“Aye, you be right ’bout that, I wager. Still, girl like you—jus’ askin’ for trouble in a place like this.”
“Probably. Seen my fair share o’ trouble of late. Do you think things be better under the Shadians?”
The old man touched his fingertips to his forehead a moment. When he peered at her, his eyes settled on the dirt on her cheek and the hole in her dress. “Nothin’ good’ll come of this.”
“That’s just it,” Adelei said. “No matter where I be, none can tell me why. Everyone says, Alethea, you get out of this city whilst you can. But where would I go? Least here, public girls and the like be legal and—”
He laid his hand across hers gently. “You aren’t a public girl. I agree with them that told ya to get. Head west. I hear Sadai treats folk kindly.”
Adelei shook her head. “Isn’t any use. Not enough coin to get to the border. Besides, how you know I’m not what I says?”
“Too innocent. You aren’t broken yet. Not like them he leaves behind.”
“He?” Her heart raced in her chest, and she leaned forward.
“The one few want to talk about.”
Please talk to me. Come on, give me something I can use. She took another sip of the wretched wine and breathed slowly. “You seem willin’ enough to talk.”
The door to the inn slammed shut as two patrons left. The barkeep glared at the old man, who lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “People be scared. Too many rumors runnin’ ’round ’bout this prince. I don-wanna see you tossed away like garbage. Figure if I talk to you, maybe you’ll listen to them folk that told you to flee. Alesta’s not safe no more, not for young girls like you.”
“How do you know that?”
Her voice trembled, and she held her breath for a beat or two. He bought her act and pushed the wine toward her. She faked a sip, and he continued. “Thing is, no one knows. Like I said—just rumors. But these rumors, too detailed to be lies. Must be true, I say. Once heard he’s got powers. Things right outta the stories of old.”
“He be a mystic?”
“Don’t know. Never seen it meself, but heard plenty who say they have. Someone like that, he keeps souvenirs. Don’t let you become one.” The old man pulled a few coins from his pocket and pressed them into her hands. “You must be goin’ soon, tonight if ye can manage.”
Adelei opened her mouth to call out to him as he hobbled to the door, but a young boy slid up to her table before she could move. “What?” she snapped at him, and he flinched.
“Beggin’ ye pardon, milady, but Verlan wants ye out.” He thumbed in the direction of the barkeep before running off. But by the time she reached the door, the old man was nowhere to be seen. In her hand were two full notches—enough to catch a ride with a caravan at the least.
Tempting. Would be so much easier if she could just leave. She stared at the coins and sighed. There were still a dozen more inns she could try before sundown. Before she reported back to the King about her failure. You were right, old man. I should’ve left when I had the chance.
When Adelei asked for a formal audience with King Leon, he raised an eyebrow at his steward but scheduled the meeting in the drawing room after supper. Margaret was in seclusion before the wedding, and supper had been oddly quiet without her nervous chatter. The candle mark came and went without the arrival of Master Adelei, and he thought her not coming at all. Or maybe having forgotten their meeting. After he finished the last of his glass of wine, he rose from the comfort of his chair to retire when a knock sounded on the door. The guard announced Master Adelei, and had he not known her looks well, he might have doubted his guard’s ability to see.
The outfit she wore looked like something more fitting a beggar. Or a public girl. King Leon shuddered. While the sleeve of her dress was torn, the blood on her lip concerned Leon more. Leon fetched her a glass and offered her some wine as she rubbed her knee.
“You look as if you’ve seen better times.”
Adelei nodded and leaned back in the chair. “I went in search of information.”
“Where? A brothel?” When she merely shrugged, he leaned forward and clenched his fingers around the arms of his chair. “Tell me you didn’t—”
“No, so you can calm your thoughts, Your Majesty. The integrity of your sepier is still intact.” She swilled back the rest of her wine. “If there is one thing I’ve learned in the past month, it’s that the citizens in your kingdom are absolutely terrified of Prince Gamun and the royal family of Shad.”
“So you made progress, then?”
She shook her head. “The other bit I’ve learned is that absolutely none of them will talk about him, or if they will, they know nothing more than contradictory rumors. Nothing more behind them than the wind.”
“Is that how you got the bleeding lip?” he asked.
Adelei touched a finger to her mouth. “Must have been when I bit my tongue. Don’t worry about it—I didn’t even notice.” Dark circles hung suspended under her closed eyes, and when she stretched out in the chair, her movements were stiff. He thought her asleep when she picked up her train of thought. “I think I’ve been inside every inn and brothel in Alesta this past month. No one in the upper or middle circles would speak ill of His Highness, so I ventured into the lower circle disguised as a desperate beggar.”
“How desperate?” One eye cracked open to glare at him, and he winced. “Sorry, continue.”
“Everyone I spoke to told the same story.
