10. Ratter

RATTER

S ince I met my mom and dads, our family’s Solstice celebrations had been some of the happiest days of my life. Sure, I’d celebrated with the crew for a few years before then, but we’d been street rats together. It hadn’t ever been like the sumptuous Solstice feasts Haven threw, with gifts for everyone, fires with Solstice branches burning alongside the great logs, and individual cakes with all our names in icing and tiny trinkets baked inside two of them, a tiara and a crown. This year, Toby got the crown and Peony the tiara, and between the two of them, they had the rest of us hopping to do their bidding all night.

It was wonderful, except for the crying. And it wasn’t a baby for a change.

Graham’s eyes met mine from across the table, and we both smiled. Haven had drunk a tiny bit too much apple brandy, and was curled up on the chair with me, crying onto my shoulder so much I was pretty sure it was going to have a salt stain when it dried.

“I can’t believe you’re all grown up,” she blubbered. I patted her golden hair, breathing in a lungful of her cinnamon scent, which had a burned edge to it now, as it always did when she was sad or scared. “Grown, and going to Verdan all alone?—”

“I’m going with the trade delegation. I won’t be alone.”

“—and lonely, without your mother or anyone to talk to.”

I fought a smile. “I’ll have people to talk to.” Not that I needed that. I was fine keeping to myself. It was safer.

“Are you packed, though? You’re leaving too early. You might forget something.”

“You helped me pack. My trunk is sitting out in the training yard.” I eyed the bottle of brandy. I was starting to feel like I might need some myself.

“But what if you need different clothes? The weather there…”

“They have clothing shops in Verdan. I’m going to be working with textile suppliers at first, anyway.”

“But who knows where you’ll end up? Verdan’s better now that Vali got rid of the old king, but it’s so far away, and they’re not nearly as forward thinking as we are in Rimholt about women’s education and—oh, Goddess. I never even spoke to you about the herbs you might need for”—she waved at her stomach—“avoiding motherhood.”

I cringed. I wasn’t going to talk to her about that in front of half the family, and I didn’t need the information. “I promise I have everything I need to avoid that in my cloak.” It was true. I had enough fast-acting poisons to kill any man who thought about sticking his dick in me before he could even get hard.

That wasn’t what she meant, of course. But I wasn’t going to need the herbs she was referring to, though I had some in my bags. Queen Vali and I had talked about herbal remedies to suppress fertility cycles years ago, since I’d needed to find them for my hidden Omegas. I’d given most of them to Winna and the others, and I’d made sure Verity knew the queen would find us more when they needed them.

I’d known since I was seven that there were herbal remedies and vinegar tinctures for Beta women to avoid conception. The brothel workers who’d been my friends had shared their knowledge easily, and Haven had told me a few more things a while back. But neither Queen Vali, Haven, nor Aunt Cilla had mentioned ones that worked on Omegas.

Discreetly, I sniffed my armpit. I didn’t pick up any mint now. As long as I stayed away from Alphas—at least ones who might trigger lusty thoughts—I’d be safe. And if any came close who looked too good? Well, they probably wouldn’t look so good six feet under the ground. Or being eaten by carnivorous cattle.

I laughed quietly, which set Haven back to crying for some reason. “You’re being so b-brave.”

Rand sighed as he came back into the room from putting the baby to bed. “Come on, love. You know our daughter is a capable, strong, clear-headed assassin—I mean, young woman.” We exchanged grins while Haven grumbled something about even assassins needing a mother around. He plucked her off me, and she cuddled into him. “It’s not her you need to worry about. It’s the rest of the world.”

Over her shoulder, I mouthed Is she pregnant again? I didn’t think so, since my dads were pretty careful not to serve her brandy during those months.

Before he could reply, someone pounded on the door. “Open in the name of the king!”

What was going on? Rand moved fast, whisking Haven out of the room. I had a knife in my hand and another tucked up my sleeve before Niko managed to get the door open. I noted that my crew had immediately snapped to their stations, guarding the doorways to the bedrooms and the front hall. Peony and Augusta were nowhere to be seen, but I knew they were upstairs, securing the little ones and Haven.

