The Shrinemaiden (The Maidens) (31 page)

“I can finally catch up on my sleep,” she confessed to Adelai. “The general can sometimes be too exacting in his demands.” She had been equally compassionate, having learned, as did the rest of the city, of her abuse at the hands of the earl and his son, though few people knew the reasons for it.

“You should have told us sooner,” she scolded, “I understand that this is your first contract, but it will not cast you in an unfavorable light to tell the priestess, or any one of us, of what the man has been doing to you all these weeks! General Kazer had never laid a hand on me in such a manner, for all his roughness! And to encourage his own son! Anyone who could do those things to those girls should be drawn and quartered on the spot, and I’m appalled the king might let him go, as some people seem to believe. He might not look like a deviant, but High Priestess Saleia would have saved you weeks of grief, and would have given you a different contract.”

Adelai had taken this gentle reprimand meekly, relieved. If Caera truly believed this, then that meant it was what the rest of the city believed, too. In the days that followed, she had gained the citizens’ sympathy, lauded as someone who had endured the earl’s proclivities in secret to save Sarcopia from embarrassment. In a short amount of time, flowers of all kinds were sent to the captain’s house, where she was now residing, and many of the guests who had visited her at the Sevrigne household was quick to visit her there as well, courting her for contracts of their own.

“We are furious, milady,” the Count of Ruckinsridge told her, mustache bristling at the thought. “That someone we thought was the epitome of respectability could lay a hand on someone of your beauty and station is unforgivable. Please do not let this deter you from accepting my offer - I assure you there are more fine, upstanding citizens in Sarcopia than there are of his ilk.”

Even Thornton received some of the praise. That he had saved her from the earl and his son had become widely known; that Adelai was grateful for his help, even more so. Thornton was always on hand whenever she received her visitors, and Adelai always found her eyes wandering back to him, taking comfort in his reassuring presence. It was taken note of, especially when Adelai refused to go out into the city without Thornton by her side, often taking care for people to see her gazing up at him adoringly.

“If you look at me that way one more time,” the captain said, sitting in their carriage after touring the marketplace again, where they were greeted by cheers and well-wishes. “I will be forced to punish you.”

“What do you mean, master?” Adelai fluttered her eyes at him. They had agreed to use the people’s support to their advantage, their popularity lessening the chances of the king seeking to retaliate against them - publicly, at least.

Too quickly she was on her back, skirts already raised. The captain unlaced his breeches with deft precision, and soon the feel of him sliding into her robbed her of thought.

Adelai’s nights were now spent in his bed, eager to make up for the time apart. The absence had only increased their desires, and as soon as the doors closed behind them they were eager to fuck, shedding their clothes like they were never able to get out of them quickly enough. It felt almost like their time at the temple, but now they had no need to hide their coupling. He was rough sometimes, pounding into her like he wanted to shove himself deeper into her each time, bringing her to climax multiple times with hands and mouth and cock before finding his own release. Other times, he would be unbelievably tender, lingering over every part of her body, kissing and touching.

She was more pragmatic this time. In the temple, she had prayed to Inne-Anneah that this could go on forever. Now, she accepted that their time together was limited. Their future loomed before them, uncertain - but rather than let herself be overcome with misery, Adelai lived for every moment she could spend with her captain. They visited the marketplace that Adelai loved, visited the houses of other nobles who were eager to throw their support behind them. Prudence dictated that they restrict other kinds of excursions, so when Thornton was not in meetings with Falen and the other generals, he was with Adelai - eating together, reading together, sometimes even taking up where they had left off with their previous lessons in the temple garden. The highlight of Adelai’s day were these quiet conversations with the captain, where she can almost imagine they were just like any other couple in Arbentide.

Both Thornton and the Wolf took turns interrogating General Kazer, and the earl and his son. The earl had been more resistant than the Jackal, believing for awhile that the king would protect him if he only kept his silence. General Kazer’s confession, however, along with all the incriminating papers they had found, soon convinced him that the surest way to save his life was to cooperate. He admitted that the king wanted him to silence the factions of those who did not support his rule, and the disappearance of the girls had been blamed on Highrolfe renegades attempting to sow discord. The king received his own cut of the proceeds, and these were visible in the books the earl had kept.

