Page 6 of Tattered Huntress
‘Oh goodness, no!’ She laughed as if the idea were ridiculous. ‘I work for the family who own Neidpath Castle. Mr Pemberville is only renting it for a season while his own home undergoes repairs. He’s had terrible problems with waterwights. They’ve finally been encouraged to move elsewhere, but there is still work to be done. Until it’s completed, Mr Pemberville is staying here.’
If vital repairs had to be done to my flat, I’d be lucky to stay on a friend’s sofa for the duration. I certainly wouldn’t be able to rent out an entire bloody castle. How the other half lived.
‘When you say waterwights—’ I began.
‘Oh, yes. Mr Pemberville has a moat. Of course there’s a permanent bridge there now instead of a drawbridge, but it’s still a moat.’
Marianne flicked her eyes from side to side, afraid somebody would overhear her, then reached into her apron, pulled out her phone and brought up an image of a stunning castle. My jaw dropped. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. Neidpath Castle, in comparison, was rather a slum.
‘Get a look at Pemberville Castle. It’s near Loch Lomond.’ She dropped her voice further. ‘He calls it “the bone zone”.’
My brow furrowed in confusion, then I got it. In a flash my admiration for the building’s beauty changed to disgust. ‘Oh.’
Marianne gave me a meaningful look. Suddenly I had an inkling as to why I was to deliver the parcel personally: Marianne had a big mouth and was not to be trusted, even with sealed boxes. I got the impression that she was waiting for me to ask her for more secrets about her celebrity guest and I pinned my mouth firmly shut. I’d already heard far more than I wanted to.
Thankfully she seemed to sense that her audience was unwilling to take part. Instead of chatting further, she picked up speed and led me to a closed oak door towards the back of the castle. She paused for a moment and tried to listen, but if I couldn’t hear anything through the thick wood then she certainly couldn’t.
She knocked once and opened it.
‘I told you we weren’t to be disturbed again,’ I heard a smooth, cultured voice say with restrained politeness that didn’t quite mask a trace of irritation.
‘Yes, sir,’ Marianne said. ‘It’s only that your parcel has arrived. The delivery girl is here.’ She beckoned me forward. I nodded, trying not to react to being called a girl when I was most definitely a full-grown woman, and peered into the room.
There were eight people inside, seven of whom were seated. Although they were dressed casually, their clothes testified to their wealth. I was reasonably certain that at least four were elves. Only a couple of them glanced in my direction; most were hunched over a long table and concentrating on a pile of papers. The one person who was standing was Hugo Pemberville. Damn. He was even better looking in person than he was on screen.
His soft tawny hair, with its gold and chestnut brown highlights, fell artlessly across his forehead, and his smooth, tannedskin spoke of a life spent mostly outdoors. Frankly, his healthy glow was insulting. His pointed elven ears were only just visible but I could see that they were both adorned with tiny golden cuffs indicating his high-elf status. There was a smattering of tiny freckles across his nose and cheekbones. He was wearing a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves and a simple pair of chinos. The curve of his muscular biceps and the way his trousers moulded to the lower part of his body mocked my scrawniness.
When he looked at me with his velvet blue eyes, I felt an unnerving kick of attraction. It got worse when the corners of his mouth crooked up into a smile; I could swear my heart skipped a beat.
‘Thank you so much for taking the time to bring it to me in person,’ he said. ‘I’m aware that your schedule must be hectic.’
Not today. I cleared my throat, sternly told myself not to blush, and handed over the parcel. ‘No problem. I just need a signature and I’ll be on my hectic way.’
‘Of course.’ He strode over and grabbed a pen from a young woman at the table who was holding it out to him.
I smiled slightly, wondering how long it had been since he’d last had something hand-delivered. ‘I have a tablet,’ I said. ‘You don’t need a pen.’
He grinned good-humouredly, took the parcel and reached for my tablet. As he did, he looked into my eyes – and his grin suddenly vanished. It wasn’t only his mouth that altered; the look in his eyes grew frosty as he snatched the tablet and stepped back as if he were suddenly repelled by my presence.
My jaw clenched. I didn’t know many other elves, even low ones, because my background precluded moving in such circles. However, I did know that most elves weren’t observant enough to notice the flecked ring of silver around my pupils that indicated I was a spider’s silk user. Usually only those who were addicts themselves noticed and recognised it for what it was.The few high elves I’d met either hadn’t spotted it or hadn’t cared.
Clearly that wasn’t the case with Hugo Pemberville; he’d seen the rings of silver and he knew what they meant. He stared at me for another moment as if I were nothing more than a dirty cockroach that deserved to be squashed, then he scribbled his signature with his fingertip onto the tablet and thrust it back at me.
‘You can go now,’ he said in such a cold, hard voice that several of his well-dressed underlings looked up in surprise. Next to me, Marianne flinched.
‘Is everything alright, Hugo?’ asked a pretty blonde who was sitting near to where I was standing.
I glanced at her concerned expression then at the papers strewn in front of her and the words scrawled on them:Black abyss.Four hills.Sulphur?
‘Everything will be fine in about ten seconds’ time,’ Hugo Pemberville bit out. He glared at me pointedly. ‘I said you can go now. We don’t want your kind lingering here.’ He paused. ‘So fuck off.’ A moment later, he slammed the heavy oak door in my face.
‘My goodness,’ Marianne murmured, sounding faintly astonished. ‘Do you two already know each other?’
Hot, furious shame burned through me. ‘No,’ I answered shortly.
I curled my fingers tightly around the tablet. I didn’t think I’d ever been made to feel quite so worthless in such a short space of time. I glowered at the closed door for another long second, then I spun on my heel and left.
Chapter
