Assassin Queen (7 page)

Still, he didn’t let the wave of desire take him until after she’d called out in release and her body quaked under him. Only then did he surrender. He let go of what tattered control he had left and embraced the climax as his balls tightened and waves of energy tingled down his spine. Then there was only bliss. It would last for only a moment or two, but, for that briefly stolen time, all was right with the world.

“You are a truly skilled man.”

Her touch on his back had gentled. Now it was feather-soft and made his skin break out in goose bumps.

“A man’s skill is only a reflection of his woman’s passion.” He pulled out of her and then collapsed next to her on the bed.

She laughed. “I never knew you to indulge in false modesty.”

He kissed her cheek. “And you never shall.”

She rolled over and blew out the lantern. Only the light of the night sky illuminated the room now. “Good. Get some sleep. Tomorrow I get my house in order.”

He lay still for a few minutes more until her breathing became steady. He wanted nothing more than to stay within the circle of her arms for the entirety of the night. Her order to rest had been an enticing one. Unfortunately, he could feel eyes on him in the darkness. Somebody was watching him. He could feel her magic calling to his. The touch was warm with invitation, but its sweetness left a bad taste in his mouth. Every survival instinct told him to be on guard. Not just for himself, but also for Lilly. Still, he had to follow the magic’s call. Lilly needed to know who was casting in her kingdom in order to make appropriate plans. Before the sun rose, he needed to discover who this mage was and how big a threat she posed.

After he’d disentangled himself from her, he got dressed and opened the door silently. He locked it behind him to ensure Lilly’s safety until his return. If he didn’t make it back before she woke, she would be able to get out of the room on her own. The woman was skilled. If all else failed, the thieves in their group would make short work of the lock.

He kept to the shadows as he made his way down the stairs and into the common room. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself if at all possible. Thankfully it was late and most of the inn’s inhabitants had turned in for the night. As he walked through the door, he felt fairly confident he hadn’t been seen.

A handful of people were walking on the street, but they seemed to be either heading home from a night of revelry or getting ready for the next day’s business. He didn’t sense magic coming from any of them.

He continued along the cobbled streets of the city in search of the mage. With each step, it became more difficult for him to deny from where the magic originated. He was heading to the castle.

It might have been a small chance, but he had hoped the mage wouldn’t be in league with the king. If the king had a caster, overthrowing him would be difficult. Especially given how strong the mage seemed. He’d heard her all the way on the other side of the city. And, now that he was crossing through the first stone arch of the castle, it felt as if she were pulling him to her.

The sensation wasn’t a comfortable one. Doubly uncomfortable when he considered how strong her magic would be when he was finally in her presence. She wouldn’t be an easy opponent. As he made his way through the corridors of the castle, he became increasingly aware of the unkempt state of affairs. Where were the knights? Where was the security? Even with the skills his profession gave him, it shouldn’t be this easy for him to gain access to the king’s quarters.

“Would you please stop your insufferable sniffling?” The sharp feminine voice rang through the corridor he was currently walking through and made him stop.

“I want my mother!”

The boy’s voice did make him sound young, but nothing about it sounded as if he were sniffling.

“She’s dead. Remember?” the woman snapped in reply.

Even Kirin winced at the cruel words. He’d had to do his fair share of horrid things in the name of his chosen profession, but he’d never taken pleasure from them. She, on the other hand, seemed to delight in saying the words.

“You’re a horrid, horrid woman.” Something hit the wall hard as if it’d been thrown. “When I see my father—”

“Oh yes, your father. Tell me, little prince, how long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

Kirin thought he might have heard a little sniff or two at the end of the sentence.

“He doesn’t have time to wipe your nose. He’s got a kingdom to run.”

“He likes spending time with me. I know he does.”

“Okay.”

A door just down the corridor opened, and he barely had time to duck back into the deep shadows.

“Then go to his quarters. Tell his manservant you wish an audience. And if he decides to see you, feel free to tell him whatever you wish about me. You can even make up stories if you like.”

