The chambers were light and airy, as well as empty. It was a relief and Alyssa felt the tension in her shoulders easing. Sighing, she kicked off her shoes and walked over to the middle of the room, slowly stretching her wings out to their full spread. She groaned, enjoying the stretch and pull after being cramped all day. She briefly thought about sneaking out a flight but decided against it for the night. Refurling her wings, she slowly padded into the bedroom, pleased to see her packs set neatly there.
She was reaching for her pack when she heard a whisper of sound behind her in the other room. Thinking that she had somehow missed the maid, she straightened and slowly turned around. She sighed when she saw the masked man standing behind her by the door to the hall. She sighed, moving towards the sitting room and discreetly loosening her shoulders. She asked quietly, "Seriously? Are you sure that you really want to do this? What are you doing anyway, kidnapping or murder?"
The man said quietly, "You sure are calm for a dead woman."
She said coolly, "So, murder then. Do I get to know why?"
The man shrugged, "You're in the way, nothing more. We might've been able to come to an arrangement if you were a higher-ranked noble. But you're a little nobody from nowhere and are nothing but a nuisance."
She said drily, "Lovely. Tell me, was there a maid here for me? Did you hurt her or did she run away?"
He grinned, "She's sleeping behind the sofa. She'll be out the rest of the night but should wake up just fine in the morning. Are you done?"
She nodded, "Quite, thank you."
Then she let out her battle cry, the scream of a hunting osprey, and charged the man. The assassin clearly did not expect that and she banked upon the surprise to land several blows before disengaging and searching for a weapon, silently cursing the rule that all the maidens come unarmed. The assassin climbed to his feet and spat blood on the carpet, swearing a blue streak. He pulled out a pair of daggers right as she snatched up a poker.
He snarled, "You'll pay for that."
She shrugged, eyeing him warily, "You started it, I'm just doing my best to stay alive."
He growled, "I was going to kill you quickly and mercifully, not anymore."
She sneered, "Big words for the man bleeding all over the place."
He roared and charged at her and she held her ground to the last possible second before whirling out of his way and bringing down the poker as hard as she could on his cloth-covered wings. He screamed, a mingled cry of pain and fury. She danced back, trying to judge her odds of reaching the door before he could reach her and had to regretfully discard it for a moment.
He turned and lunged for her, and she pumped her wings hard, once, sending her hurtling upward. However, he was quicker than she anticipated, managing to open up a gash on her arm before barreling headlong into a chair and smashing it. Landing, she hissed at the burning pain of the cut but ignored itt. Her biggest concern currently was staying alive.
Right then, the door crashed open and she whirled to find the prince standing there, his sword drawn. Realizing a split second too late that she shouldn't have turned her back on her foe, she turned to find the assassin charging directly at her. She dropped to the floor and using her wing, swept his legs out from underneath him before rolling back to her feet.
Before either of them could react, the prince and three guards were there. The prince was standing in front of her, his wings mantled, while three guards pulled her attacker up and searched him roughly for weapons before binding him and dragging him from the room. Rowan turned to face her, his eyes burning. He said hoarsely, "Are you all right?"
She blinked at him, still trying to process the sudden turn of events. She asked, "Where did you come from?"
He said absently, "I had a question that I needed to ask you. Are you hurt?"
Remembering her arm, she glanced at it, noticing while it still bled, it seemed to be slower. Seeing the blood, he bellowed for a medic. She shrugged, "I'm fine, I need to check on the maid."
She tried to pull out the sofa one-handed, grumbling quietly. He gently moved her aside and pulled out the sofa. There was the maid, just like the assassin had said. She knelt next to her and reached out her uninjured hand to check for a pulse. She let out the breath she was holding when she felt the woman's pulse strong and steady.
Rising back to her feet, she said calmly, "She'll be all right, just drugged I think." Now that the adrenaline was fading, she felt the sting of the cut and started to feel a little shaky. Sitting carefully, she examined the slice on her arm. To her relief, it was just a shallow one and would probably not need any stitches. It burned slightly, which meant that there had been no numbing agent and she didn't feel any unnatural itching, stinging, or burning, so the chances of it being poisoned were low as well. Kneeling in front of her, he gently took her arm and examined it, his lips pressed into a thin line.
