The Spoils of Allsveil: Dark Heart Heroes #2 (11 page)

“Then say it again.”

I pulled back and scrunched my eyebrows.

Brie whispered, “Say you love me.”

My heart ached to see the glint of pain her eyes.
Aighta was right, I’d not said those words enough. “I love you, Brie. I love you with every beat of my heart. I love you when I breathe. I’ll love you still even when the time comes that I don’t breathe. I love you and I’m so sorry—”

Brie
covered my lips with two fingers. “Don’t ruin this moment with the past.”

I kissed her fingers. “What, no need to apologize?”

“Oh, you can apologize to me every day for the rest of our lives, just not right now.”

Her skin, her playful tone, her caress all worked as a balm. Amazing what fantastic sex can do to heal a soul. I lifted my wife up and settled her flush with my chest, the both of us in the sitting position. As she straddled up top of me, I looked into those
bright blue eyes and stroked her face.

“
If uncivilized is what you like, perhaps you’d like another go with us both once more.” The thought had my cock rising. I looked around for my man.

Paul
leaned against the wall, mostly dressed, struggling to put on his boot. He looked grateful, ashamed, conflicted, satiated, and worried. He needed more time to understand what just happened. Paul was a smart man. He would figure out that he’d given me what I needed—which was watching him take my wife. Our eyes met as he sidestepped over to the door. I nodded and mouthed “thank you.” His shoulders sagged in relief and without a word, he slipped out the room.

“I don’t need Paul
,” Brie whispered in my ear.

A wise woman once told me that I should stop speaking while I was ahead, and I took her advice in this instance. My cock said what I wanted to say instead and I eased her down my hard length.
Brie groaned and wrapped herself around me like a warm cloth. This time I moved gentle and slow. I rocked her as she told me all her dirty sexual desires. She spoke with that husky voice and made me come a third time that night.

13 - Alexia

Every time I thought about Darrin walking the corridors naked, it made me giggle. That man was diabolical
walking the corridors clothed. Hours after he left, I started folding his clothes in an attempt to finally do as Mother wished and make peace with my father’s death. I would not forgive so easily as changing my mind, but I could consciously make the decision
not
to kill my husband. My hard-won clothes folded neatly, I put his baldric over my shoulder and took the peace offering down the dark halls to his room.

“Is the prince in?” I asked his door guard.

“He is not, Princess Tyilasuir. Haven’t seen him since he left after your summons this afternoon.”

That was odd.
“Does the prince have a habit of walking the grounds naked?”

The guard gave me a queer look. “No.”
He looked at my shoulder and the sword held within its scabbard. “Neither does he go unarmed.”

“Thank you.” I turned and walked away before I could be questioned. A sense of dread washed over me. When I was out of the guard’s sight, I ran up to Nanna’s tower.
The door guards stopped me at Nanna’s door.

“No unauthorized visits,” said the door guard to my left.

Thinking fast I disguised my panic as disdain. “Do you know whose clothes I’m holding right now?” I flashed the lapel of the coat with the medals of high rank.

The guard looked, but didn’t seem impressed. “You’ve gone down in the world
, milady, from failed assassin to laundress.”

Guard
Number Two chuckled and I steamed at the insult. It reminded me of my mother tittering away while I left for my wedding night. But one thing about my mother—she wouldn’t have this much trouble getting past the guards. Taking a breath and putting on a sweet face, I tried one of Mother’s tactics. “Would you like to find out how I got him to take his clothes off in front of me?”

The guard sneered. “Most likely you stole his clothes after one of your attempts worked.”

From the other side, Guard Number Two grabbed my arm. “What have you done with Prince Goththor?”

I shrieked.
A hand clamped over my mouth. I struggled. My cries were muffled by an enormous hand. An arm wrapped around my chest, crushing Darrin’s clothes to my bosom. Lips pressed to my ear. “Shhhh, princess.” The first guard loomed over me with as much hatred as I’d seen from my own mirror. “You’ve hurt him. I’ve seen what you’ve done to my prince. He was bold once. Happy. Always kept us out of trouble. Never let us down and always made us laugh. Because of you he’s looking over his shoulder. Doesn’t sleep well. Doesn’t trust anyone. That has everything to do with you.”

“What have you done? Where is Prince Darrin?”

I wiggled against the arms that held me.

“You know what, I don’t think he’d mind if he never saw you again.” The guard in front of me put a hand to his short sword.

