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Avoiding the light cast from dim streetlamps, I hustled toward the theater, snatched the paper, and darted for the nearest alcove. The new king’s face stared back at me.
Be it proclaimed with great splendor and regal fervor that on this momentous day, the old gods bear witness to the joyous union of His Royal Highness, the illustrious King Icharius Fern, with the esteemed Death Maiden, Princess Deyanira Sariah Hark.
In celebration of this sacred matrimony, the grand spectacle of Misery’s End has been rescheduled to grace the kingdom’s revelry.
Today’s show.
That… prick. Orin had lied. Again. A damn kiss could have broken the bond between us hours ago. He’d proven his point by canceling my marriage and single-handedly ripping my title from me. He’d taken everything and seared the image of me killing my father into so many minds. As the anger stirred, heating my veins, I pushed away from the wall, feeling like I didn’t have nearly enough weapons to take on the fucking world. And I certainly wasn’t going to do it in a wedding gown.
For a second, I turned, wondering if there was time to go back and kiss a dead man, but perhaps his eternity in the Death Court would be sufficient. The binding to him wouldn’t matter, it would only be a golden band around my wrist, a reminder that I was a fool and pretty words had ruined me. And if he was still alive, I hoped the mark burned like hell every time he looked at it.
At this moment, with no home and no money, trapped in godsdamned lace, I had no option but to cross the border to get to the clock tower in Perth. I’d kept troves of weapons in several places throughout the cities. Learning where I could leave valuables the world would never find had been a game when I was a teen. I’d likely lost half my father’s wealth playing, but somehow, the value of those items always found their way back. That was the savage cycle of a monarchy. Though the people were poor and haggard, they’d still funnel what little they had back to the overseer. By choice or thievery, it would happen, nonetheless.
The dilapidated temples of the old gods were the safest sanctuary, but there were superstitions and boundaries even I avoided. The stench in the narrow alleys turned my stomach as I delved deeper into their dimly lit recesses. Filth and corrosion clung to every surface. But I stayed in the shadows, navigating the darkest corners despite the repulsive surroundings, fully aware that I’d need boots to jump across the rooftops.
The shredded remains of my dress had nearly stripped away my ability to hide, leaving me exposed in a way that made my skin crawl. I preferred my mask and every weapon I owned. I preferred solitude and the deepest recesses. Especially now, with a scorned king likely hunting me. I avoided eye contact with the destitute souls who huddled in the alleyways, their hollow gazes reflecting the desperation I sought to escape.
I pressed my back to a building as a towering figure hiding beneath a cloak limped by. The second he’d shuffled passed, he paused, as if trying to convince himself he’d just seen Death’s harbinger, but when he turned to face me, I’d already rounded the corner, only glancing over my shoulder to catch him scratching his head and continuing on.
Watching the man, I hadn’t noticed another until I slammed right into him.
“Watch it,” he growled, shoving me to the side.
I ducked, but I wasn’t fast enough. Maybe the remnants of poison lingered. He snatched my wrist and yanked, his rancid breath creeping into my nose as he huffed.
“I’d let go if I were you,” I warned, snatching Chaos in a swift but effective maneuver, her ruby pressing into my palm.
He released my arm but still loomed too close. I took a step away; he followed as if trying to make out my face through the murky shadows of the alley.
“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s a really fucking bad idea.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking.”
I pressed the blade to the base of his throat. “I’ve had a shitty day and honestly don’t care what it is. You've been warned. Anything beyond this moment is a direct result of what you choose to do with that information.”
“Maiden,” he gasped, but didn’t make a move, as if he were stunned.
“You have three seconds to turn and walk away before this blade finds a new home in your esophagus.”
“And if?—”
“One.”
“You’re shorter than?—”
“Two.”
He stepped backward, still staring, but I took the window of opportunity and spun, hustling away.
“What’s everyone so afraid of?” he yelled.
A drunk man was always more ballsy than a sober one and typically far more stupid. I kept moving beyond the cluster of buildings, block after block, past the pubs, the prostitutes, and the few carriages on the streets. Beyond the Silk Road and to the Hallowed River between the cities.
I expected guards. Hordes of them dressed in green on the Silbath side and purple just beyond the river. But no one patrolled the border. Something was wrong. I backed away, wanting desperately to watch the city from above and see what I could learn. But I was an easy target right now. And if the new king had put a bounty on me for drawing a weapon on him, I could be overpowered. I could be locked away. And that was not an option. So, I steeled my veins, checked over my shoulder once, and ran like hell, passing over the long stone bridge and shooting into the gap between two nearby buildings before turning back. Curiosity forced me to watch, unable to tear myself away from the questions lingering along an unmanned border.
If my father died with no heir, wouldn’t Perth, the council… find a replacement, just as Silbath had done when Bram Ellis died? The border had never truly been a roadblock for anyone crossing, but there had always been angry guards on both sides.
Mere blocks from the clock tower, I stopped, swinging a hard left, passing by the Badger Hole, and stepping over the rats to enter the nearby apartment of Thomas Vanhutes. Based on the smell alone, his decaying body must’ve remained for several days before the gravedigger had come to remove it. But I wasn’t here for the memories. Thomas had a long mirror in his hall, and, though it was cracked, it would serve a purpose.
