I found Bertha reading a book in another room. I apologized for interrupting and asked if she could help me find a suitable disguise, telling her I needed a wig, praying she could help me. I knew my hair was unruly and quite difficult to tame but whatever she could do had to look believable.
“Of course, dear,” Bertha replied with a smile. “I think I have just the right thing. Come with me.”
We walked upstairs through the corridor, and she made another turn to a small set of steps. Showing me to her attic, I looked around the cramped space full of boxes and clothes, suspecting that her ladies must have used this room to dress up for their men—or clients, rather. I wasn’t judging.
Bertha began tossing clothes from the small closet near the far end of the attic, muttering something under her breath that I couldn’t quite make out. Several long minutes passed by, and clothes continued to pile on the floor behind her when finally, she threw a pair of dark trousers my way and told me to try them on. And the wig. I wasn’t quite sure what to think about it. It was hideous!
After a long hour in that stuffy room, I emerged not recognising myself. Bertha had indeed turned me into a stable boy. I couldn’t believe my eyes!
“There, that should do.” Bertha righted my wig one final time. “Go down to the bar; your companions are most likely waiting for you there. Let’s see if they recognise you.” Bertha winked at me and began walking toward the door.
I was starving, and we had to leave in two hours. Thankfully, I still had time to put a little something into my tummy. It simply wouldn’t do fighting on an empty stomach—if the opportunity arose where I could kill a Drakin, of course. God, I hoped so. At least one needed to die tonight.
I made my way down to the bar, noticing it had slowly started filling with potential clients. Eric and Tobias were standing in front of the bar, talking to one another and drinking. I counted at least five women who were entertaining other gentlemen when I glanced around. And that’s when I saw James sitting in the corner.
He was alone with a striking blond woman with enormous breasts pushed up to her ears and, they looked quite cozy, I might add. I inhaled sharply, telling myself I didn’t care that he was with someone else. Eric and Tobias glanced at me briefly, and to my complete surprise they didn’t recognise me. This plan was working out splendidly.
James laughed loudly and whispered something into the woman’s ear. A shock of jealousy rushed through my body. Why the hell did I even care? I didn’t even like him and wanted to stab him, anyway. Obviously, Eric had been right about him. Bastard.
“Catherine? It that you?” Tobias enquired when I approached the bar, turning to face him. “I knew I recognised your scent when you walked into the room.”
Then Eric finally noticed me, narrowing his eyes.
“Damn Catherine, it’s a perfect disguise,” Eric muttered, wrapping his arms around me and bringing me closer. I pushed him away, trying to straighten my wig.
“Stop touching me, otherwise you’re going to give me away and ruin our entire plan. Get me a drink, will you?”
I was still a bit annoyed that James was having a good time with another woman. Now the blond bimbo was touching his muscular arms. I should run her through—What the hell was I thinking? He could do whatever he wanted. My hormones were attempting to lead me astray again and, this time I was having none of it.
Eric handed me a pint, and I drunk it down in nearly in one go. I was thirsty and a bit nervous, but as long as I had my sword and a few dragon shifters to kill nothing else mattered except finding Lucy.
“Elena here said the guards are normally wasted by nine,” another familiar voice said from behind me.
I turned around seeing that James had finally decided to peel himself away from the bimbo and join his brothers. Then I noticed the blond hooker standing beside him. So, maybe not. She was giggling, and I wanted to slap her. She was beautiful, and even Tobias smiled at her. Sigh.
“I’m glad you’re having such a good time, James,” I said, not wanting to get involved. He had to have been flirting with her to get information about the guards in the castle. He must have recognised my voice because he instantly pulled away from her. Too late. I didn’t care, not in the least!
“Excuse us, darling—will you?” Eric said to the lady. The woman winked at him and then went back to her table, swaying her shapely hips.
