جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 5

The first thing I did was touch my forehead, half-expecting my fingers to come away bloody. Falling through an open manhole was bound to leave a person with a concussion or a broken bone or two. But there was no blood, not even a tender lump. I pressed harder — thinking maybe the shock had delayed my ability to feel pain before realizing I was kneeling on cold stone instead of lying at the bottom of a sewer.Firelight flickered across the floor. When I lifted my head, I found a man crouching in front of me, close enough that I could see the green of his eyes and the crease between his brows. His long ash-brown hair fell over one shoulder, catching the yellow glow of a torch behind him.I recognize that face. Not in the normal, embarrassing way of recognizing a stranger who waved at you but you cannot remember their name. I knew the shape of his nose — the pointy and high nose he inherited from his father, King Aethelred, the severe set of his mouth, even the exact shade of green his e

Roses climbed the garden walls, their fragrance drifting through the gazebo whenever the wind shifted. Under normal circumstances, I might have appreciated them. Unfortunately, I was crouching behind a wooden railing, trying to keep my ridiculously long skirt at bay in case we needed to make a run for it while Prince Leofric watched the paths between the hedges.We were in the very gardens I’d just warned him about, and he was behaving as though there was nothing particularly concerning about that.“Why would we go through with your meeting when you know it’s a trap?” I whispered, probably for the tenth time since we’d left the sewer.“You’ve told me what you believe will happen,” he replied without looking at me. “We have yet to see whether it does.”“Couldn’t we verify it from somewhere safer?”“We are here to see whether your words prove true, Lady Alix.” His hand rested on the pommel of his sword as he finally turned toward me. “And if I sense any deception from you, I swear on my

“Guards! Arrest the crown prince and his accomplices immediately!” Queen Mahaut ordered, her voice carried through the gardens, I suspect that it can even be heard clearly inside the castle. “They are to be charged with high treason for attacking His Majesty! The traitorous Crown Prince shall be beheaded, his head shall decorate the outer wall spikes as a warning to anyone trying to usurp His Majesty!”Two guards started forward, then hesitated when the king thrashed beneath Leofric and Lord Whitmoure, snapping his teeth at the nearest hand. I stepped into the torchlight before I could lose the courage I’d been building in order to save the Prince from his fate.“His Majesty is already dead. He died of smallpox several weeks ago.”My father turned toward me, his expression darkening. “Alix?” He said my name as though he’d discovered something rotten in his dinner. I’d never met Gautier de Vaucroix before tonight, but apparently inheriting his daughter’s body meant inheriting his disap