Page 32 of Golden Queen
Tatana looked at me suspiciously, so I slid the note into my pocket and waited patiently for Set to finish his story, and then another, before I raced to bathe and dress.
I threw a gown and a few toiletries into a small leather satchel for reasons that I was not ready to admit to myself.
Tatana protested me leaving the castle even though I had not shared with her any of what happened with Io or the people who’d chased me. Shedidn’t need any hint of danger to worry about me. She was fearful enough of the fact that I left the castle at all.
As always, she turned down the invitation to join me, but in the end, she looked resigned as I wrapped a thin, black scarf around my ravaged throat and kissed her cheek. With the sound of my racing heart pounding in my ears, I did something I had only ever done twice before.
I climbed across the roof in broad daylight and left the castle.
Six
Iroamed the city in the sunshine, drinking in the familiar sights in their unfamiliar lighting.
I drank espresso at a cafe, ate lunch at a shabby little restaurant that served huge, yeasty rolls with fresh butter, sat on a pretty stone bench next to a siren-shaped fountain, and I went shopping.
I kept my hood up over my white hair, but since that was commonplace on Antevemer Street where a lot of people didn't care to be recognized, it didn't draw any undue attention to me.
Most of the shops were closed during my usual late-night forays into the city, so I took full advantage of the opportunity and stepped into nearly every one I passed.
There were so many things I wanted to buy, like an expensive charcoal set for Franca and a book of love poems I knew Tatana would appreciate.
I didn't want to lug around a lot of items for whatever Io had in mind for dinner, though, so I only bought a few small things. The last of which set my cheeks on fire as I paid the merchant for her wares.
I carried my purchases in a paper parcel as I headed back down the street. I had been roaming for what felt like hours, and I was anxious to find a clock to see if it was nearing seven.
When I finally passed one under the eaves of a tavern, I was horrified to realize there were still several hours to go until dinner. So, I went to the only place in the city where I had friends who might welcome me.
"Sera!" Igraine said happily, as I slid into a barstool at her side. "What are you doing out in the daytime?"
The Mouse's Ear taproom was emptier than I had ever seen it. Many of the courtesans were just lounging in the room, some of them nursing a mug of ale or sipping whiskey.
"I thought demons could not come out in the sun!" Barrett said, taking the chair on my other side.
Anetta appeared behind the bar and reached out to clasp my hand. Her eyes lit on my scarf, and she reached up to peek beneath it. She gasped. "Did he do that?"
"Of course not!" I said. Nothing got past Anetta's sharp eye. She would know I wasn't prone to wearing a scarf.
"Markus then," Igraine supplied. "Rutting bastard," she added vehemently before I could even nod.
"Come," Barrett said, sliding his long, lean body off the stool and taking my hand. "You will tell us what happened with the beautiful fae man, who is so smitten with you that he’s come here twice looking for you...and you can tell the rest of it if you want to."
We ended up piled onto Anetta's bed, drinking wine and whiskey, as I told them about Io. I told them everything except for the part that still shamed me to remember—the hateful word I had used when I got so self-righteously angry to be mistaken for one of them.
The indignation was unfair to them. They were wonderful friends to me. Even if their profession was not one that I would pick for myself, they did not deserve to have my shame heaped upon them for their choices.
For the most part, they seemed to truly enjoy their work. There was very little that separated them from the respected and admired Alumbrian witches, after all. Courtesans accepted coin in exchange for giving pleasure, and as far as I knew, Alumbrians gave pleasure in exchange for the magic they gained.
The courtesans had a kind of freedom that was rare in Albiyn, especially for women. They lived their lives as they saw fit, and I could only admire that even as Barrett fed me anecdotes of some of his more notable customers.
The number of male nobles who regularly visited him at the Mouse's Ear surprised me. The fact that Emerus Divestra was among them, most of all.
"He always comes in the back," Barrett said, with a grin and a wink, when I said I had never seen him in the brothel before.
Raitha, who joined us shortly after we assembled, watched my face for a few moments before she fell back on the bed, dissolving into a fit of giggles.
"What?" I demanded. "What's so funny?"
"You," Barrett replied. He reached out and cupped my cheek. "You are so innocent. Like a sweet little baby."
