The Decoy Princess (37 page)

“As if that makes up for it,” Kavenlow growled.

Jeck’s jaw tightened behind his black beard. “It’s all I’ll give you. You bear some of the blame, teaching her to use the venom before giving her the wisdom of what it meant.”

I felt Kavenlow relax. “I’ll accept that. Yes. I will refrain from lodging a formal protest, providing the proper Costenopolie princess gains the throne. Agreed?”

Jeck nodded, the tightness in his eyes easing. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or not.

Kavenlow whispered in my ear, “Good. We will at least walk away with our lives.”

“Our lives?” I questioned. “What about Costenopolie?”

His gaze flicked to Jeck and back to me. “Kingdoms rise and fall, Tess. Only the players endure, their teaching lineages stretching back farther than most royal bloodlines. We’ll simply begin again if worse comes to worst. But I don’t think it will.”

Jeck cleared his throat to bring our attention back to him. “The reason I asked for this meeting was to try to eliminate unnecessary loss or injury for the next few days.”

I sniffed, taking on a haughty expression. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“Tess…” Kavenlow warned, but Jeck seemed amused.

“I’m saying that having Costenopolie’s princess does me little good unless I have someone to verify to the populace that she is the legal heir, not Tess.”

“Is that you speaking or Garrett?” I asked tartly, and Kavenlow nudged me to be quiet.

“I’m going to take both princesses back,” Jeck continued. “It’s the only way I can ensure the proper heir gets the throne. Rather than expend a lot of wasted effort, I propose you simply give Tess to me.”

My breath hissed in. Frightened, I forced my hands to stay in my lap instead of reaching for my darts.

I would make it one of the metal ones. See how much venom the wicked things held. Garrett would kill me. I knew it. “That is ridiculous,” I said boldly to hide my shaking voice. “Expecting us to believe you’re doing us a favor. Taking me by force is more than you can manage. And you know it.”

“Care to wager your thief’s life on it?” He moved his brown horse closer, circling us to turn the ground where Tuck had dripped into mud. My pulse pounded as I felt his eyes on me. I remembered my missing venom, wondering if it was on his darts now.

“I will harry you, Princess,” he said, his low voice and the intensity of his brown eyes pulling a strike of fear through me. “Pick you off one by one. I’m giving your master the chance to save himself and you a lot of unnecessary pain.”

My heart hammered. “I don’t think you can do it.”

“Enough,” Kavenlow said tightly, backing Tuck away and out of his circle. “Stop arguing with the captain, Tess. He is simply looking forward. We’re all going to the same place. I’d rather get there unwounded. I’m going to take him up on his offer.”

I spun to face him. “But Garrett will kill me!” I cried, uncaring if Jeck saw my fear.

Kavenlow’s gaze was decidedly apprehensive. “Which is why I’m going instead of you.”

Jeck started. “You!” he exclaimed. “I won’t take a player when a piece is available. I want her.”

“Then I step down,” Kavenlow said. “I give my position to Tess and become the chancellor in full.

She’s the player; I’m the piece.” He put a hand atop my shoulder, fixing an aggressive look upon Jeck.

“You won’t have her, Captain. In any way.”

“Kavenlow!” I cried. “Don’t!”

“Hush.” His teeth gritted and his eyes went fierce. “This is not what I had planned, but if Garrett gets you under his thumb, he will kill you.”

“Which is exactly what he will do to you!”

He shook his head. “I’m not the one who made him into a fool. I’m a mild man who does the books.

Jeck can’t breathe a word otherwise. There is little honor among players, but on this, we hold tight.” He turned to Jeck. “Promise me you’ll tell her how to kill a punta if I don’t see the end of this. She also needs to know the formal rules.”

I could say nothing. My mind was empty in panic.
He is going to leave me? Kavenlow is going to
leave me again
? The thought I should have just killed Garrett flitted through me, taunting. Jeck’s horse shifted nervously. Jeck’s expression was dark and irritated.

“You’re putting your entire game in jeopardy,” he said. “She’s a novice. Your game is mature, and only you know it. She will break a hundred rules.”

Kavenlow was unperturbed. “There aren’t a hundred rules. There are only six.” His eyes went to mine. “Trust your feelings, Tess, and you won’t break any.”

“Fine,” Jeck said tightly, pulling his horse’s reins to make the animal prance and arch its neck. “Bring your horse. I have only the two.”

