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“Your Highness?”
“You could take him in a fight, couldn’t you? Perhaps you could even take me.”
So, he really believed he was a better fighter than Nicolo. Interesting but not helpful at the present.
“I doubt that very strongly, Your Highness.”
“It’s a curious thing,” Balduin continued as he slugged back one drink and poured himself another.
“What is, Your Highness?” I asked when the words seemed to lodge in his throat.
“The way you just appeared. You’d been a maid for what? Barely a few weeks, it seems.”
“Perhaps a month and a week.”
He nodded. “Right—you just appeared, then you were promoted to serving Nicolo. A girl as pretty as the day is long, bright eyed and bushy-tailed, but who can also handle a sword, dodge a knife, ride a horse with aplomb, dance like a court lady and more besides.”
“My father taught me everything I know.”
I was worried though I didn’t know just why yet.
“So Nicolo said,” nodded Balduin but he appeared doubtful. “Maybe Nicolo even believes your story.” Then he chuckled as I swallowed hard. “I think Nicolowantsto believe everything you tell him.”
“Why is that?” I managed.
“Because he likes you and that is quite a surprise because Nicolo doesn’t like anyone… save for me, of course.” My heart fluttered involuntarily. “You did quite a good job there, I’ll give you.”
“Your Highness?”
“That’s all part of your training, isn’t it?”
“My training, Your Highness?”
He nodded. “Get close to the target. And with a man like Nicolo… well, it’s practically the only way you could finish the job...bygetting close to him.”
Holy hell. He knew. How in the hell he’d found out, I didn’t know. But he knew. And that meant… did Nicolo know, as well? Had all of this been planned? But, no, there was something about the expression on the prince’s face that led me to believe this was still our little secret. And Nicolo’s shock when Balduin interrupted us—no, none of that was planned. Nicolo didn’t know the truth. And that was a relief to me which was silly because I was more than sure I was about to meet my end. Right here and right now. If I were lucky, Balduin would kill me before he had his way with me.
“Job, Your Highness?”
Balduin smirked. “You don’t need to play dumb with me, assassin.”
“Assassin?” I repeated, and swallowed hard, eyeing the two exit points from the room. One was a window in which I was sure to kill myself from the fall. The other was out the door and Balduin’s guards would easily overcome me.
Balduin chuckled again as he turned to face me and swallowed the glass of amber liquid before turning to pour himself another. “You appear petrified,” he continued on a heavy laugh. “Relax, girl… I’m the one who hired you.”
It was fair to say this evening hadn’t gone as I’d expected—at all. I’d been expecting a nice meal followed by a good night’s sleep, instead I’d been fingered over dinner, had a close call with the man I was supposed to kill, been given away like a birthday present, and now it turned out that the last man I’d ever have expected to want Nicolo dead was the man who’d paid for it to happen.
There were many people who treated Balduin as if they liked him. There were even more who pretended to be his friend. But I would have bet all the money I had that Nicolo was the only person wholikedthe prince genuinely, and he ranked as Balduin’s only real friend.
And this was how the prince repaid that loyalty?
Not only that, even if Balduin’s jealousy had blossomed into full-blown hatred, his life depended on Nicolo. He literally couldn’t survive without Nicolo. So, what the hell was going on?
“I am correct in thinking the Guild doesn’t tell you the identity of your client?”
“Not even the Guild knows, Your Highness,” I replied, still a little dazed that I was even admitting to this. But the cat was so far out of the bag, there was no use in continuing to deny it. “Everything is kept anonymous. It’s a financial arrangement, nothing more.”
Balduin shrugged. “I used an intermediary… now sadly deceased. But the fact remains that money was mine. I hired you.”
