When every last piece of our meat had been devoured, we moved aimlessly among the seemingly endless stalls. How many countless hours of my childhood had I spent here? I picked out several familiar faces among the stallholders, but no one appeared to recognize me. And I did not expect them to. They no doubt saw an elegant noble girl whose clothes rivaled those worn by the royalty beside her. Who would connect me with the orphan girl, half street urchin, who had once dashed between the stalls without even shoes?
I flushed and glanced at my companions. Would they see me differently if they knew? The well-off citizens of Largo had always thought it mattered, and being here brought it all rushing back. But I reminded myself of the desert. I had wronged them by believing the royals were the same. And no matter how hard it went against my instincts, I wanted to continue to choose to trust them.
I plastered a smile on my face and reminded myself I wasn’t the same girl who had started on this Tour. I had outgrown her. Yet the past still weighed heavy on my mind as my eyes wandered from stall to stall.
For that reason, I didn’t at first believe my eyes when I spotted a familiar face that stood out from the others. A familiar face that didn’t belong here in Largo. I almost stumbled to a halt, gripping the arm of whoever walked nearest me, which turned out to be Frederic.
“Frederic,” I breathed, the word so faint he probably couldn’t hear me above the normal hubbub of the market. I forced air into my lungs to make the next word louder. “Marcus.”
Frederic, who had instantly stopped at my grip, followed my gaze. “Cassian, over here.”
The other two turned and hurried back to us. I still hadn’t moved, my eyes locked across a vast distance of marketplace with my old nemesis. He had clearly seen us as well.
“Guards!” called Frederic, and the small contingent that had been trailing behind us trotted to catch up the few steps that separated us. He pointed at one of them. “You, stay to guard the girls. The rest of you, with us.”
He didn’t stop to give Celine a chance to complain but took off running through the market, shoving people aside as necessary, his brother at his side and the rest of the guards on his heels. Marcus, his eyes finally breaking from mine, turned and fled.
“Typical,” said Celine. “No one ever wants to include me in the action.” But she made no attempt to follow them, for which I was more than grateful. I would have felt honor bound to follow and attempt to stop her, and I had no desire to get closer to Marcus.
“I think I should escort you back to the governor’s mansion,” said the remaining guard, looking around the crowded market uneasily.
Apparently this was a line too far for Celine, however, who instantly entered into an argument with him. I tuned her out and looked around, wondering what the market would make of the disturbance. But already people were moving again, talking as if nothing had happened. The crowd jostled me on several sides, and I decided to lend my hearty support to the guard.
But when I turned to do so, I found myself alone. My breaths came hard and fast as I looked around for Celine’s familiar face. Where could she have gone? She had been here just a moment ago. I told myself how easy it was to get separated in a crush such as this, but I couldn’t rein in the fear that she had been abducted from under my nose.
But my heartbeat finally calmed when I got a distant glimpse of her. The grim-looking guard was hauling her forcibly back toward the mansion. She had either angered him enough that he decided to take the risk of manhandling a princess, or he had decided that any penalty he received would be far lighter than the one he might get for failing in his duty to keep her safe.
I hurried after them.
But as I took a shortcut between two stalls, skirting the edges of the public garden that bordered the marketplace, strong arms lifted me from my feet. I screamed and thrashed, but the man quickly clamped a hand over my mouth. The sound of my struggles was easily lost in the noise around us. I kicked backward but couldn’t gain enough leverage to do any real damage.
And then the prick of a blade dug into my ribs. I instantly stilled.
“That’s right, be a good girl, now,” said a voice from my nightmares. True fear flooded me. Somehow he had eluded them and circled around. I was all alone, at his mercy, and no one knew it.
Chapter 25
Marcus dragged me backward away from the marketplace and the garden and into a deserted alleyway. He spun me around to face him.
“I was hoping we would meet again,” he said.
I spat at him.
“Uh uh uh, none of that now.” He grinned a lazy grin that sent ice down my spine. “I knew you would all find your way here eventually, all I had to do was bide my time.”
He already gripped one arm, his dagger pricking into my other side, but he leaned forward as he said the words, bringing his face even closer to mine. “With the others it’s just business, but with you, my dear Evangeline, with you it’s personal. If it hadn’t been for my old-fashioned uncle, I would have taught you to mind your betters on Catalie. But I had to get rid of you instead. And then you returned, only to go and rescue my dear cousin, ruining everything in the process. I’m going to enjoy having my revenge on you, Evangeline.”
I turned my face away, leaning my head as far back as I could without moving my body. He merely laughed and drew back a fraction. The band around my chest eased, and I could breathe again.
I cast a subtle look around the alley, but no one else was in sight. My eyes caught on an untidy pile of old crates. Something tugged at my memory, but the blade pressing into my side made it hard to focus.
I looked back at Marcus who watched over my shoulder as if waiting for something or someone. Perhaps he had back up coming. The thought sent my mind frantically wheeling as I tried to conceive of some means of escape or rescue. I should never have left Lanare.
But I gave my head the slightest shake, as if to dislodge the idea. All my life, as I had moved from place to place, I had tried to put the past behind me. Whenever the memories resurfaced, I pushed them away. Only at night in my dreams were they able to roam free.
I had thought revisiting the scenes of my past life would cripple me, and yet this trip had only made me stronger. I had needed to remind myself of the parts of my journey that had been good, and to visit the sources of my fear now that I was no longer a frightened child. I had needed to give myself space to grieve. I had needed to face my past to conquer it.
Which meant it was time for me to stop running from myself; it was time for me to embrace my past.
The thought brought my eyes snapping back to the crates and the crumbling brick wall behind them. They were familiar. I knew this place from the days when I ran with the street urchins of Largo.
Confidence and certainty filled me as I looked back at Marcus’s distracted face. He was one part of my past I would have gladly left behind for good. But since he was apparently determined to seek me out, I would show him that I wasn’t a weak and passive victim. I didn’t know if I could defeat him, but I knew I had to fight.
As fast as I could, I whipped my hand up, smashing my flat palm into his nose. In the same moment, I stomped with all my strength onto one of his feet. He gasped and fell back a step, hopping and blinking hard. The moment the tip of the dagger left my skin, I ducked around him and ran for the back of the alley.
Reeling and surprised by the direction of my attempted escape, it took him several precious moments to pursue me. I spun around the crates, dropped to my knees and wriggled through the hole in the bottom corner of the brick wall. For a heart-stopping moment, I thought I wouldn’t fit, but with a tear of fabric I squeezed through into the street beyond.