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“Something like that, yes.” I heard relief in his voice. “Please, come and help us.”
“Us.” So there was someone else there.
He waited until he was sure I intended to follow, then moved into the shadow of the alley and disappeared.
I reached the edge of the alley. “Baudwin?” I whispered. In my mind, I was cursing for everything I was worth. I knew this was stupid. What would Lancelet say? She’d say “Screw Baudwin.” If he didn’t want my help, then screw him and leave.
But I couldn’t. I was too worried about what might have befallen the group. What if Arthur had learned about what we were doing? I could only imagine his anger if he did. And that anger would be primarily turned upon the peasant hunters, not upon his sister.
I touched my blade with my right hand, reassuring myself of its presence. I didn’t think I’d need it, but I was glad I’d brought it along.
I stepped into the shadows.
For a moment, I couldn’t see anything. Then I blinked a few times and two forms ahead of me shifted into view.
One was Baudwin. The other was another man. I didn’t recognize him. He was dressed in drab colors and like me he had his hood pulled up, obscuring not only his hair but most of his face.
“Who is this, Baudwin? What do you need from me?”
Baudwin opened his mouth to speak but the man beside him stepped forward. “You’re really the princess? The king’s sister?”
I hesitated, uncomfortable confirming any of this to a stranger.
“It’s her. I’ve told you already,” Baudwin hissed. “Yaryna recognized her.”
Yaryna. The russet-haired woman who invited Kaye and I to the Red Rogue.
“If I’ve put you in any danger with my presence, I’m sorry. That was not my intention. I merely wanted to help.”
The man beside Baudwin spit on the ground, then took a step towards me. “If you wish to help, tell your brother the king to help. Tell him our families are starving. Ask him where the grain is going. Ask him what he is doing with the food that should be flowing from the farms into the city. Why has he cut off the supplies? What is he planning? Why is he doing this to us?”
The man’s intensity frightened me, though I could understand it.
“I don’t know,” I said, honestly. “But yes, I will ask. I will try to find out. I will do my best.” I hesitated. “But my brother... does not always listen to me. You should know this.”
“Then perhaps he’ll listen to this,” a voice hissed from behind me.
I started to whirl around, but it was too late. Another man had appeared. He must have been hiding in the darkness of the stalls.
Before I could move, there was a blade at my throat.
The man’s other arm had encircled my waist tightly. I was trapped. The knife was so tight against my throat I was afraid to breathe.
“What are you doing?” Baudwin demanded. His face was angry. “You promised not to harm her.”
“We need to send a message to the castle,” the man holding me said gruffly. I wondered who he was. A father with hungry children at home? Or simply a citizen eager to get revenge on my brother for perceived mistreatment? Right now I didn’t really care. I just wanted the knife away from my throat.
“We’ll take her and demand a handsome ransom,” the hooded man beside Baudwin growled. “We’ll take her and then we’ll have leverage. We can demand answers. The king will have to hear us, with his sister’s life at stake.”
“Please–” I tried to say, but the knife tightened, cutting into the soft skin of my throat. I felt something warm trickle down my chest. Blood. My blood.
“She’s bleeding, you fool,” Baudwin exclaimed. “You’re hurting her.”
“Hurting the Pendragon fae-blooded bitch? The tainted heir?” The man holding me gave a nasty chuckle. “And you expect me to care when—”
Abruptly, his words ceased.
The knife against my throat slid swiftly away, nearly cutting me again as it fell to the ground still clutched in the man’s hand.
