“The book is there,” I breathed out. “I just picked it up from the floor.”
The bladesman took a step toward me, the metal gleaming in the light.
Unreadable. That was the word that came to mind as I tried to read the face of the man behind the hawk mask. The helm hid his face and all emotions, but there was something else obscuring his eyes, like a black cloud.
I couldn’t fathom what I had done to merit being sliced and diced.
Across the room, Gail’s face was pale as the moon. She clung to a bookshelf for support and her lips quivered in terror.
“I was going to return it to the shelf, that’s all,” I said calmly.
Gail shook her head so hard I could almost hear her teeth rattle in her jaw.
I reached for the book again, and the blade sliced across the table fast. A sting followed. I jumped as a bright red line marred the top of my hand. His skill with the sword so fast, I didn’t have time to react, and now a smear of blood dropped onto the book.
“How dare you!” I fumed. “Look what you did.” With no regard to my bleeding hand, I grabbed my apron and carefully used a corner to wipe off the book, making sure not to let the blood mar any of the pages or leather cover.
It was learning of Kash’s death that broke my solid fear of these men. I had nothing else to lose. While I still feared them, I hated them more. The whole time the bladesman never spoke, but he watched me silently. Judging me.
When I had cleaned up the spot on the book, I returned it to the table and pushed it across toward him. “There. Almost like new again. But next time, be careful. You could have damaged the book instead of me.”
I raised my chin and glared in challenge at the hawk bladesman. I was playing a dangerous game. It was said that the left-hand valued wisdom, so I was betting he valued the books and I had dared to tread in his domain.
My hand still stung as blood slowly dripped onto the white marble floor. I didn’t dare move to clean it, for I feared he would attack me if I so much as breathed wrong.
The hawk stepped forward, grabbed the book, and tucked it against his black breastplate before spinning on his heels and leaving. I stayed frozen until the last clank of his footsteps faded away, and then I collapsed to my knees, breathing hard.
Gail unstuck herself from her hiding place and came to chastise me.
“Rhea, what did I tell you,” Gail hissed.
“What did I do?”
“You openly challenged one of the king’s blades. If you value your life, you’ll never be alone with one of them again.” Gail grimaced. “I can't believe you survived that encounter. They can’t be reasoned with.”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s how they were created.”
“Created? Who created them?”
Gail’s lips pinched together, and she shook her head. “I’ve said too much. Come. We’re expected to help with lunch.”
As we stepped into the hall, a row of servant girls were heading back toward the kitchen. I fell in line at the end of the row, my head down. I was focused on my wound that still stung.
Lunch followed a similar routine as last night’s dinner, except that we were both assigned to dishes. We moved on to changing the bedding in the guests’ rooms and bringing it down to the laundress. After a few hours, were back in the kitchen to help with the dinner.
When it came time for dinner, I begged Gail to let me try serving again. Anything to get out of that humid kitchen. She reluctantly agreed. I changed into the slippers and wore the veil. Lifting an empty tray, I practiced walking silently, my feet touching the floor with only my toes.
The dumbwaiter came up the chute with the first set of trays. I reached for the first, and Gail stiffened beside me.
“Oh stars,” Gail whispered.
“What’s wrong?”
“The king isn’t here, but the blades are. Which means we have to serve the king’s blades.”
My gaze swept up the hall toward the high table. The king’s chair was empty, but the seats immediately on either side were filled with the three blades.
“Do they ever take off the helmets?” I asked.
“Never,” Gail said. “And they don’t even eat, so serving them is just for show, which makes them even more creepy. Follow me.” As I trailed Gail up to the head table, another servant approached from the right. Gail laid her tray in front of the lion. The servant on the right placed a tray in front of the hawk, which left the dragon for me.
I couldn’t do it. My hands shook with anger as I came up behind and stared at the back of the helm, and the black scales winked at me.
Then I saw it.
A familiar gold knife tucked into his belt. Kash’s knife. The bladesman killed Kash and then had the gall to wear his weapon.
My anger rose and so did the tray in my hands as it lifted high above my head. I bit my lip as I prepared to swing it down with all my might.
Gail gasped as she saw what I was doing. I closed my eyes and swung downward . . . and connected with nothing. The dragon blade had sensed my attack. He pushed himself backward, his chair sliding across the stone. The tray missed his head by inches. In a blink of an eye, I lay on my back, pinned to the table, a blade once again pressed against my throat.
Tears filled my eyes as I cursed at him.
“I hate you!” I screamed. “You deserve to die.”
Just then, a piercing whistle rang out across the dining room. My head felt like it was going to explode. I winced as the room spun. I was going to be sick. Where did that noise come from?
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the king standing farther down the head table, across the dining room full of people eating happily, with a silver flute pressed to his lips. Only a handful reacted. A man fell forward onto his plate of food in a faint. Three women grabbed their ears and tried to leave the room. Another woman cried out and fell from her chair.
“Make it stop!” I cried out, no longer caring as the piercing noise was going to be my undoing. My body spasmed and lights flickered in my vision and the whistle ceased. When my head stopped spinning, I brushed my hand across my nose and saw blood. That cursed whistle almost killed me and a few of the other people in the room.
King Goddrick noticed me splayed across the table and he wandered over to look at me. “She’s one of them? Well, I’ll be. I expected to weed out a few of the liars and gold diggers, but never expected one of the servants to be gifted as well.” He turned to point across at the man and five women who were affected by the silver flute that he was now tucking into the pocket of his vest.
“You know what to do. Gather them up.”
The three bladesman stared at the king and then cast silent looks to each other before acting. Two leapt over the high table, their boots landing on the floor with a thud. They went directly to the women that had passed out. Then the dragon grabbed me by the front of my dress and hauled me from the table. I grasped his wrists to keep from choking as I stumbled after the bladesman out of the hall.
“Let go!” I screamed, clawing at his armor guarded wrist. He slowed, kicked open a door and flung me into the room. I fell, scraping my knees, imagining a dank cell. I had fought so far; I wasn’t ready to give up yet. I scrambled back to my feet and lunged at him again, reaching for the knife at his hip. The blade sidestepped my attack easily. He grasped me around my waist and lifted me up. With a mighty toss, he flung me onto a soft mattress, and I bounced.