I couldn’t bring the papers with me for fear of tipping off Garyth, and I didn’t have time to copy them. But the symbol coupled with the strange code was damning enough. I slid the papers back into the hole and closed it.
I rose to my feet.
“What are you doing in my father’s study?”
I instinctively reached for one of my knives before realizing who spoke. A young girl in a frilly white nightdress hovered by the open door.
Curses bellowed through my mind. Theonetime well-oiled hinges worked against me. Renwell would be furious.
Isabel squinted at me, her soft red curls framing her pink, freckled cheeks. Maybe seven or eight years old. Innocent, so innocent. She probably had no idea what her father was involved in.
But she’d seen me. Granted, I was little more than a faceless shadow. But?—
No one can see you. No one can ever know you were there.
Renwell didn’t want Garyth to know we were investigating him, and from the suspicious glint in Isabel’s eyes, she might tell her father of the mysterious intruder in his study.
I released the hilt of my knife, giving her a debonair bow. “A merry Mynastra’s Tide to you, my lady,” I said, my voice hoarse from hours of silence.
If I couldn’t fight my way out, I’d lie my way out.
She frowned. “Who are you? And why aren’t you at the festival? Mother said I couldn’t go because I’m sick.”
I thought fast. “I’m a messenger and I desperately needed to deliver my message to your father, or I’ll be in trouble.”
“I get in trouble too. Mostly when I get my dress dirty, or I bring home a new pet.” She smiled and leaned forward. “Do you like lizards?”
I had the insane desire to laugh, even as my mind warned me that the child’s servant would be nearby and hear us talking any moment.
“I love them,” I said. “Especially the little green ones with sticky toes.”
Her blue eyes widened. “Yes! Me too!”
“Isabel! Child, where have you gotten to now?” a woman’s voice called out.
Isabel and I stiffened.
“Oh, gods, I’m supposed to be in bed,” she muttered.
“I won’t tell if you don’t tell anyone I was here,” I whispered quickly, desperately. “I would be forever in your debt, Lady Isabel.”
She grinned. “Deal. But you’d better hurry.”
I delivered another bow and raced for the window as she closed the door. Popping open the window, I swung over the ledge. The narrow piece of wood bit into my fingers. The skies also chose that moment to release their rain. I gritted my teeth as fear threatened to overwhelm me.
My body dangled high above the flickering streetlamps. A strange sight if any passersby looked up. For a moment, I imagined my fingers slipping on the wet wood and my body falling.
My stomach heaved, and I shook the thought from my head. Fear could kill me faster than a fall.
I slid my fingers along the ledge, working my way around the house. The rain pattered on my hood and dripped down my chest.
Just as I reached the corner, I heard the study door open. With a smothered grunt, I swung my body to the slanting roof below. I landed on all fours with a quiet thump, out of sight of the street. I flattened myself to the slick tiles as the window swung shut with a mumbled oath.
Holy Four, that was close. Even now, I had to trust that Isabel would keep our secret. There were much worse things than an angry nursemaid.
I crawled over to the mansion’s chimney ladder and scurried down. Now that I was off the roof, the rain was a blessing. It cooled my sweaty skin as people dashed for cover with their chins dipped down and curtained carriages splashed by—none the wiser to my escapade.
I kept my eyes on my boots and the puddles forming between cobblestones as I hurried to the Royal Gate. I flashed Renwell’s token at the guards, and they yanked open the gate without question.
