Rogue’s Kiss

Chapter Seven - George Thade

These dances had become far too regular for George’s liking. He scanned the crowd in his usual dark attire. Carefully selected fabrics that would allow him to attend, without drawing too much attention to himself. After all, he attended on behalf of the King’s Justice. His name was whispered in dark corners in palaces, or spoken with reverence in the city streets. Spy Master, or the Blade in the Dark. Of course, only one man knew that George Thade was that phantom, the Justice himself. He was also the only man left in the court who knew the truth about George Thade, that he was a Myst.

George’s particular gift was what made him the ideal shadow. A man able to move through any level of society without suspicion. It was a recent threat against the King and his sons that had forced George a few rungs higher on the social ladder than he usually cared to climb.

He scanned the blur of familiar faces. The same crowd of nobility and the rich that attended every court function. The mothers attempting to find advantageous matches for their daughters. Bachelors, most of which were in avoidance of such matches. George saw four newer faces, a collection of Knights returned from the borders. Lord Emelin was grey around the temples and had long been widowed. He kept conversation with one of the Dukes and the youngest Prince Arnit. If he had a motive for revolution, George couldn’t place it. The three other knights that had returned, stood close to Emelin, as if the man could protect them from ambitious mothers. If anything, the battle hardened fighters looked more nervous than the score of young men who spent their entire lives in and around the court. George smiled to himself, this was a different kind of battlefield.

With the newcomers assessed and dismissed, George turned back to the dancers. Inevitably, any threat to the king would come from the nobility. They had most to gain, even if this particular whisper of revolt seemed to originate from the streets of the capital, George had learnt the hard way that somehow, somewhere it would tie back to the nobility. But who, and how? He’d thought to have a lead with Grace Denare, but with her death the swell of unrest had only grown instead of fading as he had expected. So it hadn’t been Lady Denare. It was therefore likely to be someone hiding their intentions within the court itself. Movement caught his attention, a flash of dark cloth against one of the thick hanging curtains.

George turned slowly, amused to realise that what he’d seen was a dress vanishing behind the velvet. He looked around the room, noting that no one else had noticed. Also, no one that he expected to be in the room was missing. So who was hiding? He moved around the room, half watching the curtain as he took up a station beside the buffet tables. He picked through various meats, paying little attention to what he added to his plate and watching the slight shift of the curtain. There was only one person hiding, so it wasn’t a secret rendezvous as he originally suspected.

Finally, his patience was rewarded and a young woman stepped out from beneath the folds. In the light, he could see that her dress was red rather than the black he had first thought. She had large green eyes that seemed to move over the crowd without seeing it. Her movements were quick and light, reminding him of a small bird once she made her decisions and started moving towards the refreshments. George shifted away into the shadows, watching as the red-headed beauty approached. Her skin was bronzed by the sun, unusual for a noble woman and of that he had no doubt. The fabric in her dress could have fed a family for a season. Small gem stones dotted her hair, but she was surely too old to be a new debutante at court? So why was she a stranger to a man who spent so long memorising everyone’s business?

He watched her approach and then falter as she noticed him standing beside the table. There was something in the way she shifted her weight onto her back foot that caught his attention. She was attractive, beautiful even, but with one small motion she put him in mind of an entirely different woman. The thief who had stolen evidence from the Kings Justice.

The memory of that small body pressed beneath his was enough to stir his blood. Heat spread to all the inconvenient places in his body and he couldn’t help but flirt with the innocent woman who had awoken such a potent memory.

‘Lady Lanai,’ he murmured to himself at last given a name before the Duchess stole her from under his view.

Was it a coincidence that Lady Lanai had put him so in mind of the thief? Her responses had been fluttering, lacking the confidence of someone hardened by the world. He turned to watch her take up residence with Sastra and frowned. Lady Lanai was a trained killer, a Knight. Even if she did perform her naïveté well, she was far from an innocent.

It was far too long before Lady Lanai was excused from the Duchess and he was able to follow her out onto the balcony. George took care to close the door behind him, determined that they would not be interrupted. Was this the woman who had stolen documents from the office of his employer? At the time, she had been excluded from the investigations, as she was supposedly on duty at one of the Ports. It seemed that he would need to confirm his information.

She looked around in surprise, green eyes wary. George was seized by the sudden desire to take her further from the party. What was it that made her so nervous of him? Unless she had something to hide.

He led the way through the gardens without much of a plan to his actions. There was something about Lady Lanai that begged a question. Was she simply a beautiful noblewoman and shy? Was she more than a Knight? Was she the shadow that had haunted his sleep for the last season. They reached a bench near the exterior walls of the palace and he turned back to her. Reluctant to release her hand he closed the distance between them.

Her chest rose and fell, constrained by the unforgiving fabric of her dress. He took her in slowly, who was the beauty that stood before him? Could she be responsible for threatening treason against the king?

‘My Lady,’ his voice was thick to his own ear. He needed to get a hold of himself before lust destroyed his investigation, ‘I believe that I promised you a dance?’ He offered and was relieved when she almost laughed. Embarrassed she ducked her head, hiding her mouth behind her hand.

It was a moment before she accepted with a nod and placed her hand upon his shoulder. In the distance they could still make out the sweeter notes of soft music, winding their way through the autumn air and into the gardens.

‘Mother will be most dissatisfied if I don’t dance at least once at a party,’ she spoke quietly.

His hand slid around her back and he pulled her closer still. Expecting resistance to his ungentlemanly behaviour he was gratified to find she moved willingly, even if her breath caught a little. She was nervous, he realised and looked down, only to be captivated by those green eyes.

‘Your mother wants you to find a suitable husband?’

Lady Lanai nodded before shrugging, she broke the gaze between them by looking across at an old bench beneath roses. ‘What noble mother doesn’t?’ She added finally.

‘Well,’ George couldn’t look away from the soft curve of her mouth, she felt warm against his body. All lean curves wrapped in satin ‘perhaps I can be a suitable distraction?’

It was without thinking that he lowered his mouth towards hers. He kissed her softly, teasing and worrying at her lower lip. For a breath he worried that she would push him away, until she melted against his form. Wet lips parted in invitation that he would not refuse. Lost in the sensation of the woman before him, George broke the kiss lightheaded and aware that he was grinning like a fool.

‘I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your night,’ he teased.

She swayed in his arms, eyes opening slowly to stare at him. ‘I’m sure you would have to be a very bad kisser to ruin my evening,’ she breathed.