my boot to extract it. Sharp and serrated. It would do if I had to protect myself.
Alex had his head resting on his forelegs, his eyes still watching me move back and forth. I wished he could at least talk. Then we could exchange ideas and try to figure out what to do. Maybe if I got Martock on his own and grilled him with questions, he’d let me in on the secret of this place. They obviously wanted Marianne, but their desire for her felt misplaced. Like they wanted her for all the wrong reasons. If she was a descendent of the House of Red, shouldn’t she be here to rule? Or at the very least, rule in the future? I looked to Alex.
“What do you think?”
Suddenly his head rose and he faced the door. I was about to ask, “What?” but kept quiet and listened instead.
Soft footsteps down the hall. Men whispering.
I pointed at the window. Thank God we had a room on the first floor. Alex leaped to his feet as I threw open the latch. He nudged open the glass, and I ruffled up the bed, throwing pillows under it to look like a body. With a few sharp pokes at the fire, I scattered the logs enough to darken the room, snatched up Wolf’s coat, and then turned and jumped out the window, landing on a flower bed a few feet below and scuttling around to hide under the slight ledge where the shadows were darkest.
I couldn’t see where Alex had run to in the dark, but had the feeling he wasn’t far away. I held the knife ready. If anyone followed us out the window, I’d bury it in his back. In the room, the door latch clinked open and two or more men came into the room. They stepped lightly on the stone, whispering to one another. Fabric rustled. Wood creaked from time to time.
“What are we looking for?” someone muttered. He received an unintelligible answer.
“You don’t really think she’d leave something that important hidden in here, do you?”
More responses I couldn’t discern. Who was in there? I longed to peek over the ledge and through the window, but that might be a mistake. Did they really believe that I was in the bed asleep?
“Where d’you suppose she is?” one of them asked as if to answer my silent question.
“Wandering around, likely,” answered another. “And looks like her beast was let outside. Doesn’t matter.”
I frowned. They thought I might be wandering around the castle and they didn’t care? Hell, in that case maybe I should have. Then I’d find the armory and swipe a few more weapons.
After a few more minutes, they left. I waited a little longer before swinging myself over the windowsill back into the room. I stalked around, knife at the ready, but the men were gone, the door shut behind them. The room, for all their searching, looked untouched. I quickly revived the fire and examined the place more thoroughly. They’d moved around the items sitting on the table and dresser, but replaced everything as neatly as possible. The clothing in the drawers wasn’t as tidy as before. I was surprised to see a pair of black pants sitting in one of the drawers. Apparently Martock had made good on his word and must have had them delivered during dinner. The bed was a little mussed, as though they’d looked under it if only to see if I were there. I stood there, hands on my hips. Obviously they didn’t want me. Did they guess Marianne was an object? Maybe they thought that if Alex were a stag, Marianne was something else, something I could hide.
Well, she was. But were they really stupid enough to think I wouldn’t keep her on my person? One of them hadn’t at least.
The clack of Alex’s hooves alerted me to his presence. I looked at him over my shoulder.
“We’re sleeping in shifts tonight.”
Chapter 22
Sleeping four hours apiece proved unnecessary, but I didn’t want to take any chances. I wished fervently that I could spend just one night in the luxurious bed without being woken by Alex’s cold deer nose on my shoulder or face.
I faced myself in the mirror the next morning. Dark circles under my eyes revealed my exhaustion. I scowled. At least they made me look meaner when I did that.
I donned the black pants and then pondered what to wear above the waist. The dresser didn’t contain any shirts; just