Authors: Barbara Ann Wright
“Oh, there’s the princess,” Lord Hugo said.
Even with her bored mask on, even while fielding inane courtier comments, Katya had an undeniable grace, her movements sure and fluid. Her eyes darted toward Starbride, and her hand rested near her rapier as she edged closer. “I don’t recognize you,” she said to Lord Hugo in a drawl. “Are you new?”
Lord Hugo bowed, his lips pinched as if fighting to keep the boyish grin from his face. “Lord Hugo Sandy, Highness. I’m just out in society. First time at court.”
“Oh.” Katya’s expression stayed languid, but Starbride could feel the tension in her body and knew she was ready to spring at this man if he so much as sneered in Starbride’s direction.
Starbride’s heart beat faster for a reason other than fear, and she kept herself from taking Katya’s hand by clasping her own together.
“Where have you been hiding yourself?” a sultry voice asked from beside them.
Starbride groaned as Lady Hilda slinked forward. The courtiers fell back, fading to the buzz of irritated insects. Katya’s expression went from bored to amused, and then back to bored in a second, and Starbride wondered what she was up to.
“Lady Hilda.” Katya nodded as Lady Hilda curtsied. Starbride sneaked a glance at Lord Hugo to find him staring so widely at Lady Hilda’s cleavage she feared his eyes might come loose from their sockets. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Lady Hilda’s gaze snapped to Starbride, and her eyes held such acid that Starbride nearly flinched. Lady Hilda’s expression changed to curious, however, when Katya gestured to Lord Hugo. “Lady Hilda Montenegro, meet Lord Hugo Sandy, new to court.”
Lord Hugo bowed, and Lady Hilda curtsied, though not as deeply as for Katya. “Charmed,” Lord Hugo said. “Rumors of your great beauty do not do you justice, Lady Hilda.”
“Thank you, Lord Hugo. You’ll go far in society, I’m sure.” She turned her attention back to Katya, but before she could speak, Katya interrupted.
“I was just feeling sorry for Lord Hugo having to learn the palace on his own when up you popped like a jack-in-the-box. You always know where to be.”
Lady Hilda’s brow knit in obvious confusion. “Highness?”
“Show him around!” Katya spread her arms wide as if she’d come up with the perfect plan. Lady Hilda frowned as if she might protest, but Katya waved her away. “I insist upon it. A personal favor.”
Lady Hilda had no choice but to curtsy again, and Starbride bit the insides of her cheeks. “Of course,” Lady Hilda said. “If you’ll come this way, Lord Hugo.”
Equally confused, Lord Hugo couldn’t argue any more than Lady Hilda. “I’d be delighted.”
They moved off together, and before the courtiers could buzz back in, Katya gave Starbride a quick wink and whispered, “Hanna’s Retreat.”
Starbride nodded and waited until Katya was mobbed again to make a quick exit. As they turned the next corner, Dawnmother asked, “What was all that about?”
“I have no idea what Lord Hugo wanted, but Katya wants me to meet her on that balcony I told you about.”
“This place becomes more complicated all the time.”
Starbride and Dawnmother kept climbing stairways until they
had
to be near the secret passageway, or so Starbride thought. One dead end held the wrong tapestry, just as the one before had. As they began to retrace their steps, Katya crested a nearby staircase. “I thought you’d beat me there for sure.”
“I get lost easily.”
“You’re on the right path, anyway.” Katya led them to the right tapestry in a few short turns. They’d missed it by one.
Dawnmother gave Starbride a knowing look and stopped at a small bench just down the hallway. “I’ll wait here.”
“Thank you. We shouldn’t be long.”
“Take your time.”
Shaking her head at Dawnmother’s softly wicked smile, Starbride followed Katya through the passageway and up the stairs, her heart a little heavier than the last time. Katya seemed to feel the same weight; she didn’t sport her infectious grin.
When they reached the top and Farraday spread out below them, Katya asked, “What did young Lord Hugo want?”