Now, that was simply uncalled for. I did indeed want to punch her. I realised jealousy wasn’t a good colour on me. I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“Well, well, well, that wig is certainly doing its job,” James said, smiling, not missing any teeth. Hmpf. I could help him out with that. “I didn’t recognise you at all, Catherine.”
“Yeah, and I see you’re really taking this mission seriously,” I countered with sarcasm lacing my tone.
I had no idea what had gotten into me. Eric growled, clenching his fists. I didn’t know what his problem was, and James laughed. Oh, my! This might not end well at all.
“Don’t be jealous, darling.” James leaned near me. “I was only trying to gather information to ensure our plan didn’t fall apart. Elena was very helpful.”
“Jealous? And, I’m not your darling! You’ve lost your mind, arsehole. I don’t care what you do.”
My voice was far too high to sound convincing. Dammit. I couldn’t have them all for myself; besides, it was time to get on with our plan. All of a sudden, I lost my appetite. We had a bit of a walk to the castle and I needed to cool down. Why did I allow him to wind me up? I was getting on my own damn nerves.
“Let’s leave. Now,” Eric growled, slamming his still-full pint onto the bar. “Or I swear, I’ll punch you into next week, Jameson.” Eric grabbed my arm and began dragging me toward the doors, while James laughed behind him. I wanted to scream! Brutes. All of them.
Once outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. This was it. We were heading inside the dragon’s den in a literal sense and we weren’t leaving without Lucy.
Chapter 18
The sun was hiding behind the horizon when we left the brothel, and darkness slowly started falling over the entire Eastern Lands. Thankfully, no one was paying much attention to us.
Eric was silently brooding as he walked next to me. I had no idea why he was so pissed off. It was James who had almost ruined our entire mission, attempting to have a bit of fun. Or gather information. Semantics.
I was a bit tense, and the brothers seemed nervous as we headed through the forest and suddenly, a large shadow moved over our head. I panicked, and unsheathed my sword, but Eric quickly grabbed my arm.
“Don’t make any sudden movements,” Eric whispered, “they’re just shifters guarding the borders near the castle.”
I nodded and put my sword away without saying a word.
We continued walking at a brisk pace along the path. It was getting colder, too. Drakins were dangerous creatures, but Tobias had placed a spell on me at the bar, covering my scent. No one would suspect I’d made it across the border; they had no idea I was here. And this was my advantage. The castle was just up ahead, maybe a mile’s walk. I could see its dark towers in the distance, hiding behind a dusting of clouds. A cold shiver crawled over my spine.
“We are several hundred meters away from the castle, so it’s best if Catherine separates from us now,” Tobias said. “We don’t want to risk anyone seeing us together.”
We stopped walking, and my heart began pounding deeply in my chest. This was it—do or die—I was saving my sister.
I realised a stable boy didn’t normally carry a sword, but I was willing to take the risk. I could always come up with some sort of excuse if anyone stopped me. Or kill them. That was also an option, albeit a rather bloody and gruesome one. Oh, well. There was no way I was going inside that damned castle without my beloved weapon.
Eric, James and Tobias glanced at me. Oh, how I hated goodbyes, and now I wasn’t entirely sure if we should separate at all. Eric placed his hand on my shoulder and smil
ed at me. I was yet again overthinking the situation.
“You can do this.” Eric gently squeezed my shoulder. “Tobias has spellbound you, so we are all bonded now. Don’t be afraid, Catherine. If you’re in trouble, we will be able to track you in the castle.”
His assurance and the fact that the brothers could somehow track me with magic, made me feel a bit better. James looked as if he wanted to embrace me, but he didn’t move. I needed to leave. There was no point in wasting anymore time.
“Right, I better be off. Good luck, boys.” I attempted to keep my emotions at bay. I believed they were all devoted to me. Well, I knew they were, but I had to do this on my own. Lucy was counting on me; this wouldn’t work any other way.
I turned and started walking toward the forest, swallowing my tears. What the hell? Why was I suddenly so emotional? We were going to see each other again. I was never one to cry over a man or men, in this case. Damnable hormones!
