Page 11 of Golden Queen
Madia had needed enough coin to summon a healer for her father from the Athelen Citadel, something that cost more than a fortune in gold. I had taken to filching my own jewelry for her until I was caught at it, and then I had begun pushing my friends into high stakes card games. Sometimes I lost, and it cost me more than it helped, but then I began to unapologetically cheat with the help of a well-placed courtesan in the room.
When I was ultimately caught by Arkadian, I was forced to tell the truth and a tradition had been born. The four of us had been playing cards with our monthly allowances for more than a year. We played, drank, and laughed until all our gold was lost. Then we took turns delivering it to Madia.
We could have just given it to her outright, and once or twice when we could not gather for our games, we did. But it was our weekly tradition, and we all enjoyed the time spent away from the relative weight of our respective duties.
The healer came last spring. He took Madia's chest of gold and one cursory look at her father. He told her there was nothing he could do. Antonin's death would come, and his magic would not stop it.
Still, we played cards and took turns delivering the winnings to the washerwoman. Sometimes we made a game of it, inviting another noble or two and cheating spectacularly with the help of the courtesans. But it was all worth it, especially when we learned that Madia had begun dispersing the coins amongst the people of the slums.
After I left Madia, I took a detour. I knew Arkadian would probably be neck-deep in a whiskey bottle and in no hurry to get home.
I walked along the little canal that ran through the slums, the muddy brown water choked with garbage and debris, and I planned. I would change this city. I would make the lives of these people better.
Windemere was the wealthiest kingdom in the world, in terms of gold, at least. The godsgrass we exported across the globe made our coffers overflow. There was no world where it made sense for people in a kingdom like that to be forced to live like the inhabitants of the slums.
I was making plans for how I would clean the water in the canal when I felt like someone was watching me. I stopped, sliding my hand into my coat to clutch my sword and turning in a slow circle.
My imagination, I reasoned.
I began to walk again as the wind lifted the curls that had come loose from my braid. It was an odd breeze, warm even in the chill of the late autumn evening.
I decided to head back, feeling some sort of prickling unease at the nape of my neck.
I reached Antevemer street again much further from the pleasure house than I expected. I didn't realize how far I'd strolled along the canal while I pondered the future. Luckily, the streets were packed with people out celebrating King's Day, so I didn't feel in any particular danger as I walked with my hood pulled up and my eyes downcast.
The streets emptied as I continued, though. I belatedly realized I was alone when I thought I heard a scuffle and turned to see that no one was behind me at all, or in front of me for that matter. I reached a hand inside my coat again and found the handle of my sword, just in case.
Something felt...wrong. Something smelled wrong. An acrid scent was in the air, like smoke and metal.
I hurried my steps, listening intently. Ahead of me was the end of a tall fence where another street crossed Antevemer. I flinched, my feet drawing to a halt as a shadow moved across the circle of yellow light cast by the gas lantern.
I watched silently, hardly daring to breathe. Had I imagined it? When nothing happened, I sighed, chastising myself for dramatics. I took a deep breath, glancing behind myself again just to be sure, and then continued.
I had almost reached the corner when my footsteps echoed, and I knew someone was walking behind me.
I kept going, not wanting to betray that I knew someone was there. They were making an attempt to keep in rhythm with my steps to mask the sound, but they were not very good at it. I heard them clearly.
And then the shadow at the corner of the fence moved again, and I knew I was being herded.
Who or why, I had no time to wonder as I sprinted out into the street. I wanted to put as much distance as I could between the person behind me and the corner of the fence, where I knew for certain another person washiding. I edged as close as I could to the wall on the other side so that I would have the bulk of the stones at my back, and then I pulled my sword from its sheath.
A large man wearing a black cloak stood on the sidewalk where I had just been standing. He was holding his hands up in a placating manner. Another stepped out from the corner of the fence, and I saw, to my surprise, that it was a woman.
"Hello there," she said. "We didn't mean to startle you, did we, Gudren?"
She had what I assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile, but it ended up just looking forced and indifferent. Her head was covered in a tightly wound cloth in the style that many of the city's mill workers favored, and she wore a simple gown of some indeterminate color in the dim lamp light.
The man took a step forward, lowering his hands. "No, no, we didn't mean to startle you, miss." I held my sword out to my side, still pointed to the ground, as he continued. "I was just coming here to meet my sweetheart, Brita." He nodded in the direction of the woman.
I nearly breathed a sigh of relief and chalked the whole thing up to my paranoia, but Brita glanced upwards when he said,my sweetheart. It looked like little more than an unconscious reaction to his words, but it told me all I needed to know. She was the furthest thing from that man's sweetheart. And there was only one reason they would lie.
I gripped my sword tighter and kept an eye on my periphery. "Well don't let me stop you," I said, carefully. "Feel free to be on your way." I motioned with my sword in the direction of what I could now see was Lahamra Street intersecting Antevemer.
The man glanced at the woman. She met his gaze for a breath and then turned back to me. "Are you heading back to the...where is it you're heading, dear?" she asked.
And I knew the woman had almost said,are you heading back to the castle?These people were incredibly stupid, but they knew exactly who I was. I realized I was in a lot more danger than if they had just been a couple of thieves who happened upon a likely victim.
I didn't answer. I just studied the woman, trying to assess whether those were bulky clothes or pretty sizable muscles beneath her gown.
