Breath of Dragons (A Pandoran Novel) (39 page)

I raised a brow at Alex, who was leaning back coolly in the shadows of the booth, hands folded on the table, with a very hard expression on his face. "I'm surprised you're having some," I said.

"Are you?" he asked, though he wasn't looking at me. He was still watching the room like a hawk. "We're traders from Galston and we've had a
very
long and trying day." His gaze slid back to me, and the look in his eyes suggested that I was the cause for his day being so long and trying. "I could use a drink."

"Are you suggesting that I'm bad for your health?" I teased.

Amusement sparked in his eyes.

"Careful, Alexander," Vera smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised if your waitress friend over there puts something in yours so that she can take you upstairs later."

Alex didn't seem to hear her. His eyes were fixed on the barman behind the counter, and he watched him so intently, I thought he'd probably notice if a hair fell from the barman's head. Vera and I exchanged a meaningful glance, and then looked back out across the dining hall. That cloaked figure was still there, angled away from us, but the moment I'd looked over, I thought I'd noticed the person's hood turn a fraction away. As though they had been sneaking a peek at us and once they'd seen me looking, they quickly looked away. Their hands were still folded on the table, hidden beneath large sleeves. I tried stretching my senses to get a feel for whoever it was, but I couldn't feel anything unusual. Besides, there were too many people in the room, combined with thick scents and loud sounds; it was like trying to find Waldo.

"Something wrong?" Alex asked in a low voice. He had followed my gaze and then looked back at me. For some reason, he reminded me a little of a black panther in that particular moment.

"That person in the booth over there has been watching us ever since we stepped inside," I whispered.

Alex frowned, eyes narrowed on the figure. "Can you sense anything?"

I shook my head. "I've tried, but there's too much." I waved my hand at the air, gesturing to the room.

Vera glanced askance at the booth with the figure. "Want me to go over there?"

"No," I said. "I don't want to draw any more attention."

The waitress returned with a basket of steaming hot rolls and a tray with our beverages. The smell of freshly baked bread made my stomach rumble—loudly. The waitress glanced sideways at me. "Hungry, deary?"

I gave her my best friendly smile as she passed the drinks around. Alex and Vera each got a large tankard while I got my goblet of water.

"Food'll be ready in about ten minutes, and when you're done eatin', you just holler and I'll take you upstairs to your rooms." She winked at Alex.

To my surprise, Alex gave her a very charming smile. The waitress blushed, and when she walked away this time, there was extra sway to her hips. I kicked Alex beneath the table, and he looked innocently at me.

"Don’t encourage her," I hissed.

He took a slow sip from his tankard, all the while staring at me over the rim. There was a spark of challenge in his eyes, and he pulled the tankard away and licked the residue from his lips. "This was
your
idea. I'm just playing my part."

We stared at each other for a moment in a silent challenge until Vera cleared her throat. Alex grinned as he picked up his tankard and took another sip.

"Don't drink it all in one gulp," I said. "What if it's drugged?"

"It's not drugged," he said.

"It could be. You don't know."

He rolled his eyes and set his tankard on the table. "It's not."

"Can I have a sip, then?" I asked.

"No." He wrapped his hand around it and moved it away from me.

I reached for it but he grabbed my wrist with his other hand. Tightly. "Oh, come on," I said. "I just want to taste it."

He shook his head, still squeezing my wrist. "No, it might be drugged."

I made a really attractive snorting sound. "You're ridiculous."

"No, I'm actually very reasonable. Eat a roll or something."

"I might if you let go of my wrist," I said.

Slowly, he released my wrist and held his tankard protectively. I grumbled and he chuckled softly as I grabbed a roll, breaking it in half with both hands.

"For the love of Gaia; why don't you two just go upstairs and be done with it?" Vera huffed, rolling her eyes.

Alex choked a little on his next sip while a chunk of my roll dropped into my goblet of water with a soft plop.

"Here." Vera slammed her tankard on the table before me. She looked very irritated. "Taste away."

