Cage of Deceit(23)

“I don’t know,” Grevik mumbled. “But whoever that was gave me the creeps.”

Allyssa nodded in agreement. “Let’s go this way,” she said, indicating the opposite direction the man had gone.

A block later, they passed a dark alley. Allyssa heard grunting noises. In the dim moonlight, she saw two men robbing an elderly person. Without having to say a word, Allyssa headed toward the shorter of the two men, Grevik going to the other one.

She ran and charged, doing a flying side-kick and hitting the thief. He landed on the ground with a thud. Jumping on top of him, she pinned his arms behind his back. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Grevik duck, narrowly missing the punch the thief threw toward his head. Grevik wrapped his arms around his opponent, tackling him to the ground. After grappling with the man for a minute, Grevik finally had the upper hand.

“It’s about time,” Allyssa declared.

“My thief was larger than yours.”

“You’re bigger than me. What’s your point?”

Grevik shook his head, mumbling something unintelligible.

Now that the situation was under control, Allyssa dug her knee into the thief’s back, freeing her right hand. She felt under her cloak, locating a piece of rope. Pulling it out, she used it to secure his hands together.

“Thank you,” the elderly man said, his voice shaking.

“Are you all right?” she asked. He nodded.

Grevik searched the thieves and returned the elderly man’s possessions. The man left, eager to return home. Allyssa and Grevik dragged the thieves to their contact in the City Guard. Afterwards, they parted ways and Allyssa headed back to the castle.

Going in through the servants’ entrance, she pulled her plain hood low, pretending to be a worker reporting for duty. No one paid her any heed since she did this almost every single morning, using Madelin’s name if questioned. Passing the kitchen, Allyssa noticed there were only two servants up at this hour, preparing the fire in the ovens and cutting vegetables for breakfast. Her boots silently moved over the stone flooring as she made her way to the laundry room. Climbing on top of the dirty clothes and bedding, she raised herself up until she could grab onto the end of the laundry chute and pull her body up into it. She shimmied up the four floors, lifted the wooden door, and stumbled into her bedchamber, ready to climb into bed and fall into a blissful sleep.





“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Marek said as they walked down the corridor. “No one saw the wooden box you inquired about being delivered.”

“The Royal Chambers have guards posted at all times. Surely, someone would have seen a person enter the sitting room carrying it, especially since it looks so different from all the other gifts that arrived.”

He gave a curt nod. “I already reported the incident to my father, and we’re increasing security measures. Thankfully, the box is harmless.”

The thought of someone being in her family’s sitting room without her guards’ knowledge was frightening. What if that person had meant her or her parents harm? Would it be easy to attack the royal family? After all, she snuck in and out of the castle every night without notice. If she could do it, surely an assassin could as well.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Allyssa declared. “Instead of going to the Dining Hall, I want to go to the library.”

“Shall I have your breakfast brought to you?” he inquired.

“Yes.”

Entering the library, Allyssa headed to the section containing books about trees, certain the ring meant something. After pulling down all the titles that had the word oak in it, she set the books on a table in an alcove at the back of the library. Allyssa had no idea where books about jewelry would be so she sought out the librarian, Albek. He was a short, plump, elderly man who loved reading and preferred not to be disturbed.

Entering his empty office, she quickly wrote him a letter requesting that he locate books about jewelry made from wood. She left the note on his desk, knowing that once he found the books, he’d leave them on the table she regularly used.

Sitting down in the alcove, she scanned the books she had chosen. Several confirmed that the heaviest concentration of oak trees came from the Biztanek Forest, which she already knew. Other books discussed the various uses for oak, but none mentioned jewelry.

Marek quietly set a plate of warm bread, eggs, and fruit in front of her before returning to his post near the entrance.

Allyssa slammed the last book shut. Why a ring? What did it symbolize and why oak? Even though she didn’t have many answers, one thing was certain—the gift was no coincidence. It meant something, she was sure of it.