The Queen's Assassin (Queen's Secret #1) - Melissa de la Cruz Page 0,47

Luce’s ankle and twists his leg so hard that he slams to the hard-packed ground, belly-first. Cal gets to his feet; so does Luce. Both are covered in dirt from the stable floor. Cal is breathing heavily, annoyed at how winded he is; it should be easy to get rid of this snot-nosed stable boy. Then Shadow runs up, grabs Luce by the back of his shirt, and drags him away.

Luce turns to lunge at Shadow but misses.

“Go back to bed,” Cal calls to Luce. “I don’t want to have to hurt you.”

Luce laughs and turns back to Cal. “You’re gonna hang for this,” he says, then looks to his right and grabs a pitchfork from the wall. He aims it at Cal, walking toward him. “Be a shame if I impale you to the fence first, though. Deprive everyone of the public show—”

Luce is caught on the word. He rises a couple inches off the ground, feet dangling. Shadow has him by the back of his shirt. She grabbed and twisted the fabric so it’s choking him. “Should have gone back to bed,” she says. Luce drops the pitchfork and struggles to release the shirt from his neck.

Shadow walks a few feet, up to the fence, and tosses Luce over the side. There’s a squishy plop and splash as he lands in the pigsty.

Applause erupts from the loft. A row of faces is staring down at them, laughing.

“It’s not funny!” Luce yells, his voice cracking and hoarse, only making them laugh harder. He tries again: “Oy! Go get ’em!” One of the boys oinks in return. More follow, until a chorus of oinks and squeals bounces off the stable walls. They’re far more interested in the humiliation of their ringleader than the escaped prisoner—or they don’t want to end up in the pigsty alongside him.

Cal and Shadow get back on their horses. He tries to suppress a grin—he enjoyed watching her throw that kid into the slop. So this is what it’s like to be rescued. He could get used to this. He wonders what else she can do, but there’s no time. Her antics with the boy have drawn too much attention already. It won’t be long before the guards realize something is going on outside.

Cal grasps the reins and rides on after her, through the castle gates and toward the mountain trail that will lead them away from Deersia.

It’s a good thing the moon is nearly full tonight, he thinks. Or we’d never make it down the mountain. It feels as if the universe is conspiring to help them. He gives silent thanks to Deia for that.

They stay close to the inside of the trail, near denser foliage, trying to stay somewhat concealed as they approach the gate. “Even if Luce already alerted the guards, it’s dark and they’re too drunk to bother coming after us tonight. More likely they’ll put out a notice for us first thing in the morning, and by then we’ll be long gone,” Shadow says. It sounds like she’s trying to convince herself more than him.

“Don’t be so sure,” he says. He murdered the grand prince. He’s a high-profile prisoner. Valuable enough to chase no matter the time of day.

They slip through the gate without a problem. Shadow has the key ring, and there isn’t a guard in sight. But Shadow doesn’t look pleased. “What is it?” he asks her.

“I don’t know,” she answers. “Something doesn’t seem right.”

Cal shrugs. “Like you said, they’re all out by now. There’s nothing to worry about.” That’s what he says, because that’s what he hopes.

They get about half a mile down the road before discovering there is something to be worried about, after all.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Shadow

MY HEART IS BEATING SO hard in my chest, and my arm aches from tossing Luce into the pigsty. But we managed it! We escaped from Deersia! I have Caledon Holt riding beside me, and freedom is within our grasp—until we see a group of prison guards standing in the road ahead, right after the bend, as if they’ve been waiting for us.

I pull on the reins and my horse rears up, belting out a piercing neigh. Next to me I