Two-Faced (Assassin at Court Series Book 1) Read online

  A knock at the door interrupted our conversation. A second later, Abda entered the room. “Excuse me, Lady Alastair. The Queen summons you to her sitting rooms.”

  “Skyler, I swear you have all the luck,” Emily squealed.

  Ha! She was welcomed to go in my place. A private conversation with the Queen was the last thing I wanted to do. I would rather walk into a pit of vipers than into Her Majesty’s sitting rooms. Though both places were probably equally venomous.

  Chapter 14

  “Sit, Lady Alastair,” the Queen commanded. I obliged. She kept standing. Of course, she did. She was the type of woman who needed to lord her superiority over everyone around her. “Where did you come from, Lady Alastair?”

  The blunt question took me by surprise. It hit way too close to the truth. I carefully schooled my features into a blank mask. “I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but I am not sure what you mean?”

  The Queen’s look made it clear she was not buying what I was selling, but she would indulge me anyway. “When my son came of marriage age a year ago, I had a list drafted and delivered to me of every young lady within the Noble Houses that were of age or would be coming of age soon. The House of Alastair was absent from that list.”

  I allowed an edge of bitterness to color my voice. “My branch of the family is a distant relation. We became even more estranged after my father married my mother, a common girl. I am the only girl of age of the House of Alastair, but I am not surprised my name did not show up on your list. The Alastairs like to pretend we do not exist.”

  “Do they now?”

  I moved to say something more to convince her, but she held up her hand to silence me. “It matters not. My son appears to have taken a liking to you and insists you remain in the competition. However, we both know why you are really here so let us cut to the point. You leave without a word to my son and I will see to it that you do so much wealthier than when you arrived.”

  “With all due respect, Your Majesty, you have no idea why I am here. I may be a lesser noble, but I do have my dignity and it cannot be bought.” My voice came out sharper than intended.

  The Queen’s face contorted in disbelief at my audaciousness. “You will not win this competition and you certainly will not marry the Prince. Even if you are who you claim to be, a lesser noble will never be good enough to stand beside the Heir of the House of Roth. So how about you sleep on my offer. Be smart, Lady Alastair, or I may be forced to take more extreme measures.” Her tone was haughty and grandiose and meant to make me feel all of three feet tall.

  She should have saved her breath. I lived my entire life as a Common Person. I was used to nobles looking down their noses at me. One of the few things I actually enjoyed about being a part of the Assassin’s Guild was the elevated status and sense of empowerment that came with it. Even those people who did not know me as an assassin afforded me a wide berth and respect. In Anthame money was status, and I spent more than enough of it to not be treated like a part of the Common People.

  The Queen dismissed me after insulting then threatening me. I returned to my room to find it free of my roommate. I sent a silent thanks up to whatever god was listening. I liked her, but I could not deal with her and the dozens of questions she would have. A glint of something sparkly caught my eye. A large box wrapped in an oversized shiny silver bow sat on my bed. I cautiously approached it, halfway expecting it to explode. I shook off the absurd vision my overactive imagination conjured up. I was in the High Palace. It was probably the most secure place in the kingdom. It’s not that secure if they let an assassin slip through the door unnoticed, my lovely subconscious reminded me. Shove it! I told it. I slid the bow off the box and lifted its lid. A beautiful bouquet of long-stemmed white roses lay delicately inside with a note attached. Slightly bewildered I picked it up. The only notes I was used to receiving were the kind that came with directions to kill. It read:

  Have breakfast with me again tomorrow? Same place, same time.

  ~Zander

  To my complete abhorrence I found myself clutching the note against my chest and smiling. I was turning into one of those girls.

  Chapter 15

  “Let’s play a game,” Zander proposed. He wore his mischievous look. No doubt he was up to no good.

  “What game?” I eyed him over the now clean table. A servant had just finished clearing the last of our plates away.

  “Truth or Dare.”

