Page 31 of A Lie so Pretty and Poisonous

“Yes. Sorry. I just remembered that I was supposed to do something for Queen Mollah this morning. I must leave and attend to it. I don’t want her upset with me.”

“I will do Cora’s hair. I don’t want you in trouble.”

“Thanks,” she said quickly and strode for the door. “The captain should arrive momentarily to escort you to your respective appointments. See you both later this evening to dress for dinner.” Without another word, she stepped into the hallway and closed the door.

“Can you get my hair up?” Cora asked while slipping on her shoes.

I looked back at her and resumed where Anya left off. “Yes, sweet girl. Let’s get you to your schooling and activities.”

My eyes flicked back to the door as I swept Cora’s hair up to the top of her head. The next time that door opened, Darragh would be standing there. I had to remain vigilant about keeping decorum and interacting sparingly, as Gabriel said. I silently chuckled to myself. It figures. I had to be in the company of a dangerous seraph so that we could get back to the safety of home.

Knock, knock, knock.

A point. A tilt of the head. A nod. I thought I would be relieved to not have to speak with Darragh, but his commitment to barely talking and communicating through gestures produced more tension. I fidgeted with my hands the entire trip to the stables. It was harder for me to read someone when I couldn’t gauge the inflection in their voice and had to rely on facial expressions. Except that he wore impassivity like a tailored suit. Perhaps he had perfected it through years of practice, and maybe that was exactly what he wanted to convey: unreadable. It certainly added to his fearsome exterior.

Heady smells of hay, horses, and leather were a welcoming comfort. Withered hands worked expertly to cinch the dapple-grey mare’s saddle and buckle her bridle. The stable hand walked around the stall with a slight limp, patting the mare warmly as he moved along her body.

Darragh leaned against the frame of the stable with the reins of his horse in his hand. His steed was a huge black stallion named Astorath, who was currently pawing at the ground and huffing. “Shh. Easy, boy. We will go soon.” Darragh stroked down Astorath’s long neck. I would be riding Celeste, whose size paled in comparison.

At least the horse gets warm interaction.

My coin purse was tucked into the inner pocket of my cloak in case I was able to visit a merchant or two. I didn’t know if it was worth anything in Tironaill, but I wanted it with me in case I could use it to buy clothes. It would be delightful to have options other than impractical pink dresses. Otherwise, I would have to continue to rely on Gabriel, and the thought of that left a bitter taste in my throat.

“All ready, miss.” The old daemonite stable hand offered me Celeste’s reins and hobbled toward me with his arm braced to give me a leg up onto her saddle.

I held my hand up to him. “Oh, I can manage fine. Thank you…what did you say your name was?”

“Ketlus, miss.” He bowed his head.

I smiled and put a soft hand on his dust-covered shoulder. “Thank you, Ketlus. I can tell you are good at what you do, and the horses trust you.”

His clouded gray eyes wrinkled around the edges as the corners of his mouth crookedly tipped upward. He was missing a few teeth, which gave him an impediment when he spoke. “‘Preciate it, miss. Please ask for me anytime you need a stable hand.”

I smiled warmly. “I will.”

I mounted my horse in one swift move. Riding in a dress was not always the easiest to do, but I positioned the skirts to drape behind me, covering the saddle and Celeste’s rump. A true lady would have asked to ride side saddle, but much like my noble title, I had given up trying to be a lady.

Darragh mounted Astorath and guided him out of the stable and into the courtyard. I rode Celeste behind him, and the brilliant sunshine caused me to squint for a moment. Aristocrats and servants milled about the courtyard and moved around the pillar of Themis. His ever-judging and watchful stone eyes stared out of the gate and into the city, trying to catch any wrongdoing. There was something about his divine stare that made my blood run cold, and I averted my gaze. I feared that if I stared into his marble eyes, he would determine that I was not worthy of being here any longer.

“Follow closely,” Darragh rumbled, pulling me from the regard of marble judgment.

I gave him an unsure nod. “Of course.”

We cantered out of the courtyard and through the open gate, the guards standing at attention for their captain, but all heads followed us as we passed by. It was an unseasonably warm day. The sun made the fog and dew of the morning dissipate quickly. Darragh’s black hair gleamed with a slight blue tint, making him stand out, even if he wasn’t the biggest seraph in a crowd. Grey cobblestone streets bustled with merchants and shopkeepers selling their wares. The smell of bread and sweets thick with cinnamon wafted toward me from a bakery. I made a mental note to stop there on the way back to buy a treat for Cora…and maybe for me.

Darragh had quite an effect on the inhabitants of Aquila City. Notably, their fear of him. Gabriel said he wasn’t trusted by most seraphs, but I hadn’t realized that they actually fled from him. Some even scrambled to get inside shops and inns as we rode past. It made my heart clench. Being ostracized for not belonging was something I could relate to as the misfit daughter of one of the continent’s wealthiest and most prestigious families. I snickered under my breath. The dark stain on her lineage meets the dark stain because of his lineage.

Celeste easily matched Astorath’s pace. The behemoth equine was quick and agile, much like his rider, weaving around seraphs and turning street corners with ease. We rode for fifteen minutes before the horses slowed to a walk, and we came to a building at the city’s edge. A library nestled in front of a large, forested hill. Columns lined the front with ivy creeping up the stone sides of the building, now reddening as the autumn season waned on. The cloudless sky allowed leaves of the forest to illuminate in tones of crimson, honey, and rust. It was a mix of architecture and flora. Structure coated in the untamed.

“Beautiful,” I whispered. Darragh turned and looked at me but said nothing.

We dismounted, my green dress billowing around me as I dropped to the ground. A young stable hand beckoned to us from a small wooden outpost around the side of the building. We handed him the reins of our horses, and Darragh reached into his cloak and handed the young stable hand a couple of coins.

“Be sure to water them if you can,” he said to the young seraph, more gently than I anticipated.

“Yes, Captain,” he squeaked with a slight tremble in his voice. He led the horses to a pen without making eye contact with either of us.

“Do you know the name of whom you are to meet with?” Darragh asked.