I stared blankly, not believing this was happening.

“Down you go.” Kavenlow offered me a hand to descend with.

Frightened, I shook my head. “No. He’ll kill you!”

“Here.” Kavenlow twisted an unadorned ring from his finger. “It’s just a ring, but with Jeck as witness, it serves as proof that I give my game to you willingly.”

“Kavenlow, no!” I cried, clenching my fist when he tried to force it into my hand. “I don’t know what to do. Garrett will kill you!”
Don’t leave me again
! my thoughts screamed.

“Garrett won’t kill me,” he said. “You, though, he will. This way we’re all alive to see the end of the game.” He kissed my forehead, and my fist loosened from surprise. The smooth shape of a ring fitted my palm, and he closed my fingers about it. “You can’t do anything when you’re dead. Keep to your heart. I know you’ll bring us through with more than we went in with, my little thief.” He leaned close and whispered, “I’ve venom in my saddlebags. And if I don’t see the end of this, stay away from Jeck.”

“I won’t get down,” I said belligerently.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and he pushed me off the horse.

I hit the muddy ground with a gasp. Both horses jumped. I scooted backward as Tuck shied.

“Kavenlow!” I cried, sprawled on the ground. “Don’t leave me!”

He never looked back. Jeck touched his hat and followed Kavenlow in a slow canter.

“Kavenlow!” I shouted, stumbling to my feet. “Kavenlow. Don’t!” But he was gone. I looked over the river to Duncan standing helplessly on the bank.

What was I going to do now?

Twenty-seven

I stood beside the wagon, a hand over my eyes as I squinted up. The tree Duncan was climbing shivered, and a green leaf drifted down. We had been following Jeck for two days with hardly a rest.

Our frantic pace had put us outside the capital’s walls in record time. We had been meeting an increasingly small stream of refugees. None had any real news, simply running from rumors. It was fortunate we had hay within the wagon, or the horses would be ailing. I hoped for Duncan’s sake that Tuck was all right.

“Well?” I shouted up. I was nervous and ill-tempered, and I impatiently tugged the hem of my gray dress down. It was now too tight as well as too short. I had shrunk it in my laundry aboard the
Sandpiper
. My ankles showed, and it bothered me.

“They’re stopping everyone at the gate,” came Duncan’s voice. I craned my neck to spot him.

“They’re looking for us, sure as rain is wet and the sea is salty.”

Frustration and anger spilled over. Mostly frustration. “Curse you, Kavenlow!” I shouted, kicking at a wagon wheel. “Why didn’t you tell me what to do?”

Thadd looked up from the front bench, his round face depressed.

Branches snapped as Duncan slid down the tree to land lightly on the path. “Chu, Tess,” he said.

“You didn’t expect us to walk in the front gate, did you?”

Not wanting to hear his opinions, I kicked the wheel again with a cry of frustration. It hurt, and I decided to find something else to abuse. Duncan, maybe.

“How about that?” Duncan said to Thadd, his hands on his hips. “A princess with a temper. I never would have expected that.”

A rare smile crossed Thadd’s stubbled face, vanishing quickly. Duncan brushed the bark and needles from himself, chuckling. I wanted to pace but forced myself to be still. “All right,” I said, thinking aloud.

“We can’t walk in like this. Jeck knows everything: our horses, the wagon, everything.” I found myself moving and stopped. “Duncan, you go in first with the two black horses. When you get inside, take them to the dockside stables and leave them there. Meet Thadd and me at that inn we played cards at. We’ll come in with the draft horse.”

Duncan looked up from rubbing the dirt from a boot. “Take them back?” he said, his face empty.

“You want
me
to take the horses
you
stole back?”

I nodded. “I’m not going to risk everything coming down around us because someone recognizes them.”

“I’m not taking them back!” he exclaimed, surprising me with his sudden vehemence.

Hands on my hips, I strode to him. “They aren’t mine yet,” I said, almost in his face. “And I’m not a thief. Leave them in the yard if you like. Take Thadd with you if you’re afraid.”

Duncan’s jaw clenched and he pointed at me. “I’m not afraid,” he said in a low, forced voice. “And
I’m
not a thief, either.”

I backed up a step. “Don’t point your finger at me!”

“I’ll point my burning finger at you whenever I damn well please!” Duncan shouted. He took a step forward, and I backed up, finding myself against a tree. My eyes were wide, and I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t used to having someone shout back at me.

