AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I apologize. I had to tend to something.”
“I assumed as much. I also thought you might be captured, or dead.”
“The King would have a hard time capturing, holding, or killing me.” I flash her a grin, which she doesn’t return. Fuck, she’s angrier than I thought she would be. Yet at the same time, the fragrance of her arousal is heavy on the air. Furious as she is, she wants me, even more than she did last night.
“My disguise is dependent on the original Rupert Diggs remaining in a dormant state,” I confess. “He was starting to wake up, and I had to deal with that. And I was accosted by someone he’s apparently in league with.” I lower my voice, stepping nearer to her. Bad idea, because she’s breathing heavily, and I’m immediately dazed by the surge and fall of her breasts. “Shit… um, could you put something on?”
“You don’t like full-figured women?” She plants both hands on her hips.
“Oh, I like them very much.”
She frowns, and I hasten to add, “Not all full-figured women… just you. Wait, no—I desire all women, of all shapes… That is to say, I… fuck, you’re too beautiful and I can’t think straight, so if you have any mercy at all, would you wrap yourself in a blanket or something, because I—”
Juliette smiles, like the sun bursting gloriously through a cloud bank, and she walks straight into my arms.
“Fuck,” I say hoarsely. I was hard the second I saw her, and having all her beauty and sweetness pressed up against me is the most intense and exquisite torture. “I said ‘have mercy,’ you cruel woman.”
“I’m glad you’re alright,” she murmurs against my chest. “And I’m glad you came back. I thought you might have run away. Which would be alright, if you chose to do that—you and I are strangers, and you don’t owe me anything. But I would miss you.”
Cautiously I place one hand over her brown head, holding it against my heart, and I wrap my other arm around her. My next words come out gruff and thick through my tight throat. “I would miss you too. I was afraid the King might have hurt you. How did he react to the gold?”
“Very pleased at first, and then not so pleased when I told him I couldn’t perform such a feat more than once a year. Still… he’s intrigued by the possibilities.” Her tone is dry, and there’s a note of discomfort and dread in it. “So this man you’re impersonating—he’s in league with someone?”
I note the abrupt change of subject, and the way she stays there, against me, like she needs comfort—or like she’s challenging me to stay focused, to keep talking, in spite of my body’s reaction to her.
I clear my throat and scrape together my fragmented thoughts. I keep my voice low, even though Rupert’s memories taught me that the rooms are soundproof, and I haven’t sensed any listening spells or tokens in her chamber. Still, it seems wise to be cautious when we’re talking of treason.
“One of the cooks, and Rupert Diggs, and some others are plotting to kill the King,” I say, barely above a breath. “Rupert was supposed to purchase fennisley from a contact of his. I had to dig deep into his mind to get the name.”
“Fennisley?”
“It’s a poisonous plant that’s amenable to spellwork. Not all plants are. This one can be spelled by an Elf with a charm that renders it harmless to everyone but the intended target. According to what I read in Rupert’s mind, he and the cook understood that a spell was required, but they thought a human sorcerer would be able to perform it for them. They didn’t realize that only Elves have the kind of magic required to manipulate the fennisley. The idea is to introduce the poison into the King’s food. He has a taster who checks the food for poison—”
“And they wanted the food to be harmless to the taster, yet lethal to the King,” Juliette finishes. “But without the right magic, their plot would have failed. It would have killed the taster, and they would have been discovered and executed.”
“Exactly.”
“But you’re an Elf. You could perform the spell.”
“Half-Elf, but yes… with a little practice, I think I could do it. I’ll have to arrange a meeting with Rupert’s contact and get the fennisley from them. It might take a few days to accomplish that—apparently this vendor is the skittish sort. No wonder, since they sell banned magical supplies.”
Juliette’s face falls, pain lancing through her eyes. She pulls away from me, chewing her lip.
“What is it?” I ask.
“There’s no way we could get the fennisley sooner? Maybe even today?”
“What’s the hurry?”
“I’m supposed to serve the King in bed tomorrow night.”
A panicked heat blazes through me, yet I somehow feel ice-cold at the same time. “You won’t have to. I’ll get you out of here before then.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t you see? This isn’t just about me anymore. It’s about everyone the King mutilates, mistreats, and murders. I didn’t realize how bad it was, living in my pleasant village, oblivious to the pain he is causing. I was like a horse wearing blinders—seeing only my own plans and problems, with no thought for anyone else.”
“You’re not responsible for the King, or for the way he manages his household—or Darthage, for that matter.”
“But I am responsible. We all are, everyone who lives in this kingdom and allows this to happen. He’s only a few years into his reign, Rupert. He’ll get bolder, and worse, the longer people like me allow this to go on. He has so much power already that a simple voice like mine won’t have any effect, even if I could find a way to speak out. The only thing to be done is to remove him. He deserves death, for the crimes he has committed against those in his care.”
