myself with anything of his. It’s worth more than you’re offering. A lot more. Maybe I can watch him swing too. Worth more than money to me.” He marveled about how easy the lie came and tried not to think how little of a lie it really was.
The sergeant nodded, the sage movement of a man who’s seen a lot and has little left to surprise him when it came to people. “Women, eh? Always take the bastard over the real man. Doesn’t surprise me. All right. I dare say Rillen might want to hear you out at least. Never know what goes through that snake’s mind. Four guards with you though, and don’t try anything stupid. They’re all good shots. You leave your pistol and sword here. I’ll take good care of them.”
Holden opened his mouth to say more, but Tallia gripped his wrist and shook her head. He shut up—subterfuge and subtlety were new to him. As a Remorian commander he’d just asked for what he wanted, grabbed it and not worried overmuch about anything else, any repercussions. There had been few enough with the will or nerve to complain to the Master. Now repercussions seemed to lay about at every turn, ready to trip him, traps he needed to beware of. Traps that Tallia, betrayer or not, liar or not, doubtless knew better than he did.
The guards led them down the dark tunnel, lit only by lanterns at long intervals. Every few hundred paces, another gate blocked the way, flanked by more guards. Finally the tunnel began to go up and, after a final gate with guards in smarter uniform—palace guards, Tallia whispered, rather than watchmen—the roof opened out into a larger chamber. Some sort of barracks-cum-guardroom, from the ranks of beds coupled with racks of swords and pistols. Men lay on their bunks, others were smartening up their uniforms, more came in, flushed from heat and effort. One man seemed in charge, a bossy sergeant type with a large, officious-looking moustache who stood shouting red-faced orders.
One of their guards went to speak with him and he came over, looking Holden over thoughtfully. “Rillen is busy.”
Tallia shuffled under his gimlet gaze. “I’ve got something for him. Please, we’ll wait.”
With a snort of disdain, the man nodded at their guards. “Take them to Rillen’s office. They can wait there. You wait with them.”
The guards ushered them out into a wide corridor where their footsteps echoed on marble floors. The sound of many people enjoying themselves drifted toward them—the tinkle of glasses, genteel laughter, a general murmur of voices. A wide doorway to their left seemed their destination. As they approached, two figures came round a far corner. Rillen, dressed in a blue silk tunic, his eyes on his companion as he kissed her hand.
Holden’s stomach felt as though it dropped to his feet. The fine dress in pale green silk, the sweep of chestnut hair, the wide eyes looking up at Rillen as she flirted with him.
“Ilsa?”
* * *
Van Gast helped Josie off the floor, a bit wary because she was angry enough to burst. She muttered under her breath, curses and threats against Rillen, against whoever had betrayed her, them. Finally she took a deep breath and looked up at Van Gast with a rueful twist of her lips.
“Josie love, I know I’m irresistible, but this is a heck of a way to get some time alone.”
There, she did it again, went from spitting-blood angry to laughing in the space of a heartbeat. Vicious, capricious and never quite in his grasp. Softer now as her laugh faded, the softness only he saw and with it, underneath, a raw dread that ached his heart.
He wanted to reach out, kiss it all away, lose himself in her and let her lose herself in him. Slowly, slowly. Mind, at least she can’t get away from you in here. There was always a bright side if you looked hard enough. He moved closer, so they almost touched and he could feel her breath on him.
He edged still closer, a hand on her neck, soft as clouds. She didn’t pull away. A long kiss, to steal her breath, steal her heart if he could. Van Gast wasn’t much for planning, or twisting, but he could steal like a god.
He pulled away at last. “If it’s dying you’re after, I can think of a couple of ways we could try. Be a good way to go, too. First we need to be naked