Only Robert was out, as he had been all day, guarding the… Oh shit. The royal tots.

The king’s guards burst through the door, with Robert right behind him. “Ratter, where’s Dash?” he panted.

“What’s wrong?” I raced to his side, though one of the guards foolishly tried to place himself between me and my crew member. Without a second of hesitation, I had the guard on the ground and wheezing, a tiny trickle of blood coming out of one ear. I held him down easily as I examined Robert for injuries. “You’re hurt?”

“I fell, coming off the wall. Apparently, Dash told his parents he was tired and went to bed early. I saw what I thought was him in his bedroom when I came on shift, but it was just a?—”

“Pile of pillows,” I said, and began cursing. The guard cursed, too, so I smacked his head on the ground to shut him up. “Get the crew out on the town. Have them alert the rest of our street rats. Do we have any idea where he might be? Could someone have taken him?”

“Anyone who wants a ransom,” one of the guards muttered. I held a hand out to the one I’d incapacitated. He sneered at it and got up without help.

“How did they discover him missing?” Rand demanded as he entered the room, buckling on his sword.

“Captain.” Both guards saluted. The smarter one snapped out, “There was a theft in the castle, discovered only this afternoon. One of the Mirrenese contingent attacked the prince in the Great Hall. He was fine but went to bed early, claiming exhaustion. Later on, one of the Mirrenese children said he had a Solstice gift for the prince. He was allowed to place it inside the door. When they opened it, he ran past the guards, and stabbed the prince’s bed with a knife.”

“Two attacks on the boy in one day,” a voice I hadn’t expected to hear again said from the door. “They both claimed they were retaliating for the killing of their kin… by taking the life of your boyfriend, I believe it was.”

Rand allowed Serak into the room. He glided straight to me, his eyes taking in every detail around him in an initial sweep. He bowed slightly to Graham and Rand, then stopped beside me. I glanced at his shoulder. He had a slight lump underneath his shirt, probably a bandage over the stab wound. I didn’t have time to care about that now, though.

“My boyfriend?”

His face was set in stern lines. “Yes. The crown prince himself. He’s told everyone at the castle about his love, and her departure. A little young for a woman your age, don’t you think?” I was tempted to stab him again for joking at a time like this, but his concern was evident. “The man is in Vilkurn’s hands. In fact, every one of the Mirrenese contingent, with the exception of your aunt and her three mates, has been contained in locked rooms, their bags being loaded onto wagons.”

But not Serak? I let it go. “Who was the boy?”

“Junel, a seven-year-old idiot princeling of Mirren. He’s been placed in the dungeon for now.”

“The dungeon?” Verity gasped.

Fire burned in his dark eyes. “He tried to kill the prince. Would have, if the boy hadn’t already been gone. A night in chains will help him see the error of his ways. They won’t kill him, but he’ll be sent back in disgrace.” He muttered, “In Pict, he’d feed the maw.”

I didn’t know what he meant, but it sounded severe. I held a fist to my stomach, guilt swirling so fast I thought I might vomit. “This is my fault. Vilkurn was right. I’m a liability. I killed the boy’s cousin, and should’ve known he’d do something to get revenge. The Mirrenese are obsessed with it.”

“That’s true,” Serak said, and my stomach lurched again. “Not the part about it being your fault. But if the royalty in Mirren have a crippling flaw, it’s their insistence on vengeance. It could be why their ladies bear so many princelings. They need heirs, and many spares, since they encourage them to throw their lives away over petty squabbles.”

“Why aren’t you locked away as well?” Rand asked, suspicion in his tone. “You came here with them.”

“General Vilkurn sent him here, Captain,” one of the guards replied before Serak could speak. “He’s been cleared. Though once the prince is located, all guests are to return to their countries of origin immediately.”

The thought of Serak leaving bothered me more than it should have, but nothing could hurt more than the knowledge that I’d been the reason Dash had been attacked. “I have to go find the prince.”

“I’ll help,” Serak said, falling in behind me alongside Robert as we ran out the door.

