Chapter 61

Despite all her “freedoms,” Lilitha couldn’t call herself free. Then again, she couldn’t exactly call herself a prisoner either. What she was, Lilitha wasn’t really sure.

For the first time, he gave her money. ~So~ much money. Money she’d never had in her life. Gold coins. Actual ~gold~ coins.

“Spend wisely.” He smiled at her as he folded the little bag into her fist. “Spend it on something you really want. I want it empty when I get back.”

Lilitha stared after him, dumbfounded as he trotted away on his big black horse. She looked down at the bag. There was only one thing she would do with it.

Hiring a wagon for her personal use would be expensive. It would use up most of her coins—but it would be worth it. If it upset Mandalay, she didn’t care. He didn’t say she couldn’t visit her. He didn’t say she couldn’t check on her. And it was too far to walk.

As she sat in her seat behind the driver, bumping over the cobblestones, Lilitha thought back to her appointment with the minister. Mandalay hadn’t really said a word to her since and it was worrying her. He seemed subdued, thoughtful. And now this coin purse. He was up to something. Something that made him feel the need to spoil her. Something, perhaps, that he already felt guilty about.

She was pondering so deeply about so many things that it felt like she reached her destination in no time at all. Lilitha handed over several of her coins. Ignoring the driver’s offer to help her down, she pulled up her skirts and jumped to the pavement. He stared. Lilitha supposed it was unladylike.

“Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” he said.

“Of course, why not?”

“These aren’t safe parts for a lady like you,” he said, eyes dragging over her expensive dress and hat.

“Trust me, sir, you have no idea the kind of lady I am.”

He frowned at her but didn’t say anything, head tilted low against the sun.

Lilitha studied the inn, heart racing. What if Clara didn’t stay here anymore? What if she’d been robbed or murdered? What if Mandalay hadn’t kept his promise at all and had done away with her without Lilitha knowing? Most worrisome of all—how would Clara receive her?

Briefly, she looked around her. The driver wasn’t wrong with his assessment. Heads turned. Eyes lingered. She suddenly realized Mandalay wouldn’t like this. Not one little bit.

Lilitha paused at the door, frowning, as she stared down the pathway. There, in an alleyway, was a cloaked figure. For a long moment they gazed at each other. Lilitha’s racing heart started to pound. Then she blinked and the figure was gone. Lilitha stared at the empty spot, knowing for sure she must have imagined it, and suddenly feeling so upset she had to bite back a sob.

She opened the door and went inside. Immediately, the innkeeper who had taken advantage of their desperation that first night looked up from the bar. His reaction couldn’t be more different now that she looked like a proper lady. Promptly he came over, smiling, gold coins spinning in his eyes.

Before he even opened his mouth, Lilitha spoke, “I want to know if the girl with the blonde hair still inhabits the end room on the second level.”

The man shut his mouth, looking put out. “I don’t just give away private information.” He squinted. “Do I know you?”

“No.” She held out a gold coin. He reached for it, but she pulled it back. “Tell me.”

“No. She left some time ago.” His face went red. “Told me to go shove it. That she’d found nicer quarters.”

Lilitha felt a jolt of pride—and relief. “How did she look? Did she look well? Was she happy?”

His eyes pinned to the coin. “How should I know?” He reached for it.

Lilitha drew it back.

“Well! Pretty! Good!” he snapped. “What do I know the goings-on of my customers?”

She gave him the coin, and he pocketed it. Then he smirked. “I’m sure we can find a nice suite—a lovely lady like you.”

Lilitha rolled her eyes, turned on her heel and left.

She walked the streets for a short while but could find no sign of Clara. She went to the stables too, but didn’t see her there either. She didn’t know how to feel. Relieved but worried. How was Mandalay going to give Clara any further money if he didn’t know where she was? Or perhaps he ~did~ know where she was.

She looked around, an anxious pull in her chest. Where was her wagon? The driver was supposed to wait for her. She searched a few neighboring streets, but they were empty. How was she going to find transport in these parts? She didn’t even know which way to go! Anxiously, she spun around and saw that people were watching. ~Men~ were watching.

And that was when she saw it again—the cloaked figure. So, she ~hadn’t~ imagined it. This time, she didn’t blink, staring, raising her nose to the air. She could smell nothing amid the manure and sweat and sewage.

She went to cross the street, but a donkey walked past, and she lost sight of him. When she rushed around the donkey, he was already gone. Tears filled Lilitha’s eyes.

It was nothing. It was ~nothing~.

With little else for it, Lilitha lifted up her skirts and walked down the way her wagon had taken. She remembered a few turns before stopping at a crossroads, looking left and right, utterly lost.

This was nothing like the forest. The forest, she just ~knew~. The trees would tell her, the rocks and wildlife. Certainly the smell. Even the breeze. But here—it was all dead. Everything was ~dead~. And there was so much~ stink~. The town might as well exist within a black cloud.

She turned her head at the steady clop of hooves. Her eyes widened at the sight of a Champion, his red and gold uniform gleaming in the sunlight. His horse was gray. Lilitha hurried over, calling out.

The man turned, looking disgruntled. Then his eyes darted over her clothes, and they widened in surprise.

“Please, please, I’m lost,” Lilitha gasped. “I took a wagon here, and it’s disappeared.”

“What is a lady such as yourself doing here?” he said.

“I-I came to meet a friend.”

A terrible explanation. The knight cocked his head. He was young, probably only slightly older than her but not stupid. He studied her suspiciously.

“Please, can you help me?”

“Where do you live?”

She rode with him on his horse. He asked her some questions, and she foolishly admitted that she was with Sir Mandalay.

“I know him,” the Champion said. “He’s stationed around Central Lane. It’s not far. I can take you to him.”

“No, no, that’s all right. Just take me home.” Her pulse quickened.

“I’m sure he’d like to know why his lady was lost on some of the most dangerous streets of Mainstry. Who ~were~ you meeting?”

“That’s none of your business.”

The Champion stiffened. She could almost feel his judgment. Lilitha’s heart wouldn’t stop hammering.

She shifted slightly, her bottom sore against the horse’s back. She looked over her shoulder but could see no mysterious cloaked man following.

They turned down another street and soon Lilitha caught sight of a familiar figure, golden hair tied in a messy ponytail today. He looked bright against his dark horse.

“Sir Mandalay!” the Champion called.

Mandalay turned. His eyes widened, then narrowed as he trotted over to them both. “What is the meaning of this?”

“She was lost and needed help.” The young knight explained where he’d found her.

Mandalay was silent but his eyes were glittering furiously. Lilitha couldn’t look at him.

“Thank you,” he told the Champion. “I’ll take her from here.” Pulling his dark horse up to the side of the Grey, Mandalay reached over and pulled her in front of him.

The two men exchanged a meaningful look before the Champion trotted away.

Mandalay’s arm was a little too firm around Lilitha’s waist. “So, did you find her?”

“No.”

“I don’t want you down here again.”

“I just wanted to check on her. I just want to make sure she’s all right. Where is she?”

“I’m not going to say. It’s part of the deal, remember?”

“I never promised I wouldn’t see her.”

Lilitha gasped as he tightened his hold around her. She grabbed at his arm, squirming. “It hurts!”

“You can promise me now,” he hissed in her ear. “I might give you some freedoms, Lilitha, but I’m the one in control here. Remember that.”

He relaxed his hold and Lilitha was able to breathe again.