Strike at Midnight(40)

My words had stung. I could tell that much from the hurt expression on his face. And I would have given anything at that moment to take the words back. He didn’t deserve such judgment from me.

“I’m sorry,” he said so quietly that I wouldn’t have heard him if he hadn’t been looking at me. “It is my father and the Royal Court who usually tend to such matters of the kingdom. I don’t have much of an insight to what goes on in the city.”

“Well,” I said, not knowing what else to do aside from getting back upon my high horse. “You should.”

“You’re right,” he said, turning my head back to face him when I turned away. “And you’re a very kind woman to care about others. A kind, strong, and fascinating woman. You have me entranced.”

He went to kiss me again and my head spiraled with panic. My lips were traitorous bastards, however, and they seemed to pulse with the knowledge of what would come.

Thankfully, Marcel and Sir Raymond chose that very point to come back through the doors, and the prince quickly dropped his hand from my face. I was grateful for the reprieve. Until I saw Melody behind them helping with the drinks.

“I won’t stay long,” she said, and I glared at her. She was coming to have a nose so she could punish me with questions later. “I’m just helping with the beverages.” She swapped my empty glass for another whiskey and gave Prince Andrew the same.

“Thank you,” he said, graciously nodding his head. But nothing else. What the hell?

Every man looked at Melody like they wanted to eat her up, even before she started singing. She was easy on the eye—even I had to admit—and she usually sent them into a drooling oblivion. But not the prince. Oh no. His attention was back on me as he subtly shuffled even closer. I subtly shuffled away.

“Your Highness,” Melody said, pulling off a perfect curtsey. That girl was made for royalty. I wasn’t.

She gave me a look and waggled her eyebrows before leaving us all to it, and I knew then I needed to go into hiding. She was going to nag my ass so bad over this.

The second whiskey went down my throat and this time, I coughed. I never coughed with alcohol. Even that was turning against me. Prince Andrew gently tapped me on the back as I coughed it out, and I swear it was his influence on me. The guy was like a curse.

“Thanks,” I croaked out, then I looked at the others. “Where were we?”

“What did you find out from your friend, my dear?” Sir Raymond asked, and I fell into the comfortable chatter of talking business.

“Rapunzel managed to confirm a few things around the duke having no siblings recorded, and that he was very good at looking after the lands, even from such an early age. She confirmed the same information I got from his staff, about the regular driver having taken ill on the night the duke disappeared for two weeks. The driver said he thought he may have eaten something off, and then the housekeeper confirmed that they had sent out a new staff member to drive for him. A young guy called Billy. The guy didn’t turn up for work again after that.”

“That is no coincidence,” Sir Raymond said, and I felt like saying “no shit,” but I didn’t.

“I managed to get a description of the guy: a bit taller than me, black hair just above his shoulders, and sun-tinted skin. He had a scar on his hand in the shape of an X. Did you see anyone of that description when you visited?” I asked Sir Raymond, and he shook his head. Well, it had been a long shot. The guy hadn’t been there long when he offered to replace the usual driver for the night. “I’ve given one of my contacts down by the docks a description. Maybe he will come up with something.”

“It’s a good job you headed down there tonight,” Marcel said. “If you hadn’t—”

“The prince would have been kidnapped,” I finished for him, and the guilt hit my gut. If it hadn’t been for me, Prince Andrew wouldn’t have been stupid enough to try and find me. Not only that—anyone could have offered up the money to become the prince and gain a lot of influential power over the king. It had been a close call.

“I am extremely grateful you went down there,” Prince Andrew said as he looked at me with worship. “Who knows what would have happened if they had taken me?”

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach and I gave them an internal lecture to keep the flapping to a minimum.

“You would have been imprisoned or killed, and the kingdom would have had an imposter ruling them,” I said, turning on him. “Now do you see how serious this is? How close you came to being hurt? Or killed? Or replaced? You’ve risked a lot on the premise of returning a shoe to a woman you don’t even know. In Lower City, no less.”

He put a hand on my arm and gave me a gentle smile this time. “I’m sorry for making you worry,” he said. “It was a stupid thing to do.”

I knew he was grateful that I was showing him so much concern. It was written all over his damn face. But how could I shout back at that? I couldn’t, so I dragged my eyes away from him and looked at the other two.

Marcel was looking at me with his mouth agape, and Sir Raymond was struggling to hide a smile of his own. What now?

“The point is,” I snapped, “it didn’t happen. And it may have given us the lead we were hoping for.”

“What do you propose we do next?” Sir Raymond asked, and I rolled my eyes.