The guard holding me watched with alarm. “What are you doing?”

“We aren’t the only ones that hate her.”

They were going to kill me, so I did the only dignified thing a lady could do…and bit down on flesh. The guard let out a yelp and removed his hand, then shook the brains right out of my skull. “Stupid girl.” I heard the slap before the sting registered on the left side of my jaw.

Nanna’s door opened and
Samalia called out, “You two, keep your inquisitions quiet.”

“Nanna!” I choked out.

Guard Number One, about to kill me, turned.

Nanna wore an old, moth-eaten nightgown with torn fringes. Her face looked more worn than her frayed sleeping attire. But that face was what saved me. Eyes
bright, mouth tight, and countless wrinkles carved experience into every patch of skin.

“Boy, you let her go.” Nanna squinted her eyes.

Guard Number One straightened to attention. “You know the rules, ma’am, no visitors without authorization.”

Nanna raised that hooked crone nose of hers and squinted at him. She was a good three feet smaller than he, but Guard Number One shuffled and lowered his head.

A spotted, clawed hand lifted and Nanna pointed at me. “Let her go.”

He released me immediately.

“Your authorization is enough.” She eyed the guards. I’d seen that hawk gaze before, right before I had my ear pinched between her vise-like fingers so hard that breathing the wrong way hurt. She pulled me away from Guards One and Two. “What do you want, Alexia?”

I shoved the clothes into her hands, partly to make her arms full. “Tell me, where does a naked prince go?”

Nanna frowned and looked at the clothes. I’d handed her everything except his sword. “And unarmed.” Nanna grumbled.

I stared at Mother’s maid,
my old nanny, willing her to know about the Black Knight’s message.

“Where did you get these?” she asked.

“They were on him before our
chess
game.”

Her fierce gaze flicked to mine.
She had been one of the confidants who knew about the hollowed-out pieces. Again I willed her to know what I knew.

“‘Four King Fieron,’” I said, repeating the message.

Those shrewd eyes grew colder. Her lips tightened. “It’s code. Four men remain. Four Black Knights. An eye for an eye.”

“Will make the world blind
,” I finished.

Nanna’s mouth curved up and pride shone through her face. “They’ll have him in the catacombs.”

“Then I must go.” I grabbed for his attire.

Nanna pulled his clothes aside, not letting me have them. “You don’t know where they are.”

My eyes grew wide. “Nanna…”

“No. I swore to your mother to protect you. I intend on doing so.”

“I have to get him back!”

“Old woman
,” Guard One said, “Who and what, exactly, are you talking about?”

Nanna’s jowls shook even as her jaw tightened. “You want your
prince to live, come with me.” She plowed through all of us and hurried down the corridor and stairs. I followed suit and the two guards behind us went with us.

“I have a feeling we’re going to need help
,” Guard Number Two said.

“No.” Nanna growled. “They’re expecting an army. They aren’t expecting a disgruntled princess.”
Nanna walked with purpose down the stairs. “Just two guards escorting the princess and her maid to Prince Goththor.” Nanna looked back at One and Two. “Understand?”

One eyed Nanna and then gave a meaningful glance over at Two. They both nodded in agreement.
Nanna turned into an alcove and pointed at one of the stones on the floor. “Lift that.”

One stepped forward while Two stayed behind us.

“It might take both…” Nanna started to say, but One knelt, pulled out a knife, and started picking away at the loose dirt. As large as his fingers were, they managed to grip the edges of the cobblestone and lift the brick up.

“Very impressive, young man
,” Nanna said in her unimpressed voice—but then again, Nanna had never sounded impressed with anyone. “We may have a chance.” She looked at me and pointed at the very small, very dark hole in the ground. “Down.” I crept over and looked inside.

Nanna stuck her hawk nose into the hole. “
Goddamn. They took the ladder away.”

Lifting her head up from the dank cave, she eyed One and Two. “It’s
ten feet down at least.”

“I can jump that far
,” I said. Maybe.

Nanna sniffed. “You were trained to tuck and roll. If you do, you’ll find a maze of pikes in your body.”

I should have known. The Black Knights were a group of loyal men. Cunning like thieves with as much of a conscience, they’d find my lifeless body and mourn, only because I was the king’s daughter. 

“His clothes.” I scattered my husband’s gorgeous battle gear and tied coattails to pant legs and pant legs to shirt sleeves. The whole of his attire created a rope that was just about fifteen feet
long. I held the end and threw the rest down into the darkness. “We can hop down the rest the way.”

