Page 27 of Fortress of Snow

What would she do if he left Strachleigh? She’d only come here because of John.

“As you know, Warin has disowned me, so you are my only family.” She said the last words with a bit of disgust creeping into her voice.

“You’re not going back to Warin, then?”

“That is not an option.”

“Well, then?” John frowned at her, folding his arms over his chest.

She should probably think about it before making a decision. But what real choice did she have? It felt too strange to stay at Strachleigh, living off the generosity of people who were not her family and owed her nothing. Besides, she’d so desperately wanted to see more of England, and if she went with her brother, she’d finally get to see London and all its sights.

“I would like to go with you, if you don’t mind.”

“I asked you to come, didn’t I?” Then he added, “You’re my sister. And I can keep an eye on you if you come to London.”

Perhaps he truly did care about her.

“I have always wanted to see London.”

John was no longer looking at her. Instead, he was staring at the group of guards who were gathering near the stable.

“Just be sure you’re packed and ready in two days. We leave at dawn.”

“I will be ready.”

He was already walking away, calling out to one of the other men, who waved him over.

So she was to leave Strachleigh. Truly, she would miss LadyDelia and her sweet baby. She and the duke had been so generous to her already, more than she deserved. Yes, she had been helping with the baby, but Lady Delia did not truly need her. Mazy felt as if she was in the way more often than she was truly helping.

She was grateful, and she knew she was safe here, but she should go with her brother.

But would she ever see Sir Berenger again?

Nine

London was as loud and smoky and crowded as Mazy had imagined.

What she could not have imagined was how enormous the king’s Palace of Westminster was. Neither could she have imagined how tall St.Paul’s Cathedral was, nor how beautiful, taking her breath away and bringing tears to her eyes.

She exclaimed to John about how beautiful St.Paul’s was, but he started talking to one of the other knights while she was in midsentence. After that she simply stared, thinking how she would describe each building in her mind, and tried to keep up with her brother and not become separated in the endless swarms of people in the streets.

She was not sure what she would do now that she was in London, but she hoped to find some way of making money. John had told her that a guard captain’s salary was minimal. His real hope was that he would gain attention by doing somethinggrand, like thwarting a plot to assassinate the king or some other such service that would obligate the king to reward him.

“We will have to find a place for you to live near the Tower. I will stay with you when I can, but when I’m not there, you might have to defend yourself. Do you think you can do that? Could you kill a man with your knife if he was trying to harm you?”

“Of course. I can do anything I have to do.”

“Good. That’s what I like to hear from my Maze Queen.”

They slept that first night at an inn called the Green Dragon. The next day she and John went in search of more permanent lodgings for her. They found a set of rooms over an alehouse called the Swan, very near to the Tower of London.

“You couldn’t find a better place,” the Swan’s owner said. “My last tenant drank so much he lost his job as a clerk and couldn’t pay.”

“My sister and I are wanting a quiet place, very safe and private. Though I warn you...” John stuck his finger in the proprietor’s face. “My sister is the best knife thrower you’ve ever seen. Anyone trying to harass her will find himself stabbed through. She has very good aim. Or if he gets too close, he could get his throat—” John drew his finger across his neck.

“I doubt it not.” The man raised his brows and nodded. “But you’ll find this place safe and quiet. My daughter and I live on the middle level, and you and your sister will be at the top of the stairs. Besides my daughter and me, there’s no one else here, no other tenants.” He held out the key.

“And no other key?”