The Decoy Princess (45 page)

With a sudden determination, I went to the board and moved my thief. There were moves left in the game, but it was over. His king was mine. It wasn’t smart. I knew with an undying certainty I’d pay for it later. But I couldn’t help it.

An echoing conversation filtered out from the banquet hall. The lamps were high, and a rectangle of light made it to where I stood. Edging closer, I peered around the archway. My hand rose to cover my mouth in heartache.

Kavenlow was slumped on the floor in chains in the center of the room. His chin was on his chest. He didn’t move when I willed with all my soul for him to turn and see me. Guards surrounded him, leaning casually against the walls. He was dripping wet. My shock turned to anger. How could they treat him like that? Leaving him in chains on the floor!

But then I realized Jeck’s intent. In the center of the room, Kavenlow had little to work with to escape. Worse, if I wanted to help him, I’d have to show myself. Even trying to gain his attention might result in my capture. But if Duncan could pick locks with a broken chisel and a hairpin, I was willing to wager Kavenlow could do the same with two bits of fire-hardened needles. I had one that was empty already from taking the cellblock. And I didn’t think dosing him with the venom from the second would endanger him since he couldn’t have had any contact with venom for days. It might even help him escape.

It felt decidedly wicked to take aim at my instructor. He jumped when the first dart struck his thigh, pulling him into an alert readiness. I put the second right next to it, and he returned to his slumped position. I waited to be sure he wasn’t going to pass out. The guards continued to talk among themselves, wondering if they should send someone for more lamps. Kavenlow shifted his hand and plucked the darts. They disappeared under the concealment of his palm. I smiled as his hands edged to the lock on his shackles. I only had one bone and one metal dart left, but having Kavenlow free was worth a hundred darts to me.

“Good luck, Kavenlow,” I breathed as I left, knowing he wouldn’t risk looking at me.

Full of a new and probably unwarranted confidence, I backtracked into the kitchen. “This way,” I said, and Thadd lurched into motion. I appreciated him not asking anything. He looked frightened for such a powerful young man.

I was torn between skulking from spot to spot or trusting my thin disguise and boldly making my way in the open. We did a little of both as we rose two floors, seen from a distance but unchallenged. Some of the hallways were entirely unlit, and I frowned, thinking that if Garrett couldn’t even run a palace, how did he intend to run a kingdom?

“No,” Thadd said, drawing me to a stop at the base of the stairs on the third floor. “I saw her from the garden. She is on this floor.”

I pulled on his sleeve at the shuffle of approaching boots. “Come on!” I pleaded, my efforts having as much effect as pushing on a tree. “My old nursery is up a level. We can rope down from there,” I explained, and he let me pull him up. My pulse hammered as we reached the shadows of the next landing. We had made it just in time.

“You there!” a masculine voice below us called. “Have you been up to the tower yet?”

I looked at Thadd, panicking. “Answer him,” I whispered, my heart in my throat.

“Uh, no,” Thadd said, pitching his voice deeper than usual. “We’re going to recheck the fourth floor.

Uh…” He hesitated. “See any sign of her?”

“Naw,” the man said, putting a foot on the first step. “She ain’t here. I was supposed to be on leave, and I’m spending it searching for a damned wench I can’t even take a tumble with.” He took a noisy breath through his nose and spat on the floor.

Thadd moved a step farther into the dark. “Hard luck.”

I eyed the two guards and drew back into the shadows, trying to hide my pack. Their light made it difficult for them to see us. My sword felt heavy, and my knife was cold at the small of my back. I fingered my whip. It had a distinctive noise, and I didn’t want to use it.

The first sentry stared up at us, his stance sullen. “Captain Jeck has gone mad. Have you heard he’s got six men guarding that chancellor? Why not make
them
search the palace? That old man is so meek, you could tell him to stay put and he would.” The surly guard snatched the light from the first sentry and stalked away. “Come on, Wilk. The sooner we finish, the sooner we eat, though it won’t be much, seeing as everyone is searching for a
fool woman
!”

The last was an angry shout, and I swallowed hard as it echoed. The other guard gave us a wave and cheerfully followed his dour companion. He was persuasively telling him that the captain knew what he was doing, and if the chancellor was under heavy guard in the middle of an empty room, there was a reason for it. Thadd and I let out our held breath simultaneously.