  “Aren’t we a little too old?”

  “It depends on how you play it.”

  I threw my hands up in mock exasperation. “I don’t even want to know what that means.”

  “Come on,” he grinned. “It will be fun. I’ll even let you go first.”

  That got me interested. There were more than a few questions I wanted to ask him. “Sure, why not? When I first met you in the hallway you didn’t you tell me you were the Prince. Why lie and pretend to be a guard?”

  “I didn’t lie,” he said offensively. “You asked for directions and I gave them to you. You never asked me who I was, and I told you my real name.”

  “You gave me a nickname. One I doubt many people are aware of. You may not have lied about who you were outright, but you knew I did not recognize you as the Prince. You purposely deceived me. I lie by omission is still a lie.” My words came out with more of an edge than I intended, but I was still a little miffed at his deception. I did not like being toyed with or tricked, and yes I recognized the irony in that.

  “I may be a boy but I understand my sister’s plight more than she thinks,” he began to explain. “Sometimes my freedoms are just as limited as hers. I grew up being told how to behave, how to speak, how to think in a manner befitting of a future king. I rebelled against it as a child, but eventually I realized it was all in vain. I am the heir of the House of Roth and nothing I do will change that. It’s maddening not to have control over your own future. I am forced to be Prince Edwin Alexander the Fifth just about every moment of my existence. When you didn’t immediately recognize me, it gave me a sliver of a moment to just be Zander.”

  “You don’t have to apologize for wanting to be yourself. I’m not royalty or anything, but I know what it’s like to be forced to play a role that is not you.” He didn’t say he was sorry, but the sentiment was there in his tone.

  “What masks are you hiding behind?”

  “I thought I was asking the questions?”

  “You were, but you had your turn. Now it’s mine?” he grinned.

  If he were not royalty, people would still fall at his feet. His dimpled smile would get him the world handed to him. I looked away from him and out at the roses blooming around us. I did not want to grow accustomed to seeing it, nor did I need images of it accessible to my memory. “So many at this point I’ve lost count,” I answered without meeting his stare.

  He reached across the table and gently took my chin within his grip. He turned my head to the right so that I looked at him once more. “Well I hope the Skyler I am getting to know is the real you. I’m growing rather fond of her.”

  If I were completely honest with myself, I was growing rather fond of him too. But it would not matter in the end. Even if I did not kill him, I would still be forced to give him up. The Queen was already suspicious of me and my charade wouldn’t hold up for long. Sooner or later I would be discovered as a fraud and the Queen would gleefully have me thrown out of the Palace. Once Zander found out, he would let her. He would think me shallow and scheming and only after his crown.

  “Dare,” Zander’s abrupt words jolted me out of my thoughts.

  “What?” I asked sounding confused.

  “Dare,” he repeated.

  “I think we’re playing the game wrong. You are supposed to ask me truth or dare and I’m supposed to pick one.” Come to think of it, we had been playing wrong from the start. I never asked him truth or dare either.

  He shrugged his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. New rules.”

  “We can’t
just change the rules.”

  “Sure we can. It’s one of the perks of being the Prince.” In that moment he looked every bit of how the heir of the House of Roth was supposed to: pompous, self-important, and all commanding. In that moment I met Prince Edwin Alexander the Fifth for the first time. Him I would have no problem killing.

  “Fine, Your Highness, but give me a minute to think of a good one.”

  He dropped the façade and returned to the relaxed, easygoing guy I had come to know. “I just went. It’s your turn. I choose dare for you.”

  “But, I’m supposed to choose for myself.” “My palace, my rules.” This time he channeled a stubborn young child. He folded his arms and stomped his foot. Teenage boys did not pout, at least not in public. I giggle at his display.

  He looked at me curiously. “So that is what I have to do to make you laugh? Act like a six year old.”

  “I laugh,” I said a little too defensively.

