"Keep the hood of your robe up," Sam instructed her when the carriage finally stopped. "And as much as you're inclined to, do not refer to me as Your Highness."
"I know that." She stifled her desire to roll her eyes as the prince chuckled.
She smiled when they got out of the carriage, realizing the prince was back to his usual self. She thought he looked better when he was smiling.
Vicksburg was a ways away from the center of the capital, and upon walking a short distance in the dark streets, she understood the kind of danger that posed around them. She hated the way the eyes of the men watched them eerily as they went by. Whereas the people of the capital wore fine tunics and luxurious clothing of colorful hues, the people of Vicksburg wore dull-colored clothing while some barely wore any clothing. Scantily clad women clung to the arms of the men, loudly making noises of pleasure.
Kiera smelled the promiscuous scent as they passed a house full of women yelling at them to come inside. She recoiled when a man stumbled outside, seemingly satisfied with what he had done inside the house. The scent of booze rolled off of him in waves.
A woman dressed in bright red blocked their path. "Come here honey, you will greatly enjoy what I have to offer," Kiera noted how her bosom threatened to spill over her corset as she leaned forward. She made a move to grab onto the prince, but Kiera slapped the woman's hand away.
"Ohhh, pardon me, dearie. Didn't know he was yours." The woman smiled, showing her yellow-stained teeth between her red-smeared lips.
Kiera sent the woman a withering glare. The woman faced her glare without even so much as batting an eye as if she had seen worse, then she sauntered away to tempt another potential customer.
"Let's keep going." The prince tugged on her arm and Kiera's eyes peeled away from the red-dressed woman as she whispered into the ear of an exceedingly intoxicated man. She then entered the house with the man in tow.
She turned her head to stare ahead as they passed the rowdy house, leaving the disturbing scents and sounds in their wake.
Kiera watched the back of the prince's hooded head as they continued walking. She was formulating many questions inside her mind, but she did not know whether to ask them or to keep them to herself.
"Before you misunderstand me," Sam briefly glanced behind his shoulder at her, "the only times I come here is when I have to meet my informant. I try not to stick around for much longer than I have to."
He had answered one of her questions without her even asking.
She said nothing in response.
As they went further into Vicksburg, Sam cut through a dark alleyway. When they emerged from the other side, she saw a wooden door that appeared to have seen better days. The paint was chipping off, and the metal hinges were covered in rust. Sam opened the door and went inside. Kiera followed behind him, curious as to where the small rickety door would lead.
Inside they followed a dust-filled hallway. Cobwebs were in every corner of the hallway and both of them had to navigate around the holes in the wooden floorboards.
At the end of the hallway stood another wooden door, but unlike the first door, this one appeared in fairly good condition. It had a rectangular cut-out that was blocked with a piece of wood.
The piece of wood moved when the prince knocked on the door three times. After that, a pair of dark eyes appeared in the now uncovered peephole. From behind the man, she could see a source of light coming from within the room.
"Who is it?" The voice of the man rumbled from behind the door.
"Can't you tell?" Sam responded, sounding a little peeved.
The man behind the door grumbled some obscenities underneath his breath before he went to unlock the deadbolts. She could hear the sound of metal scraping metal as he undid the locks.
The door swung open and Kiera peered inside the better-lit room.
"Follow me." The burly man began to lead them upstairs. When they came to another door, the man knocked and Kiera heard a woman's voice come from the other side.
"Let them in."
Kiera wasn't expecting the lone figure of a beautiful woman lounging on a plush black loveseat, the light from the candelabra bounced off her dark sequined dress. Her flaming red hair reached the bottom of her exposed back. The woman left quite the impression on Kiera. To her, she appeared like a goddess on top of her throne.
Kiera smelled the smoke as it wisped up from the woman's long-stemmed pipe. The woman watched them with interest as they stood at the bedroom doorway.
"So this is the twelfth Beast General."
She rose from her seat, eyes set on Kiera. She completely ignored the Solomon royalty next to her.
The woman inhaled the substance from her pipe as she raked her eyes all over Kiera's body. Then she blew out a ring of sweet-smelling smoke directly into Kiera's face.
"I like the look in your eyes." She slightly tipped her long pipe to lightly tap the mouthpiece against her forehead, as if thinking. "Those eyes of yours make me feel as if I am being hunted down by some kind of wild animal." Kiera did not know what to make of the woman in front of her. She wasn't quite like the other women she had seen roaming the streets of Vicksburg. There was an elegance in her dark eyes that could not be denied.
"I'll have to revise our documents. The information we have on you doesn't quite capture your likeness well enough. Having seeing you in the flesh, you elude a whole different kind of feeling."
She quickly released her breath and turned around to walk away, her train of thought moving swiftly on to the next topic.