Moving on.
Within twenty minutes, I reached the castle grounds. There were dragon shifters everywhere and I quickly attempted to blend into the crowd. It was a market day, so there were a lot of people hanging about just outside the gate. The moon shone brightly in the sky, and my heart thumped loudly in my chest when I found myself near an old outbuilding. I swiftly slipped inside, and picked up a saddle, trying to look believable.
I had Tobias’s map folded inside my pocket. I glanced around, making sure I was alone and then spread it out on the ground.
I studied it for a long while, trying to remember which corridor would take me where I needed to go. Then through the window, I saw a horse on the grounds of the castle, and an idea formed in my mind. It was time to improvise.
I’d parted with the brothers nearly half an hour earlier, so they were most likely already meeting with Julius. I wished I could fight him one on one. It would have been so much easier, even if the coward could shift. No matter. I could still kill him, I just needed to bide my time.
I left the building and jogged toward the horse, carrying a saddle from the stable.
“Come on, boy. Let’s go for a ride.” I set the saddle on the ground and grabbed the horse’s bridle, gently stroking his mane until he was comfortable with me. A few minutes later, I readied my borrowed saddle, mounted his back, and then rode through the market, finally crossing through the gate.
The main stables were located on my right, and I noticed people who were standing just outside the gates didn’t have access to this part of the castle grounds. There were four guards walking the perimeter, but not one of them stopped me. My disguise was working out perfectly.
I glanced toward the moonlit sky, seeing two large dragons flying around the castle. Damn. I realised they might complicate things if I had to run along with Lucy in tow. Tobias had covered my scent, but she would still be very much exposed. My heart was racing away when I dismounted my horse.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James, Eric and Tobias standing together near a fenced off area, and I wanted to listen in and see how Julius would react to their meeting. It wasn’t a moment later when I saw him approach and damn, was my sword hand itchy. Tension rose in the air, and all the guards were suddenly on alert. They must have noticed the dhampirs, too. I wondered where Gregory, Julius’s second, was. Tobias had mentioned he was supposed to be with him.
I tied my horse off to a tree, and jogged a bit closer, careful to keep within the shadows and remain unseen. I remembered my stealth wasn’t exactly ideal, so I attempted to step it up a notch. I was a bit ahead of schedule and had another twenty minutes before the guards near the lower cells were due to pass out. Remembering what Tobias had said, the guards weren’t supervised and normally got wasted. This certainly worked in my favour.
Julius was extremely tall with broad shoulders and had a very wide-looking jaw; one I’d rather break than look at. His blond hair reached his shoulders, and his eyes glowed a menacing green in the darkness. Multiple scars ran across his ugly face. There were rumours going around that he’d sliced himself up to create those scars in order to seem a more credible leader amongst his people. Coward.
I gripped the handle of my sword, watching as he shook hands with the dhampir brothers.
“Eric, Jameson, Tobias,” Julius greeting them, seemingly amused. “I heard you were on my land, but I didn’t expect to see you so soon until Gregory mentioned it.”
James glanced in my direction and I backed away behind the outbuilding, then peeked around the corner. I didn’t want them to see me, they were distracted enough as it was. The brothers could most likely sense me, and I didn’t want to give my position away to Julius just in case he noticed one of them looking in my direction.
“Yes, we were bored of the parties in the Western Kingdom.” Eric reached out and shook Julius’s hand. “We needed some fresh blood and heard rumours of you catching a princess from the Southern Kingdom. Tobias always did have a soft spot for her.” Eric nudged his brother in a joking manner. I could see Tobias smile but to me it seemed strained. I hoped he could keep up the act; we were counting on him.
“Somehow, she flew into my hands,” Julius sneered, and I wanted to stab him. “I prepared a feast for you. There are human women here as well. My men caught them just outside the border.” He paused for a moment. “I heard you had a taste for blonds, Jameson?”
