Strike at Midnight(25)

“Fine,” he said, moving off towards the kitchens.

“Now who is like your puppy?” Melody asked, and I glared at her.

“It covers your portion of the rent too, so consider your favor paid for trying to get the slipper back.”

“Well, that’s very sweet. But I’ve already paid him my half for the month. It was due a week ago.”

“Then I’ll cover one month for you so we’re even,” I said, and my stomach rumbled. “Maybe I should just offer you up as a reward for my slipper. The first guy to steal it gets to take you home, like forever.”

“You would miss me too much,” she said before grabbing my head to drop a kiss on it. She walked away before I could bat off her arm, and I leaned my head on the bar.

Someone coughed from behind me as if they were clearing their throat to get my attention, and I reluctantly lifted my head to see Rem standing there. He was nervously twirling his cap in his hands.

“Hey kid,” I said, and he gave me a little smile. It warmed even my cold heart that he had reserved such an action for me.

“Marcel said I can’t stay out here long while there are customers, but I just wanted to let you know what I heard.”

“And what was that?”

“I managed to get into the Stables Gala, and there was a lot of talk about an imposter being arrested. And the duke.”

It looked like the weekly journals had finally caught wind of the arrest.

“Anything else?”

“A lot of people were saying that they knew something was up with him, but they didn’t look like they had known. I think they were just showing off.”

“Most likely,” I said, feeling sorry for the kid for having to spend a morning around those pretentious assholes.

“The one thing a lot of them were talking about, though,” he continued, “was the prince. A lot of the men were jealous because all the ladies could talk about was how the prince had met a woman at the ball, and he was obsessed with her. They all reckon she was a princess or a lady of the court because the ladies are upset about the rumors of a marriage proposal.”

“Marriage proposal?” I asked, not remembering anything like that happening while I had been there. I hadn’t even seen the prince arrive. But he could have come by later when I had been forced to chase down the imposter duke.

“They also spoke of a glass slipper, and why the castle would be so concerned about returning it. But it’s got all the ladies in a tizzy, the men were saying. A lot of ladies are now planning to go to the castle and claim it’s theirs, just to see the prince.”

“Idiots,” I muttered under my breath, and then wondered how any of this was supposed to help. “Nothing else about the duke?”

“No,” he replied with a shake of his head. “Just that they all reckoned something was up, and that they couldn’t believe a wolf in sheep’s clothing had made its way into their circles. They were all talking about themselves and how much danger they had been in from him. Bit stupid, really.”

“Sounds about right.” And the disappointment rolled through me. I needed more of a lead than a boy called Billy with a scarred X on his hand, but I supposed beggars couldn’t be choosers. “Thanks, kid.”

“Anything else I can do for you?”

“Not right now, but I’ll let you know.”

He nodded and went to move away, but I couldn’t help but stop him when I sensed his disappointment. His face flickered with different reactions at my touch, and I dropped my hand.

“Sorry, kid. I just wanted to let you know that I started tracking in the forest today. I covered quite a bit of ground to see if there were any clues regarding your brother.”

“Anything?” he asked, and I could hear the hope in his voice.

“Nothing.” His face fell. “But that’s a good thing. It means it’s most likely nothing bad happened to him while out hunting.”

“Thanks,” he said, and I could have sworn I saw tears.

“You’re welcome. I’ll keep looking.”

He nodded again and walked away, disappearing off behind the bar. Crap. I shouldn’t have told him. But he needed to know that I had done something. It wasn’t about not getting his hopes up anymore; it was about making him feel valued. I guess I needed him to know that we weren’t out to take advantage of him.

An image of the disappointment on his face reflected back in my head and the guilt amplified. This was why I chose not to get close to people outside of my small circle. It was too inconvenient.

“Good day, Rella,” a voice came from behind me with the noises of the outside as the door to the inn opened. It closed again and I turned in my seat to see Sir Raymond enter. “I have that list for you.”

“Thank you, Sir Raymond,” I said, and he came over and sat next to me.

“I’ve done my best with the list, but it’s not long, I’m afraid.” He handed me a piece of parchment.

“It’s a starting point,” I said as I took it from him and glanced down at the names. Not that they meant a thing to me. “I also need to know who would have hosted the most balls recently. Would you be able to help with that?”

“Oh, but of course,” he said jovially, and his eyes flickered to the wine bottles that were on the back of the bar. Marcel still hadn’t returned with my food.