Page 55 of The Demon Prince

He did things like that all the time. Insignificant actions to help her. And he didn’t even realize her bad hip made this trek even harder. He did these things just to make her life easier and, as such, it was.

She hadn’t expected him to be quite so... kind.

The thoughts filled her with a sense of levity. She would make it to the almshouse. She’d do something for him, after all this time that he’d been taking care of her. For once, she could do the same for him.

Once she was close to town, Katherine noticed there was a shadow behind her. Not much of one, really. Perhaps a person on their way back home after a particularly long day working in the mines or in the swamps gathering peat. Until she saw a second shadow join that one as well.

Nerves churned in her belly. There was no reason for her to be so nervous, but she was. And then a third shadow, this one much closer than the others and therefore infinitely taller.

She shouldn’t have been so nervous. This was her town. Katherine had grown up on these planks and boardwalks her entire life. No one questioned where she came from, how she’d gotten here, or what she might be doing.

They knew her, just as she knew all of them.

But something deep inside her soul told her to be afraid. That those three shadows were a direct threat to her wellbeing.

She could only shrug it off for so long. Katherine told herself that Gluttony had gotten into her head. She was in no danger in her own home, and no one would dare harm her. Goodness, she’d stitched almost the entire town back together at some point, and many of them she’d stitched multiple times.

They wouldn’t want to get rid of her. Nor would they attack her for any reason whatsoever.

Unless they heard she was staying with Gluttony.

Unless someone had told them that she was with him, and then maybe someone might... might...

Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. Katherine turned around and met the stares of three men who watched her with hungry eyes. They didn’t seem surprised that she’d turned, as someone might if they weren’t following her. Instead, they crossed their arms over their thick chests and just stood there. Blocking her way back to the castle.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

“You don’t, miss,” the one on the right said. He was larger than the other three, a bit heavy around the middle, and significantly taller. She had to crane her neck to look at him. “You Katherine?”

“I am.”

“What are you doing back here?”

She didn’t need to justify herself! How dare he? She drew herself up a little taller, squaring her shoulders so she looked a little more impressive. “I’m going to the almshouse. I work there.”

“Do you now?”

“I have for years.” And then she realized she didn’t know any of these three men. Not a single one of them.

Katherine knew everyone in her town by name. She’d been there for many of the children’s births. She had played with every towns person and even walked by them a hundred times. She knew the people in this town.

These were strangers.

Swallowing, she took a step away from the three. “You’re not from around these parts.”

“No, miss.” The one on the left took a step toward her, closing the gap she’d just made. “We’re here to make sure everything runs smooth, you understand? There’s been a lot of people getting hurt in these parts, and we just want to make sure that won’t happen anymore.”

What were they talking about? She took another step back, wondering if maybe one of her friends would be out and about this time of the day. Maybe, if she was lucky, Grace might be heading to the almshouse.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, craning her neck to look behind her very quickly before turning her attention back to them. “I have a bad hip, so I really need to get to the almshouse before there’s too much of a line. If you’ll excuse me.”

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll be doing that.” The man in the middle didn’t move, but his thin features and beady eyes made her freeze all the same. “Word on the street is that you’ve got yourself a demon friend. Now, I find it curious that any self-respecting young woman would stay around a monster like that for very long.”

“I’ve been visiting my mother’s property in a neighboring town. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We both know you’re lying.” He tapped his nose. “Easy enough to smell the stench of fear, lovely. I don’t have to be a demon to sniff that out of you.”

Her heart raced. Her palms grew sweaty, and she grabbed her skirts to keep them at least a little dry.

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