“Either you cleaned before we came, or this is quite the well-used safe house,” Will noted as he let his hand fall by his side. Aidon didn’t miss the way his fingers brushed across the blade strapped there.
Dauphine ignored the subtle threat as she flopped down on the couch, her long legs stretching along the length of it. Aidon didn’t think he’d ever seen someone dismiss the Enforcer so thoroughly. He almost wished he could enjoy it more. But Dauphine still had that jaunty tilt to her lips, and he’d known the mercenary for less than three hours, but he already knew to be wary of her.
“It’s part of the whole strategy, Enforcer. It would be strange, would it not, for a place to suddenly look occupied and lived in?” She closed her eyes as she sank into the couch further. “There is little privacy in Colmur. It’s a miracle you three made it into the heart of the city without raising suspicion.” She squinted open an eye, amusement glinting in the green of her iris. “I would stay off the streets at dusk, however. You wouldn’t want to be wandering during shiftchange, especially here.”
Aidon frowned at he turned her words over. It was common for guards to change shifts at the dusk hour—it was in the City Guard’s rotation in Rinnia as well. But the way Dauphine had emphasizedhere, specifically…
“Seven hells,” Aidon hissed, his spine straightening as he glared down at the woman.
The uniformity of the street. The emptiness in the daylight hours. The plainness in a city that cherished embellishment.
“This is the guards’ quarter of the city, isn’t it?”
Dauphine grinned up at Aidon. Even with her head tilted upside down like this, her red hair flowing over the arm of the couch, she still managed to look deadly. “You still have a general’s mind,” she remarked. “That will serve you well on this suicide mission of yours.”
The scrape of an unsheathed sword sounded from across the room. “You set us up,” Liam snarled, blade in hand.
Dauphine heaved a sigh as she sat up, her motions as fluid as the breeze she could summon with a flick of her wrist. She swung her legs around, planting both feet on the floor as she pushed herself up.
“Liam, darling, put your sword away before you hurt yourself.” She lifted a hand, a gust of wind bursting across the space and sending Liam slamming back into the wall. “Or beforeIhurt you.”
Aidon drew his sword, but Dauphine winced in pain before he could even make a move. His gaze darted to Will, whose hands were in his pockets, his posture utterly relaxed as he focused on Dauphine.
“Nice try, Enforcer,” she gritted out. Her hand stayed extended, the air still pinning Liam as he struggled against it.
Fucking Visya and their tempers.
You’re one of them, too, that quiet voice inside Aidon reminded him. It had never felt further from the truth as hewatched this standoff of affinities.
Slowly, Aidon set down his sword and raised his hands in a calming gesture. “Let’s all just…breathe,” he advised.
Dauphine looked sidelong at him for a long moment before dropping her hand. Liam slouched with the movement, and he shot Dauphine a venomous glare, but he sheathed his sword.
Dauphine rubbed at the back of her neck, as if the muscle there ached, and Aidon looked to Will, who was still considering the mercenary as if counting the ways he could kill her.
“I stopped,” he muttered without bothering to look at Aidon.
“Not before you made it feel like my neck was getting crushed,” Dauphine snapped.
“And to think that was only a taste of what you’ll feel if I learn that you’ve betrayed us. Now why don’t you explain exactly what the hells you’re thinking, bringing us to a house surrounded by guards.”
Dauphine’s bravado had ebbed slightly with the pain of Will’s power. She looked rankled as she crossed her arms, her lips pressing into an irritated line as she surveyed them as if she couldn’t believe she had to deal with them.
The feeling, Aidon thought, was entirely mutual.
“The guards do not patrol their own streets,” Dauphine explained slowly, as if teaching a toddler. “There is no place safer from their watchful eyes than right under their noses. They come here to relax. It is the one place their guard is truly down.” She looked between them again, her brows lifting as her gaze settled on Aidon. “You of all people should have been able to piece that together, Your Majesty. Now, any other foolish questions, or are you three done wasting my time?”
Aidon hated that he could see the reason in it, and he hated it even more that Dauphine was right; it was logic he should have clearly seen. He knew how soldiers operated. Was he losing this instinct as well? Would he soon learn thathe had never had any real talent as a general either?
Not a king. Not a general. Not a prince.
What the hells was left?
“I need to check on the Athatis,” Liam muttered. He pinched the space between his brows as he shook his head. “How do you suggest I do that without getting tangled with the guards.”
Dauphine’s nose wrinkled. “Can the beasts not fend for themselves?”
“They are protectors of the Dyminara,” Liam snapped. “If they are found, our cover will be blown. Not to mention they will likely be killed. I need to find them shelter. I know you’ve never cared for anyone but yourself, Dauphine, but do pretend to have some semblance of a soul.”
