The Blood Curse Read Free Page B

men.”
    “Old? Young?”
    “Like you and him.” She jerked her head to indicate the prince.
    Karel stood and drew her back to the shelter of the alleyway. “Thank you, Goszia.” He opened his money pouch and took out several coins.
    Amazement flared on the girl’s face. “Silver?” She snatched the coins from his hand and ran, her bare feet slapping on the ground, her tangled hair whipping behind her.
    Prince Tomas went to the mouth of the alley and leaned casually there, gazing up the street. “High fence,” he said. “Strong gate. No windows in the outer wall.”
    Karel joined him. The house looked no different from its neighbors: tall wooden fence enclosing a yard, upper story of a dwelling just visible, wooden shingles on the roof. Not dilapidated, not opulent. Ordinary. The house of a retired merchant. A retired, one-handed, scary merchant.
    Karel flattened his lips to his teeth in a silent hiss. Fithian house.
    His heart thudded loudly, insisting on action. He wanted to storm the gate, invade the house, rescue Princess Brigitta.
    A pigeon swooped down to land within the walls.
    “See that?” Prince Tomas muttered. “You said they communicated somehow.”
    “Yes.” Karel took the prince’s elbow and drew him back into the shadows of the alley.
    “What now, sir?” Ture asked.
    “Now we find out if she’s still here.”
    “How?”
    “Someone saw her arrive. Let’s see if we can find anyone who’s seen her leave. But discreetly. We must be very careful.” One misstep, one question asked of the wrong person, and they’d be dead; however good the Lundegaardan armsmen were, Fithian assassins were better.
    Karel eyed Prince Tomas. Should I send him back to the ship? If something went disastrously wrong, if they both died today, who would lead the mission to rescue the princess?
    Ture took a step towards the street. Karel caught his arm. “No. We circle round till we’re out of sight of that house. We don’t go near it again unless we absolutely have to.” Fithians would notice men loitering, staring. And if they noticed, they’d do something about it.
     
     
    H E’D EXPECTED IT to be difficult, but it wasn’t. The second person he spoke to, a vendor selling melons, told him all he needed to know.
    Karel turned away from the man.
    “Sir?” Ture said. “Prince Tomas is headed this way.”
    The prince was wearing his fierce grin again. “Half a dozen riders, all men. And a covered cart! Just after dawn this morning.”
    Karel nodded. “The vendor on the corner saw it, too. Dark brown canopy.”
    “Do you think she was in the cart, sir?” Gunvald asked.
    “Yes.” Karel ran through the equation in his head. Half a dozen men arrive yesterday, carrying a person. Half a dozen men leave today, with a covered cart . “They were never going to keep her here long. It’s Harkeld they’re after.”
    Princess Brigitta had passed this spot today. Today . He glanced at the sky. Dusk shaded it pink.
    “Back to the ship!” He turned and headed down the street, almost running. They needed horses, supplies. They needed to know which gate she’d left by, which road she’d taken.
     
     
    N IGHT HAD FALLEN by the time they reached the Lundegaardan vessel. The armsmen he’d sent to the town gates had returned. Karel listened intently to their reports, Prince Tomas at his shoulder.
    “Six men and a covered cart, not long after dawn?” he said, when Lief finished speaking.
    “Yes, sir.” The man was massive, standing a head taller than the other armsmen.
    “Any description of the men?”
    Lief shook his head. “Didn’t look like merchants. Not wearing uniforms. Could be anyone.”
    “Which gate?”
    “The north-east, sir.”
    “Torkild, Arvid, you bought horses? Supplies?”
    “Yes, sir. Twelve mounts. Supplies for two weeks and packhorses to carry them.”
    Urgency thrummed in Karel’s blood. He wanted to order the armsmen to ride out now, this instant, even though it was pitch black