Page 10 of Thief of Hearts

Sighing, I set out. I could have waited at the stables for the rain to clear up but I wanted to complete my mission and return home. Lia and Xander would be waiting and I didn’t want to disappoint them.

Every part of me was drenched when I reached the administrative building. I told the person who opened the door that the king and queen had sent me to speak to the archon. He hurried me into a small sitting room and told me to wait.

I felt bad that I was soaking the rug beneath my feet. A few minutes later the door opened and an older woman walked into the room. Her servant closed the door so that we were alone.

“Greetings. I am Archon Nikaia. I understand that you have a message for me from the king and queen,” she said.

Confused, I shook my head. “No, I am Basileia from Thrace, relative to Alexandros and Thalia, and I was told that you had urgently requested the king and queen to come and visit you. That you needed to see them.”

“No such message was sent from me.” Archon Nikaia looked confused, too.

I wasn’t sure what to do. I’d never been sent on what was essentially a diplomatic mission. Was there some kind of bigger plan at play here? Was I being lied to? I didn’t want to make unfounded accusations. The archon seemed honest and her reaction genuine. “Is it possible someone else sent it?” I asked.

“If they had, that would be against our protocol. All messages like that would have to gain my approval first.”

We stood in silence for a few moments as my clothes continued to soak the floor. Had Lia sent me on a wild-goose chase?

Given how she felt about geese, I found that hard to imagine.

“Let me investigate,” Archon Nikaia said. “I will find out where the request originated from, and then I will send a message of my own to the palace in Troas.”

That worked for me. It would mean my part in this was over and I could return home.

“Thank you, Archon.”

She opened the door and I walked through it and over to the front door.

Where the rain had not stopped.

My plan had been to camp outside tonight, but this would make it impossible. I briefly considered going over and staying in the stable with my horse, but I didn’t want to sleep in wet hay.

Which meant I’d have to go to an inn.

Sighing again, I asked the servant holding the door for me where I could find a reputable one. His eyebrows lifted at my question, and he said, “The Red Dragon comes closest to what you require.” He gave me directions and said I’d recognize it by the red dragon painted on a sign out front.

I’d always been good at finding my way, but the rain made it difficult. I could barely see.

When I finally located it, I hurried inside and felt a mixture of annoyance and trepidation. I had naively hoped that the common room would be empty, given the hour, but it was filled with men, who were loud and drunk.

The innkeeper seemed surprised when I asked him for a private room. I supposed that the type of women who frequented this establishment most likely shared their rooms. But I wasn’t a hetaera, and if anyone mistook me for one, we were going to have a problem.

“Room 9. Second floor, all the way in the back,” the innkeeper said as he handed me a key. “There’s stew for supper and you can warm yourself by the fire.”

My stomach growled and I shivered. That was too good of an offer to pass up. I headed into the common room and ignored the stares of the men around me. I sat as close as I could to the roaring fire, holding out my hands to warm them. A barmaid brought me some stew and I thanked her, holding it in my hands for a moment before I started to eat. I didn’t know what kind of meat it had in it but I was too hungry to care.

As I ate, I saw a family come into the inn. They seemed scared. Which was a reasonable response, considering I was currently surrounded by thieves and cutthroats. The father was on the smaller side, and I doubted he’d be able to protect his wife and child from the beasts in this inn.

Fortunately, all the men in the common room were still watching me. I continued to eat while keeping an eye on the family.

Their little girl smiled at me, and her smile reminded me of Minha’s. My mother seemed perfectly fine with the fact that Thrax was keeping his daughter. So why had it upset me so much that Minha wouldn’t be training with us?

I was not one to examine my feelings too closely. They’d never done me any good, so they were easy to ignore. But this time I had to. I needed to understand why I felt this way.

Minha’s absence shouldn’t have been an issue because there would be cousins and distant relatives sent to us, along with other nieces and nephews.

So why did it matter so much?

The answer broke through like sunbeams after the rain.