  He reached across the table and tucked a strand of hair that had blown astray behind my ear. The intimate contact made me shift uncomfortably in my chair. “Not nearly enough. Which is why my dare is for you to let whatever it is that causes you not to laugh as much as you should go for the rest of the day.”

  This time my laugh was cynical. “And how am I supposed to do that?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll show you.” He stood up from the table and held his hand out to me.

  I accepted it.

  Chapter 16

  “I am not getting on that thing!” I eyed the monstrosity of an animal with disdain.

  “Fine,” Zander shrugged. “If you’re too afraid we can do something else.”

  My chest puffed out on its own accord. “I am not afraid.”

  “Prove it.”

  Ugh! Me and my damn ego. “Help me up, Your Highness. But I’m warning you, if I fall and crack my skull open, my ghost will hunt you for the rest of eternity.”

  “It might be cool to be hunted by a pretty ghost,” he cheekily grinned.

  I inwardly swooned. He thought I was pretty.

  Zander held his hand out and helped me onto the mare. Despite my fear of horses, I had to admit her beautiful. She was all corded, lean muscle covered by a flawless white coat. When I settled my weight on top of her, she jerked her head in a huff.

  “See she hates me. The evil horse is going to throw me to my death.”

  Zander gently stroked her mane in an effort to calm her down. “Nah, Caris here doesn’t have a malicious bone in her body. Do you girl? She just senses your nervousness. If you calm down, so will she.”

  “Says the person not on the horse.”

  He gathered her reigns in one hand and placed the other on my leg to help keep me steady. “Come on. I’ll give you a few pointers then we can go for a ride.”

  Zander showed me the basics of riding and led me around the stable with Caris a few dozen times. The longer I spent with her, the more my fear lessened. By the time he declared I knew enough to leave the stables, I was mostly at ease with the beast. I even kept my cool when he left us alone to retrieve his own horse.

  We traveled at a brisk walk as we rode well beyond the palace grounds and into the wooded forest that bordered it. The scenery stole my breath away. The rolling hills that cut through the lush green foliage looked like they were created by an artist’s paintbrush. We rode in silence for the first part of our journey. I kept stealing glances over at Zander. I couldn’t help myself. He looked every bit a stately Prince on top of his glistening black stallion. Yet, for all his regality he was not haughty. He looked confident without being arrogant, and surprisingly down to earth. With his mesmerizing brown eyes, leanly muscled build, and heart-melting smile, he was already hot. The genuineness of his personality made him scorching. Our eyes met and I found that he was watching me too.

  “Where are we headed?” I asked to break the silence.

  He flashed his twin dimples at me. “I could tell you, but then it would spoil the surprise.”

  I wish he told me and afforded me a warning that my heart would momentarily stop and then start again. Our destination was a waterfall. Pristine, clear water rushed over the edge of a cliff in droves as the sun’s rays bounced off of the droplets, creating a rainbow of colors. Mist circled the water, adding to its ethereal beauty.

  “How did you find this place?” I asked my traveling companion in awe.

  “Jacob, the guard you saw me with, and I stumbled upon it as kids. We used to take the horses out and explore beyond the palace grounds for hours. One day, we traveled too far from the palace and got lost. We came upon this place trying to find our way back. It became our secret hideaway whenever we wanted to get away from the palace. To be honest, I haven’t been to this spot in years. I don’t have much time to ride these days.”

  “So what did you guys do out here?” I asked as he helped me dismount my horse.

  Mischief gleamed in his eyes. “We cliff dived.”

  “Oh no. Absolutely not!” I protested. “You got me on the horse, but you will not get me to jump off a cliff.”

  “Even if I go first?” he tried to persuade me.

  “How does the saying go? If your friends jumped off a cliff would you? Absolutely not!”

  We both erupted in a fit of laughter. Never in a million years would I have thought that the saying would actually literally apply.

  “So you consider us friends?” Zander asked me when we finally sobered.

  “Do you?” I hedged.

