Page 16 of The King's Queen

“One second thought, an alliance could prove to be advantageous to me.” I take a step forward, and then another. Vera, much to her credit, doesn’t balk. “But I have some conditions.”

“Name them.” Oh, sweet desperation, what blindsided fools it makes of us all.

“One, you must never speak to anyone about what happened tonight. Must never mention whose faces you saw, what stories you might’ve heard. My friends here took you into their home and tended to you despite being high in power. One slip up could cost them… Dearly.” She nods vigorously, making eye contact with Finneas and Aiko as if silently promising this to them. “And second, we meet in the palace.”

“W-what?” she sputters, her jaw dropping slightly.

“Well, where else would you suggest? I doubt you’ll be able to escape twice so soon after the first, let alone multiple times. And I have some business to take care of that can’t be done outside the palace walls.”

Tendrils of mist begin to seep from the floor, heating with the coming day. Outside the window, lighter hues of blues and purples contrast against the deep navy sky. Slowly, the stars begin to wink out. Finneas stifles a yawn.

I watch as she scrunches her nose in distaste and fight the urge to shake an answer out of her. It has been a long night. The least she can do is answer before daybreak, so I still have the cover of shadow to return home in. I needed to get to Kya first and see to it that her wound has been tended to. No doubt Amír has been all over it already, but still. The way we left things unsettles me.

“Deal,” she finally says, extending that bloody and scraped hand. I glance downwards at it before shaking it with a stone face. Her grip is soft, yet firm. She shakes hard, as if she has something to prove. We hold each other’s gaze a grip for a moment before Finneas interrupts with a cough.

“Would you like some help getting home?” he offers to Vera, having produced a new cloak from a nearby closet. Vera drops my hand to gratefully take it, and I notice that in her wake she’s left a print of gold across the skeins of my palm.

“Thank you,” I can vaguely hear her whisper to Aiko, as she probably shoots a glare at me, and then the slam of the door as Finneas leads her home. No sweet goodbyes or gratitude. Not for me, anyway. My attention is fixed on my hand, where hers had been moments ago. I never knew that there were so many shades of gold.

“Of all the stupid, reckless things you could’ve done.” Aiko sets upon me the moment the door swings shut. She runs a hand through her hair while I merely walk over to the table and pour myself a glass of some random liquor. I down the amber colored liquid in one gulp.

“What, should I have spit on it?”

“I know what you’re doing this for,” she whispers, and I pour another glass.

“Oh?”

“You’re going after him,” she clarifies. “You’re going after your father.”

“Congratulations, you’ve figured it out. Would you like a medal?”

“You can watch your tone with me, young man. After everything we’ve done for you, some respect would be a welcome change,” she snarls and snatches my third glass from my hands right as I go to tip it between my lips, and downs it herself. “Your mother and I have done everything in our power to keep you safe from him, and you’re about to go charging into the lion’s den to… to what? Settle some score? He’s not just any other noble, people will notice.”

The glass shatters against the table as she drops it, her hands falling heavy at her side. Dawn has begun to stretch her willowy fingers across the sky now. Tinges of bronze, fuchsias, and skeins of lilac mingle together. One by one, the oil lamps are lit in each window, the restless servants begin to emerge from their masters’ homes to set about their morning tasks. Those said masters are still asleep in their cushy beds, unaware of the life blossoming around them.

I nudge away a piece of broken glass with my toe, clearing a path to my cloak. I pause at the door to turn back and look at Aiko, her frail frame encapsulated in weak golden light. She could fool any man for an angel, if it were not for the deep sadness time has etched into her features.

“The problem is,” I say as a way of goodbye, “you focused on protecting me from him when all along you should’ve been worried about keeping him safe from me.”

Chapter5

Verosa

Finneas, I learn, is a curious and kind man. He knows the best paths to take to avoid the bustle of the early morning crowds and where the wild blackberries grow along said path. And what he doesn’t know, he isn’t afraid to ask about.

“Do you wear your hair braided like that often?” he questions, motioning to the crown braided across the top of my head. It had fallen out in the scuffle, and I had redone it as we walked. Finneas had watched, fascinated the whole time.

“Most of the time, unless it’s a special occasion,” I explain with a heavy sigh. “My mother always braided it like this, and after her passing, I kept doing it myself. Creature of habit.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Don’t be, she was a terrible person.” For the first time this whole walk, Finneas shuts his mouth. Not that I really mind talking to him; for the most part, he seems harmless. No, it’s the woman I’d have to worry about between the two of them. Aiko, that silver fox. When I was under, I could hear bits and pieces of what she was saying, how quickly she knew my motives. How to get me to talk… All it took was one friendly face, and I crumbled. Her wit is unparalleled, and I must be on my guard if I am ever to encounter her again.

And that boy. When I saw him in that alleyway, I had assumed he was on the losing side. It wasn’t until after I had intervened that I realized that they didn’t have him. He had them. He was ruthless, in both hand and mind. I had been completely convinced that a part of my body was purer than the rest and that I just never knew about it. If that woman was a fox, then he was a serpent.

The only thing I can’t figure out is why he saved me. Why risk it? I couldn’t get a read on him, and it still irks me.

“So, that guy back there…” I groan, realizing I never even got his name. “What’s his deal?”

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