Page 80 of Golden Queen
When I could no longer still my restless soul, I left the castle to go and find him.
I didn't know how I would get into the Mercury District, but I had a feeling it would not matter in any case. He would find me before it became an issue.
The city was even more packed than usual as I made my way down Merchant's Square, looking for a carriage for hire.
I thought I found one as a sleek, black buggy slowed as it passed me. But without warning, the driver cracked the whip, and the horse surged past.
I cursed, seeing no other likely carriage on the busy streets.
I left Merchant's Square, following behind a group of young people who were loudly singing the song about the old king with forty wives. Each verse named another wife and detailed her particular assets, but they all ended the same—with the poor king's overused appendage falling off.
“The cock crows twice ere the break o’ dawn! The old king wakes but his cock is gone!”They sang, laughing, with their arms thrown over each other’s shoulders.
We were heading in the direction of the Mouse's Ear, where I knew Anetta would lend me her carriage. I still had no idea how to get past the Mercury District gate, but I thought the courtesans might have an idea about that as well.
In the end, I wasn't paying enough attention. I didn't see the same black carriage roll past again, slowing just a little, or that a man had stepped down from the door. He had his hand over my mouth and a knife at my throat before I knew what had happened.
"Scream and it's over for you," he said, letting the cold blade press into my skin. I felt a warm trickle run down my neck.
He pulled me toward the carriage as I darted my eyes to the group, now well ahead of us, still singing. They were not paying any attention to the lone figure behind them being held at knifepoint.
A hooded figure sat on the driver's box stoically staring forward. Inside the carriage, the shadowy figure of a man waited with his hands outstretched, ready to take hold of me.
I knew if I went into that carriage, I would not make it out. I tensed, digging my feet into the gravel. "Please," I said softly, letting my voice tremble. "Don't hurt me."
The plea was enough to make the man relax ever so slightly, judging me for the weak, helpless female that I had just revealed myself to be.
I waved my trembling hands in front of me, trying to keep my balance as I watched my feet. I placed my hand over my heart as though breathless.
"Move," the man said gruffly, pushing me forward. I felt something hard digging into my back that I prayed to the gods was a belt buckle.
Just as we reached the door, I caught sight of the face inside the carriage. I wasn't at all surprised to see that it was the long-faced man who'd tried to take me on Antevemer Street.
His eyes were small and beady in the lamplight, his expression hard to interpret, but the excitement in those odd little eyes was unmistakable. He looked giddy, almost childish.
An odor wafted from the carriage door. It was acrid and metallic, clinging to the back of my throat. It made me want to gag.
The lips of the long-faced man began to curve into a triumphant smile as the man at my back pushed me forward. I made my move in a heartbeat that seemed to unnaturally stretch out before me.
Reaching up to my chest, as though overcome by fear again, I pulled my blade from the sheath inside my coat and pushed the point back, under my own arm.
The sharp Obeskan steel went through my captor's midsection as easily as the mellitrium had gone through Io's chest.
I heard anoomphand momentary biting pressure on the blade at my throat before the man's arms fell away.
I pulled my sword from his gut and kicked off to the left, sprinting across the road and between two buildings. I turned right between two others, and then immediately left again.
I pushed myself past the point of endurance as I zig-zagged through the streets, trying to make it hard for them to follow me.
I didn't stop when my lungs screamed with every breath or when I became aware of wetness on the front of my shirt. I felt dizzy, like the road was rising up to meet me a few times, but I stumbled on, slowing incrementally as I went, but never stopping.
I passed startled pedestrians, their eyes widening as they saw me. One woman gasped, her mouth gaping open as I raced by. I thought perhaps the blood from the nick on my throat was a little more than I realized.
I still didn't stop though. I only continued running, leaving the startled people behind me as I ran for...where?
I reached the rear entrance of the Mouse's Ear and relief coursed through me.
I doubled over, sucking in a breath and coughed. Pain lanced through my chest, and I was horrified to see drops of blood splattered across the ground.
