Page 125 of Amidst the Insidious Courts
“My tits are so sweaty,” Prae complains, rubbing the fabric of the gauzy fae top she’s wearing. “How the hell do fae live with wearing so much fabric? I’m boiling alive.”
I must not murder my cousin. I must not murder—
“It’s supposed to be winter, for Ancestors’ sake. And the—”
“We’re here,” I snap, the words sharper than I mean them to be. “Now shush before the city guard overhears you.”
There is no city wall, unlike Pavellen, but there must be double the number of armoured fae patrolling around. It’s almost like they’ve declared martial law.
“You there!” A soldier calls to a gnome on our left. “Where’s your permit?”
“Permit?” the little guy stammers. “We’re just following the Nicnevin’s pilgrimage. We didn’t know we needed a permit. I swear—”
“No permit, no entry to the city. Get lost.”
The gnome turns, dejected, then turns back. “Will you at least tell us what miracle she’s performed at the city temple? I just need to know.”
“Miracle?” The soldier looks at him like he’s lost his mind. “The lady Nicnevin is being kept safe in the palace. She isn’t swanning about the city performing miracles.”
A wailing noise splits the air a second later, and the soldier on the right withdraws a shimmering brass whistle from her pocket. The second it’s free of confinement, the damned thing grows wings and soars overhead to a spot on our left.
“Remove your glamour!” she snaps, hurrying after the whistle.
A goblin drops her invisibility glamour, holding up shaking hands. She squeaks as she’s tackled to the ground. “I just need to see the Nicnevin!”
“I’m arresting you in the name of the king for attempting to enter Siabetha without a permit,” the guard says, wrestling the much smaller fae down.
Shit. There goes that idea.
“We don’t have permits,” Prae hisses at me.
A smudge of black catches my eye, sandwiched between crates. A vulpine nose and a pair of twisting ears disappear quickly around the corner.
“This way.” I pull her around the side of one white-washed house, down an alleyway, and behind a cart.
“Wait, where are we—” Prae cuts off as she comes face to face with a naked Bram.
“What are you doing here, lad?” he hisses, eyes darting around behind us, making sure we weren’t followed.
“I could ask the same of you,” I retort. “Aren’t you supposed to be with Rose?”
“I’m looking for one of her Guard,” Bram replies. “He ran out of the city in wolf form a week ago and hasn’t returned.”
“The goody-two-shoes knight left Rose?” Prae sounds as incredulous as I am.
Bram twists his hands together. “As part of the distraction that allowed your escape, he was tortured until his wolf went feral. No one wants to worry Rose, but there’s been no sign of him since…”
“Since…?” I press, but Bram isn’t going to answer me. I know that look. “Fine. Can you get us into the city?”
“Why?”
Ancestors, is he really going to make me say it?
“So I continue my wonderful tour of the five courts. Why do you think?” I run a hand through my short hair, cursing the unfamiliar lack of length for the hundredth time. “She’s in danger. A priest rode here ahead of us. He knew about me, and he’s convinced we did something to screw up Rose’s Guard. He was talking about grand priests or some bullshit.”
“Grand clerics?” Bram’s eyes sharpen, and his ever-present fidgeting stops. “They’re trying to turn the temple against her.”
He paces, fur sprouting across his body as he tries to calm himself.
