Page 94 of Hollow Court
DAVIN
A Year Ago
The brothel in Hagail was as busy as ever.
Half-dressed women flirted and laughed to music that was just this side of too loud, and the heavy scent of perfume and cigar smoke permeated the air.
But all of my attention was focused on the man in front of me, a Socairan guard I had paid an otherworldly sum of gold to bribe his way through the tunnels to bring me back information on the brewing war.
“Last I could find her, the princess was traveling with the soldiers, but she’s not fighting.” He spoke in an accented undertone, though no one was paying us any mind.
That was why we met here.
I wanted to be relieved that Rowan was safe, but the wordyetlingered in the air. She wasn’t fighting yet.
“And…the other?” I asked.
“Lady Galina is safe behind the walls of her family’s estate,” he said. “Clan Ram has not yet entered the war, but even if they do, the soldiers there would never hurt a lady.”
I scoffed at that, my thoughts drifting to Rowan.
“A Socairan lady,” he amended.
Nodding, not entirely reassured, I passed the man a heavy coin purse.
He weighed it before looking at me shrewdly.
“It’s getting more dangerous,” he said. “It will be double next time.”
Normally I would have argued, but he was my only means of information. I couldn’t even go myself. There was no way through the battalion standing guard on the other side, and my skin was far too pale to blend in.
“I don’t care what it costs,” I told him, getting up to leave. “Just get the contingency plans in place and tell me when the pass opens.”
“Who is she to you?” he asked curiously.
Obviously, he wasn’t asking about my cousin.
“No one,” I replied, turning to leave.
It wasn’t even a lie. I hadn’t so much as spoken to her in a year.
Perhaps she had only thought of me as a bit of fun—or used me to understand what her wedding night would look like—but we had been friends once. She might have been able to walk away from that without so much as a backward glance, but I couldn’t turn off the part of me that cared about her.
Stars knew it would be easier if I could.
THIRTY-TWO
Davin
Present Day
Unfortunately,it was only a matter of minutes before another laird swooped in to claim a dance with Galina.
It was like the entire court had been holding their breaths, waiting for the moment they could get their hands on her.
Eyes had followed her from the time we arrived, even more so than usual.
It wasn’t hard to guess why.