“Thank the gods for the greedy,” General Falen noted dryly, “who insist on keeping careful accounts of all their business transactions to better gauge their profit. If this had been left entirely to the Jackal I doubt there would have been much evidence on paper.”

Daken knew less than his father - he had served as a lookout rather than play any concrete role in the operations, though he involved himself with the rebel groups in the city at his father’s orders. Ever the opportunist, the earl had planned to present the king with a list of names of those working against him, though Daken had yet to ferret out any important people beyond the group he frequented the brothel with.

Nemar had been informed about this betrayal and, at Adelai’s urging, agreed to take a prolonged trip outside of Arbentide, presumably to visit a few health spas that were the rage among the nobility. In reality, he had fled to the safety of Atalantea, where King Belair had personally promised to protect him. Many other nobles who were compromised had done the same thing, though in twos and threes instead of as a group, to divert suspicion away from themselves. No one knew whether or not the earl had told the king the names of those already compromised, or if he had been biding his time until he could find higher-ranked traitors, but Shannika agreed that it was better to be safe than sorry.

Before he left, Adelai had insisted on meeting his friend - Sana, allegedly the best thief in the city. She was younger than Adelai had expected, barely sixteen at the most. She had mischievous hazel eyes and a freckled face, and her short hair was crammed underneath a large boy’s cap. She was dressed in breeches and a thick shirt, and at first glance one might have thought she was a pretty youth, not a girl.

Sana was understandably reluctant to meet her, and it took all of Nemar’s assurances to get her to meet them at his manor. Even then she fidgeted constantly on her chair, her eyes darting about to take note of every exit. Adelai was startled, but not surprised, when the young girl had shown up accompanied by the Lady Wilchestrom.

“I suppose you knew,” the cheerful lady said, smiling.

“I knew the instant you gave me those orchids as a gift,” Adelai admitted, hugging her. “I only suspected you were the ‘Becky’ that Nemar referred to, but couldn’t think of a way to confirm this.”

“Well, confirm away, my dear. I’m a rebel! My husband doesn’t know though, so I’d rather you not tell him.” The good lady reclined against the sofa and posed prettily, grinning up at her. “You should thank me for the little rendezvous I’d arranged for you with Thornton that night at your ball. I had to fend off at least five different people who wanted to talk to you in private, and I didn’t think Thornton would appreciate being caught with his breeches round his ankles, so to speak.” Adelai blushed, but Lady Wilchestrom laughed.

“Why should I trust you?” Sana demanded. “Nemar’s just tol’ me Daken’s squealed on us, an’ you’ve been with him all this time.”

“Lady Adelai was responsible for the capture of Daken and his father, and she did so at very great personal risk,” Nemar told her, “She could have chosen to inform the earl, or even the king himself about our roles in the plot, but she chose to remain silent. I would trust her with my life.”

“I trust Adelai too,” Lady Wilchestrom quipped, “And I’ve got very good judgment.”

“I suppose,” Sana said grudgingly, “But it doesn’t explain why I’m here.”

“I need your expertise, Sana,” Adelai said, “Nemar here tells me you’re an excellent thief. Just how good are you?”

Sana snorted. “I come from a family of thieves, milady; the best you will ever find in Arbentide - dare I say, even the whole of Sarcopia! But I don’t see what’s that got to do with you.”

“More than you might think, Sana. A lot more. Have you ever been to the palace undetected?”

Sana grinned. “Been in and out of there so many times I’ve been using their linen closet as a makeshift bed, milady. Does me good, seeing them hang up the curtains I’ve been rolling about in!”

“Good. You may not trust me yet, Sana, but I am going to put my complete trust in you.”

“What d’you mean?”

“I’m putting my life in your hands, Sana. And here’s why.”

They had done all they could, Adelai knew, but she was worried about any reprisals from King Garrant. The palace was suspiciously silent throughout all this, save for one instance where a group of the king’s bodyguards attempted to force their way into the Watch, demanding that the prisoners be turned over to them in the name of the king.