Thadd’s hands were trembling as he shifted his grip on his mallet. I took his arm as if seeking protection, and he straightened. “Thank you, Thadd,” I said. “I think you just saved my life.” He said nothing, but his breath shook as he exhaled.

We continued. A wry smile crossed my face when we found the door to my old nursery and I ran my fingers over a nick in the doorframe. I had chipped out the sliver of wood when I was nine, hitting it with a sword while playing dragon and slayer. No one had ever mentioned the missing wedge of wood. I don’t think the guard I had nearly decapitated told anyone either.

“Here?” Thadd whispered. He glanced at the end of the hallway where two guards stood in a pool of torchlight. They were talking among themselves, eying us.

“Yes, this is it. Wave at them before we go in,” I said, and Thadd did.

I pushed open the nursery door, breathing in the familiar scent of old stuffing along with the smothering darkness. My mother had almost turned the chamber into a sewing room. Afraid I’d lose my second, questionable door, I had protested it should stay the same for my children. She had dabbed at her eyes and pronounced it would remain unchanged. Heartache took me, and I pushed it away.

Children I would never have. Children she would never see.

Working in shadow, Thadd barred the door with his sword. Looking about, he shoved the heavy dress-up wardrobe in front of it. It wasn’t much, but I felt better. He strode to the largest window and opened the shutters. A chill wind shifted my hair. The moon would be up soon. “We can get to her from here?” he asked, leaning out.

“Yes.” I set my pack on the too-short table and pulled out the knotted rope. Striding to the westernmost window, I opened the shutters and looked over. Down and to the left, the window of my sitting room beckoned with a bright square of light.

“Good,” I whispered. Tight with tension, I went to the wooden hatch in the wall that opened to a hollow chimney leading to the servants’ kitchen. There was a box and pulley that I had once rode up and down in before Kavenlow found out and had it removed. I tucked the end of the rope behind the iron hook that latched it closed, drawing it through until one of the knots I had tied caught. I gave it a tug, and it bumped through. A frown crossed me. I hoped the knots wouldn’t be a problem. Usually I shimmied down a double length of rope, then pulled the one end back through once I reached my room. The knots might make that difficult. Giving Thadd a worried look, I drew the rest through, knotting the ends together before I lowered it over the sill.

Thadd looked uncertain. “It will hold?” he said, and I nodded, giving it a tug. Unconvinced, he set his mallet down and took a long pull on the twin lengths as if he were trying to draw a net from the water.

A rattle at the door pulled our heads up. Thadd’s hand went to his mallet. We stared at each other, afraid to speak. “Hey,” someone called faintly. “You need help in there?”

“You go first,” Thadd whispered, then louder, “The door is stuck!”

I bobbed my head and scrambled onto the sill. My sword smacked into my leg, and seeing as his was barring the door, I gave it to him. Excitement thrilled through me as I swung my legs over. There were lights at the rose patio and the mews. My breath caught when I thought I saw Jeck’s silhouette by a bonfire where the gardener’s shed once was. I started down, faster than usual because of the knots and Duncan’s trousers.

“Hurry, Tess,” Thadd called in a whisper as he leaned out the window. “I don’t think they believe me that the door is stuck.”

Swallowing, I turned back to the cold stone and shimmied down to the sill of my sitting room. No one was there. Not even a guard. Reassuring myself, I swung my leg over and dropped to the floor. Breath held, I listened. Nothing.

I sat up as the rope slipped from the sill and back into the night to hang from the nursery window. I peered out to find Thadd already on his way. At least the guards hadn’t gained the nursery yet. A feminine sniff from my bedchamber brought my head up.

“Contessa?” I whispered, shocked when instead of her, an old guard bolted out of my bedchamber with his sword drawn. We stared at each other for a heartbeat.

I reached for my dart tube. He took a breath to call out. I darted his neck, hitting him perfectly.

Backing to the window, I fitted Kavenlow’s last metal dart into the tube. I had nothing left. He would call for help before the venom took effect. I had failed.

There was a dull thunk, and he groaned. Eyes rolling to the back of his head, the man started to topple. Behind him with a fireplace shovel raised high over her shoulder was Contessa, white-faced and frightened.