Reaching out with her uninjured arm, she nudged his chin up until their eyes met, "Hey, I'm fine. It's just a scratch. Some ointment and a bandage and I'll be right as rain."
He said coolly, "You were almost killed tonight. If I hadn't had a question for you and overheard the commotion, you could've been killed."
Her curiosity piqued, she asked, "What was your question? And were there supposed to be guards around my room? If so, where are they?"
He growled, "There were supposed to be guards, the others are looking for them right now."
She shrugged, "He seemed surprisingly ethical for an assassin, they're probably unconscious. The question?"
He eyed her uncertainly, "Why are you so relaxed about this?"
She shrugged, "I've had my fill of surprises for today, maybe? Besides, my parents and I discussed the potential problems that your mate would face, especially if she was not nobility or uneducated. Kidnapping or assassination were just two of the possibilities. Now, the question?"
He frowned, his thoughts apparently troubling. But he said quietly, "I was coming to ask if you would be interested in brunch with me and my father in the morning."
She nodded, "That would be nice, what time?"
"Would ten-thirty be too early?"
She shook her head but didn't reply as the physician bustled into the room. She insisted that he check over the maid first, much to his and Rowan's dismay, but she refused to budge. Thankfully it appeared that she had just been drugged with a simple sleeping agent. She then allowed the physician to tend her arm, Rowan standing behind her glowering at the poor man.
She tipped her head back and said lazily, "Quit glaring at the poor man. It's not his fault and it's nothing serious. It'll be completely healed in a few days, quit worrying."
He looked down at her in disbelief. "My mate was attacked by an assassin that wanted to kill you."
She quipped, "Are there any other types of assassins?"
He glared at her. "I have just found you and already someone seeks to take you away from me. Why aren't you more upset about this? You were nearly killed."
She rolled her eyes, "I was doing fine. I would have most likely survived. Yes, I wasn't totally prepared for the whole situation, but I didn't die, I wasn't even seriously injured. That's gotta count for something, right?"
He whirled and stalked away several paces, his back stiff with anger. She shook out her wings, making sure that there was nothing wrong with them after the wing sweep before tucking them neatly along her spine. The physician was obviously familiar with the prince and his temperament. Finishing bandaging up her arm, he offered her a warm smile as he climbed to his feet.
She rose to her feet as well and quietly thanked him. She walked him to the door, asking about any extra follow-up she might need. Rowan was still fuming on the other side of the room, but she had the feeling he was listening as well. They opened the door just as one of the guards raised his hand to knock, a slim woman at his side.
The doctor bid her goodnight and slipped out. She smiled and welcomed the other two in, mentally sighing. She truly had been tired before and the fight had drained her. Now all she wanted was some alone time so she could process how much had changed since she'd gotten up that morning. Was it only that morning, goodness.
She closed the door and turned around to find the pair still right there. Great, they were bodyguards. Sighing, she moved away from the door and saw their tightness ease slightly. Deciding to not cause waves, yet, she moved over to a seat near where Rowan was, but out of line of sight for any of the doors and windows. T
The guard made his way over, the woman trailing behind and Rowan barked, "Report."
Alyssa cleared her throat delicately and both men looked at her. "I'm sorry, but I haven't been introduced yet. You are?"
Rowan sighed but the guard offered her a slight bow, "My apologies, milady. I am the head of the guards, Captain Eric Arbington, at your service."
She offered him a small smile, "Pleased to meet you, Captain. I'm sure I'm in good hands. I apologize for my interruption."
He stared at her for a brief moment before turning his attention back to Rowan. "The guards have been found, unconscious and tied up in an unused room. The physician who examined them believes that they were drugged same as the maid. They should all make full recoveries. I've doubled the number of guards around her chambers and will personally sweep them before I leave."
He turned his attention back to her and beckoned the woman forward, "This is Risa, she'll be your maid for tonight and we'll see about getting a more steady staff for you set up."
