Page 2 of The Shadow & the King
Basilious nodded, his heart heavy. He had no idea what choice he would announce later that week. He supposed he ought to go have a long think about his options.
"If anyone needs me, I will be in my chambers."
3
LUNETTE
Lunette had timed her trip to Delkos to coincide with their summer Solstice celebration. It was an important holiday here, so she had rightly assumed the city would be especially busy and full of visitors.
The streets bustled with activity. The people of Delkos hustled by Lunette as she made her way through the market square, many carrying baskets overflowing with pomegranates to make the traditional punch for solstice. The scents here were wholly unfamiliar to Lunette, but she loved it. Her sharpened vampire senses picked up on a sweetness on the air that danced with notes of some sort of nutty scent and a savory, meaty smoke at its base.
The market stalls were all covered in colorful tents, and the warm summer breeze made the flaps sway. The market was a living, beating heart of the city, and Lunette lost herself in it as she hid in the shadow of her hooded cloak. She could endure the sunlight—itwouldn't cause her real harm despite what legends of her people said. Her skin was just so pale that the sun's rays burned her within an hour, so she opted for the hood in daylight hours.
She wasn't one to waste time, so she decided to scope out her objective and, most importantly, her escape route. She slowly made her way toward the castle, taking note of what alleys connected to which main roads, building a mental map of the city. She had, of course, studied many maps before coming here, but seeing the place and getting a feel for it herself was different.
As the sun began to set, she arrived at the castle's outer wall. She wound her way around its perimeter, checking for any place that might be ideal for her to slip in unnoticed. She found a small door that seemed to be sealed shut and not opened often, if at all. Its hinges were metal, and were rusted with disuse. She paused, contemplating if she should make her move or wait. There were benefits and risks to both, but she decided to at least try to get through this door. If things seemed too risky, she would fall back and try again the next night.
Lunette approached the rusty door, keeping her senses alert to tell her of anyone approaching in the dark alcove. She unsheathed one of her daggers and dug the blade into the small crumbly seam between the hinge and its pin. Pulling down on the handle of her dagger, she was pleasantly surprised when the pin slid out intact. There was a chance it would be too rusty to come out in one piece, which would ruin her plans altogether. She made quick work of the other hinge and the door gave an exhausted lurch, swinging out toward her a few inches. She delicately pulled the door open just far enough for her to squeeze in, and then attempted to close it again. There was no way to fully cover her tracks here without being on the outside of the door again to replace the pins, so she settled for simply leaving it as closed as possible.
She took count of her surroundings,finding herself in what appeared to be an unused kitchen. The hearth looked as if it had lain cold for ages. Lunette stepped carefully across the space to the door on the other side and delicately turned the knob to push it open. A small courtyard, also eerily quiet, was outside. Everything was cold and dark now that the sun had gone down completely. She immediately noticed training equipment that was similar to what the guards in Ichorna had at their barracks. Her informant had mentioned that Delkos had not had need of a standing army in nearly a hundred years, but seeing evidence of it was still strange to see. She was so used to Queen Aldith's extensive force of guards and mages; the thought of a nation that hardly needed any military protection was—jarring.
Lunette forced herself to focus. Pondering the political climate of Delkos could happen later when she wasn’t actively breaking in to their castle to kill their king. Usually, her targets were true villains, people who had committed unforgivable crimes or posed an ongoing threat to someone. Crime lords, rogue evil mages and the like were her bread and butter. Her contact for this job had said the king was a horrible tyrant. She now wondered what sort of tyrant would run a nation so peaceful as to not require any sort of guards.
The thought made her uncomfortable, doubt now wriggling into her mind. She had never failed a job before, though, and she was not about to start now. She had her family reputation to uphold. Lunette came from a family of accomplished assassins—all vampires from the oldest lineage in Ichorna. Vampires were born only to vampire couples; when a vampire had children with another race, the result of their union was never a vampire. She did not understand the nuances of vampire genetics, but she did know that her parents cared about it very deeply. It had always seemed odd and antiquated to her, but she wasn't about to talk them out of their beliefs.
