Someone more forgiving would have assumed she was saying it out of concern, but I detected a tone of derision in her voice.
“Apologies, my lady.” I spoke in a deeper tone than normal as I rose, hoping to carry on. But I could not stop her from staring at me, making my heart rate ratchet up. Her eyebrows pinched together, and I felt the air pulse. She was staring fortoolong. Did she suspect?
She shook her head. “I thought you were someone I knew.” And with that, she left.
I took my place by Luccan again, face flaming. No one said anything as Luccan veered us to the mouth of a side street. We paused, and I heard Luccan let out a long breath.
“That was close,” Vale whispered the words I was sure at least half of us had been thinking. Those who had experienced the vicious side of Calpurnia. “Sorry I didn’t catch you. I worried about her seeing me and that distracted me.”
“A valid concern.” I wasn’t mad at all. I’d rather eat aface full of snow than have Calpurnia out us because she detected Vale or me. “Please tell me we’ll get there soon.”
“It’s there.” Luccan nodded down the side street, an uneasy expression on his face. “Everyone ready?”
We affirmed that we were, and once again, he took the lead for the coinary.
“We’re really safe, right?” I whispered, unable to let go of that worry and needing to get it off my chest before entering the coinary. “You don’t think Calpurnia suspected anything?”
“I think so,” Luccan replied without so much as a glance back at me. No one was on the side street, but you never knew who might watch from the apartments and shops above. “Much has happened since the time my brothers and I left court, so Calpurnia being mistaken is not odd. As we’re not the highest born males, she—and others like the king—probably cares much less of our whereabouts. Still, we should be quick.”
If Luccan’s face was key to getting us to the more protected parts of the coinary, Bac’s powers of persuasion would be the part that got us in and out without issue.
His powers weren’t exactly like a vampire’s compulsion, fae mind reading powers, or whispering, but they were close. Bac could suggest something to someone, and they’d have the overwhelming urge to help him. No questions asked. Bac said there were other facets to his magic, but that this bit would be the most useful to us, so that was what we focused on. We’d have Freyia with us too and her compulsion was an option, but no one wished for her to use her magic unless it was a last resort.
Getting in. Persuading. And then leaving—walking calmly down the street and vanishing without issue. Or so I prayed.
Guards so large they had to be part troll flanked the towering double doors of the coinary. Luccan paid them no mind as he strode inside with the rest of us behind him.
Fires blazed in two long hearths that lined the hallway leading into the main chamber where leprechauns helped clients.
I craned my neck to peer around Luccan. It appeared we’d timed this right. Aside from the leprechauns on duty, of which about half the desks were occupied, only one client lingered in the chamber. The fewer people to witness this, the better.
The sounds of our boots echoing on the floor intensified as we entered the main chamber. Above, a ceiling, gilded and domed, nearly took my breath away. Emeralds cut the golden dome into sixteen equal parts and at the top gleamed a gem that looked to be a diamond.The ceiling alone made it clear that this coinary was more prestigious than the one I’d seen in Eygin.
Like the ceiling, the desks that the leprechauns sat behind appeared to be made of solid gold. The floor was white marble and chandeliers dripping with gems lined the long room.
A leprechaun with a bald, wrinkled head and extremely long ears stood from his desk, approached Luccan, and bowed.
“Lord Riis. A surprise to see you here. I’m Coinmaster Balvor. What may I do for you?”
“I wish to enter my vault and withdraw items. And I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
The leprechaun clasped his hands in front of him. “Very well, no need to sit down then. Allow me to retrieve the cauldron.”
The Coinmaster darted over to his desk and back. “Your hand, if you please.”
Luccan obliged, placing a hand on the cauldron. Though I couldn’t see it, I assumed that his name appeared on the cauldron’s other side, telling the leprechaun that Luccan was exactly who he claimed to be.
“Follow me, my lord. Your servants can wait here.”
“I wish for them all to come to assist,” Luccan replied. We’d figured we’d come up against this roadblock, but both Luccan and Vale were sure that if Luccan insisted, they’d allow us all into The Below. Nobles brought guards and servants—perhaps this manywasunusual, but it wasn’t unheard of. “I don’t care to carry it all.”
We planned to stuff our pockets to make that true. After all, extra gold never hurt.
Balvor hesitated, tilting his head to the side. One of his ears flopped slightly to the side. “Can we keepers of the coin assist?”
“I prefer my own help.”
Not surprisingly, Balvor’s smile disappeared as he turned back to the restricted part of the bank. “As you wish, my lord. Follow me.”
