Dragging my focus from where I last saw the Lord, I turned to see Britta inching her way along the wall.
“I thought I was well hidden,” I answered.
“It is you,” she said, her arms folded tightly over her chest. “I saw you from up there.” She tipped her rounded chin to one of the windows on the second floor. “I thought I’d say hi.”
Tamping down my irritation, I smiled as her scent reached me. It was tart. Lemony. My gaze drifted over her willowy frame as she drew near. How I hadn’t immediately recognized it wasn’t her last night was beyond me. It was likely due to my needing to feed. Our senses weakened when we went too long, but damn. Britta was a beauty, but she wasn’t anything like the Maiden.
“Something happen tonight?” I asked, using the interruption to my benefit.
Several flaxen curls bounced from below the edges of her cap as she nodded. “There was a death.” One hand went to her slender throat. “A…a murder.”
“That’s what I heard.” I glanced at the gates. The Lord and Duchess were long gone. “Was it a servant?”
“No. It was Malessa Axton.” Britta lowered her voice and stepped in close enough that we nearly shared the same breaths. Considering how quietly she spoke, the latter had little to do with what she said. “She is the widow of one of the merchants and fairly close to Lady Isherwood.”
“Was she here with the Lady?”
Britta shook her head as she leaned in, her chest brushing my arm. “As far as I know, Lady Isherwood isn’t here tonight.” Her head tilted back as she looked up at me with cornflower-blue eyes. “Mrs. Axton was alone…”
The way she trailed off told me she knew more than what she was saying. But, then again, Britta always knew a lot about everything.
Except for the Maiden.
When I asked Britta about her, she had very little information to share. That was no different than any other person, but how did the Maiden get her hands on Britta’s cloak?
I angled my body toward her, noting how her breath caught as my arm dragged across her chest. I dipped my chin, watching her lashes sweep down. “I heard a Descenter was at fault.”
“I don’t know about that.” The hand at her throat lowered. Her fingers curled around the collar of the maroon uniform the servants wore.
“Because she wasn’t alone?” I pressed.
“No.” Reaching out with her other hand, she fixed the strap of my baldric that didn’t need fixing as she drew her lower lip between her teeth. Her lashes lifted. Little flirt. “I heard she was in one of the sitting rooms with a Lord.” Her finger lingered on the strap that crossed my chest. “The chamber she was found in. Her neck was broken.”
“And she was drained of blood?”
Her pert nose scrunched. “I hadn’t heard that. Only about her neck.” Swallowing, she drew her hand back. “Her blood was drained?”
“That’s what I heard, but I could be mistaken,” I added, not wanting to disturb her. “Do you know what Lord she was with?”
“Lord Mazeen,” she answered.
I took a breath. “I don’t know much about him.” That was all I said. I fell quiet, giving her the opportunity to elaborate.
Britta took it. “He can be…very friendly,” she said tentatively, cautiously. The servants, even her, knew better than to speak ill of the Ascended. Her throat worked on another swallow. “Some would say a little too friendly.”
I liked that he smelled of the Maiden even less. “Is this something you’ve had personal experience with?”
“I tend to make sure I’m very busy when he’s near.”
“Clever girl,” I remarked, and she gave me a grin. “Is he at the castle often?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Not any more than the others, but he is usually with the Duke. They are good friends.”
Duke Dorian Teerman.
That Ascended was part ghost. I rarely saw him.
I couldn’t outright ask Britta if Lord Mazeen was often too friendly with the Maiden. “And does he show the same…attention to others in the castle? The Duchess? Ladies or Lords in Wait…？”
“I don’t know, but he seems to have little awareness of personal space with whomever he comes into contact with,” she said, her smile strained as she gave a visible shake of her head. Pretty blue eyes met mine once more. “Will you be visiting the Red Pearl soon?”
My smile was a little more genuine. “Perhaps.”
“Good.” She stepped back, glancing over her shoulder. “I’ll keep an eye out for you. Good evening.”
“Good evening,” I murmured, watching her make her way back into the castle before returning my gaze to the gate, having no intention of returning to the Red Pearl anytime soon.
Or keeping an eye out for Britta.
Which made little sense. Britta was a good time, and sometimes, like tonight, her chattiness came in handy. But the idea of that kind of a good time left me…disinterested.
My gaze flicked to the garden wall, where the Maiden should’ve been tonight. Now, I knew why she was absent.
But I didn’t know why the Lord, who was likely responsible for what had happened with this Axton woman, smelled of the Maiden.
IT IS DONE
“It is done.”
I stopped at the top of the Rise, facing the moonlight-drenched-crimson leaves of the Blood Forest. I didn’t necessarily feel satisfaction or relief upon learning of another death, one that had happened upon my orders. I only felt determination.
“Which one?” I asked.
“Keal.”
Jansen’s tone and the way he chewed up the guard’s name and then spit it out caused the back of my neck to tighten.
“What happened?”
The changeling exhaled harshly.
“Did the plans change?”
My brows snapped together as I looked over my shoulder. “What do you mean?”
The Commander stood a few feet behind me, but he stared out over the city. “As far as I recall, the plans were to open a position among the Maiden’s personal guards. Not to attempt to take the Maiden. There was to be no contact with her.”
Son of a bitch.
I stretched my neck to the left and then the right. “That would be correct.”
There was a pause as he angled his body closer, aware of the others on the Rise. “He tried to take her.”
Anger heated my blood so fast that it took a moment for me to fully realize what he’d said. Jericho had tried to take her. “He failed?”
“She fought back.”
My head snapped to his as icy shock doused some of the anger. “Explain.”
“She cut him. Got him good in the side based on the amount of blood he left behind. The only reason she remains safely in the castle is because she fought back. If she hadn’t, the guards wouldn’t have arrived in time to stop him from taking her.” His gaze briefly met mine. “Or causing her more harm.”
I went completely still.
Everything in me. “He harmed her?”
“He struck her.” Jansen looked away, and I stopped seeing him at that point. “Would’ve likely done it again if Kieran hadn’t signaled to him.”