Feeling my cheeks flush, I reached out and grabbed Vera's tankard. I stole a quick glance at Alex, who had the slightest grin on his lips, but he was looking past me, watching the room again. I took a slow sip of the cider. It had a perfect blend of bitters and sweet, and it coated my mouth like honey. I was handing Vera back her tankard when I heard the words "King Darius" spoken from someone in the booth behind us. My ears piqued, though I was careful not to turn and look as I listened.

"Aye, but you know how it is," said another with a raspy voice. "Them royals think they 'ave rights to everything."

"Well, he ain't got rights to my lands," continued the gruff voice that'd caught my attention in the first place, "and if he thinks to come here and take 'em, he's got another thing coming. I'll take his decree and shove it up his royal arse."

There was laughter from the booth behind us, and Alex grabbed my knee beneath the table and squeezed it gently.

"I think you've got the wrong arse, Bast," said another seated at the booth. "It's one of his offspring that would've taken our lands."

The man made "offspring" sound like a curse word.

"Ain't no difference," replied the first man. "All royals are the same, thinkin' they done the world a favor by existin'." A mug slammed on the table. "Like they know better. Like we need 'em to tell us how to take a piss. They can all burn—every last one of 'em. Just like this decree." I heard the crisp sound of paper being unfolded, there was a moment of silence, and the men at the booth behind us cheered. "To our
king
!" the man said in mockery. "May his reign burn just as swiftly." The others cheered again and tankards clashed.

Was this what all of Pendel thought of King Darius and the regency? I stared straight at Alex, and Alex flashed me a warning look. He didn't look nearly as surprised as I felt, but before I could listen to another word of the conversation behind us, our waitress returned.

"'Scuse me, miss." The waitress was talking to me, though her eyes couldn't help themselves from drifting to Alex.

"Yes?" I asked, feeling unsettled by the conversation I'd just overheard.

"There's some men over there would like a word." She gestured to a table next to where the cloaked figure had been sitting, except the cloaked figure was no longer there. There were two men seated at the table beside the empty booth. They looked rough and travel worn, just like everyone else in this place, but there was something about them that made me uncomfortable. And one of them was looking over at us.

"Did they say what it was about?" I asked, looking back at the waitress. Alex had gone perfectly still beside me, and I noticed Vera slip her hands beneath the table.

The waitress shook her head, and her blonde curls bounced about her cherub-like face.

"Well, tell them I'm sorry, but I've had a long day and I'm not feeling up to talking," I said.

The waitress glanced nervously back at their table. "I'd go if I was you. That's Rakken."

I looked at her as if to say,
And?

The waitress leaned a little closer. "Him and his crew are the ones that run this town, miss, if you know what I mean. Best do what they ask if you don't want any trouble."

Alex's right hand moved slowly to his waist, and I reached under the table and placed my hand on his, careful to keep my eyes on the waitress. "Thank you for the warning. I'll go."

"I'm coming, too," Vera said, placing her hands on the table as though she were about to push herself to a stand.

"No," I said, giving her a pointed look. "I'll go. They just want a word, and they're right there where you can see me. I'll be right back."

Vera relaxed a little as the waitress nodded at me in approval and hurried off. Alex had pulled his hand from beneath mine and gripped my leg beneath the table, his eyes saying
no
in every language.

I leaned a little closer to him. "I'm only going to see what they want," I whispered. "You saw how nervous the waitress was, and I don't want to cause a scene." Especially now that I knew how some of these people felt about me.

"What if it's a trap?" he whispered through tight lips.

"Then we improvise," I said.

Alex squeezed my leg harder. "I won't improvise with your life."

"Then if it's a trap, you and Vera will have to help me," I said. "I'll go through that front door, and then you two can meet me in the stables out back."

He held tight to my leg, refusing to let me go.

"Alex," I said through clenched teeth, peering back at the men. The one that had been eyeing us earlier was starting to look impatient. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be. I need to go."

Reluctantly, he let go and slid out of the booth so that I could climb out. I crossed the dining hall to the men at the table, and this time, the other man glanced up at me as I approached. Neither of their faces looked familiar, so I couldn't figure why they'd pinpointed me. Unless they were the ones who had been following us. Unease pricked over my skin.

