A Girl in Black and White (Alyria 2)

“You tricked us,” Tuk snapped.

“I’ve been found out,” I said with a sigh.

Steady’s gaze was pinned on me, hardening like a snake coiled around its prey.

I tsked. “Careful, Steady. The word might get out that you aren’t as steady as you seem. Ladies might be disappointed.”

He didn’t say a word; only looked at me like he was trying to kill me with his eyes.

“I didn’t plan this out all the way, or I would have brought you two some cards or some rocks to play Five Stones to keep you busy. I’ll try to remember next time.”

“Next time!” Tuk sputtered.

“It’s all right. I’ll show myself in. Thank you for your time, gentlemen! It’s been a pleasure.”

I didn’t hear Tuk’s reply or feel Steady’s killer gaze—thank Alyria—because I was already standing in the dimly-lit foyer of the magistrate’s lavish home. There was no one in sight, but that wasn’t a surprise. The magistrate spent most of his time at his mistress’s house while his wife stayed in the dark corners of the home with her servants, slowly poisoning herself through her eyeballs and drinking herself into a stupor. I guessed if I had to see and hear her pretentious husband every day, I might do the same . . .

Walking across the room, my sandals trod softly on the marble floor while I expected Tuk’s shouting into the courtyard right about—now.

The downside to doing the right thing, I supposed.

There were other things I could have done to get them to cooperate without putting on such a spectacle. But one, I was about to be judged on the matter; and two, I might have been testing myself . . . or just enjoying myself. Same difference.

It was a beautiful house: spiraled, marble pillars framing the courtyard, the scent of honeysuckle filling the home with its many vines trailing to the floor from end tables, and the sheer red curtains blowing from the high windows in the light ocean breeze.

My shadow glided across the wall as I headed down a long dimly-lit hallway, avoiding the noise from the busy kitchens. Passing the baths where lamp light glistened across the still water, I came to a room in the back corner of the house. Shoved away from the respectable people, and closest to the stables as it could get.

A king’s guard stood in front of the wooden door, hands clasped in front of him, with his gaze on his boots—half-asleep, it seemed.

His eyes shot open. I pulled my hood back, giving him a radiant smile. I looked like I couldn’t hurt a fly, let alone a man. His expression faltered. “Who are—”

I brought my hand up to my mouth, blowing a gray, smoky substance into his face; he sputtered, before blinking and then crashing to the marble floor with a thud. I shut the lid on my ring up tight—I’d learned my lesson about not closing it properly when I accidentally knocked out a vendor while trying to buy some peaches. We’ll just say he wouldn’t sell to me again. Besides, I didn’t want to waste any; if I had to ask Farah for more already, she’d give me that disapproving look, wondering what I was up to. And the less she knew, the better.

Walking into the small, musty room, where crates were stored, my eyes ran over a little, dirt-stained boy with a chain around each wrist connecting to the stone wall behind him.

“Well, you took long enough, didn’t ya?” he said, frowning at me.

I crossed my arms, disapprovingly. “Did you even try to escape? Or did you just sit there and wait?”

“I tried, all right.” He held up his shackled wrists. “They figured out how I got out last time. I can’t wiggle out of these smaller chains.”

My eyes ran over the brown, furry creature sitting next to him. His pet monkey, who had small chains around his little arms as well. Who shackles a monkey? We had the most simple-minded king’s guards in the country. I laughed, pure amusement rushing through me. “They caught you, too, Tasha?”

He crossed his arms, looking down his nose at me. I didn’t know what I’d ever done to him, but we’d never gotten off on the right foot.

“I told him to go on home, but the idiot wouldn’t do it and look where it got ‘em,” Henry said.

“Mm hmm. And who was the one that got caught this time?”

Henry kept his mouth closed, while Tasha stared straight ahead, a frown pulled tight.

I chuckled. “So, it was Tasha.”

The monkey screeched at me, showing his little fangs.

I pursed my lips. “Please. I’ve seen scarier teeth than that.”

Wasn’t that the truth.