Now, I was famous outside of the Forgotten too. Or maybe just infamous.
A uniformed human escorted me through the castle and to a closed door. The servant knocked, whispered to the man who answered, then stood back as he shut the door. I sighed and settled into a lean against the opposite wall. A few seconds later, Lord Juri stepped out and excused my escort.
“Ru'din,” Lord Juri growled as soon as the servant was out of sight. “You son of a bitch!” He grabbed my tunic and yanked me forward. “Where the fuck is he?”
My eyes went wide as I instinctively twisted free of his grip. As I straightened my tunic a few feet away from the scowling Dragon, I said, “He's safe. He sent me here to speak with you.” I glanced at the door. if you're not too busy to obey your king.”
Juri scowled. “Someone has to see to things while King Cynric is absent. I've sent search parties out looking for him but haven't found a trace. I knew you were behind this. Where did you take him, Ru'din?”
“No one can know where he is, Lord Juri. Someone is enchanting people and turning them into assassins. That means they could even get to you. I'm protecting him, and he agreed to it. He left word with his knight. Weren't you informed?”
“Of course, I was informed!” he snapped. “But I don't care what he agreed to. I need to speak with him.”
“Not happening.”
“We'll see about that.”
Then the motherfucker punched me.
I didn't duck because I wasn't expecting it. So he got me full force in the face. And that force was coming from a Dragon so it was damn impressive. I felt something crack, then it was lights out.
When I came to, my face was bloody, and I was lying on a cot in a cell. Yup, a cell. There was no mistaking those iron bars. Wincing, I sat up and felt my nose. The asshole had broken it, and I needed to set it before it healed. Which would be soon. Raltven may not heal as fast as Dragons, but we weren't human-slow either.
“Fuck,” I muttered as I pressed my fingers to either side of the bridge of my nose, braced myself, then straightened it with a sharp movement.
I grunted through the pain, then stood up and gingerly brushed away the blood, most of which was dried. Then I took stock of my situation. I was in the fucking dungeon. The only good news was the absence of the Chelli. I'd been a little worried that Juri would counter the King's order to release the man. But no, he was gone, and I was sitting in his place.
Why hadn't I considered how angry Lord Juri would be? I shouldn't have gone to the castle. And for what? To find out about some relic that probably had nothing to do with the assassination attempts? Dumb. Real dumb. Cyn was making me stupid.
But I wasn't stupid enough to leave the Forgotten without my tools. Of course, that never happened. My thief accouterments were hidden in my cloak, and Raltven always wore cloaks, even at the height of summer. Lord Juri had either forgotten to search me or thought it unnecessary since I'd be in a cell.
“Now, who's dumb?” I muttered as I pulled out my lock-picking kit.
Even a castle cell didn't stand a chance against my skills. I had the door open in five seconds. And that fool Juri hadn't thought to assign someone to guard me either. He just left me there to stew, probably intending to return several hours later and pressure me into giving up the King's location.
“Won't he have a lovely surprise when he returns?” I snickered as I crept up the stairs and into the castle.
Once I was upstairs, I straightened and walked the corridors as if I had every right to be there. No one stopped me, and Lord Juri didn't magically appear to punch me again. In fact, the guards I passed nodded to me, just as respectful as those at the gate. I smirked as I strode out of the keep's main entrance, then out the gate, nodding at the guards on duty as if all were well, and I'd gotten exactly what I'd come for.
My head felt a little strange, doubtless still recovering from its collision with a Dragon fist, and I didn't look forward to my long walk. So, I hailed a carriage, something much easier to do in this part of the city, and had the driver take me as close to the Forgotten as he would go. I considered searching for the Shanba priests and questioning them myself but decided against it. It would take too long, and the boys were probably off looking into the Shanba now that I'd shown an interest. They'd find what needed to be found. Besides, I'd already wasted enough time on my curiosity. Time that should have been spent with Cyn.
Even as I trudged through the snow, I warmed to think of the Dragon King. Memories of the night before did most of the warming. I kept seeing Cyn above me, his chest and shoulders moving sensually, muscles bunching and lengthening. I remembered lying in his arms, his sated body relaxed and his breaths even. If I wasn't already, I'd soon be addicted to Cyn sleeping beside me. His bulk and heat in my bed had been comforting instead of stifling. A living security blanket.
I started walking faster, needing to get back to him as soon as possible.
But instead of going straight home, I stopped by the bazaar and got the three of us some lunch. Kimu had probably cooked something for the two of them, but I hadn't eaten yet, what with being passed out in a dungeon, and Cyn was always ready for a meal. I bought some meat pies and hurried through the crowd.
When I got back, I found the traps as I'd left them. I disabled them and went inside, quickly shutting and locking the door behind me.
“That took a while,” Kimu, sitting on my new chair at the table, said. “Did you get what you were after? And did you snag some food from the kitchen?”
I grimaced.
“What happened?” Cyn got up from the bed and strode over to me, his eyes narrowing on my face.
“I got us meat pies.” I set the bag on the table.
“Excellent!” Kimu exclaimed. “Castle meat pies?”
