City of Lies - Lian Tanner [63]
She stopped. There was not a sound except for the crackling of the wood in the iron stove.
Grand Duke Karl cleared his throat. “I would not be sorry to have her with us,” he said to the king. “She does not have a quarter of your strength, but when it comes to courage and strategy, she is indeed the wolf’s daughter.”
“Hmph,” said the king again, and broke into another fit of coughing.
“Your Majesty—” said Physician Hoff.
“Wait,” growled the king. His eyes were sunk deep in his head by now, and his beard was like dry grass. But he dragged himself back up to a sitting position and turned his fierce gaze on Frisia.
“I expect you to come back with von Nagel’s head in a sack,” he rumbled.
Frisia’s heart leaped. “I will, Father. And the ears of his lords.”
The king laughed weakly. “Ha, that will give me my strength back.”
In the crowded depths of the princess’s mind, the strange voice whispered. (Be ready for when it stops.…)
Frisia put her hand on the hilt of her sword. She was ready. She didn’t know what was coming, but she was as ready as she could be.
“So, wolf cub,” said the king, “you will board the Falcon at first light and sail with the tide. Do you hear me? Well? Speak up.”
Frisia held herself steady. “I hear you, Father.”
Then she spun on her heel and marched out of the room. In the back of her mind, the voice set up a steady whisper.
(Be Ready.… Be Ready.… Be Ready.…)
Pounce leaned against a wall and watched the girl from Jewel behaving like an idjit. Walking through doors that weren’t there. Talking to people who didn’t exist. And all the time with that stuck-up expression on her face as if she thought she was something special.
He poked his tongue out at her, although he knew she couldn’t see him. Truth was, he was jealous. “Don’t seem fair,” he muttered to himself, “that a bunch of visitin’ snotties can catch a Big Lie straight off. Not when I been tryin’ for years.”
Truth was, it hurt to see Mouse caught up in someone else’s Lie. Pounce had been watching him for most of the day and all of the night to make sure people were treating him properly. To make sure nothing bad happened to him.
Now it was nearly dawn, but the rain had held off and the streets were still full of revelers. Pounce was sick of them, sick of the whole Festival. He hadn’t told a single lie ever since he’d found that Mouse was missing.
“Idjits,” he muttered as a group of old men danced past him. “Cretins. Stupid old fools.”
He turned around and kicked the wall with his bare toes. It hurt terribly, which was good, because it took his mind off the hurt inside him.
Truth was, he was the idjit. He should’ve known that Mouse would try and save the visiting snotties once he found out what was going on. The little boy had always been too soft. And now he was well and truly caught up in Harrow’s business.
Just the thought of it made Pounce shiver. “Don’t you touch ’im, Flense,” he whispered. “Don’t you touch my Mousie.”
He heard footsteps and spun around. Cord and Smudge were marching toward him. Pounce caught his breath, then remembered that they couldn’t see him.
The two men marched straight past, with their hands in odd positions as if they held weapons. They seemed to be heading toward the harbor. The girl from Jewel walked behind them, waving her hand to an invisible crowd.
Flense came next, right up close, as if she didn’t want to let the girl out of her sight. And there, trotting after Flense, was Mouse, with his pets lined up along his shoulders.
Pounce felt like grabbing him right there and then and dragging him off home. He would’ve done it too, except that folk said it was dangerous to pull someone out of a Big Lie before it finished. And he’d already put Mouse in danger. He wasn’t going to make it worse.
The skinny old cat strolled behind Mouse with its nose and its tail stuck in the air. The other two visiting snotties followed the cat. And behind the lot of them strutted the big black