Page 77 of Wicked Thieves
In many ways, Castle Rime, for all its beauty, only succeeded in making her feel like a bird in a cage.
“It was never easy, and it still isn’t. But we aren’t doing this only for us. That thought alone makes it all the more worth it,” Idris said with a surety that she knew he must have said thosewords to himself hundreds of times before just to get through the day. “Aeric is the one who has been here the longest out of the rest of us. Did you know that?” Idris asked her as he turned to lead her down a long arbor walkway.
Evergreens and small berries surrounded them as they walked side by side, granting them a small bit of privacy from any watchful eyes.
Anelize looked at Idris in question.
“He was here after being assigned as Castian’s personal guard.”
“Yes, but that came long after he joined the ranks,” Idris admitted, speaking so low that even she had a hard time hearing him clearly. “When he was a boy, he was being beaten by Watchmen in the upper district after he decided to try and steal from nobles for a change. Finding that it was better to do so from people who never knew the meaning of starvation than from those who were slowly withering away. They were so devoted to taking his life by pummeling him to the ground behind a storage building that they hadn’t noticed they were being watched by the king himself.”
The thought of anyone hurting Aeric was abhorrent enough, but for a young boy to be treated in such a manner was enough to stir anger within her.
“The king decided to bring him to the castle rather than let the Watchmen kill him. When he deemed that Aeric had been punished enough for the beatings he received, King Amaranth did the one thing no one expected. He took Aeric in and granted him a place as a lowly attendant to the Watchmen within the keep. And of course, because it was Aeric, he did everything in his power to prove that his second chance at life would not be wasted.”
As they stepped out of the arbor, snowflakes fluttered and fell around her. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“Because I thought you should know that, even if he is grateful to the king for all that he’d granted him in this life. His title, the tools necessary to survive, an unbreakable bond with Castian, there is nothing Aeric wouldn’t do to himself if it means saving the Vedrans. Nothing he wouldn’t sacrifice.” Idris eyed her closely then granted her a small smile. “Except for you, I suspect.”
Anelize felt her cheeks flush.
Idris chuckled, snowflakes falling atop his head like jewels on a crown, “Only fools wouldn’t see something has started between the two of you. What’s important is that you don’t forget what’s at stake.”
As she made to follow him and they walked past the frozen lake, Anelize spotted snow drops blooming from the ground covered in a sheer layer of frost. Their stems green and their petals a pure white, bearing the likeness of their namesake against the snow surrounding them.
They were a reminder that Idris was right.
They couldn’t forget. Not when the reminders were everywhere she looked.
The hothouse she walked through was a towering structure on the other side of the castle grounds across the frozen lake, nestled between the trees. There had been hundreds, if not thousands, of glass panes that made up the clear walls of the metal works of the building and domed rooftops. Idris had seen her as far as the stone steps that would have led her insidebefore he turned on his heel and walked away without another word. Back to his duties no doubt.
Following the circling path that led to the heart of the hothouse, she searched for Horia just as she heard a voice hiss out, “You insolent fool!”
On the other side of the shrubbery, the sound of a loud clap resounded through the hothouse. A whimper rang out seconds later before Horia stumbled over his words. “M-my lord, I am terribly sorry. It’s just that the king?—”
“I don’t care what he says, he understands nothing of the cost of our sacrifices. Our desperation to preserve what little we have left. Time is running out, and if we don’t act now, those Vedrans will be at our gates ready to destroy all that we have fought for. Is that what you want?” the voice hissed again, vicious as a snake.
“N-no, Councilman Esna. It’s just that we have already taken five and they have all proven to take to the malady. They’ve become…unnatural,”the physician whispered before he suddenly gasped.
Through the evergreen leaves, she caught sight of a man with narrow beady black eyes, nearly the exact shade as the black and burgundy robes he wore. He had a long hawkish nose and a gaunt face. He loomed over the physician, his reed-like body making him appear like a vulture ready to feast upon his prey.
“I am not wasting my time in those damn tunnels waiting for a miracle, am I? I’m waiting for you to do your job!” Esna sneered in the physician’s face. “Bring me one of the servants, a Watchman, if you must,anyone. I don’t care anymore. Fail me again and it will be you riddled with the malady next time.”
“Y-yes, my lord…”
Anelize watched through the ferns as he spun, robes swirling around him before he strode away. She remained crouched until she heard the slam of the door, making the windowpanes reverberate all around them at the force. Straightening, she watched as Horia ran a hand over his face, wiping away tears. One of his cheeks red from the abuse he’d suffered at the hand of the councilman.
Her eyes narrowed on him.
So, the physician had been working with Esna…
But why? And what were they doing in the tunnels?
Waiting a few moments before approaching, she slowly made her way around the path until she reached the physician. Horia startled when he heard her. “Oh, Anya. You scared me.”
She smiled. “I’m sorry. I hope I’m not too late, I got a bit lost on my way here.”
The physician blew out a breath, his hands trembling. “Not at all. You’ve come just in time.” Horia—for all his ramblings as he walked her through the hothouse on all the herbs and plants he’d managed to preserve during the winter—hadn’t mentioned a single thing about the Loom or Esna.