Starbride thought to tease Katya about jealousy, but she couldn’t do that just yet. She told all that had happened.
“And what is
jashida
?”
“A spicy duck pie. And Dawnmother
is
a master of it.”
“I’m sorry he scared you. If you want, I can get you another alarm pyramid from Crowe, and you can carry it with you.”
“But it will only alert him, right? Not you?”
“They’re attuned to the pyradisté that made them. I’m not sure what their range is, probably close.” She touched her coat, and Starbride knew she was thinking of the pyramid necklace, the one that kept the Aspect at bay.
“Are all pyradistés pyramid users?”
“Yes, but not all pyramid users are pyradistés, though they’re supposed to be.”
“So, the man in the shop was a rogue?”
Katya’s eyes shut tight for a moment, and Starbride saw her shiver. “Trained by someone else, or he joined the Pyradisté Academy, got his training, and then abandoned that path, something that should have been spotted.”
Starbride put an arm around her back. “What happened is not your fault.”
“It is.” Starbride started to shake her head, but Katya caught her by the chin and held it gently between thumb and forefinger. “You will be safe. It’s my only wish.”
Starbride held her breath, caught by Katya’s eyes, her warmth. “If Lord Hugo had attacked me…”
“I would have killed him a thousand times, even with everyone present, in spite of everything else.”
They stared at one another in the quiet, and a cool breeze drifted over Starbride’s skin as the moment lingered, but it wasn’t the air that gave her gooseflesh. Katya leaned forward as slowly as when she’d pulled the clip from Starbride’s hair.
As Katya’s lips brushed hers, Starbride’s eyes drifted shut, and her pounding heart and tightening belly told her what to do. Her lips parted, and she offered a hint of pressure that Katya returned, but not too much, not pushing. As the kiss went on, Katya’s other hand slipped under Starbride’s elbow and pulled her an inch closer, and Starbride half wished Katya
would
push her. Rumors painted Katya as a great lover, and the blood pounding through Starbride’s veins wanted to know if it was true.
Katya broke away first, but she didn’t wear the same cocky smile that had followed their first kiss. This was full of tenderness and, Starbride dared to think, gratitude. “I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
Starbride sighed and irritation wound through her affection like a sour note. “That sounds a lot like the beginning of a good-bye.”
Katya hung her head. “It is.”
“I know you’re busy.” But she wanted to say, “Why must you kiss and run?”
“It’s more than that. Crowe is investigating the people from that shop, and I want to hear what he has to say.”
“But…shouldn’t he report to the king?”
“Daughters can eavesdrop.”
“Will you let me know what you find out?”
“Star, you shouldn’t be involved.”
Starbride crossed her arms and hoped her incredulous expression said it all.
Katya rubbed the bridge of her nose, and Starbride knew she got the message. “You’re
already
involved.”
“And so?”
“All right, all right. If it’s not a state secret, I’ll let you know what Crowe uncovers.”
“Thank you.”
“Think you’ll be fine with just your maid to escort you?”
“Don’t worry. She’s armed with scissors.”
“And there’s always
jashida
.”
Starbride couldn’t help but laugh, and as they started down the stairs, her heart felt lighter. Katya would help her watch for danger; Katya would share the results of Crowe’s investigation, and together, she and Katya would figure out what had happened and how to prevent it from happening again. Dawnmother didn’t lose her suspicious look. Starbride supposed it was just as well that one of them kept a level head. It gave her permission to lose hers when she needed to, whenever Katya entered the room.
As Katya bid Starbride and Dawnmother farewell, she carried the memory of Starbride’s lovely face and soft lips and promised herself that she had until Crowe’s office to linger on those thoughts.
A full day hadn’t passed since the attack, but Starbride seemed to need some physical contact—Katya damned sure needed it—and she
hadn’t
pulled away, had even responded with a kiss of her own, flushing when Katya touched her, her breath coming quicker. Katya whistled as she walked.
