"How the hell did he get past you?" Kassian shouts at some ten men surrounding the carriage. Our driver has returned, carrying a bouquet of wildflowers he likely meant to take home to a sweetheart. But Kassian pays him no mind. "You are paid for one job. To protect your king. And you failed. How? What the devils were you all doing?"
Half of the men turn toward me.
"We were unprepared for the … um … distraction," one of the men says.
"Am I to understand you failed to protect me because you weren't paying the lady the respect she deserves?"
"You can hardly blame us, sire. She was naked."
Kassian steps forward, draws his sword, and puts it through the one who spoke. The man looks down at the rapier stuck in his gut, eyes wide. He falls as Kassian draws his sword back out.
I'm reminded of Jason and the last breaths he took. It's the only time I've ever seen death.
Until now.
The rest of the guards step back, likely worried that they'll be next.
"Anyone else wish to offer up excuses?" Kassian asks in a quiet voice. No one says a word.
"You." Kallias points to one of the guards. "Ride ahead and gather my council. We meet as soon as I return."
***
During the return to the castle, Kassian has the back of his hand pressed to his lips as he thinks. He stares off into some corner. Not avoiding me, just lost in his own thoughts.
"Forgive me," he says, suddenly looking up. "You should not have seen that. I shouldn't have—in front of a lady—What must you think of me now?"
I've been perfectly calm the entire time. I didn't feel as though I were in danger when the bandit attacked. Not from the safety of the water. And I find Kassian's question perplexing.
"I believe you now," I say. "You do know how to use that sword."
His expression turns incredulous. "You're not frightened? Of me?"
"You defended my honor. Why should I fear you?"
"Because I killed a man in front of you."
I shrug. "You have to make tough decisions as king. You have to put down those who disobey you. Make an example of them. It's how you maintain order. You think I don't know that?"
"I still shouldn't have done it in front of you." He looks away.
"Kassian."
His gaze focuses on me once more.
"I do not fear the decisions you have to make as a king, and I would never think lesser of you for them. I'm surprised you killed only one of them, to be honest."
His voice lowers. "The rest will die as well, but I can't very well do it when I'm outnumbered and when we have to rely on them for protection on the road back."
The carriage draws to a halt in front of the palace, and Kassian jumps out. He's barefoot, clad only in pants as the rest of his clothing was left behind in our haste. Not that it's easy to tell. He has his shadows out in full force. Every inch of bare skin is haloed by smoky blackness.
I follow after him, and he says nothing as we tread up some stairs, down corridors, through doors. Ladies and servants startle at the sight of his bare chest and storming shadows as we pass them—until at last we find ourselves in a meeting room.
Five individuals are seated at a large table. Kassian takes the sixth seat. At the head. "Ivan, fetch Lady Kensington a seat." If the rest of the council thinks anything of my presence, they say nothing. Kastien's uncle grabs a chair from the outskirts of the room and places it at the corner of the table, next to the king.
"This masked bandit problem has gone on long enough," Kassian says once I'm seated. "How has our plan to catch him progressed?"
I hardly think Kassian is unnerved by the loss of some food.
No, it is the fact that someone stole from the king, that this bandit would dare challenge his monarch. The problem has become personal, and Kassian must deal with it immediately.
"The coins are finished," Lady Terzi says.
"And I've allowed word to slip that they will be transported soon," Lady Mangas says.
Ivan Vasco steeples his fingers over the table. "If the bandit has been spotted so close to the palace, then surely he intends to take the bait."
"Once he strikes and redistributes the gold, my troops will be ready to round up the peasants caught with them." This from Kaiser.
Ampelios shifts in his seat. "And then I'll be ready to question them. We'll get him, sire."
Kassian takes a few moments just to breathe, to think everything through. If any of the council members think anything of his partial nakedness or the dampness of our clothing, they wisely say nothing.
"Good," Kassian says. "I want daily reports on how this progresses. And, Kaiser? See that all the men who accompanied us on our outing are hanged."