Lunette finally made it to some of the more populated areas of the castle complex and looked up at the rather dauntingly large structure of the main castle at the center of the cluster of buildings. She was not sure how exactly she was supposed to find the right window to enter, but the lack of guards would surely make her task less perilous. She knew the nobles of Delkos took pride in their prowess with weapons and often fought in tournaments, but they were fighters trained out of pride. She did this for a living. She had no doubt she could tangle with the best Delkos had to offer—even their notoriously massive minotaurs.
She clung to the shadows, keeping her face hidden behind the folds of her hood, and slipped through a laundry facility with steaming vats of soapy water. It was quiet, late enough now that the palace staff had retired for the night.
Finally she made it to the wall of the castle's main structure. She stayed well away from the front entrance, instead making her way around to the back to a lovely garden full of blooming roses and trees blossoming with pink, sweetly scented flowers. Four stories of windows stretched out above her. Windows were open to let in the cool night air, and delicate chiffon curtains billowed in and out with the wind.
Lunette gave herself just a moment to admire the beauty of this place. Though she was a calculated professional, that didn't mean she had any less appreciation for the sights she was lucky enough to see across Domhan na Rùin. She would remember this fragrant garden, lit as it was now by the gentle light of the moon.
She took a deep breath and chose a window to climb for. Scaling the large white stone blocks of the castle was fairly easy for her—vampires weighed next to nothing. It was one of their oddest traits, but one that made Lunetteexcellent at her job.
She had selected a window on the fourth floor; she thought a high floor would be best, that way she could make her way down to ground level and try to glean hints as to where the king's chamber might be. The window she'd selected was also dark—obviously. She could be brash at times she supposed, but even she wasn't bold enough to go climbing into a window of a room that was lit with someone obviously awake inside.
She scaled the wall, enjoying the play of her shadow against the wall in the moonlight. When she reached her destination, her fingers clung to the windowsill and she easily pulled herself up to crouch there and take in her surroundings. She glanced around the room, her eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness. She felt an insistent pull of awareness to her left, and her mind recognized it as a powerful craving for blood from whoever lay in that bed sleeping. She blinked, regaining control of her senses, and saw that it was, in fact, a minotaur asleep in the bed, their broad muscular back peeking out from the covers. They had a beautiful warm blonde coat, shaggier than she would have expected. All of the illustrations she'd seen of minotaurs showed them with smooth, short coats. This one looked impossibly soft and… cuddly. Damn, she needed to stay focused.
She looked around the room, taking in a fireplace that held only glowing embers, floor-to-ceiling shelves full of books, a massive easy chair, and—Lunette nearly gasped—a pedestal with a cushion that a massive golden crown sat atop. Somehow she had landed herself in the king's room entirely by accident. She couldn't believe her luckand had to make the most of this opportunity.
Her body slowly shifted into motion, climbing down from the windowsill without a sound. She unsheathed one of her daggers from the holster on her thigh and stepped toward the bed. A silent breath left her as she prepared her muscles for a swift movement.
"It's not considered polite to climb in people's windows while they're trying to sleep, you know." The king's voice was deep and resonant… and tired.
Lunette froze, waiting to see if he would say anything else.
"What's your name?" He rolled over then, and she was confronted with the sight of his massive, strong body. The sheet had fallen down and gathered around his waist, leaving his chest bare. Powerful arms and shoulders were covered in soft blonde fur. His face was like a bull's, but more expressive. Even in the moonlight, Lunette could tell the king of Delkos had kind eyes.
She didn't know what compelled her to answer, but before she could stop herself, she said, "Lunette. And you're Basilious."
He chuckled, and the sound struck her, straight to the core. Arousal pulsed to life in her body, and she silently cursed herself for having such a ridiculous reaction to this situation.
"Yes, I'm Basilious, but my friends call me Basil. I think I may already know the answer to this question, but what exactly are you doing in my room in the middle of the night with that rather elegant dagger in your hand?" His eyes grazed up and down her whole body, and Lunette suppressed a shudder.
"Well, I'm here to assassinate you. It's… my job." Lunette was losing it. What possessed her, she had no idea, but that pull behind her sternum was back, and her gaze focused in on where his pulse picked up slightly beneath his fur. Her fangs thrummed in time with her cunt, and Lunette struggled to remember why exactly she was standing on the other side of this room when she would rather be on top of this intoxicating minotaur.
The scent of him was heady; birch and hinoki and something warm and primal. She had to have him. She had to get out. Both were true at once.
