The Silver Crown

30.

"Kade!" Cynthia screamed, but it was unnecessary. I had heard the other man coming for me and I ducked and then spun, my knife going cleanly across the chest of the first man. Blood splattered across my chest onto my face. He stumbled back and fell against the wall of the alley.

I turned to get back to the last attacker but my skirts—damned things—had gotten tangled around my legs. I fell hard, landing on my hip and my elbow. The man kneeled down, snatched the knife from one of my hands and pinned the other. He held his knife to my throat. He was shaking so much that my throat starting bleeding. I couldn't feel the pain.

He opened his mouth to say something but I would never know what because I swung my free hand up and hooked two of my fingers in his mouth, pulling on the side of his cheek. He bit down but I didn't let go. He leaned with my hand to stop the pain in his mouth, freeing my other hand. I flipped him over, grabbing at his knife until I had him pinned under me. I struck his temple, knocking him out and stood. My legs wobbled but I forced myself to keep my feet. There were people depending on me.

I collected my knives from the dirt and sheathed them along my body. I used the hem of my skirt, which was caked in dirt, to try to clean some of the blood off of my face. I think I just made it worse though. "We better go," I said, turning around. "We can report them to the provost on the way."

~

The guards we had left with the horses were gone by the time we returned to the fountain. I had expected that they would be. When we hadn't returned by nightfall they would have rushed back to Brinian who was probably frantically organizing searches. Messengers had probably already been dispatched to every guardhouse in the city and the lord provost had likely been alerted. Brinian would be careful not to spread the news too much though. He wouldn't want the wrong people hearing that three members of the royal family were missing.

I was bloody, Axius was still carrying the knocked out guard and Cynthia and Arabelle were walking with determined strides rather than the mice I had expected them to be. I had bought a cloak for Cynthia to wear. She had the hood pulled up over her bright blonde curls. I doubted that in the dark anyone would peg us as the people that everyone was looking for.

When Cynthia and Arabelle realized that there weren't any horses to take us back to the palace they looked like they were about to cry.

"Hey. I'll fix this," I said. "Stay right here with Axius."

I snuck off down the road a block or two, constantly looking behind me to make sure that they were fine. I had left them right by the fountain. Magic lights kept the whole square somewhat bright and there were plenty of people in the area. No one would attack them there.

I stole a horse from the house of a merchant. I noted his house's location so I could have someone bring his horse back the next day. I tied her up just outside the reach of the lights and went to retrieve my companions. The other guard had woken up, though I'm sure his head was pounding. At least he could walk on his own. When I showed them the mare, Cynthia's tired eyes lit up and she kissed me on the cheek.

Axius gave me a suspicious look to which I replied indignantly: "I'll bring her back tomorrow." His eyes crinkled into a smile.

I helped Cynthia get up on the horse. I hadn't stolen any tack so she had to ride bareback. I helped Arabelle up behind the younger girl. "Hold on to her mane," I instructed.

An hour later we made our up the road to the palace. I lead the horse with the girls on it and the two guards walked next to me. The guards at the gate recognized Axius and his companion. They opened the gate, shouting to someone inside, probably a messenger to retrieve the captain.

As we clattered into the courtyard, Brinian entered at a run from the other side. Marek and Daivon were a few steps behind him.

"Arabelle!" Daivon shouted coming to a stop by the side of the horse. She slid off of the mare and into his arms. "I'm glad you're alright." He looked at me. "I'm glad you're all back safe."

Cynthia too slipped off the horse and threw herself at Marek. "I just want to go to bed," The younger girl said.

"I'll walk you," Marek said. He glanced at me, a question in his eyes. I nodded that I was fine and he took Cynthia's hand. "Mother and father will want to see you first. They were worried. We all were." He led her out of the courtyard. Daivon and Arabelle followed.

I passed the lead of the horse off to a stable boy. "Put her in the stables for tonight. Tomorrow someone will have to take her back," I explained. The boy took the bay's lead and led her away. I was left standing in the courtyard.

Brinian stopped in front of me. "Are you injured?"

I glanced down at the blood on my clothes. "It's not mine."

"Good. The king and queen will want to see you."

I nodded and started for the stairs. My eyes fought to close as I drug my feet toward the stairs. I stopped when I heard Brinian's voice. "My office. Right now." He snapped. The rage in his voice was unmistakable.

I turned to watch Axius and the other guard salute and follow the captain to his ground floor office. Even though I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to take off this stupid bloody dress and go to sleep, I couldn't let the guards take the fall. This was my mistake. I turned and made my way slowly to Brinian's office.

When I opened the door, the captain fell silent. His previous yelling echoed down the corridor.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Go to bed."

I slipped inside and closed the door. Axius and the other guard, also fairly young, both stood to the side looking at their feet. They shuffled over to make room for me.

I met Brinian's furious green eyes. They softened when I pushed my tangled hair out of my eyes. "It's my fault." Brinian put on his skeptical face and I sighed. "I should have known better. The girls wanted to see the lower city and so I gave them a tour. It was my suggestion to leave two guards behind with the horses and it was my idea to go a different route back when a fight broke out."

"Kade."

I didn't stop. "I should have realized the sun was going down and gotten them out of there before it got dark. Don't blame the guards. They were just listening to me."

"Kade."

"What?" I said.

"Let me handle this." He said, leaning back against his desk.

"Promise not to blame them." I was tired but my voice was hard. I wouldn't let him punish these two guards for my mistakes.

"Kade." He sounded exasperated.

"Stop that!" I snapped. "What do you want?"

"Will you go to bed if I promise not to blame them?" Was he smiling? Why would he be smiling?

I thought about it. My tired brain couldn't figure out if this was a trick or not. "Yes," I finally agreed.

"I won't blame them then."

"Good." I nodded. "I guess I'll leave now." I turned around and opened the door. Glancing back into the room, I saw all three of them watching me. I closed the door quickly when I saw Brinian watching me. Damn it, why was he smiling?