“Unless the riot is at the townhouse,” Emily pointed out. The sound seemed to be growing louder. She could hear people slamming shutters in the distance…it wouldn’t be long before young men started pouring onto the streets, looking for a chance to join the rioters or crack some skulls or simply start looting. “Where is it?”
Jade peered forward. A faint glow could be seen in the distance. “The docks,” he said. “Maybe…maybe our inn.”
Emily glanced at him. “Someone tried to break in?”
“I don’t think so,” Cat said. “The wards should have flashed a warning if someone tried to open the door without permission.”
“Either way, there’s nothing we can do about it now,” Jade said, practically. The sound of running footsteps echoed towards them. “We’d better hurry back to the townhouse before it’s too late.”
Emily nodded, glancing around her as they picked up speed. The streets were dark and cold, but she could sense eyes peeping from behind curtains. This part of the city was solidly middle-class, insofar as the term meant anything in Zangaria; the inhabitants were skilled craftsmen and artisans, men–and even a handful of women–who had something to lose if the city dissolved into chaos. They might not be as powerful as the nobility or as wealthy as the merchants, but they had enough status that they didn’t want to risk losing it. Randor might find a lot of support in them if he thought to ask.
She caught sight of a man pinning a poster on the wall, working with frantic speed as the sounds of fighting grew louder. The Levellers kept putting up posters and the soldiers kept tearing them down, often before anyone had a chance to take a look at them. Emily would have considered it a waste of good paper if she hadn’t known that the real propaganda was spread by pamphlets. People caught with them could expect a beating, at the very least, but they had to look before tossing them in the fire.
“This way,” Jade hissed. “Hurry!”
They turned the corner and froze. A fight was going on at the bottom of the street. Emily couldn’t tell who was winning–or even who was fighting–but it looked nightmarish. The rioters were screaming and shouting, chanting angry slogans as they overwhelmed the soldiers and beat them to death with their bare hands. Others were kicking down doors and screaming for the inhabitants to join them or else. Emily shuddered, helplessly, as the chanting grew louder. Mob rule had come to the streets.
“Shit,” Jade said, glancing behind them. “We need to move!”
Emily looked–and froze in horror. A line of soldiers was approaching, carrying bladed weapons. They shone in the moonlight as the soldiers advanced, shouting royalist slogans to encourage their comrades to keep going. She snapped out of it a second later as Jade yanked her forward, into an alleyway. A handful of homeless men shouted curses at them as they fled down the darkened street, crashing into bins and makeshift shelters in their desperation to escape. Behind her, she heard men starting to scream.
“The soldiers will be in trouble if the mob charges them,” Cat said. He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself of it. “They’ll lose their weapons and everything else.”
“And a lot of rioters will lose their lives,” Jade said, as they reached the townhouse and hurried up the stairs. “What happened?”
They were too keyed up to sleep, even once they’d checked the wards were still in place, so they sat in the living room and drank Kava while Emily told them everything she’d heard from Alicia. Jade was darkly amused at Alicia’s fear of Alassa and her father, although he admitted that Alicia had good reason to fear. Randor saw her as a pet, but Alassa saw her as a rival. Alicia needed to do something spectacular to convince Alassa to let bygones be bygones.
“If not, she can just go into exile,” Cat said. “It won’t do her any real harm.”
“Unless she wants to keep the barony,” Jade pointed out. “There’s no way she can keep it if she goes into permanent exile.”
He met Emily’s eyes. “Do you think she’ll contact us?”
“I don’t know,” Emily admitted. “She’s got good reason to want to get out from under Randor’s thumb, but moving to Alassa’s camp might be a case of jumping out of the boiling potion and straight into the fire.”
She met Jade’s eyes, willing him to understand. He wouldn’t be happy making decisions for his wife–and Alassa would be furious if she caught him doing anything of the sort–but he might have no choice. Alassa had to understand that she needed to give Alicia a break, as long as she behaved herself. Or…Emily would have to take Alicia somewhere a long way away.
And she wouldn’t want to live in Dragon’s Den or Heart’s Eye, Emily thought. She found it hard to imagine Alicia settling down in a little apartment and getting a regular job. What sort of work could she do? Would she expect me to support her for the rest of her life?
She contemplated the possibilities for a long moment. Alicia had courtly training…and not much else. Her parents had neglected her education, perhaps assuming that she’d be married off to someone who might find an educated wife an irritation. It would have been short-sighted of them–the Great Ladies often ran the estates while their husbands were away on business or fighting wars–but all too typical. Alicia simply didn’t have the education to make a role for herself.
Jade cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. “I’m going to bed,” he said. “Try not to stay up too late.”
Emily stood and walked to the window, silently glad that the wards would hide her face when she peered out. The sound of fighting seemed to be fading away, but…she shuddered, knowing what it meant. A mob might prevail against a company of soldiers carrying bladed weapons, yet…she dreaded to think how many of them would be killed or injured before they brought their enemies down. Randor wasn’t likely to send the wounded to the chirurgeons, let alone the healers, once he regained control of the streets. He’d be more likely to leave the wounded to beg for alms, if they weren’t simply strung up from the nearest lamppost. The bodies would be cremated and the ashes dumped in the river.
Cat stepped up behind her, his lips brushing the back of her neck. “Do you want to go to bed too?”
Emily had to smile. “Why not?”
They were woken, the following morning, by Jade banging on the door. “Are you decent in there?”
Emily looked at Cat, who was naked, then down at herself. “No,” she said, trying to ignore Cat’s snickering. “We’ll be out in a moment.”
She muttered a spell to cleanse herself, then pulled her robe over her shoulders. Cat stood and dressed himself just as quickly, one hand dropping to his sword. Emily blinked in surprise, then nodded slowly. The wards were still intact, as far as she could tell, yet a sufficiently well-trained wardcrafter could probably break into the townhouse without setting off any alarms. Jade was probably fine–she was sure he was fine–but they had to be careful. A small mistake could get them all killed.
Jade was standing by the door as they entered the living room, his face expressionless. Mouse stood in front of a chair, looking as if she’d been ordered to sit, but she wasn’t sure about actually sitting in the presence of her betters. Emily winced, feeling a flicker of sympathy for the younger girl. Mouse could get in trouble for disobeying orders–she probably had been told to sit–but she could also get in trouble for doing anything that even hinted at disrespect.
Like sitting down in front of us, Emily thought. It wasn’t a pleasant observation. She understood the value of etiquette, but too much of royal and aristocratic etiquette was about marking out a pecking order and keeping people in their place. Poor Mouse doesn’t know what to do.
“Please, sit,” Jade said. “Mouse?”
“There was a riot last night,” Mouse said. “It was pretty bad.”
Emily nodded as she sat down, motioning for Cat to sit next to her. Mouse hesitated, then took one of the smaller chairs and sat gingerly. Jade rolled his eyes, behind her, as he leaned against the wall. Emily had the feeling that he didn’t have much patience for Mouse–or anyone–so early in the morning. He probably hadn’t even had a chance to get a drink.