I should leave. The longer I stay, the more danger he is in.
I glance down at myself. My dress is ruined, and there are splatters of blood across my chest. There’s no way in Idylican I was making it across the great hall without someone noticing my undressed and bloodied state. I rummage around the chambers, finding nothing but breeches and shirts. Better than what I’m currently wearing. I strip my dress from my body and pull on the breeches, using a spare sash to knot them around my waist. The shirt hangs too loose, so I stuff it into the back of the breeches. My hair I wind up and then use another sash to hide it under. I stand in front of a mirror and blink at myself. That will do. A quick check of the king confirms he is still breathing.
Right now, I’ve assaulted a king. Perhaps if I escape before it escalates to murder, the realm won’t take my head in penance. The power of positive thinking. That’s what Gwyneth would say if she were here. Of course, if she were here, no one would have been stabbed, I’m sure of it. The realm’s calamities seem to be reserved for me. Also, that mermaid, Ariel? I’ve heard she is a bit of a klutz. Perhaps we could start a club?
I steal the sheath from the king’s waist and tuck it through my sash before putting the dagger inside. I stride to the door and put my hand on the handle. Time to escape this castle. I fling open the door and come face to face with a pair of huge guards.Well, fuck you, Idols. You didn’t even let me try.
ChapterThirteen
“The king is sated and sleeping,” I declare, pulling the door closed behind me.
The biggest guard thrusts out his hand to stop the door from shutting. He pushes past me, and I sidestep the other guard before he catches my arm, preventing me from escaping. I briefly consider stabbing him because that seems to be this diurnal’s Daphne trick.
The other guard reappears and places a hand on my shoulder, yanking me back into the room. The guard staring me down forces me to retreat before crashing the door shut and locking us in the chambers.
“Um, this isn’t a free ride on the maiden sundown,” I mumble.
One guard lifts the blanket off the king and everyone in the room freezes. Well, the king was already frozen, given his perilous walk between this life and the next.
“He was like that when I got here,” I try.
A muffle of laughter comes from the guard hovering near the bed. Wait a tempo, I know that laugh.
“Malachi!” I whisper yell.
He pulls his helmet off and grins at me. Nash reveals himself in the same manner in front of me. I smack his chest, then shake my hand, because wow, his armor is strong. “Not funny, guys. What are you doing here?”
Nash's eyes open wide in shock as he takes in the king's condition. “We realized you would get lost, so we were waiting to escort you back to the library.”
I press my lips together. That was a worry I’d had.
“You stabbed the king?” Malachi asks.
“Stabbed suggests intent. I was holding the dagger and he sort of impaled himself?”
“But that’s not a dagger,” Nash points out.
“No, because I needed the dagger, so I swapped it out for his knife.”
They both blink at me like I crawled out of So Far Away. “You re-stabbed him to plug the wound?” Malachi checks.
“That was my intention, but he twitched and impaled himself in a different place.”
“You stabbed him twice?” Nash checks.
I tip my hand back and forth. “I resent the wordstabbed.That implies premeditation.”
Nash squeezes his eyes closed and pinches the bridge of his nose. “We will need to alert the staff before he bleeds out.”
The door flies open and the maiden that the king flipped onto the floor earlier strides into the room like she owns it. Her gaze falls to the king, and she opens her mouth wide. I thrust my hand out and somehow jab her in her throat rather than her face. She gasps and grabs her throat, dropping to her knees.
Malachi rushes to close the door, then lodges a chair under the handle.
I grimace at the girl, whose face has turned bright red. “Sorry, I meant to knock you out, or at least keep you from screaming.” I suppose one out of two isn’t bad.
Nash picks up the maiden and tosses her on the bed next to the bleeding king. My feet move toward him as an unfamiliar burning sensation churns in my gut, and I have an urge to stab the girl he had his hands on. My hands screw into tight fists and I pause as she continues to clutch her neck and glare at me.Get a grip, Daphne.
“What did you expect?” I say, pacing the floor. “You would just sneak into the king’s bed and I wouldn’t notice? I amnotthat kind of maiden.”
