amusement.