I was going to be ill at any moment. Julius was a pig. The brothers weren’t innocent either if the leader of the Drakin Clan was suggesting something so vile. Oh, we would be having a conversation about this little tidbit later.
I knew I needed to keep my head about me and get my shit together; this was only an act, but I hated that the brothers would have to drink from some random women. The thought of seeing them drink blood nearly made me gag!
Julius patted Eric on the back and invited them all inside. When they were walking through the main door to the castle, I backtracked toward the stables and my blood began boiling with rage.
I wasn’t too keen on the fact that that Eric, James and Tobias had made some sort of alliance with the Drakins. They were vicious and cruel, and the dhampirs had kind hearts. At least I believed that to be true. They couldn’t have fooled me all this time. No, I decided I was overthinking again and allowing my need for vengeance to get in the way of logical thought.
I didn’t have time to focus on what they were doing. I needed to get my arse inside that castle.
I made my way past the horses in the stable, smelling mould and, dear God, was that shit? I had to cover my nose and try not to gag. I was certain stable boys didn’t vomit at the smell of horse dung. But, my God, that was a lot of shit! These stable boys surely weren’t doing a proper job of keeping them clean. I looked heavenward, asking God to give me strength and a stronger stomach. Vomiting surely wouldn’t do.
Moving on.
According to Tobias, there was an entrance at the end of this corridor that would lead me beneath the castle to the lower cells where Lucy was being held. After recovering from my near vomiting episode, I heard a whistling sound and realised I was no longer alone; someone must have entered the stables behind me. Dammit! It was too late for me to backtrack now. I needed to disappear and fast.
Shit. Shit. Shit. I glanced around, finding a large stack of wood and then crouched down behind it and waited, hearing someone walking nearby and whistling something dreadfully out of tune. It was most likely the real stable boy, making sure everything was in order. Maybe he would clean the piles of shit I’d nearly stepped in. He’d done a piss poor job indeed.
This was just my bloody luck. After several long minutes, whomever had joined me in the stable took his leave and I stood, glancing around once more before taking off at a near run. When I finally reached the end of the corridor, I found the entrance to the tunnel.
I pushed against the door with my shoulder, but the lock wouldn’t budge. I kicked it with my boot and when that didn’t work, I slammed my sword against it. Nothing. Damn the luck. I huffed out a
sigh and continued struggling with the stupid thing, trying to fiddle with the lock for bit, glancing behind me every few seconds. I’d certainly made a lot of noise. I couldn’t afford being discovered, not now when I was so close to rescuing Lucy.
Oh! I had pins in my hair. Thank you, Bertha! Digging one out from beneath my wig, I went to work on the lock. My breath caught in my chest when the mechanism finally clicked. The door opened, and I slipped into the darkness.
In my mind, I was trying to visualise my next step, squeezing the handle of my sword tightly. Julius was expecting two more women from my father. He wanted a concubine, and this surely wouldn’t do. I wanted him to know he wasn’t going to get away with his crimes against my family or his people, but first I had find Lucy and then I would deal with his fire-breathing, good-for-nothing arse.
The further I walked beneath the castle the more dark and dank it became. Water was dripping from the ceiling, and a cold draft chilled me to the bone. Dead silence stretched around me as I walked through the long narrow corridor. God, it was dreadful. I reminded myself that I’d been looking forward to this moment since crossing the border into the Eastern Lands. Dank surroundings aside, I was giddy with excitement at the thought of seeing my sister’s beautiful face.
When I reached the end of the tunnel, I realised my boots were soaked through. The cells must have been flooded recently; there were pools of water everywhere. A sudden wave of energy caused every tiny hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. I stopped, knowing I had heard something.
“The guards,” I whispered to myself. They were snoring loudly as I crept along the length of the cells. That blond bimbo from the brothel was right. The guards were flat drunk and passed out. I noticed two empty bottles of whiskey on the ground, just by their boots. Perfect! Maybe I wouldn’t punch her after all. Maybe.