I start for the balustrade, dropping the glamour on my wings and letting them stretch at my back. In no time at all, I’ll be losing myself in Allette’s embrace, sampling the jasmine perfume on her skin, this castle and these infuriating people nothing more than a distant memory.
Boris clears his throat. “I don’t suppose this meeting of yours is taking place across the river.”
Shit. My footsteps still. When I glance over my shoulder, his expression gives nothing away. “Of course not. Why would you say that?”
“Because one of the guards reported that he saw you leaving a tower there last Tuesday.”
I could’ve sworn I lost my guards at the temple. Had one of them stumbled upon my whereabouts accidently, or had I been followed? Not that I can ask my brother outright. Is that why Bilson is here? Has he been reassigned to me?
“I told him he clearly must be mistaken,” Boris goes on, oblivious to the panic squeezing my lungs. “My brother wouldn’t be foolish enough to become entangled with anyone living on the city’s west side.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“But we can continue this conversation at a more convenient time. Have a good meeting. I’ll see you at dinner.” He twists and starts for the door.
I can’t very well go to Allette now, can I?
What will she think when I don’t show after I promised I’d be there? What if she wrongly believes I am no longer interested in her company after bedding her?
Of all the days for this man from Nimbiss to arrive…
There is only one thing for me to do. Glamouring my wings, I return to my room. “Boris, hold on. It would be rude to ask the man from Nimbiss to wait, especially after he traveled all this way. My meeting can be rescheduled.”
Although Boris smiles, the look doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Excellent.”
The door swings wide, but before I step through, I glance back toward the western horizon.
I’m coming, Allette.
Don’t give up on me.
The meeting tookall fucking day and a good part of the evening. If you were to ask me what it was about, I couldn’t tell you. Every hour felt like a year, and when Boris requested I join him and the representative for after-dinner drinks, I didn’t have a good reason to refuse.
So I drank and stewed and worried until I could stand it no more, and then I returned to my room only to find two guards on the balcony, neither of whom I recognized.
It’s late, and Allette is probably asleep, so there is no sense going to her now. I flop onto my bed and try to rest but end up tossing and turning until dawn. By the changing of the guard, I’m already dressed and in the solar, ready to sneak away.
When the coast appears to be clear, I leap off the lower balcony and disappear into the cottony clouds, flying faster than I’ve ever flown before, bypassing the market and taking a circuitous route to Allette’s tower.
But when I reach the river, the reality of the situation strikes like lightning.
If that guard knows exactly which tower I’ve been visiting, who’s to say that Boris doesn’t have another man or two watching her tower now?
How can I go back?
How can I not?
The thought of never seeing her again robs me of my next breath. What the hell am I going to do?
The answer to all my problems comes on creaking hinges.
When I glance across the street, a single beam of sunlight falls upon the sign for the Nag’s Head Inn.
The proprietor within takes one look at my purse full of gold and hands over two keys.
When I ask to borrow an ink pen and a piece of parchment, he produces both from his desk drawer. I write Allette a note and tuck the key inside, and the man agrees to have his son deliver both.
I climb the creaky stairs, hating everything about this place. Allette deserves more than dark hallways and musty bedrooms, but at present, my hands are tied. This is only a temporary solution. After a good night’s sleep, I’ll come up with something better.