Read Online Two-Faced (Assassin at Court Series Book 1) by Nia Davenport - Free Book Online Page A

bed, but she also pulled me up along with her. “Come with us. It will be fun?”
    I shook my head. “No, I’m good. I don’t think I am invited.”
    “Of course you are. Right Charlize?”
    Charlize blanched a bit, but she gracefully and quickly recovered. “Sure, Skyler can come.” She looked like the words pained her to say.
    I wanted to insist that I not go. I would rather walk barefooted on nails than spend the evening with a group of superficial teenage nobles. I said yes because I knew Emily wanted to go and she would spend the evening feeling guilty if I stayed behind.
    The trip into the city did not turn out to be as bad as I thought it would. Our group consisted of Charlize, Emily, Rosemary and myself. The other who remained in the competition stayed behind. Having visited the city of Pleith before, they had no desire to explore it again. They preferred to stay in the palace and play at being royalty. Pleith was every bit as lovely as a royal city should be. A thousand lights glittered against the night sky and decorated street after street of homes and businesses that boasted medieval-inspired architecture. I did not pay much attention to beauty of the city when I first arrived. I was too nervous and focused on the mission at hand. The city outside the walls of the palace bustled with life. It consisted of soldiers in the royal army, off duty palace guards, visiting nobles and Common People employed by the royal family. The Common People here were nothing like the Common People of Arythmia. There seemed to be less of a division between the wealthy and the poor. The wealthy had just as much money but the poor had a little bit more than the people of Arythmia. Maybe that was why things were so bad for the Common People everywhere else. The royal family had a limited perspective of our plight.
    Our quartet sat in a plush booth inside one of Pleith’s more reputable taverns. The guard assigned to escort us disappeared somewhere inside the large establishment with a lovely blonde. The tension was thick when we first departed the castle, but now several hours into our excursion the girls seemed to have relaxed around me. We were still not friends, but they were cordial. The tavern was full of soldiers. I could tell they were not off duty guards because of the way they carried themselves. They were less refined and more rowdy. One of the more brazen ones approached our table.
    “Good evening ladies. What brings y’all to this fine establishment?” He slurred his words as he spoke.
    No one at the table immediately acknowledged him and it must have pissed him off. “You girls think you’re too fancy to talk to a lowly soldier.” He sounded offended now. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded wad of money. “I know what interests y’all. I have money and I can pay.” He grabbed Charlize’s arm roughly. “What about you? How much will it take to make you come home with me for the night?”
    “I suggest you let her go and leave us alone. Now.” My voice was low and polite. Only he and the girls at the table could have heard me. I did not want to make the situation worse by making him feel as if he needed to save face in front of his fellow soldiers.
    “What’s that girlie? I didn’t quite hear you. Did you say you wanted to come with me instead?” He smiled a crooked grin at me. It only served to make him that much more unattractive. He was a large, brawny man with a crooked nose that rested at an odd angle as if it had been broken one too many times. If he was not careful, it was going to be broken one more time.
    I kept my voice low, but my tone was no longer polite. “Last chance. Walk away.”
    “What about you?” He began another round of crude comments as he reached for Emily. Whatever foul words he would have said were cut short as I stood over Emily and forcefully knocked his hand away from her. She wasted no time scooting between the seat and me, sliding as far away from the