Royal Outlaw: (Royal Outlaw, Book 1) (29 page)

Some servants still ran about the streets on some unknown errand for their masters. But in this district, most of the company the three adventurers had was that of soldiers out in hordes to protect the pretty treasures and delicate bodies of the people who lived there. Although they had no guard or chaperone, which was unusual for young ladies of standing, the guards did not stop Mariel and her friends. They eyed them appreciatively in the light cast from lanterns and torches that lit the streets, and Mariel decided that these guards had grown lax since her last escapade in the City. They needed a little shake up, but sadly that was not her purpose in the City this time.

They left the Upper District and passed into the Temple District, which contained shrines and temples for every god and demigod that people believed in. This district had even more temples than the capital and provided the namesake for the City of the Gods. Hallie and Cara insisted that they visit the temple of Narel to give an offering to the goddess of protection before continuing on deeper into the city at night.

After leaving the Temple District, they began to descend into less-well-off neighborhoods, although Mariel kept them away from the truly dangerous areas. Despite the late hour, people walked the streets and milled about. Homeless people huddled in niches and candlelight poured out of homes. The smells of the city were both sweet and foul, but Cara and Hallie did not complain.

For a while, they simply wandered, glorying in their freedom, a freedom that Mariel knew neither Cara nor Hallie had ever tasted. She explained the different districts to them and Mariel told the girls stories about merchants and the common people and their daily struggle for survival.

The night was the time when the underworld society came out in force to wander the streets, but Mariel knew how to stop thieves and how to avoid the shadier places and districts of the city. They still saw prostitutes on the streets and Cara ducked her head in embarrassment, while Hallie peered at them curiously.

The citizens of the city were not the only people out on the streets. Soldiers of the crown patrolled and Mariel tugged her friends into dark alcoves or changed direction whenever she spotted the green and black clad men. All of her knives were hidden on her body, but she had no desire to hurt anyone.

“Would you like to try ale?” Mariel asked, after more than an hour of walking the streets.

“Ale?” both girls whispered.

“Don’t worry,” Mariel hurried to reassure them. “I won’t think any less of you if you don’t want to—I rarely drink it myself.”

Silence followed the comment. “Could we get one glass and share?” Cara asked quietly.

Mariel was surprised that it was Cara who appeared more willing than Hallie. The shy girl never ceased to surprise her. Hallie nodded in agreement with Cara. Mariel led them down a series of streets. Light flooded out from the first floor of a simple wooden building painted blue. It was one of the better taverns. The uproarious noise of shouting, singing, and clanking plates and tankards spilled out into the streets.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Mariel asked, not sure if she wanted to
let
them do this.

Cara pulled herself up straight. “Yes,” she said with conviction.

Hallie gaped at Cara and then a smile split across her face. “Since when did you become so brave? I’m impressed. Let’s go.”

Noise and chaos slammed into the three girls the moment they stepped into the tavern with its low-beamed ceiling. Men and women wearing clothes from various walks of life were spread about the room engaged in all manner of behavior. Some devoured the meal of cooked mutton and rye bread, while others guzzled tankards of ale. The entire tavern had joined in to sing an old drinking song while a middle-aged man with a thick mop of hair spun one of the serving girls in a high spirited dance.

Mariel guided her friends to an empty table in the corner of the room, beginning to regret her suggestion to bring them here. Hallie squealed in shock when one of the men pinched her rear and Mariel was quick to give him a sharp kick in the shin to teach him a lesson.

Cara stared around with wide-eyes, and Mariel had a hard time deciding if the girl was more curious or terrified. Hallie gaped openly, and Mariel reminded them to keep their cloaks tight around them to conceal the wealthy dresses they wore. After settling the two noble girls in the corner, Mariel pushed through the crowd to the counter. Many a leering glance and salacious wink were sent her way, but she ignored the men. 

A wide-shouldered woman with well-muscled arms stood behind the counter with her back to Mariel as she filled up five tankards. The size and shape of the woman reminded Mariel of Dale, a tavern owner in the Lower District. Thinking about Dale made Mariel remember that the tough, burly woman was the last contact she had met with before learning she was the heir.

When the woman turned around, Mariel was shocked speechless for a moment and blinked her eyes to make sure they were not playing tricks on her like they did with the black fox. “Dale?”

The barkeeper looked toward the young woman who had spoken her name and a grin split her face revealing yellowed teeth.

“What are you doing here?” Mariel asked.

Sadness clouded Dale’s features. “Me own tavern be burned out. Me cousin’s friend, he own this ‘un and he let me come work.” She paused and smiled again. “Now you knows I be right.”

“About what?”

“Don’t you remember the last time you come see me? You be wantin’ ta know ‘bout the heir. I say it be a girl and you say no. Now look who be right.”

Before Mariel could come up with a good reply, a man grabbed her, but only managed to catch hold of her cloak. “Come spend a night wit me, me flower,” the man’s words were slurred from too much drink.

Mariel shoved him away from her in disgust. He crashed to the floor, while those nearby laughed at him.

“Never thought you wore what you stole,” Dale said pointedly, indicating the elegant blue dress that had been revealed when the drunk pulled on the princess’s cloak.

Unwilling to tell Dale who she really was, Mariel leaned close. “It’s for a special mission.”

Dale jerked her head to the side and Mariel followed her gaze to the corner where Cara and Hallie sat waiting for her. “Who be them?”

“Helpers. I won’t have them bothered.” Mariel pierced Dale with her unique eyes to reinforce the order.

“A fancy dress and hangin’ out with uppity girls? You ain’t be spyin’ on the princess is you?”

