Jansen nodded. “The same part I’ve told the Teermans to repair a time or five hundred.”
“Lucky for me, they haven’t.”
“Yes.” Jansen moved from the fireplace. “Do what you must, and I will take care of the rest.”
“You’re sure you can secure his spot as a Royal Guard?” the wolven spoke up again, stepping out from the shadows.
“I can.” Jansen glanced at the wolven with the shaggy dark hair and then refocused on me. “You have such glowing accolades from the capital,” he replied dryly, referencing the recommendations he’d fabricated. “And the Duchess finds you…pleasant to look upon. It won’t be hard.”
My lip curled in disgust as I looked at the wolven. “You know what to do, Jericho.”
He smiled and nodded. “She’ll be less one guard after her next visit to the garden.”
“Good.” The sooner, the better went unsaid.
“Anything else?” Jansen asked, and I shook my head. He stepped forward, clasping my forearm. “From blood and ash.”
“We will rise,” I promised.
Jansen bowed his head slightly, then turned. My gaze lifted to the men as they reached the door. Jericho was a bit of a wild card, more so than most of his kind, but of all those who’d traveled with me, he was unknown to the guards. The wolven wouldn’t be recognized. “No harm comes to the Maiden. Do you understand me?”
The Commander remained quiet as Jericho nodded.
I held the wolven’s pale blue gaze. “I mean it, Jericho. She is to be unharmed in this.”
His jaw, covered with a hint of a beard, lifted. “Message clear.”
Watching them leave, I admitted to myself that my demands made little sense as I leaned back on the settee.
I planned to take the Maiden from everything and everyone she knew. Kidnapping her wouldn’t exactly be pleasant business, but the idea of harming a woman made my skin crawl. Even when I had to. Even when it was an Ascended. But what I planned for her was far better than what my father would do if he got his hands on her. He’d send her back to the Blood Crown in pieces—and my father was someone Commander Jansen would also consider a good man.
“I don’t like him.”
Looking up from my glass of whiskey, I raised my brows.
Kieran Contou leaned against the wall; the warm beige brown of his features set in an ever-present mask of indifference. He had been so silent during the meeting that I doubted Jansen even realized he was there. The wolven couldn’t look more bored if he tried, but I knew better. I’d seen him look as if he were an instant away from falling asleep, then rip out the throat of whoever was speaking a second later.
“Which one?” I asked.
He cocked his head. “Why would I have a problem with the Commander?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Jansen asked a lot of questions.”
“If he hadn’t, you’d rethink working with him,” Kieran replied. “I don’t like Jericho.”
“Who does? He’s reckless, but he has no qualms when it comes to killing.”
“None of us do. Not even you.” Kieran paused. “At least when we’re awake.”
But when we slept, a far different story could be told.
“I can kill Jericho,” he offered, his tone the same as if he were asking if I wanted to grab a bite to eat. “And take care of the guard.”
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I suspect he’ll end up dead at some point anyway.”
“I have a feeling that’s true.”
I smirked. Kieran’s feelings often had a way of becoming a reality. Just like his father. “Besides, with you in the City Guard, you risk being recognized if things go south.”
Kieran nodded, and a moment passed. “It is a shame, though. From what I’ve heard of the Maiden’s guards, Jansen is right. They’re both good men.”
“It’s the only way,” I repeated, thinking of Hannes. He’d been taken out before I arrived in Masadonia. His replacement had opened the door for me to enter the Rise Guard. The death of another personal guard was simply one more door opening.
I glanced back at Kieran. We were dressed the same, wearing the black of the Royal Army and carrying weapons bearing the heraldry of our enemies—a circle with an arrow piercing the center. The Royal Crest of the Kingdom of Solis. Supposedly, it stood for infinity and power, but in ancient Atlantian, in the language of the gods, the symbol represented something else.
Death.
Which was also fitting for the Blood Crown.
“By becoming one of her personal guards, I would have the closest thing to unfettered access to her, and you know we can’t simply grab her and run,” I reminded him. “We’d be lucky to make it out of the city. And even if we did, we wouldn’t make it far.” I leaned, draping my arm along the back of the settee. “Getting close to her allows me to gain her trust so that she won’t put up a fight and slow us down when we do make our move.”
Turning his gaze to the darkened city streets beyond the window, Kieran was quiet. He knew if we moved now, we wouldn’t make it past the Rise encircling Masadonia before our deeds came to light. And that meant the only way out was with a whole lot of blood and death.
Because I would not be captured.
Ever again.
And if that meant slaughtering innocents, then so be it. I was trying to avoid that, though. Kieran understood. He wasn’t that bloodthirsty. Jericho, on the other hand…
“We don’t have much longer to wait,” I assured him.
“I know. The upcoming Rite.”
I nodded. The Rite provided us with the perfect opportunity to strike. Most of the Ascended would be at the castle, which meant the most skilled and seasoned guards would be there, leaving the Rise and the city poorly guarded. My lips curved up. Those guards would find themselves occupied, dealing with the distraction the Descenters created, and we’d make our move then. The key was gaining the Maiden’s trust so that when I told her I’d been given orders to remove her from the city, she wouldn’t question me. Eventually, she would, but by then, we would be on our way to a more secure location where we could negotiate with the Blood Crown.
The plan would work, but it would also take time.
And it would cost more lives.
Kieran’s shoulders rose with a deep breath. “It’s just that…it’s too bad so few of the guards can be called good, and we’ll be causing those numbers to be even less.”
That we would.
“Have you learned anything that explains why the Maiden is so important to the Blood Crown?” he asked. “Other than her supposedly being a child of the gods.”
“All I can figure is that she is somehow key to the Ascensions of all those Lords and Ladies in Wait. Why? Not even Jansen, who has been here for years, can answer that, so your guess is as good as mine.” I snorted, knocking back a strand of hair that had fallen forward. “I assume you haven’t learned anything new, either?”
“You assume correctly. Anytime I casually bring up the Maiden, it incites suspicion. You’d think she was some sort of benevolent goddess based on how people speak of her. Even the City Guard.” He glanced to where I’d placed my weapons by the door. “It has to be the shroud.”