Alucard chuckled. “You hardly have a right to sound affronted.”
Lila shook her head, silently grateful she hadn’t decided to march into the palace and surprise Kell. Truth be told, she still hadn’t decided when she would see him. If she would see him. But when—and if—she did, she certainly didn’t want Alucard there spying on them. Kell was somebody here, a royal, a saint, even if she could only think of him as the silly smuggler who frowned too much and nearly got them both killed.
“What are you grinning about?”
“Nothing,” said Lila, leveling her expression. “So … Luc, huh?”
“It’s a nickname. Surely they have those, wherever you’re from. And for the record, I prefer Alucard. Or Captain Emery.”
“Does the crew know?”
“Know what?”
“That you’re …” She gestured to the estate, searching for the word.
“It’s hardly a secret, Bard. Most Arnesians have heard of the House of Emery.”
He gave her a look that said, Odd, isn’t it, that you haven’t.
“Haven’t you heard them calling me vestra?”
Lila had. “I just assumed it was a slur. Like pilse.”
Alucard laughed soundlessly. “Maybe it is, to them. It means royal.”
“Like a prince?”
He gave a humorless laugh. “What a disappointment I must be to you. I know you wanted a pirate. You should have conned your way aboard a different ship. But don’t worry. There are many doors between my person and the throne. And I have no desire to see them opened.”
Lila chewed her lip. “But if everyone knows, then why sneak about like a thief?”
His gaze drifted back to the garden wall. “Because there are other people in this city, Bard. Some I don’t care to see. And some I’d rather not see me.”
“What’s this?” she teased. “The great Alucard Emery has enemies?”
“Comes with the trade, I fear.”
“It’s hard to imagine you meeting someone you couldn’t charm.”
His eyes narrowed. “You say that like it’s not a compliment.”
“Perhaps it’s not.”
An uncomfortable silence began to settle.
“Nice house,” said Lila.
It was the wrong thing to have said. His expression hardened. “I hope you’ll forgive me for not inviting you in and introducing you to my esteemed family. It might be tricky to explain the sudden presence of a girl in a man’s suit with the ability to speak the royal tongue but not the grace to use the front door.”
Lila bit back a reply. She felt dismissed, but as she stepped up onto the balcony’s edge, Alucard said, “Wait,” and there was something in his voice that she barely recognized, because she’d never heard it from him before. Sincerity. She twisted back, and she saw him haloed by the light from the room behind, framed by the doorway. He was little more than a silhouette, a simplified portrait of a nobleman.
A picture of what someone should be, not what they were.
Then Alucard stepped forward, away from the light and into the shadows with her. This version of him looked real. Looked right. And Lila understood—when he said Wait, what he meant was, Wait for me.
“I suppose we should both be getting back,” he added, aiming for indifference but falling short.
“Shouldn’t you say good-bye?”
“I’ve never been a fan of farewells. Or hellos, for that matter. Unnecessary punctuation. Besides, they’ll see me again.”
Lila looked back at the house. “Won’t Anisa be upset?”
“Oh, I imagine so. I’m afraid I’m accustomed to her disappointment.”
“But what about—”
“No more questions, Lila,” he said. “I’m tired.”
The last protests cooled to ash on her tongue as Alucard stepped up onto the banister beside her, and then, in a single, effortless stride, onto the low wall.
It was narrow, but he moved with sure-footed ease atop it. He didn’t even look down to check his steps.
“I grew up here,” he said, reading her surprise. “If there’s a way in or out, I’ve tried it.”
They slipped along the garden wall and down into the courtyard, hugging the shadows until they were safely beyond the gate.
Alucard set off down the street without looking back, but Lila cast a glance at the grand estate.
The truth was, Lila understood why Alucard did it. Why he traded safety and boredom for adventure. She didn’t know what it felt like to be safe, and she’d never had the luxury of being bored, but it was like she’d once told Kell. People either stole to stay alive or to feel alive. She had to imagine that they ran away for the same reasons.
Lila jogged to catch up, and fell in step beside the captain, the street quiet save for the sounds of their boots. She cheated a sideways glance, but Alucard’s gaze was straight ahead, and far away.