Mariel thought it interesting that everyone thought she either knew the princess from interactions with the Resistance or was spying on her, no one seemed capable of considering that she
was
the princess. Of course not, the idea was too preposterous. Even Mariel had a hard time believing it sometimes.

“It’s not your business.”

Dale backed off. “Course it ain’t.” She started to pull out empty tankards. “Three?”

“One.”

The tavern woman shot a glance at the corner of the room. “Your ‘helpers’ too good for our lowly ale?”

Mariel felt defensive of her friends. “No, I just don’t want to get them drunk.”

Dale shrugged and filled up a tankard with ale while Mariel pulled two coppers out of her reticule. The burly woman set the ale on the counter and took the money, but as Mariel reached out to grab the drink Dale grabbed her wrist. Instinct took over and Mariel slammed the woman’s wrist on the counter. Dale let go.

“Don’ have to be so quick to think I mean harm,” Dale said, rubbing her wrist.

Mariel did not feel guilty. Her distrust was what had kept her alive for so many years, Dale knew this. Besides, the burly woman had faced far worse than a small bang on the wrist. It probably had not even hurt.

“I be havin’ info for you. But I ken see you don’t want ta be hearin’ it.”

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes or shake the information out of Dale’s thick skull, Mariel waited patiently.

“You want ta be knowin’ who try killin’ the princess?”

Mariel stiffened and stared at Dale who now had her complete and undivided attention. “I’m listening.”

“You know o’ them monsters that live in them woods south o’ Natric?”

Mariel nodded, not liking the way Dale referred to zreshlans as monsters, but she also knew that any human who accidently found a way to cross into Parloipae was killed instantly. The stories that no one survived who entered the woods were usually enough to scare people away from trying to cross the border, which meant more people lived.

“Yes.”

“I be hearin’ some pretty strange talk, ‘bout one monster with striped skin that been wanderin’ the kingdom.”

Mariel was surprised to hear this. On occasion, zreshlans did leave Parloipae, but most hated humans so much that they refused to have any interaction. However, the zreshlans of Ambras Añue had a kinder view on humans since they had taken Mariel in. Anoria had developed a fascination with the single-skin-toned race, and she would be the one most likely to enter human lands. But if she had, she would have gone in disguise like other zreshlans did when they dared to leave their homeland.

“So you think that just because there are reports of a zreshlan wandering Natric, it must have attacked the princess?” Mariel asked dubiously.

Dale shook her head violently and leaned close to Mariel. “They be sayin’ this ‘un be
eatin’
people!”

The creepy sensation of spiders crawling up her arms made Mariel want to shiver and brush away the phantoms, but she resisted. As if on cue, her left arm throbbed painfully and she remembered Dreyfuss telling her that a chunk of her flesh had been bitten out. Fear began to overtake her, robbing her of all senses, until she got a grip of herself and started laughing.

“A zreshlan that eats people? That’s stretching the legends.”

“It be the truth! I heard that a man missing near Pribum round the same time as the ‘ssassination attempt. His body found a week after he gone and it be half eaten!”

“You’ve lived in a city too long. Wild animals eat people and carcasses. People don’t.”

“But zreshlans ain’t people.”

“They’re people,” Mariel snapped. “They just aren’t human. Don’t go spreading that stupid rumor around anymore.”

Mariel grabbed the tankard of ale and shoved her way through the crowd until she reached Hallie and Cara. Three men were being a little too friendly with them.

“Leave them alone,” Mariel barked.

One look at her flashing eyes and the men backed off without question. Mariel angled her chair so that she could observe the other people in the tavern and took a large swig of ale before setting the tankard on the table in front of her. She relished the burning in her throat as the alcohol slid down. When she glanced up at her friends, it was to find them both staring at her with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

“What?” she demanded. Cara flinched at her harsh tone and looked down at her hands. Mariel regretted her outburst. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I’m not angry at you.”

“How did you do that?” Hallie asked, admiration coloring her tone.

“Do what? Drink that much ale in one swig?”

“No, you made those horrible men leave with just a few words. We’ve been trying to get rid of them for a while.”

“You know that I come from a shady background. I had to learn to defend and protect myself, especially from men like those creeps.”

Mariel was suspicious that they had recognized her. Eyes like hers were uncommon, and the legend of Quickwit was infamous in this City.

“I don’t think I could ever be like that,” Cara said mournfully.

“Of course you can! You’re already learning some self-defense. You just need to gain some more confidence.”

Cara’s eyes glowed with hope and uncertainty. “You really think so?”

“You’re brave enough to try some ale, aren’t you?” Mariel pushed the tankard toward her.

The girl looked at it warily and picked up the hefty mug as though it might break at any moment. Closing her eyes she lifted the tankard to her lips and took a dainty sip. Her eyes flew open and she choked in surprise.

Mariel laughed. “That’s it, Cara! The first is the worst. Try another sip.”

Cara bravely took another drink and then started giggling, her eyes alight with the forbidden act.

“Me next!” Hallie cried grabbing the tankard and taking a large swig like Mariel had. It was too much and she gagged and spluttered.

Giggling and rooting each other on, the three girls passed the tankard of ale around. Cara and Hallie forgot that they sat in a tavern surrounded by uproarious folk they normally would never have been allowed near. Mariel sought to find that same forgetfulness, and she allowed herself to have fun with her friends, but she remained cautious, ever aware of those in the tavern.

When someone started singing, Mariel joined in wholeheartedly and the other two girls quickly picked up on the repeating lines. The addition of their musical voices brought shouts of delight from the other patrons. Some people started dancing as the tavern folk launched into another song. One small man dragged Hallie from her seat and swung her around the room, even though she was larger than him.