What if someone sees you? How will you explain it?”
“The queen’s spending some time alone in the moonlight after a particularly trying day. Who would care?”
“The queen of Grand Bruan does not worship the moon goddess.”
“No, but apparently I wear jewelry in my most intimate feminine parts,” she said bitterly. “Who would start a rumor like that? Who would believe it?”
“I’d rather them believe that,” Rebecca said, “than know you’re a moon priestess.”
My eyes had adjusted enough that I saw moonlight streaming in from an open door at the bottom of the stairs. Two figures cast long shadows onto the landing.
“I know you’re scared,” Rebecca continued firmly. “So am I. But I forbid this.”
“Then you are pulling rank.”
“Marc will be here tomorrow. He’ll take care of everything. Like he always does.”
Jennifer said something so softly I couldn’t catch it, but the defeated tone conveyed its gist.
Rebecca was having none of it. “Then let them pin it on that man with Kay, LaCrosse or whatever his name was. Let them convict some stableboy, or some old enemy of Gillian’s from the wars. It doesn’t matter who takes the blame, as long as it’s not you. Marc needs you, Jennifer. Grand Bruan needs you. And so do we. You’re so close.”
Jennifer said nothing. I saw her move into the light and head up the stairs toward me. As fast as I dared, I rushed up and closed the door to the lounge. She passed me on the stairs without seeing me in the darkness.
But I saw her. Beneath the cloak that billowed behind her in her haste, she was totally naked.
Rebecca followed. A few moments later a door opened and closed above me, and I heard the unmistakable noise of a big dead bolt slamming home.
I stood in the dark going over what I’d heard. I’d rather them believe that than know you’re a moon priestess, Rebecca had said. Which meant the queen was breaking her own laws. But why was that against the law in the first place?
And what exactly was she “so close” to?
I pulled the handle on the door behind me. It did not budge. I felt for a latch, but found none. I pulled as hard as I could with my good hand and leaned my weight into it. Nothing. I didn’t know if I’d accidentally locked it or it was just stuck, but either way it wasn’t going to open from my side. The only way out was the staircase.
If I went up, I’d find the equally locked door of the queen’s private chambers. So I went down and emerged into a small courtyard, with tasteful shrubbery and a lone tree providing shade during the day. Faceless stone walls fifteen fight high surrounded it. I saw no other exit, which made sense if this place was intended for royal recreation. Or surreptitious moon worshipping.
For a moment the night sky mesmerized me. I’d been inside, under ceilings, since I got to Nodlon Castle. This sudden reminder that there was, in fact, a world beyond these walls made me smile.
Then, from out of the tree’s shadow, emerged Cador, Hoel, and Agravaine.
They fell into formation, Agravaine in front, the other two behind and to either side. They had shed their armor and wore loose civilian clothes. They weren’t visibly armed, but they were professional soldiers, so against what they saw as an over-the-hill amateur, they didn’t need to be.
Running wasn’t an option. Neither was calling for help. I couldn’t believe I’d walked into such a blatant trap.
“Where’s the queen?” Hoel said, puzzled. “We have a message for her-”
“Shut up,” Agravaine warned. Then he glared at me and said, “Well, if it isn’t the asshole.” His nose was huge by now, swollen and crusted with blood at the nostrils, so that his words came out as Ip it ibn’t the asshobe.
I looked around. The moonlight provided plenty of illumination and confirmed that not a single weapon-size object lay within reach. I had the emergency knife in my right boot, but with my useless hand and the manacles, I’d never get it out quickly. I was screwed.
“We have business to finish, and this is as good a place as any,” Agravaine said as he approached. His distorted voice would’ve been comical in any other situation. “You killed Sam and want to pin it on the queen. Now we’ll show you what happens to people who mess with the Knights of the Double Tarn.” He stepped right up to me, fearless because of his backup. He pushed me in the chest like a schoolyard bully.
My rage flared. Well, hell, I thought. If I’m going down, I’ll go down swinging. And then once more I punched him in the face with every bit of my strength. And like a moron, I instinctively used my right hand again.
This time the sound was like two bags of muddy gravel crashing together, and if the fresh pain that shot up my arm was any indication, it must’ve been agony for Agravaine. He let out a shriek and stumbled backward, his hands clutching his face. I won’t comment on the sound I made as my fingers gave way like a bundle of dry twigs.
My punching hand was now officially out of commission, although I used my forearm to block the handle of the spiked club Cador swung at my head. Where the hell had that come from? I kicked Cador in the balls, just before Hoel sucker punched me in the kidney. I fell to my knees but had time to sweep Hoel’s legs out from under him with the manacle chain. He landed on his back and his head struck the ground, hard. He was out.
Before I could capitalize on this, Agravaine roared out of the dark, blood streaming down his face, and hit me with his whole body. The impact knocked me flat, and he jumped on my chest. Moonlight twinkled on his dagger as he raised it high over me. “I’ll cut your fucking heart out!” he yelled.
Then he felt my knife under his chin. Drawing it left-handed and with my hands cuffed had not been easy, but I was highly motivated. He froze; his arm was raised to strike, but there was no way he could sweep it down into my chest before I buried my own knife in his neck. If I died, we died.
Blood from his nose dripped on my face. The only sound was our mutually labored breathing and, for me, the cacophony of my heart.
“Who goes first?” I asked. I hoped it sounded more like a cool whispered threat than a panicky gasp, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
One of the other knights moaned. Neither of us dared glance away to see who. I couldn’t make out Agravaine’s eyes clearly, but I knew the dark rage and arrogance in them warred with the realities of his situation.
“Hello?” a male voice called from upstairs inside the secret passage.
“Someone’s coming,” Cador said in a pained squeak.
Agravaine slowly rose. I sat up with him and kept my knife under his chin. As soon as I could get my feet under me, I scrambled backward out of range, trying to look as if I always held my knife left-handed. Cador lifted the unconscious Hoel onto his shoulders, and Agravaine slipped his blade back out of sight. Without a word they vanished back into the shadows beneath the tree. The hinges of a hidden door creaked.
I backed into the nearest wall and slid to the ground. My hand hurt like my first broken heart. I waited to see what fresh threat would emerge from the secret passage.
It was Thomas Gillian. “Mr. LaCrosse? Are you down here?”
“Yeah.” I slid the knife back into my boot before he appeared from the stairwell. He looked at me with a schoolmaster’s disapproval. I said, “Would you believe I wasn’t really trying to escape?”
“Of course. You gave me your word that you wouldn’t.” If he was being ironic, it was too dry for me to catch. “You seem to be bleeding.”
“I tripped over my new jewelry.”
“I see,” he said, as calmly as if he saw this sort of thing every day. “Are you in any condition to make it back up? Your room is ready.”
“I’ll make it,” I assured him.
EIGHT
We went up the stairs, through the lounge, and crossed the main hall so quickly that the nobles didn’t have time to demand my head. We went through another door, up a second flight of stairs, and down a wide corridor. We