We combed the city, reports coming in from my network of spies as I moved from one neighborhood to another. Serak pretended not to notice the whistles and hoots that came from windows and darkened alleys as we ran past, or the flashes of light that sparked from rooftops.

We searched for hours, my panic increasing by the second. I’d sworn to keep the queen’s children safe, and I’d killed assassins and would-be abductors from all over the continent, but I’d always imagined it would be one of the girls who might be taken. They were the ones everyone thought might grow into Omegas.

Omegas… Something made me look to the southern end of the city, to the river. A series of flashes from that direction must have been what had caught my eye, and now had my blood going cold. I shouted across the rooftop to Serak. “I have to go.”

“The prince?” he called back.

“No. But… an emergency.”

It was too dark to see his expression, but I was sure it was incredulous. There was only one call I would answer right now, though.

Grabbing hold of a scrap of leather at the end of the building, I flung myself off the roof, holding the leather strip at both ends after it was looped on one of the reinforced “clotheslines” my crew had installed across the city for travel. I zipped through the air, using lines, gutters, and then my own feet to run to the new safe house.

Winna stood at the top of the glass factory, hanging out the window, the mirror in her hand. I climbed the gutter, careful to place my feet and hands where it was safe, and whispered, “What’s wrong?”

In her panic, her rose scent had grown harsh and cloying. “Gertie’s gone.”

“Taken?”

She shook her head. “I think she snuck out. She left her bunny’s blanket at the old place. She was crying for it, and I told her we’d try to get it back, but they’re demolishing the place tomorrow.”

“Got it,” I murmured. “Listen, I’m looking for Prince Dashiell. If you happen to see a boy wandering?—”

“Goddess save him,” she whispered. “I’ll go… I’ll go find Gertie. You find the prince.”

“You’ll do no such thing. Stay here; keep the others safe. I’ll find them both.” I was gone before she could answer, on my way back to the old building.

It was obvious that whoever was planning to tear it down had already started the job on Solstice Eve. The side door was blocked by a cart already filled with rotten wood, so I circled around. The front door the women had never used had been removed, along with the strips of wood that might have some value, possibly as kindling.

I stepped through the open doorway and peered around. They’d done some work in here, too, and the air smelled of rock dust and old mortar. I couldn’t see well enough to know if they’d taken all the usable bricks away, but it smelled like it. As I stepped on the floors, my foot went through a board, and I cursed quietly. There was a basement here, one we’d never used. It had given off a nice, pervasive stench of mold and dank earth for camouflage, and I’d made sure the floorboards I installed above the old ones had been newer and solid. But if they’d scavenged those, and left rotten wood atop the supports, there was no telling where it was safe to step. Possibly nowhere.

I heard something that sounded like a mouse scurrying. Or maybe… “They always want us in cages,” I called out softly.

There was no answer but a small sob.

“Gertie?”

I stepped again, reaching into my cloak for the tiny flint I kept in one of the inner pockets, knowing I needed to light a torch if I was to find anyone in here, when the board beneath my foot gave out. I fell through the floor, catching myself at the very last second on one of the broken boards, my feet dangling into the basement. I’d just realized how well and truly fucked I was, when the deep voice I’d almost come to expect behind me, interrupted my panic.

“Need a hand?”

“Serak?” He stood in the doorway, his silhouette illuminated by the dim light from outside. “No, don’t!” I called out when he almost stepped forward.

He seemed to understand the problem, as he backed away. “I’ll be back.”

“Ratter?” A small voice came from below, one I knew well.

“Dash?”

“Yeah. I’m… I’m stuck.”

“What happened?”

The words rushed out of him in one long stream, like a dam had broken. “I was coming to your house to say goodbye, but some men saw me with your Solstice gift. They tried to take it, and there were too many to fight, so I ran. I got lost. When I saw this place, I remembered it, and I was only going to hide just inside the door… but there was a little girl here, all alone, crying.” He let out a hiccupping sob. “She was down here, and when I tried to help, I fell next to her. She’s hurt, Ratter. I don’t know how bad.”

My blood turned to ice. I took a breath to call Serak back, when the board that had been holding me cracked again.