“I will.” A boy of medium height and build for a ten year old stepped out into the passageway.

“But, before you go, pray tell, what is it you hope this will accomplish?”

The boy stopped and turned to face the doorway. “What do you mean?”

“If you are right, and your father sees you and listens to you, what is your end goal?” The woman’s voice had changed from hard to warm in a heartbeat.

“He’ll send you away.”

“And, as the prince, that is your right. But”—a slender hand reached out to tuck a lock of the boy’s hair behind his ear—“who will care for you if I am no longer here? It’s a very big castle. It’s easy for a boy your size to get lost.”

“I’m not a small boy.” He stood straighter and puffed his chest out.

“Of course not. In a regular-sized house, I’m sure everybody would be tripping over you. But this isn’t a regular house.”

She held her hand out to the child. It was just one arm silhouetted by the torchlight in the hall. Not much to go by, but it appeared slender. So odd to think such a delicate hand could hold a kingdom.

“Tell me, who was the last person other than myself that you’ve talked to?”

The boy stared at her hand for a moment and then looked down the corridor.

“Besides myself, who was the last person to bring you food or play a game with you?”

Now her voice had passed from warm to sweet. It wasn’t sincerely sweet, however. It reminded Kirin of the magic that had called him to the castle. Now that he was thinking about it, he realized he hadn’t felt the call since he had begun eavesdropping on the argument.

“Sir
Naresh. He always checks on me.”

Kirin grimaced at the mention of Lilly’s lost love. Still, he couldn’t bring himself to completely hate the man if he had been checking upon the prince. Lilly might hate the prince for taking her place in the keep, but Kirin understood what it was to be a pawn in others’ games of power. He and this boy shared a bond regardless whether the prince knew of it.

“Okay. Off to your dad with you then. I’m sure the knight will wait on you hand and foot. Whenever he’s not in the practice yard or off waging wars in your father’s name. Of course.”

“I don’t need anyone to wait on me.” The words were brave, but the boy’s posture wasn’t as straight as it had been before

“Of course you do. You’re the crown prince, not some blacksmith’s son.”

The boy took her hand as she spoke. At the touch she sighed heavily.

“I am truly sorry I yelled at you. I have one of my headaches tonight. You know how badly they hurt. The pain is intolerable when anybody speaks.”

“My mother had headaches just before she got sick. Are you getting sick as well?” The fear was thick in his words.

She led him back into the room and shut the door. Whatever they said after that was lost behind the door now that they weren’t yelling. Still, he had heard enough to make an educated guess as to who the mage in the castle was. The prince’s nanny would be invisible to the king. He probably didn’t even know her name. But the position held enough power that she would have access to everything and everyone in the castle. She would even have had intimate access to the queen. And if the queen had indeed been having headaches before she’d taken ill maybe neither pneumonia nor plague had taken her life. Her death might have been caused by more nefarious means…

He stopped the thought before it could form. The queen was dead. And the mage would be joining her in the ground soon enough. It would only hurt Lilly further to know her mother’s death might not have been of natural causes. She would blame herself if she thought she might have been able to stop it but hadn’t.

His mind made up, he started back toward the entrance of the castle. He had made it down only three corridors before the call of magic surrounded him once more. It was every bit as difficult for him to ignore it now that he knew who was responsible, but he did manage. Thankfully, as he made his way through the town and back to Lilly, it became easier to block the call out with each step. Which meant the woman wasn’t a siren. If she were, no amount of distance would have prevented him from returning to her side. It was a comforting realization. Still, knowing he was going up against a powerful mage wasn’t exactly heartening.

He slipped back into the inn and up the stairs without any notice. But, when he approached Lilly’s door, he knew something was wrong. The lock was broken, and the door stood slightly ajar. His heart stopped with fright as he considered the possibilities. When he finally forced himself to push the door open, he glanced at the bed expecting the worst. If someone had broken in, surely Lilly would be lying there in a pool of her own blood.

