“Aha!” Haskell cried. “How do you feel about that, Raoul?” He threw down some cards on the table.
“I think I’ll survive,” came the bored reply.
I noticed a servant heavily laden with scrolls lingering by the doorway so I left my spot to greet him.
“Lady Isa?” he said.
“Yes?”
He smiled. “Master Philo asked me to deliver these to you. They are the designs of every building on the grounds. I can put them in your room if you’d like.”
“That would be best.” I lowered my voice to ask, “Who is Master Philo?”
The servant replied, also quietly, “He is our guard master, my lady.”
I nodded, remembering. “Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The servant bowed and left. He was replaced by another servant, who came into the drawing room to ask if we wanted anything to drink. Naturally, he inclined his ear to the king first. Something small but sharp hit the window, shattering it. Then the servant fell back, a small dart embedded in his neck. Helka and Bodil let out high-pitched screams and reached for the nearest child. The king hit the ground; a dart embedded itself into the back of his plush chair. I caught the one that was meant for me between my fingers just before it could strike me in the face. I tossed it aside, lunged forward, and drew the drapes shut.
“Everyone stay down!” I commanded as I sprinted into the hall, almost twisting my ankle because of my accursed shoes. I tore them off, then ran to the front door and threw it open. I met Gabor and Lennart in the yard. “Where have you been?” I panted, more upset with the restraining corset than with them.
“We’ve been doing our job,” Gabor sneered. “What are you doing out here?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Lennart snapped. “Where did those shots come from?”
“The jade building would have the best vantage point of the window,” I said, pointing. By the light of the full moon, I could see a shadow running along the roof.
Lennart grabbed a nearby guard by the arm and pointed at the gate in the distance. “Sound the alarm! Don’t let anyone leave! The king has been assaulted!”
The guard pulled a horn from his belt and blew hard enough to make my ears ring. Then he sprinted off toward the main gate to carry out his orders. I hiked up the skirts of my dress and ran past the spring.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I heard Gabor holler somewhere behind me. “Get back inside!”
I relieved a passing guard of his dagger and sprinted around the jade building, keeping the enemy assailant in sight. He was fast, but not faster than me. I came to the backside of the building just as he leapt off the roof. I took a moment to aim before throwing the dagger. It flew end over end and intercepted the falling man before he could reach the stone wall surrounding the grounds. He let out a shout, dropped out of the sky, and fell to the earth in a heap. Nearby servants and guards rushed to the writhing body in curiosity.
“Everyone out of the way!” I shouted and, surprisingly, they obeyed. I knelt before the man, chest heaving in the damned corset, and turned him over. Dark hair heavy with sweat and grime. Rust-colored eyes wide in shock. Blood dribbling down his chin. With a jolt, I realized I’d seen this man before.
“Gosta,” one of the soldiers murmured, “look at her eyes.”
“You can still have her, Gosta,” another jeered. “The general need not know.”
I drew back in surprise and disgust, for it was the very same man who had taken me to the general that night my world had been torn apart. I turned to my audience, trembling in my too-tight dress. “Someone call a doctor!” My voice cracked. I swore, yanked the dagger out of his side, and pressed my hands against Gosta’s wound. Pounding footsteps and disciplined breathing announced the arrival of my fellow Defenders.
“What have you done?” Lennart demanded. “Who is he?”
Gabor bent down to retrieve something from the ground. “Look here. What do you suppose this is?”
“It’s a blowgun,” Lennart said slowly. “Strange.”
“He…” Gosta coughed up more blood. “He said…”
“Who?” I asked, leaning forward. “Who made you do this?”
He focused on something behind and above me. I looked over my shoulder to see a man standing in a balcony on the fourth story of the jade building. He leaned casually against the railing, looking down at the scene below. He smirked when he saw me watching and sauntered back into his room. I turned back to Gosta to tell him I had to leave but the doctor would be here soon. He gripped my hand before I could speak, fear and desperation twisting his glistening face. His body convulsed twice more and then he was still.
I threw the door open and marched into the room, gripping my dagger with bloody fingers. Ten guards raised their crossbows, eyes uncertain and hands unsteady. General Halvar leaned back in a plush chair, sipping hot tea.
“If you think you’re safe from me, you’re gravely mistaken,” I seethed.
“Not yet,” the general said.
“What?”
General Halvar placed the tea cup back on its saucer on the table before him as hurried footsteps came down the hall. “I’m not safe from you yet.”
I spun around to see another ten men blocking the doorway. The general was smiling when I faced him again.
“One of these days, you won’t be so guarded,” I said, raising the bloody dagger. “And that’ll be the day this dagger will pierce your black, empty heart!”
“You aren’t still upset about what happened in Kenshore, are you?” the general asked with a chuckle. “So much time has passed since then.”
I took a step forward, causing all twenty men to tense. “You sent Gosta to assassinate the king.”
The general rolled his eyes. “The king was never in real danger. Gosta’s aim is worse than—”
“You meant to test me! I refused to kill for you in the sand pit, so you sent one of your seamen to play cat and mouse.” I was aware of my shrill voice but I could do nothing to contain it. I just killed a man. I just killed a man! My stomach roiled in confusion and anger, and it was an effort to remain upright. I swallowed hard to keep the bile down.
The general reached for one of the cake platters on the table. “He’s dead then?”
“Look at me,” I said with a wave at my bloodstained dress. “Do you think he survived?”
The general raised his bushy eyebrow. The burned side of his forehead simply rose a little. “Why are you upset? Did you forget that it was Gosta who wanted to bed you?”
If the guards around us were confused by our conversation, they didn’t show it. They simply held their weapons at the ready and stared at me, determined to protect their precious general.
“He was selfish and disgusting, but he didn’t commit the crime he was killed for,” I said.
The general went back to the difficult decision of which pound cake to eat first. “He was stupid enough to get on my nerves. Thank you ever so much for disposing of him for me. That is a lovely dress, by the way.”
I shuddered at the compliment and glared at him. “I’m not your pawn. I will never kill for you.”
Those odd, unnerving eyes bored into mine. “You should watch your tone, Lady Isa.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I said, meeting his gaze despite the memories of blood and pain.
A smile stretched across his face. He finally chose a pound cake and took a bite. He chewed for a few heartbeats before swallowing. “It appears you and I are going to have to share the hill occasionally, Lady Isa. I suggest you learn how to better control your emotions. Your tantrums are starting to annoy me and you know how efficiently I can take care of bothersome people.” He returned the pound cake to its platter and dusted the sugar from his hands. “Just look at what happened to Gosta.”