Katya wouldn’t push—she couldn’t—and not just because of what had nearly happened at the shop. She wanted their relationship to unfold as slowly as it needed to, as Starbride needed it to. It was the perfect course of action, unless Starbride insisted on looking so beautiful all the time, and then Katya didn’t know how to keep from kissing her at every opportunity.
When she reached her apartment, she forced herself to switch focus to the task ahead and took the secret passageway to Crowe’s office. She paused to listen outside the hidden door.
“Of course it’s not going to hurt, Williams. Trust me,” Crowe said. “I just place it on your forehead so…” He fell silent, and Katya scratched on the door. It was opened a moment later by Pennynail, and Katya stepped out from behind a bookcase.
Crowe’s study smelled of paper, ink, and old leather. The scent made her grimace at first, but she grew used to it in seconds, rather like Crowe’s personality. Books and scrolls sat neatly assembled on his mahogany desk and the shelves of his many bookcases as well as the nooks of his leather sofa and chairs.
In the middle of the floor, on a giant Allusian rug, one of the grooms knelt with a pyramid pressed to his forehead. Crowe stood over him, eyes closed. Pennynail tapped Katya’s shoulder and pointed to the large clock on the mantelpiece.
“I know,” she said, “I had something to do.” Starbride’s lips warmed her thoughts again until she shook her head. “What have I missed?”
Pennynail put a hand to his forehead and shook his head as if in despair.
“Nothing yet, huh?”
Crowe’s wrinkled face seemed even more creased, the strain evident in his lined forehead and in the puckered skin around his eyes and mouth. With a gasp, he stood back, separating the pyramid from the groom. “What in the spirits’ names?” he asked. The groom collapsed to the rug.
“What is it?” Katya asked.
Crowe whirled around and stumbled. Katya and Pennynail reached to steady him. “Oh, Katya, I didn’t know you’d arrived.”
“You were in deep.”
“I’ve never felt anything like it. This man supplied information to the traitors who attacked you, but it seems that he thought he was safe, that…that his memories would be erased. It’s likely he doesn’t even remember what he’s done or why he did it.” He grabbed hold of Katya’s shoulders; awe and desperation fought on his features. “Katya, I’ve never seen such skill.”
Katya kept hold of his arms, not wanting to risk him falling over. “I don’t understand. They swayed him to their cause, got their information, and then blanked his mind?”
“No, no, they buried the memories so deep that I almost couldn’t find them.” He swallowed and stood up straighter, dropping his arms. “Extraordinary skill.”
Katya let him go as he steadied. “So, even though we have him, not only can he not remember what he did, he can’t remember why?”
“That’s right.”
“Can you make him remember?”
Crowe shook his head angrily. “I don’t have the skill! Who does?”
The enemy pyradisté did, though she couldn’t say that. “Well, what else is buried from him but not you?”
“He fed his information to the man posing as the shopkeeper, though I don’t think they met in that shop.”
“That’s it?” Katya held her arms to the sides, forcing down the urge to lash out. “Is he the last one?”
Crowe nodded wearily.
Katya took a deep breath. They’d hit another dead end, and now she had to question whether or not they could punish a man who was unaware of what he’d done. “The Shadow said they had a highly placed agent. A groom is not highly placed.”
“No.” Crowe sagged onto the arm of his sofa. “But where do we look?”
Anger pounded at Katya’s temples, making her necklace burn against her chest. Crowe eyed her with a wary stare. “Get everything from this groom,” she said before he could tell her to calm down. “Try to make him remember. Find out who his friends are and see if any of them remember any
new
friends he made. Maybe we’ll find the original people who talked him into being a traitor.”
Crowe’s mouth set in a line. “More pyramid interrogations will attract too much unwanted attention as well as fan the fires of anti-monarchy sentiment.”
“Then
ask
them. Tell Brutal and Maia to help you. In the meantime, we need to find out if the shopkeeper was our master pyradisté or if it’s someone else. Let’s dig into the Pyradisté Academy and find everyone of this skill level. There can’t be that many.”