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When the knock comes again, I shudder, wondering what threat he forgot to mention now, and I open the door partially.
But it’s Insy, grinning with her needle teeth.
I exhale with relief. “Thank the Gods it’s you,” I say, drawing open the door.
She comes in, hauling a huge wheeled bag behind her.
“Please tell me that’s not a dead body,” I joke.
“Not today, unless it’s a request.”
I can’t tell if she’s joking, but I shut the door behind her and follow her directly into my bedroom. “What’s going on?”
“Well, I’ve been given instructions to bring you clothes that are more suitable for city attire.”
“I brought my own clothes.” I glance over at my bag, which I still haven’t unpacked. “They’re practical and fit well.”
“They’re perfect if you intend to work at a barn.” She pauses in front of my wardrobe and pulls it open. “Your clothes are not feminine, are they? When a woman walks into a room, every man should pause and be drawn to her.”
I burst out laughing. “Trust me, that’s not the kind of attention I want.”
“Apparently, someone else thinks you do.” She starts to unpack. “King Slate still travels, so he won’t return for a few days, which means you’ll be in the compound for a while longer. But between us, His Highness often vanishes on trips, then returns with a new pet or interest that’s caught his attention. Some think he goes hunting, because last year, he brought back a winged beast that eats sound. I have no idea how that works, but I heard that for a full month, one wing of the palace went completely silent. A friend works there, and she said she screamed and not a sound came out. How dreadful.” She begins to hang dresses in the wardrobe. Once hung, they seem to rotate on the oval rail until a tube descends on each one for a few seconds. Once it lifts, the outfit is pressed and immaculate.
“That’s amazing,” I gasp.
“There’s a magical machine in the palace that fixes your hair as you sleep. There are so many incredible devices in the city.” She places half a dozen new shoes in the wardrobe too, one pair seemingly spun from glass. Next, she reveals several sets of underwear apparently made from scraps of lace because there is no way those will cover any part of me.
“The Elite families living here are very fortunate,” I say. “And I’m surprised that there are so many monsters who live here too.”
“Oh, there are more monsters and servants than Elite families, and our population grows every day. King Slate is a big believer in expansion.”
I nod, watching her close the wardrobe and fold down the bag, when a thought slides across my mind. “Insy.” I lean forward where I sit on the edge of the bed. “Any chance you could take me down to the prison? I want to visit Kazak.”
She whips around, shock instantly paling her face. “No, no, no. That’s forbidden, and the guards will not permit us entry. There are no visitor privileges for prisoners.”
I heave a heavy breath, and I get to my feet. “But Kazak is innocent, and I just need to make sure he’s safe. I’m super worried about him.”
Her brow pinches, and she’s wringing her hands across her stomach. “If the guards get suspicious, they can lock you up.”
I flop back down on the bed. “That’s all right. Just thought I’d ask, but I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
After a long pause of her staring down at her bag, she lifts her chin. “There might be a way.”
I jolt my attention up. “Oh?”
“I can maybe get you five minutes with him, but no more. The guards are changing soon, and they take their time during the shift exchange at the main entrance to the dungeon. Servers like me have a special entry for removing bodies, mostly.”
My shoulders rear back. “You collect bodies?”
She shrugs. “Every job comes with some unpleasantries. But they don’t want others to see us doing the cleanup.”
I swallow hard. “If you think we won’t get caught.”
She grinds her teeth, which makes a terrible grating sound. “Hopefully not.”
“If we are caught, I’ll say I followed you down and you had no idea.”
“Are you certain you want to tempt fate?” Her stare pleads with me to reconsider.