"It's been a while since your last visit Sam." She switched her attention from Kiera to the prince.
"I've been kept busy by the mountains of paperwork on my desk."
The woman released a laugh, a hearty laugh that made Kiera think she rarely lets out a laugh so boisterous.
"As it should be. Royalty should not spend a single day idle. Especially you. Lest you want your idiot siblings to destroy what you have been working so hard to build up all these years. I pray every day that your father croaks in his bed, then I pray for the gods not to hear my prayer so the throne isn't handed off to your detestable older brother. What was his name again? Desmond?"
She blew out another ring of smoke.
"Is this your informant?" Kiera asked the prince, opening her mouth for the first time in the presence of the woman. This was her first time in awe of another woman.
"People around these parts call me Lucinda, Lucy for short. Beast General, I am the leader of an intelligence group made up entirely of women. We are called the Crones." She threw Kiera a smile from behind her calculating eyes.
"Prince Sam and I have known each other for a very long time. I raised him after his mother passed away. I taught him everything he needed to know to survive the hellish hole that is the royal family." Her painted lips widened into a knowing smile.
"I brought up such a well-mannered young man wouldn't you say?" She winked and her long dark eyelashes fluttered down onto her cheek. If she had raised the prince as she claimed, then she most certainly did not look her age.
"She was a friend of my mother's." Sam cut in to explain to Kiera.
"Queen Annabel." Lucy's eyes held a faraway look as she spoke the prince's mother's name. "There was never a noblewoman more interesting than her. Anna would always write to me about plants and all kinds of herbs. She was the one who brought me this sweet leaf for my pipe. It does wonders for my headaches." She held out her smoking pipe and twirled it in the air with only her thumb and forefinger.
"Anna would have lived a better life if it weren't for that infernal King. But I suppose she and I would have never met if she was never made Queen."
She smoked her pipe, silent for a long while before she walked to the prince. She stood in front of him and reached out a hand behind the prince's head, pulling on the back of his hood to reveal his face and golden hair.
"If I squint hard enough," she squinted her eyes as she peered into the prince's face, "I can see your mother in you. Have you given much thought to dying your hair brown Sam?"
"I've toyed with the idea once or twice. Although I won't be able to do much in regards to the color of my eyes."
"Quite true." They shared a smile, and Kiera recognized the comfortable atmosphere around them. Lucy was like a mother to the prince, while the Beast King was like a father to Kiera. Only they knew the trials and tribulations they had gone through after Queen Annabel's death.
"Then, if you ever have a daughter, you shall name her Annabel after your mother. It's only fitting." Lucy stated matter-of-factly.
"I was planning to even if you did not tell me."
She tut-tutted at the prince, but there was a smile on her face as she placed the mouthpiece of her pipe back up against her lips.
"Lucy, I need to hire the Crones again." Lucy froze. One of her delicate dark eyebrows went up.
"Oh? And what of the lead I gave you? Did you go to the tavern?"
Kiera's ears picked up at the mention of the tavern. So it was her that provided the prince with the information.
"It was a dead end. The man went to that tavern frequently but only to let out some steam. It seems like my father would often berate this particular servant with insults whenever he saw him."
"Charming, your father."
Sam gave her a wry smile in response.
Lucy turned away and walked back to her couch. Kiera could see the milky white exposed skin of her back. "I don't mind telling my girls to keep an ear out for any new information, but Sam, you still haven't given me your answer to my question from the last time we met." She cunningly watched the prince from the corner of her eye.
"Well, darling? What will it be?" Kiera looked at the prince as Lucy asked the question. She was curious to know his answer even if she did not know the question Lucy had asked him before.
Sam closed his eyes and let out a big sigh. A crease formed at the center of his forehead.
"Give me more time Lucy. You will have your answer soon."
Lucy did not mask her displeasure. She turned her head away fully.
"Very well. As long as you give my preposition more thought." Lucy fell onto the plush cushions of her couch, gathering up the ends of her shawl and covering her bare shoulders. "You may leave."
They were on their way out when Lucy's words called them back.
"Before you go, I might have stumbled upon a rather interesting tidbit of information. Something about a wild animal. It has so far eaten five pigs, a dozen chickens, and a poor farmer's best cow. All in the span of a couple of days."
Kiera was the first to turn around.
"Where was this at? Did anyone see what kind of animal it was?"
"Not so fast~" Lucy sang, her voice was light and airy as a songbird. "My dear Kiera, the first lesson I taught Prince Sam long ago is the same one I will teach you now. You must be prepared to pay for the services you receive, as nothing ever comes free." She reached out her hand as she inhaled from her smoking pipe.
Kiera knew she would not soon forget the smile that graced the woman's lips.
"So, what are you willing to give?"