  He stepped closer to me and placed a hand at the small of my back. “I do, but I would like us to be more.” He kissed me. It was nothing like the tentative first kiss we shared in the garden. This one was both possessive and demanding. My lips burned where his touched mine, and I found myself kissing him in kind. An involuntary need for oxygen was the only thing that forced us to separate. Neither of us actually took a step back though. We stood breathing heavily without bodies pressed together. Zander curled a strand of my hair around his finger.

  “I wish we did not have to go back.”

  “Me too,” I responded breathily.

  “Aside from being the most beautiful, you’re also the most genuine girl I’ve ever met.”

  His words sent waves of guilt rippling through my belly. “Zander don’t,” I warned him.

  “Don’t what?”

  “Fall for me. I’m not worth it. Your mother is right. You’re too good for me.” I meant every word I said. He was kind, and compassionate, and upstanding. I was an assassin with rivers of blood on my hands that had come to his court to kill him. He was genuine one and I was a fraud.

  His expression turned dark. “My mother knows nothing. I love her, but she is as shallow as everyone else at court.”

  “Still,” I tried to reason with him, “If you are going to court a girl it should at least be one deserving of the honor.”

  His eyes bore into mine. “Skyler, haven’t you learned by now I am not like most High Nobles. I don’t care what House you are from, or how much money or influence your family has. You could be a common girl and I would still be falling for you.”

  I doubted it, but everything about him up until this point said he was telling the truth. Maybe if our paths had crossed two years prior things would be different. Then I was just a common girl, but now I was an assassin, one that would die by his family’s decree if my identity were ever revealed.

  “The shadows are back in your eyes.” He wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace, attempting to comfort me. “One day I would like to know what causes them so that I may permanently chase them away.”

  It was the sweetest, kindest thing anyone had every said to me. I fought back the moisture that threatened to flood my eyes.

  “Come one,” he let go of my waist and grabbed my hand. “I want to show you something. There’s a cave behind the waterfall that’s even more awesome than the waterfall itself.”

  I should have put a stop to things right then. I could have insisted
we return to the palace, then packed my things and left. There was no use even pretending like I was still going to assassinate him. But I didn’t. I made the selfish decision to stay, not only at the waterfall, but also at the palace for a little while longer. I would have to disappear eventually and leave the Guild behind when I did. I had accumulated and saved enough money to live off of for a fair amount of time. The money would not last forever and eventually I would have to figure something out. But I was not a thirteen-year-old girl anymore and it was a lot harder to take advantage of me now then it was back then. Things did not have to turn out like they did last time. It would break Zander’s heart, but he would be better off without me in his life. In time he would forget me and find someone more deserving. I on the other hand would never forget the stolen moments we spent together. I would cherish him until the end of time.

  Chapter 17

  Three days had passed since Zander’s and my first horseback ride to the waterfall. We’d had breakfast in the garden and rode there every morning since. It became sort of a ritual. We could never stay for long, but every minute was precious. In those stolen moments away from the High Palace and the watchful eyes of the court we were able to just be ourselves. Zander was not the Crowned Prince and I was not a lesser noble from a forgotten city or an assassin with an order to kill. He was simply a boy and I was simply a girl. And we were simply falling in love. I became his sun and he became my stars, cherished spots of brightness in my otherwise dark world.

  We lay on our backs in the cave gazing up at the intricate stalagmite formations hanging down. Our hands rested intertwined between us.

  “I can’t wait to see what you are going to do for this afternoon’s talent competition,” Zander said.

  He was fishing for information. The third trial of the competition was basically a talent show. According to his mother, any future Princess should have a talent. It would be part of her duty to entertain courtiers. I had been dreading the trial since it was announced two days ago. The only freaking skill I possessed was with a blade. Zander kept asking me what I was going to do and I kept telling him I wanted it to be a surprise. The trial was less than a few hours away so I decided I better come clean.