Angry and red-faced, Duncan jerked his shirt from his left shoulder. A thick, raised scar in the shape of a circle—God no, it was a crown—was branded into him. “If I’m caught with those horses, they’ll hang me!” he said, screaming though his voice was just above a whisper. “If you want to risk a hanging by taking them back, fine. But don’t ask me to do it—Princess.”

My face went cold. I’d forgotten. “Duncan.” My anger turned to shame. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”
Damn
my mouth
, I thought in harsh guilt.
Why can’t I keep it shut
?

Duncan spun on a heel and went to rummage in his pack in the wagon. “Here,” he said, tossing me a wad of clothing.

I shook it out, finding it was his spare shirt and a pair of trousers. My face flamed. “What is this for?”

I said tightly as I threw it back. What he wanted was obvious.

Duncan grimaced. “I’m going to cut your hair, too. They’re looking for a woman. You’re going in as a man. You almost look like one.”

Jaw dropping in outrage, I glanced down at my straight hips and nearly flat chest. “I am
not
going to wear your disgusting clothing,” I said hotly. “And you aren’t coming near me with a knife.” If I cut my hair any shorter, I wouldn’t be able to use it to hold my darts.

Duncan took a step forward. “Thadd, grab her arms.”

My breath quickened as I retreated, hand atop the knife at my back. “Stay away. Both of you!” I demanded. The pounding of my heart was so loud, I was sure they could hear it.

Thadd snorted. “I’m not touching her,” he said in his slow voice. “You’re on your own.”

Duncan stopped his advance. “Well, she can’t go in like that,” he said, gesturing.

Watching them warily, I relaxed. “The woods are rife with black string,” I said, recalling having seen the thorny vine in the brighter patches of forest. “It will dye anything black. I’ll go in with black hair…”

My words trailed off as a thought took their place. “I could go in as a gypsy. We all could. Gypsies come into the capital to sell horses all the time, especially matched pairs.”

“You don’t look like a gypsy,” Duncan protested. “And neither do I.”

“Thadd almost does,” I said. “Give me a hot fire and three hours, and I’ll be a raven-haired beauty with a bad temper.”

“You’re halfway there with the bad temper,” Duncan muttered, crossing his arms before him and taking a stance to look nearly unmovable. “And I’m not going to dye my hair to play gypsy. If you don’t put on those trousers, I’m not coming in with you.”

“I don’t care if you come or not,” I lied, feeling a stab of worry. “Thadd and I can do this on our own. You can stay here with the wagon where it’s safe.” .

“Oh, I’m coming,” he said tightly. “But I’ll be behind you. You’re going to get caught if all you do is dye your hair and fake an accent, pretty little thief. I want to see that.”

My eyes narrowed, but before I could say anything, Thadd interrupted. “Um, I’m not leaving Contessa’s statue,” he said in his somber voice. “We’re bringing the wagon with us.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed at the beginnings of a headache. Neither man was capable of taking direction. I would be better off darting them and tying them to a tree like goats than trying to find a plan that satisfied all their inane, sundry requirements.

Ignoring Duncan’s increasingly barbed comments, I spent the remainder of the afternoon dying my hair and weaving strips of my red underskirt into it and the mane of the draft horse. It emulated the younger gypsies I had seen perfectly. I tied my two black horses to the back of the wagon with ropes stained red to signify they were for sale. I’d probably be all right unless I ran into real gypsies.

Thadd was frantic about his statue, insisting he sit in the back with it instead of up front where he ought to be. I had found some prickle stick in my search for hair dye, and after rubbing it on his foot, he developed swollen, itchy welts. No one would be poking about in our wagon with his foot looking like that, and it was a good excuse for me to be driving.

Surly and bad-tempered, Duncan watched us prepare to leave, claiming he would visit our heads on the palace gate tonight. And it was well past noon by the time I drove the wagon out from under the woods. The sun pressing down felt heavy after the chill shade of the trees. My toes were cold. Gypsies wouldn’t have boots, and I’d hidden mine under the hay with the statue. The closer we rattled to the sentries, the more nervous I became. I had my handful of darts, but the entire point was to get in with no one the wiser. The stone walls of my city loomed gray and cold. My pulse hammered.
This isn’t going
to work
, I thought. Jeck would come out of the guardhouse, pin my arms to my sides, and drag me away.