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The assassin waited at the bottom, already holding her sewing basket, his mask in one hand. “Is that everything?” The question was low, urgent, yet not as sharp as she expected.
“Chalk.” She snapped her fingers. “I forgot my chalk.”
Before she could descend the stairs, he turned to retrieve it for her. Her drawers were always tidy, so it wasn't hard to find.
He slipped it into the basket. “Now, we must—”
A knock at the door cut him short. “Thea?” a soft voice called from outside. “Are you in? I've brought either a consolatory cake or something to go with celebratory tea, depending on how your audience went.”
Forget the assassin's knives, Thea thought. The look he sent her was enough to kill on its own. “My cousin,” she whispered.
He drew breath to either tell her to sneak away or pretend she wasn't home, or perhaps curse at her or threaten her in some way, but a jingle and clatter announced that the door would soon be unlocked.
Thea grimaced. “She has a key.” It had never been a problem before. Elia helped her around the shop from time to time and was the only member of Thea's family who still seemed to care for her. Why wouldn't she have her own key?
His murderous glare darkened, but he dipped backwards into the kitchen and out of sight.
Thea hurried to greet Elia at the door.
“Oh!” her cousin exclaimed. “You are in. Oh, is that a good thing? Or bad? That means your audience was rather short.”
“The king was unable to see me,” Thea blurted. It wasn't a lie, but her cheeks still colored.
To her good fortune, her cousin mistook it for anger. “After all this time? By the Light, he really is the worst of the Rothalan kings, isn't he?”
Thea reddened even more. “I don't want to talk about it.”
“Well, you don't have to. I'll make us some sulking tea.” Elia tried to step inside, but Thea crowded her back out the door.
“I don't want company, either! I just want to be alone. This day has been terrible for me, Elia. You can't even imagine.” Thea's voice cracked and tears threatened her eyes, but she refused to cry over how fast everything had gone wrong.
Her sweet cousin's face crumpled with dismay. “Oh, Thea. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to... I forgot. The last time you went to the palace was...” She trailed off and gave a resolute nod. “I understand. I know it's hard, but we'll work through it tomorrow, after you've had some time. Here.”
Thea hardly caught the paper-wrapped cake Elia shoved into her hands. She fumbled it close against her stomach while her cousin seized her face and kissed her soundly on both cheeks.
“You eat this and I'll stop by to see you tomorrow, all right?” Elia said.
“Yes,” was all Thea got out.
“Bless you, you poor thing. Don't worry about it at all. We'll sort it out. You know, I'm going to go right over and tell my father about this. He'll know what to do, and we'll get you in to see the king in no time. And next time, I won't let you go alone.”
“Thank you,” Thea managed.
Elia patted her cheeks and picked up her skirts to tromp down the street, toward where her father would be drinking the afternoon away in a private parlor, likely with all the rest of the city's politicians. Had they heard by now? Thea didn't want to stay long enough to find out.
She slammed the door and locked it tight.
“Within minutes, she'll know what's happened in the palace,” the assassin's deep voice offered from the shadows.
Thea exhaled hard. “Then we'd better go before she gets back. Out the back door?”
“Better than being seen going out the front.” His eyes fell to the wrapped parcel in her hands and one of his brows drew upward.
She shoved it into her satchel and hurried to join him without a word.
“The city will be thick with guards. This is our one chance to escape. Once we're past the maple groves, we'll be able to slow down, but we cannot afford any missteps.” He removed the barricade from the back door as swiftly as he'd put it up.
Thea gripped the strap of her bag. “What's your name?”
