Page 34 of Savage Is My Kingdom

15

ANARIA

Tavion did sound like a kitchen as he rattled and stomped while we gossiped and shopped.

He was…handsome, I couldn’t help noticing.

Our adversary, but…so very nice to look at, with his powerful shoulders and gleaming white hair gathered back from his sharply cut jawline.

I’d never seen anyone move like him, smoother than any other Caladrian Fae, though he lacked their ravenous, greedy intent, prowling on feet as soft as a wolf’s, his eyes watching me with such predatory intent, the hair on the back of my neck stood up, before I even realized he was close.

When he did sleep, one of his sharp-eyed soldiers was posted by our door, ready and willing to escort us wherever we wanted to go.

But today…today I was bound and determined to shake our glowering minder.

Only for a minute, just long enough to see if it could be done.

There was no harm in testing boundaries, or at least, that’s what I told myself.

We were at the apothecary, Ember sniffing yet another perfume, while I inspected the preserved creatures suspended in the yellowish liquid like sad little tadpoles.

I’d been fascinated by this place from the first time we’d set foot in here, which conveniently had a rear entrance that led to the alleyway, the perfect escape from an overprotective commander who took his job far too seriously.

Montgomery was too big and bulky for this place, and was maneuvering carefully to keep from knocking things off the shelf, his head brushing the beamed ceiling overhead. Ember fussed with the perfumes, her wide skirts blocking the main aisle, while I followed the shelves of gruesome jars toward the back, past the shopkeeper leaning on her counter, her shrewd gaze fixed on me like a hawk.

“Back door’s open.” Her eyes flicked to Ember and the commander. “If you want to make a break for it.”

I paused at the end of the display; she nodded toward the exit.

“There’s someone out there who wants to talk to you, little thief.” Her smile revealed sharp, blackened teeth, but not from rot. No, they seemed to be that color naturally and I shivered. “You’ll have to be quick, though, the commander’s not one to be thwarted for long.”

It was one thing to test my boundaries.

Quite another to be aided and abetted by someone I didn’t know. What if this was a trap? What if the commander knew we’d try something and his two guards were out there, just waiting to scoop me up and drag me before the king?

“No trap, little thief. An opportunity, if you’re smart enough to take it.” She pulled out a sheaf of papers, began sorting through them, not glancing my way. “If you want to know why you’re really here in Caladrius, go through that door.”

She shrugged. “Or don’t, and die like thesacracivoseyou were meant to be.”

“What do you mean?” I hissed, but all she did was tap the sheaf loudly on the counter.

“He’s coming. The spell on the back door will hold him off for two minutes, but that is all. Make it fast.”

Ihadto know why I was here.

Ember and I had carefully planned today out to provide this exact opportunity. But the fact the shopkeeper was eager to help turned my stomach to lead.

“Anaria?” Montgomery rumbled from the front of the shop, his heavy bootfalls shaking the shelves, setting the creatures dancing in their jars of liquid. “I know you’re back there. Come out where I can see you.”

I took one look at that half open door and darted straight through.

* * *

When I got outside,the alley was empty.

Part of me was disappointed, but a bigger part of me was relieved.

The door closed behind me without a sound, as if some strange magic locked it shut, then I heard Tavion’s angry, muffled shouting on the other side. I put my hand on the knob, intending to go right back in and calm him down, but the knob wouldn’t turn.

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