In response, the Wolf announced that they were still in the process of questioning the prisoners, who were on the verge of giving up other people involved in the operations. Thornton and Shannika’s spies had been busy. The whole city was awashed by the gossip that more people were involved than thought of, and that the king was doing his best to retrieve the general and the earl to protect their names. It was easy enough to believe - the earl and the general were the king’s most trusted advisers. The Wolf and Thornton decided that it would be unwise to announce that the king himself was also guilty. It would be harder to believe that their own king would turn against his people, even for all his supposed madness.

They had made their move, Adelai knew. All the chesspieces were arranged on the board, primed to attack. Now it was the king’s turn, and the waiting, never knowing when the ax might fall, was endless.

Her worst fears were confirmed several days later. The king had withdrawn his troops following the people’s clamor that the three men remain inside the Watch prison, and had done nothing else during the last two weeks. Now a letter from him arrived with the invitation Adelai expected and feared.

“This is a trap,” Thornton said, furious. “I will not allow Adelai to go to the castle.”

“We might have no choice in the matter,” Shannika said, frowning. They were sitting at her parlor again, the warm sunny day outside a contrast to the gloom pervading the room. “The king was very careful in couching his invitation. She is to stay at the palace for a few days, nothing more.”

“To be kept as a prisoner in everything but name. I do not like this.”

“Neither do I,” Shannika confessed, “but to turn down what appears to everyone else as a harmless invitation would be suspicious in itself.”

“Yet for Adelai to accept would be akin to entering the lion’s den unarmed.” General Falen agreed. “I don’t understand why he wants Adelai, though. If he is planning to use her as a hostage in exchange for Kazer and Sevrigne, she’s not who I would have chosen. If anything happens to her in the palace, he will earn the people’s ire, as well as that of the temple’s.”

“It’s not about whether I would make a better hostage or not,” Adelai said. “And it’s not about what the people thinks, not anymore. He only wants me at arm’s reach.”

“But why?” Shannika asked.

“I rejected him, once,” Adelai said, trying not to shake at the memory. “Thornton - King Garrant is a forceful ruler, but is he a brilliant one?”

Thornton shook his head slowly. “He has queer flashes of brilliance, but it’s offset by his eccentricities. He relies on Kazer for military strategy, and Sevrigne when it comes to managing the kingdom. He has been known to ignore their advice whenever it suits him, however.”

“I thought as much.” Adelai took a deep breath. “He’s getting desperate. He doesn’t know how much we know, but he has good reason to think that we know everything. I only met him once, but he struck me as someone who panders to his own whims at the expense of anything else - sometimes out of spite or cruelty. He thinks little of any repercussions outside of himself. Now he’s like a wild animal trapped in a corner - and like any wild animal, all he wants is to lash out.”

“What do you want to do, Adelai?” Khalid asked, watching her.

“I’m going to accept his invitation.”

“Absolutely not!” Thornton snapped.

Adelai turned to him, her eyes pleading. “We could end this soon, Thornton. If I could distract him somehow, at least long enough for you to gather all the evidence you need, then we should take that chance.”

Thornton’s hands were fisted against his sides, still angry.

“I’ll go with you,” Lady Shannika spoke up. “Insist that you want female company.”

“No, you will not.” It was Khalid’s turn to object.

“I own you, Khalid, not the other way around. Incidentally,” Shannika added, as if in afterthought. “You’ll be coming with me. You too, Thornton. After all, there’s safety in numbers, and the high priestess did entrust Adelai into your care.”

“Are you still mad at me?” Adelai asked softly. Thornton had been holed up in the room for the rest of the day, and she suspected that he was still angry that she was placing herself once more in danger without his permission. She had entered his study, not wanting him to retire angry with her.

The captain looked up at her from the papers he was working on. “I know you don’t want me to go,” she added, wanting to explain to him as best as she could, even as he rose from his chair. “but I need to do this. If I can delay him in any way, just so you and General Falen can gather everything he needs for the - ”