Ari glanced around. Young men around her age moved in pairs from shop to shop on the street they’d just left behind. They were dressed in a ragtag assortment of patched clothing, and there was a hardness to their expressions that sent a whisper of unease down Ari’s spine. The buzz of customers moving with purpose from one item on their list to the next had fallen silent, though there were still plenty of people on their current street.
“Your Highness!” A man rushed from his spice shop to bow deeply as the girls came abreast of his doorway.
“Edwin, how nice to see you.” Ari beamed at the merchant.
His gaze darted along the street before returning to her. “What are you doing in the market today? Where is Mama Eleni?”
“It’s just us, but we—”
“Come in! No lingering in the streets today.” Edwin all but pulled the girls into the shop. The guards took up their post outside the entrance as Edwin flipped the wooden sign that hung above his display window to Closed and faced the princess.
“What’s wrong?” Ari asked as Cleo made a show of rubbing her wrist as if Edwin’s grasp had hurt her.
“Forgive me, Your Highness.” He glanced at the street again. “But it’s Thursday.”
“That’s what generally happens after you have a Wednesday,” Cleo muttered.
“We’ll only be a minute,” Ari said, despite the chill that was spreading over her skin at the strange way Edwin was acting. She’d gotten away with lying to Mama Eleni and sneaking out to the market once. Princess or not, the chances of that happening again any time in the next decade were slim to none. And she needed the bloodflower poison. She especially needed it without having to explain why to Cleo’s mother, who would undoubtedly try to take on Teague herself for daring to upset her king and her princess.
The inside of the spice shop was cozy and warm. The dark red floor and pale yellow walls glowed in the light of small candelabras spaced throughout, and racks of jars were filled with colorful ground spices and herbs.
“We should do this quickly. What would you like, Your Highness?” Edwin asked, his tone urgent.
Ari frowned. “Why is everyone in such a rush today?”
Edwin shook his head sharply. “Now is not the time to discuss it. Please, Your Highness, tell me what you need.”
Ari met his gaze. “Bloodflower poison.”
He frowned. “If you have rats in your stable, may I suggest monkshood or elderberry?”
“We don’t have rats.”
“But then why . . . whatever animal you need poisoned can be killed with monkshood or—”
“I need bloodflower.” She looked him in the eye. “Nothing else will do.”
He glanced at the window behind her and then motioned sharply for her to come farther into the shop. Cleo and Ari followed as Edwin led them to a small, dusty cabinet in the back. Fishing a key out of his pocket, he fit it into the lock with hands that shook.
“What’s wrong?” Ari asked quietly as the cabinet door swung open with a creak.
“We aren’t supposed to carry bloodflower,” Edwin whispered as he reached into the cabin and pulled out a small red jar sealed with wax. “If anyone finds out I gave this to you . . . Please don’t tell anyone, Your Highness.”
Ari took the jar and slid it into the little satchel hanging from her wrist before pressing a generous amount of coin into Edwin’s hands. “I don’t know who told you that, but bloodflower isn’t against the law. You won’t get in any trouble.”
His smile was a wretched parody of itself. “It isn’t the law I’m worried about.”
The handle on the shop’s front door rattled, and a man called out, “Time to pay your fee, Edwin. Open up.”
“What fee?” Ari looked from the door to Edwin’s stricken face.
The merchant sprang into action. Wrapping a hand around each girl’s arm, he pulled them toward the back exit.
“Your Highness, it isn’t safe on the streets today. You must take your guards and get back to the dock quickly.” He reached for the door. “And, please, don’t tell anyone you were here.”
A dull thud hit the back door, and it flew open with a bang. Edwin stumbled backward, dragging the girls with him, as two of the young men Ari had noticed earlier strode into the shop.
“Why don’t you want anyone to know these pretty little coin purses were here, Edwin?” the taller one asked, his dark eyes boring into the shopkeeper’s face.
The shorter one grinned at Ari, putting what was left of his yellowed teeth on full display. “Looks like nobility to me. Bet someone would pay handsomely to rescue you from where you’re going.”
“No!” Edwin lunged forward as the man reached for Ari, and suddenly there was a wicked-looking knife in the tall one’s hands.
“Step outside, ladies, or I’ll gut Edwin where he stands.” His voice was hard.
The fear that had been slithering over Ari’s skin became a wild rush of panic that shook her knees and turned her fingers cold.
“Please.” Edwin raised his hands in supplication. “Just take my weekly fee. I have it ready for you. Take it and go. These girls mean nothing to you.”
The shorter one sidled up to Cleo and ran his hand up her arm. She flinched and pulled away. Faster than a blink, he whipped his hand into the air and slapped her.
Anger blazed through Ari’s fear, leaving her with nothing but a terrible need to hurt the one who’d laid his hands on her friend. Without a second thought, she balled up her fist and plowed it straight into the middle of his face.
Blood spurted from his nose, and he reached for her, but she’d already grabbed Cleo’s hand and started moving. Together they ran out of the shop and straight into the chest of a thick barrel of a man with graying black hair and close-set eyes.
He grunted and shoved them back into the hands of the two men who’d exited the shop on their heels. “They look like someone would pay their ransom. Teague will be pleased with this catch. Tie them up, put them in the wagon, and then finish collecting the protection fees. We don’t have all day, boys.”
“Teague?” The name left the bitter residue of fear on Ari’s tongue as the young man who held her dragged her away from the spice shop.
“You’re in it now, miss.” The shorter one spat blood on the ground and dug his nails into her arms.
No, she wasn’t. She was the princess and somewhere at the front of the shop, she had a pair of trained guards waiting for her. She just had to make them hear her.
Dragging in a deep breath, she screamed, “Guards!”
Cleo joined her efforts, but the men laughed. The shorter one leaned close enough that Ari choked on the fetid stench of his breath and said, “Haven’t you heard? The city guard has to stand down where Teague’s business is concerned. King’s orders. No one is coming to rescue you, miss.”
She hadn’t been screaming for the city guard, but it didn’t matter. Her guards were too far away to hear her. She’d been a fool to make them stand outside the shop so that they wouldn’t overhear her conversation.
Ari met Cleo’s wild gaze and tried to come up with a plan, but panic clawed at her.
No one was coming to save them.
They were on their own.
EIGHT