The man insisted that nobody sent him and that he wasn’t a spy. Cal helped him to his feet, apologized for the misunderstanding, then shoved him into the back of a narrow carriage that pulled up in the alley way. The man screamed once briefly then fell silent as the carriage rumbled away, the wheels rattling along the cobblestones.
Cal tilted his head up as if he were listening, his gaze searching the area around where I was. I flattened myself against the rooftop. When I looked up again, he had gone. I thought maybe he would come and find me but from the sounds of the fiddle music playing inside maybe he found more interesting things to do with Honor.
Later that night though, as I followed them back to the Academy I caught a glimpse of a shudder in the shadows. Something was moving through the shadows behind them. It had to be a panther or a tiger shifter, using their shadow magic. True cats are only so stealthy.
And given the way the shadow was stalking Honor, I had to wonder if it was one of Pend Deragon’s assassins, as Jaik had worried would come for Honor. I wasn’t above killing the shifter first and letting his ultimate destiny be sorted out by his creator, but I followed long enough to realize that he was indeed following her, and then I caught a glimpse of his face.
It was one of Pend’s assassins. I had seen him come home from a job once to Pend Deragon’s drawing room, and while Jaik and Cal and I were playing a dice game he had dropped a head on to the table right into the middle of our game. Pend had scolded him for making a mess but not very hard. He had been disappointed by the way Jaik had scrambled back from the sudden bloodied head that had dropped into the center of our play.
I wasn’t going to let him get his blood crusted nails on Honor’s body. I stalked after him, feeling irritated that Cal didn’t seem to have noticed the attacker trailing them. Maybe Jaik was right and no one else could be trusted to protect Honor.
I moved along the rooftops. The assassin really should have been on the highest alert given what he did for a living, but he was so intent on Honor and Cal that he didn’t even seem to notice. I moved ahead of Honor and Cal, then suddenly dropped down on him from a rooftop
We had a brief fight. He’d always preferred to use explosives or traps, then tie up his victims; he didn’t fight hand-to-hand if he could help it, and it showed.
I slashed his throat open. His eyes widened and he made a gurgling sound, blood spraying across us both, as I dragged him toward the nearest trash bin.
He had been trying to get ahead of Honor and Cal, so they’d reach me soon. I quickly shoved the body into the bin. I was leaning against the wall trying to look casual when they turned the corner.
“Arren, what a surprise to see you.” Caldren did not sound surprised at all.
“Pleasant surprise?”
“I suppose. It gives me less work to do.”
Oh so he had known about the assassin following them. I wondered why he hadn’t told Honor. Given how much she liked to fight, even though she was just a maid, I would have wanted to tackle the assassin together. There was my idea of romance. A girl who could hold her own against an enemy.
I still had blood on my hands from protecting her when she looked at me quizzically. “Did Jaik send you?”
“No, luckily for you. You know how well he’ll take this.”
“I don’t like the idea of my life being dominated by what Jaik does and does not like.” Her voice came out sharp. “I understand that he wants to protect me and I’m willing to take reasonable precautions to stay safe. I don’t have any intention of dying during my young and pretty years. But he is going to have to work with me.”
“Well I don’t like the idea of my life being dominated by what Jaik does and does not like either, but he is the heir apparent,” I growled. “So we’ve got to work with what we’ve got.”
Cal looked surprised by what I had just said. None of us ever really betrayed any hint of disagreeing with Jaik. We seemed more powerful because we always seemed like a united front, and that required just one leader. I made my peace with that a long time ago. Cal should know that because once I had followed him the same way I now followed Jaik.
“I should have said that Jaik doesn’t know yet,” I amended. “because you know I’m not going to keep a secret from him. I’m not going to lie by omission to my best friend.”
“So do you follow him because he’s the heir apparent or because he’s your best friend? Because I would think if I were Jaik that that answer would matter very much to me.” Honor glanced back and forth between the two of us.
I scoffed. I wasn’t answering her ridiculous question. “Honor, I’m taking you home.”
“Despite the brutish delivery, I think that might be for the best.” Honor sounded so light-hearted and amused, which was really grating when I was doused in blood from killing for her. “Thank you for a lovely evening, Caldren.”
“Thank you, I enjoyed our time together.”
Even though they were saying all the right things, both of them seemed uncomfortable. I had a feeling something had gone awry during their special evening. Something that didn’t have anything to do with the walking dead man that I had seen Cal thrust into a carriage. Knowing how used he was to death and destruction, I had a feeling that if his romance with Honor had gone off the rails in some way tonight, that would be far more upsetting to him than having almost murdered a man before sending him off to be tortured by their rebellion.
Part of me was tempted to revel in the discomfort they were both experiencing at the moment. They deserved it. But I decided to be merciful. Also, I really wanted to get back to the comfort of my own room.
When I watched Honor from a distance, I longed to be with her. As soon as I had her within ten feet, I wanted to get the fuck away from her. My voice came out surly when I demanded, “Let’s go.”
“Caldren, please think about what I said.” Honor caught his forearms, looking as if she were going to bob onto her toes and kiss him. “About trying to fix things.”
I rumbled a warning that neither of them listened to. I was background as much as the cobblestones or the trash bin, which still had an arm poking out of it.
“Of course I’m going to think about it,” Caldren promised. “Who do you think I am? I’m always going to listen to you and try to give you what you want, Honor.”
Yep, those two had definitely been fighting.
Honor and Cal shared an awkward hug. Then she walked home with me.
I racked my brain for something comforting to say. Nothing emerged. Usually when my friends were sad, I just made fun of them.
“So is there anything that you want to talk about?” I finally managed to ask flatly.
She glanced at me in surprise.
“Oh definitely,” she replied with sudden, fake enthusiasm. “I love to talk about fashion, and how women’s clothing is designed to be highly impractical. I also like to talk about hairstyles in a much less conflicted way. I really love the current braided hairstyle’s popularity. And music! We could talk about music.”
“You could just say that you didn’t want to talk to me.”