I handed the coat to
Number Two. “Hold that.”

“Oh, no
,” said Two, “I’m not being left behind. Besides, I can’t hold him on my own.” Two jerked a thumb to One.

“I go first.” One grabbed my shoulder.
Two dropped the coat in a temper and the makeshift shirt-rope started sliding down into the hole. I lunged for the escaping cloth ladder, and landed on the ground with the butt of Prince Goththor’s sword digging into my side. I still caught my “rope” by the rim of its neck. Fuming, I pulled up our only chance to sneak down, sat up, and held the coat tight with both hands. My left hip was going to have a bruise. I must have looked odd on the ground, for Nanna gave me a very indignant face and the other two were beside themselves, shifting from foot to foot.

“Go down, I’ll hold it for both of you,” I
wrapped the end of our rope around my waist. “One, you first, then Two, then Nanna, and you’ll catch me last.”

Two scratched his nose. “
You can’t hold me, I’m too big and heavy.”

I spread my legs around the hole and looked up at Two. “We don’t have time, just go down the rope fast as you can. I can hold it.”

“M’lady Samalia, you should stay,” One said with surprising affection.

Nanna
crouched and slid down the rope, fast as a scurrying mouse. It caught me by surprise. Her weight wasn’t substantial, but her actions had me grasping for cloth. Two was there in a flash, wrapping his arms around me and helping me keep the rope.

“It’ll hold,” she said when the pressure of her weight released.

I turned my face up. “You next.”

One grumbled but took off his sword belt and whispered through the hole. “Catch, you old bi
ddy.”

Once he dropped the mass of knives, sword
, and leather, I waited to hear it hit ground. There was silence.

I peered down. Nothing but darkness. “Nanna?”

“Shush, child.”

One tried sliding in and got caught by his barrel chest. Silent as I could, I giggled. It was too much to see a man captured by a hole in the ground, wiggling to get free.

“He’s ticklish,” Two said. I gave him a wicked smile.

“Traitor,” One hissed, and he wiggled for everything he was worth.
His jostling was enough to break him free and he fell through. The coat nearly wrenched out of my grasp. Thank all that Two was there, holding his friend with me. The rope swayed and I could feel One scrambling to reach ground. When he did my arms ached from the use.

“You now,” I said.

“Are you sure, m’lady?”

Angry, I bit out, “I can hold you so long as your weight is steady.”

He took off his sword belt and dropped it as he whispered. “Watch it.”

A quiet male “
oomph” sounded.

Two chuckled. He was not as round or tall as One and was able to slide through the hole easily. Not to say holding him was easy. I spread each of my legs on either side of the entrance, letting my arms take most
of the weight. I bit my lower lip at the pressure and clung to the end of the coat.

When the tension released, I dropped the rope. My knuckles and the sockets of my arms throbbed. After rubbing my fingers straight, I whispered, “Ready?”

“Yes,” One replied.

I took a breath, knowing I was putting my life in the hands of one of King Goththor’s soldiers. Taking the time to dwell on trusting One would have Darrin paying the cost. I tucked Darrin’s sword to my center and leapt. My scream lodged at the base of my throat. Tree-trunk arms caught me. A sigh of relief and I was on my feet. “Thank you for not dropping me.”

He could have. Probably wanted to. “If you’re really trying to save Prince Goththor, then you’re welcome.”

“Shush!”
Nanna admonished.

The light that filtered down from above didn’t help us see down below. Nanna’s gnarled hand took mine and I grabbed One’s hand. “Grab
your fellow guard,” I said. We started walking a sharp path down.

“Stairs,” Nanna said. The path turned into a circular staircase. I could only tell from the wall’s curved guidance and the arc in which Nanna and One walked.

“Can you see?” I asked Nanna.

“No,” she whispered. “Know it by memory. Now shush.”

We walked through darkness and silence and stairs. If Nanna and One weren’t holding my hands, I might have turned around to go back, thinking I was just going in circles on an endless spiral. Nanna kept on until my legs ached from going around stairs. A small glimmer of light bounced around the curved wall. Then we stopped. Nanna’s whisper was authoritative. “Alexia, you go first. Distract the guard, but stay out of my line of sight. We’ll follow until I let go of your shoulder, but I won’t be far away. You have a sword?”

My voice sounded meek. “Yes.”

“Good. Use it if you have to.”