She turned and smiled at the woman. Maid her foot, the woman was a soldier or a professional bodyguard. She had to admit that it was a good ploy, but there was just an indefinable something about her that showed her true occupation. She murmured, "No rush, I shall only be here for a few days before I have to return and inform my parents of the turn in events. However, I welcome both of your help in whatever manner." She rushed to cover her mouth as a yawn took her off guard. "My apologies, I guess I'm more weary than I thought."
Captain Arbington didn't say anything, just turned and started making his way through the rooms, carefully inspecting every nook and cranny. She wanted to tell him that he wouldn't find anything but bit her tongue. Instead, she rose and stood next to Rowan. She murmured, "This is all really unnecessary you know. There's nothing else here."
He frowned, "You don't know that."
She said quietly, "Call it a gut feeling. It's only been a couple of hours since we clicked and that time was probably spent notifying the assassin and the assassin getting into place. There was no time for anything in here to be tampered with. He can look, but I am ninety-five percent sure that he will not find anything."
He murmured back just as quietly, "You are very odd, Lady Alyssa. I cannot understand you at all at the moment."
She offered him a small smile. "Give it a little time, you might."
He frowned, "Don't you mean, you will?"
She shook her head, "No, I said exactly what I meant. You might come to understand me, but that will only happen if you put in the time to get to know me. Anyways, you might as well call me Lyss. Once you've stopped someone from being killed, well, the formalities can be rather pointless."
Before he could find a proper response, the captain was back. "Nothing. You ladies should be secure for the night. If you need anything, don't hesitate to inform a soldier, they'll do their best to provide what you need and if they can't, they'll send for me."
She nodded, "Thank you, Captain Arbington. I appreciate your care for my safety. Until tomorrow?"
He nodded and left. She walked Rowan to the door, noting that his wings kept twitching like wanted to spread them protectively around hwe. She knew that he wasn't overly pleased with the mate hunt, but the mate bond instincts would be hard to combat. Feeling her heart soften towards him, she reached out and hugged him gently.
He froze before carefully hugging her back. After a minute, she sighed and stepped away, looking up at him. "I truly am fine. Now, go get some rest and I will see you in the morning for brunch."
He nodded, his voice a quiet rumble, "Until tomorrow then."
He left and she shut the door firmly behind him, making sure to lock it loud enough that they could hear it on the other side. She waited until she heard footsteps walking away before moving away from the door and making her way into the sleeping chamber. Pulling the few pins from her hair, she said quietly, "You can drop the pretense now."
She glanced over her shoulder just in time to catch the woman's startled expression before she quickly smoothed it away. "I don't know what you mean, your ladyship."
Alyssa turned to face her fully, "Risa, you're as much a maid as I am a glass blower. While possible, it is entirely out of the realm of the probable. You are probably one of Arbington's elite. Good at hand-to-hand and close-quarter fighting and not so flashy as to be overly memorable one way or the other. Most likely from a good family, not too high so you can still identify with servants and commoners but high enough that you can mingle with high society as well, probably a merchant family, sea traders because you need to be more familiar with exotic goods that the nobility expects as their due."
She arched an eyebrow. "Now, we can either continue this farce of maidservant and high lady, or you can admit that you are a bodyguard and an excellent one at that and we can create a plan in case of any further incursions before I get some much-needed rest."
For a minute, she thought the other woman would continue to play dumb, but then thankfully she relaxed and smiled at her. "Well, you're a smart one then. I'm glad that I won't have to go through all of that insanity, you have no idea how demanding some noble women are. I am really good at arranging hair, however, if you need help with that." The woman chuckled, "You are going to turn the court on its head, aren't you? It'll be nice to have some common sense around again. Very well, let's work out a battle plan while you get ready for bed and then you can get some rest."
Alyssa smiled at her. "I would like that. This has been a long day and did not turn out exactly like I expected it to."
Risa looked at her curiously, "You didn't want to be a princess?"
A chuckle escaped her before she could bite it back. She admitted, "The fairy tales always make being a princess sound so glamorous, but it is a very hard job and nowhere near as fun as they would have you believe. I am, reserving, my judgment. Things will happen the way they should and there's no use worrying about it."
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