The bed, however, was empty. Relief rushed through him so quickly it almost made him faint. But all too quickly it was replaced with a different emotion—anger. She had sneaked off without him. Hours before her uprising, and she’d run off to do gods only knew what. And he had only himself to blame. He should have been there guarding her. It was a mistake he vowed to never repeat.

Lilly had lain in the bed and listened to him get dressed. At first she’d been angry. How dare he try to sneak out of her bed? But, as he stepped through the door and locked her in the room, she became curious. She’d been plotting his death for the past five minutes. Something Kirin had to know she was capable of. It left her wondering what motive he had for slipping out on her. She allowed her imagination to get the better of her for a few seconds but then flung the covers off her body and dressed as quickly as possible. He was up to something. No man would leave her bed without substantial reason. And she would only discover his by following him. It was just a matter of picking the lock and she was free.

She’d been confused as he’d made his way down the stairs and into the common room of the inn. Surely he couldn’t be meeting anyone. He didn’t know anyone. Unless he was somehow betraying her.

The thought made her sick. She didn’t want to believe the man who
had
just been in her bed would sell her out to her stepfather, but her life in exile had taught her not to trust anyone. And so she continued following him. He would eventually lead her to whomever he was meeting.

As they made their way through the city proper, however, she found her focus split between him and the deteriorating state of the shops and homes that surrounded her. Earlier she’d been so angry at Naresh’s betrayal that she hadn’t paid any real attention to the state of the city—of her city. If she were honest with herself, however, she’d admit she hadn’t been angry that Naresh had married another. She actually found her lack of jealousy toward the wife nothing short of amazing. It was the years she’d wasted being faithful to the man that angered her. Now that she’d worked some of that out of her system, she was free to see what was left of Crown City.

The crumbling facades and the trash that littered the alleyways and the gutters made her feel ill. Her stepfather was a self-centered, indolent ass. That he let the city fall into disrepair wasn’t surprising. But her mother had only recently fallen ill. How had she not seen this?

She shook her head. Her mother had been blind to more than just the state of her city in the recent years. Her choice in husbands was a perfect example. Still, Lilly hadn’t expected her mother to allow her kingdom to suffer. Suffer it had, though. And she hated to think about the outlying fields. If the city were in this state, the fields must be completely overgrown and underworked by now. There was going to be a lot to do once she overthrew the king.

As if the thought drew the man, she looked up to see the castle looming in front of her. She hated to admit it, but Kirin had led her to her enemy. Her heart felt as if it had been pierced, and her lungs refused to fill for a moment. Even seeing her betrothed with another had not caused her this much pain.

She forced herself to take a deep breath. It hurt so badly her head went light with the pain. But once she’d taken that first breath, the second one was easier. And, by the time she took her fifth, she was numb. The detachment ushered in a new methodical plan. She would follow Kirin all the way to the king. Then she could overhear her stepfather’s plan. When Kirin left, she would slit his throat before he made it back to the inn. She would turn this to her advantage just as she did with every other obstacle she’d encountered.

Her feet felt leaden as she made her way through the archway into the courtyard, but she forced herself to continue. Thorny weeds had overtaken the gardens, and the topiaries were so overgrown they no longer held the shapes they’d once been painstakingly trimmed into. If she hadn’t spent her youth playing within these walls, she would never have known the beauty and joy they once contained.

She sniffed as the overwhelming sorrow pushed against her resolve. What had happened to the gardeners? Why were the groundskeepers no longer preforming their duty? Where were the guards? She looked around again but could see no one but Kirin. It made no sense. A lazy king should employ more servants and guards, not fewer. And his vanity alone should have been enough motivation for him to keep the grounds tended. Her stepfather craved a lavish lifestyle and enjoyed making others jealous of the treasures he possessed. Something was definitely wrong—more so than she’d originally thought.