I lunged forward to catch him. Any noise would bring more men in from the hallway. He was heavy, and I only managed to slow his fall. We went down together. My breath whooshed out as he pinned me to the floor, and I frantically tried to push him off. My dart tube rolled from my grasp, lost in the folds of the rug.

“Tess!” the princess whispered, setting the shovel down and pulling on the guard. “Are you all light?

What are you doing here? Garrett wants to kill you! He’s absolutely insane!”

“Is this the only one?” I gasped, struggling to get out from under him and sit up.

“The only one in here.” Her eyes were wide, and a flush was on her cheeks. “There are three others outside the door,” she said breathlessly. “Bird feathers! You’re dressed like a man!” Her hand went to her hair, an unspoken question in her eyes about the new color of mine.

She gasped as her attention was drawn to the window and her face was lit by the sudden love in her eyes. Elation, hope, and desire all swirled together, making her look like her statue in the garden come to life. I knew without turning Thadd was at the window. Pain struck deep within me. I couldn’t love anyone. They would only be used against me.

“Thadd!” she exclaimed in a hushed voice, rushing to him with a little sob. I was left to wiggle out from under the guard alone. I didn’t watch, telling myself it was so they could have a moment of privacy but knowing it was because it would hurt too much.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” Thadd said, his voice muffled. “Did he touch you? Are you all right?”

Trying to ignore her tear-strewn whispers, I crawled to the ends of the rope and struggled to get the knot out. I had to pull the rope through before the guards gained the nursery and followed it down.

Seeing what I was doing, Thadd put his hands upon Contessa’s shoulders, firmly sitting her down upon my couch. As tears silently slid across her cheeks, he took his knife and sawed through the rope. It gave way with a snap. I backed up as Thadd pulled upon one end. It hesitated, then surged free. It caught again, and his muscles bunched.

“The rope!” came a faint call. “Get the rope!”

Frantic, I reached to help, but Thadd pulled as if heaven was on the other end, almost falling when the rope jerked free. It writhed past the window to hang to the ground.

From the nursery, the guards redoubled their noise. It wouldn’t be long until they figured out what room we had entered and would be down here.

Heart pounding, I leapt to my door and carefully set the lock. It eased into place with a well-greased silence. Jeck would have the key, but we had a few moments more.

“Out the window, Contessa,” Thadd said, and tied the remaining end of the rope to the leg of the couch. His eyes were wide and his thick hands shook. “Just a short ways down.”

“Tess first,” she demanded.

“Go to the cellblock,” I told Thadd, ignoring her. “You’ll be safe there.”

Thadd scooped her up and set her on the sill. Giving him a dark look, the princess pushed him away, moving his compact bulk with a single finger. “You’re coming, too,” she said tersely to me.

I glanced at the door. Jeck was going to burst in at any moment. I knew it. “I said I was going to kill Garrett, and I will,” I said, handing her my knife. She needed something, and I had my dart—somewhere. “Take this, and get out.”

Her jaw stiffened as she refused it. “You’re not going to kill that man, not even for our parents. It will start a war, and you know it. You’re going to come with us until we can free the outer garrisons and retake the palace.”

“If I had wanted to involve our army, I would have freed them ten days ago,” I said sharply. “I can take back the palace with only one man’s death. Get out.”

“Please, Contessa,” Thadd pleaded, his large hands opening and closing helplessly. “It was so hard to get to you. Please don’t ruin everything with your stubbornness.”

Her eyes flashed, and red spots appeared on her cheeks. “I’m ordering you as your sovereign,” she said. “You will not try to retake the palace. You will escape with us.”

I glared at her.
Who was she to tell me what to do
? Behind her, Thadd fidgeted. “Just say you will,”

he mouthed, his expression pleading.

Frustration fought with pride, and I drew my anger in. “I’ll follow you,” I said, and Thadd visibly relaxed.
When I’m good and ready
, I added silently.

She frowned warily at me, weighing the validity of my words against my defiant look. The expression would have looked cross on me. On her, it looked charming.

A soft conversation in the hall drew our attention. I recognized Garrett’s voice, and my stomach clenched.