I stopped at their table. "The waitress said you wanted to speak with me?"

"Aye," said the largest of the two in a deep voice like gravel. He was the one who had been looking at us earlier, and I thought he was probably Rakken. "My men here and I were thinkin' you looked familiar."

Men? I only saw the one, unless he had others in the room in disguise. I frowned. "I'm a tradeswoman. Perhaps I've seen you in passing."

The man I thought was Rakken had a scar that stretched from his right eye and down his cheek to where it touched the corner of his mouth. "Name's Rakken," he said. "And I know all the traders in Pendel. I ain't never done business with you."

I worked hard to keep a trader face. "Maybe we can fix that."

Rakken's smile was predatory, and when he tilted his head to the side, some of his hair fell away from his neck and I saw the very edge of a tattoo. The symbol of Mortis. My unease tingled up into my scalp and made my hair stand on end. "Just what I was thinkin'," he said. "Let's step outside. It's so loud in here, and I'd rather not have everyone else knowin' our business."

He knew who I was.

I thought it worth my while to find out who else in this room belonged to Rakken so that I could better gauge how to tread forward. "I don't see a problem with that," I asked. "Though it'll have to wait until after I eat—"

"How 'bout right now." It wasn't a question. Silver flashed beneath the table and the tip of his knife was just inches from my leg. In my periphery, I saw three other men who had been keeping to the shadows suddenly adjust their stances. There were five men, total. Something black glistened from one of the three that had kept to the shadows. Just inside the folds of his cloak was some kind of small crossbow, set with a shadowguard arrow pointed directly at me.

It didn't seem to me that Rakken had accurately deduced the identity of Alex and Vera, because all of his men were focused only on me. Either they didn't see Alex and Vera as a much of a threat, or they figured threatening them with my life would be reason enough to hold them in their seats. And I could feel them watching me right now; Alex was still as death.

My mind raced. I could fight Rakken now. I would risk being hit with a shadowguard arrow, but it wouldn't take long for Alex and Vera to step in and help. But then there was the problem of everyone else. I couldn't imagine them helping us once they found out who I was, considering the conversation I'd just overheard. I'd be a pretty bargaining piece for any of these people—if they even let me live. And if we fought here, before all of these witnesses, I would be doing exactly what I was trying to avoid: alerting all of Pendel that the princess of Gaia was here with her two Aegises. No, we couldn't fight here.

"Of course," I said. "Mind if I tell my friends that I'll be right back?"

"That won't be necessary," Rakken said, his chair squeaking behind him as he stood. "Marr, escort the lady outside, will ya?" he said to the other man at the table, and the man called Marr stood up from his chair. In contrast to Rakken, Marr looked cadaverous, all skin and bones. His eyes were huge and sunken and his cheeks were hollow, but this man's power didn't come from any kind of physical strength. There was a darkness in him that tasted sour and bitter like vinegar, and I made the mental note to take him out first. As soon as I got the chance.

Marr nodded for me to walk ahead, and he kept closely on my heels. Interestingly enough, everyone in the room completely ignored us, as if they pretended we weren't there maybe Rakken would leave them alone. Alex, however, stared straight at me, his gaze burning. I unclenched my hand, though keeping it low and mostly out of sight as I splayed all five fingers; he noticed. He leaned a little in the booth so that he could slide out of his seat. I gave the slightest shake of my head, and then he caught sight of the man in the shadows with the arrow aimed straight at me. Alex's hand clenched on the table.

I could feel Marr's presence behind me like a hot furnace, singeing my back even as we stepped through the threshold and out into the chilly, wet night. Marr held both of my arms tightly at my sides while Rakken joined us, followed swiftly by the other three.

Before I could act, a cloth bag was thrown over my head and cinched around my neck. A fist collided with my stomach, knocking the breath out of me. I would have staggered forward, except a hand had gripped the bag over my head and jerked it back, straining my neck at an uncomfortable angle while I choked and struggled to breathe. "Don't try anything funny, princess, or your friends will pay for it," Rakken growled in my ear.