Page 135 of The Ragpicker King
Anjelica only looked at him, blade in hand, unapologetic.
“Why did you not run away with Aden the night of the ball?” Kel demanded. “Why wait until now?”
She set her chin. “That was what Laurent wanted. And it was what I wanted, too, but I told him I could not abandon Conor. I knew what the cost to Castellane would be.”
“And then—the folly changed your mind?” Kel recalled what she had said that day.
“I had just told Laurent that I could not go away with him,” she said quietly. “That I would not abandon Conor, because he had shown me honor and respect. I was angry—angry enough to let Sedai destroy that stupid folly.”
“And that’s why you’re leaving?”
“Ofcoursenot,” she said indignantly. “I was still going to stay— I was angry, but I understood. I knew Conor was in love with someone he could not have; how could I not recognize the same situation I found myself in?” She shook her head. “Oh, Kel. You have no idea how bad things have gotten, do you? Representatives of Malgasi came to tell Laurent they would help him spirit me away. That they would marry Elsabet Belmany to Conor in my place, sparing him scandal. But when I refused the offer, they were not deterred. Aden learned they planned to have me murdered to clear the way for Elsabet.”
Fucking Malgasi. Again.Their greasy handprints on everything bad that happened in Castellane. “You should have come to us. We could have protected you.”
“I’m not sure you can protect yourselves,” she said quietly. “If I run away, I’m a Princess who ran away with her lover. The fault ismine. It is far better for everyone if the nobility in the Dial Chamber sees me fleeing on an elephant. Then there can be no question what I did.”
“Fleeing to the Malgasi for protection? You can’t trust them, Anjelica—”
“Aden isn’t really working with them. They think we’re taking a carriage, fleeing to his ship. But we plan to be beyond their reach by the time they figure out he’s betrayed them.”
“Conor is never going to marry Elsabet Belmany.”
“I know that. But if I am murdered here, even if he is innocent of my death, do you not think Kutani will want revenge? Do you not think a second dead Princess will make everything worse—for him, for you?”
“Let me talk to Aden,” said Kel. “I need to know what the Malgasi have said to him—”
Something crashed against the front doors of the castle. What had been silence exploded in a roar of angry voices; light bloomed outside the front windows. A harsh voice shouted, “Open! Open in the name of the King!”
Kel spun to look at Anjelica. She was already at the window to the back garden. Her blade flashed as she slid it into her belt. She glanced over her shoulder at Kel just as the front doors of the castle gave way under the force of the crowd outside. They burst open, and a flood of Castelguards flooded into the room.
Over the noise, Kel could hear Laurent calling for Anjelica, yet she was still hovering, halfway out of the room, her eyes on Kel. He inclined his head toward her, as if to say,It’s all right. Go.
She flung herself from the window. A moment later Kel heard the trumpet of an elephant and the sound of heavy footfalls on dirt.
A familiar voice echoed in his ears. Kel turned, as if in a dream. The Castelguards were a red tide, surging through the room. A blur. But among them two figures stood out clearly. Conor, in his green coat with the burning yellow roses. And beside him, Falconet, all in black and white like a domino. He looked at Kel with a faintgrin, like the look he’d worn that day in the Caravel, when Kel had caught the apple he’d thrown.
“Where is she?” Conor said, his voice flat. “The Princess. Where’s she gone?”
Kel shook his head. “She went with Aden. I couldn’t stop her.”
“Oh, you tried to stop her, did you?” Falconet said with a sneer, but Conor was already turning, rapping out instructions to the guards.
“Go after her—you five!” He pointed at a group of Castelguards. “The Princess has been taken. They’re riding that Gods-damned elephant.Stop them at the gates! Go! Go now!”
As the Castelguards raced from the room, Kel saw a commotion at the doorway. Several familiar figures pushed their way into the room—Cazalet, his round face unusually serious. Lady Alleyne, dressed in red silk. And Sardou, sour-faced, ducking his long frame under the low doorway.
“Yes, I tried to stop her, Falconet,” Kel snapped. “What’s wrong with you?”
Falconet didn’t bother to answer him. Instead, he turned to the small group of remaining Castelguards, who were watching him expectantly. Kel felt a hard twist deep in his stomach. Something was very wrong.
“Seize Anjuman, Benaset,” said Joss, and his smirk was wound all through his voice, a sort of ugly triumph. “Hold him.”
Kel waited for Conor to say something. To snap at Joss, to tell Benaset to step away. But Conor said nothing. He was looking at Kel with an expression Kel had never seen on his face before. He struggled to think of anything like it. Maybe when the King had whipped Conor, when the blood had streamed down his back like it would never be stanched. Maybe then.
Kel was conscious of Benaset behind him, catching hold of his arms, twisting his wrist until his knife fell to a clatter on the ground. It should have bothered him more, but all he could think about was Conor.
Falconet said, “So you thought you’d get away? Flee with the Princess before Conor found out you’ve been working behind his back for the Ragpicker King?”
