Heart Over Sword
Chapter 204: Storytelling (5)

Chapter 204: Storytelling (5)

Cilv remained silent for a moment. Ronan could almost see how her mind weighed out the options of how much she would share with this prince. It was unusual that he could read such emotions from her. But it was probably because she had turned her back to the prince, positioning herself so he could not see her cunning thoughts flicking across her features. From Conrad’s stance, Cilv appeared calm, collected and nonchalant as she draped her hand over the old brown leather settee.

"I don’t look like much. I know, and that is exactly why Evanna employed me-"

"Watch your tongue, girl. She is your princess," Conrad snapped, lowering his teacup. "If this were Hatherland, you would be punished for that slip-up."

Cilv spun around, her lips tugging up as she faced the prince, her eyes gleaming in delight from the tone of his voice. Oh, she really did like challenges, that woman. A small smile pulled at his own lips with the fondness he had once felt for her. Ronan swiftly sealed his treacherous lips together, aggravated by his wayward thoughts.

"Ah, but this is not Hatherland, dear prince. We are far from the north." She stepped towards the window again, her hand gliding atop the latch almost instinctively, like she was ready to bolt. Yet she held the prince’s glare. "Besides, that was no slip of my tongue. The princess asked for me to drop her titles, and so I did.."

Conrad lowered his cup to the cabinet he leaned against whilst watching Cilv warily. Had he now noticed that she was not as she appeared? Were her movements a little too nimble, even in the way she walked? Ronan was accustomed to it, but not many moved the way she did unless they were something more than they appeared.

"Suppose this was all true.. What did she employ you as? What need would she have for someone of your talents?" The prince stared her down, and Ronan noted how Cilv shivered, then gulped, hands fisting by her sides before relaxing them.

The prince was certainly powerful in his status, and he did have quite an infamous reputation. But what about him made even Cilv nervous? Cilv, who could gut you in a split second and probably laugh about it to your face. Though her features remained stoic, eyes seemingly empty, her body language told another story.

"I do little jobs here and there," she replied nonchalantly with a shrug like she didn’t just shiver in fear at the Prince. "Many where I can slip by unnoticed.. I am useful for someone like Evanna, who is constantly watched by her enemies.." Her gaze lowered to her hand as she inspected some dust on her gloves from the window and rubbed it off.

"And I am to believe that?" Conrad asked as he observed her through a hardened gaze. "Tell me something that no commoner would know.. tell me something of use. Then maybe I will not doubt what information you will provide about the second Princess of Dunhurst. If I find the information useful, you will be rewarded handsomely."

Cilv dropped her hand and flicked her eyes back to the prince. "Princess Isabel makes life in the palace harder for Evanna. So hard, in fact, she asked me to.. frighten her sister a little."

Conrad’s features brightened, becoming more intrigued by what Cilv told him. "Oh? So, you have threatened her sister on behalf of Evanna?" He stepped towards her purposely slowly. "Do you not think she could do that herself?"

Ronan bit his tongue as he listened to the conversation. The Demon Prince acted as though he knew Evanna well. Well enough to know that she could threaten her sister if she wished it. She was a force to be reckoned with, after all.

"She can.. But Evanna is.. kind-hearted. Princess Isabel knows she would never kill her, but to pay another or have ’friends’ such as myself who have no qualms in threatening a princess.. now that would strike fear into someone to think twice before scheming against Evanna again, do you not think?"

Conrad nodded once in response, acknowledging that Cilv does know Evanna. Though Ronan suspected, he still remained suspicious of her. He would if he was in the prince’s place and didn’t know Cilv. Anyone meeting the woman can tell she is sly and highly dangerous. A ’normal’ princess would never be acquainted with such a person, but Evanna was not ’normal’.

"Tell me.. What is it, you know?" The prince asked, wasting no more time on this dreary morning.

Cilv grinned like she’d already won the prize. "Evanna is in Direwood forest."

Conrad’s brows furrowed, and his eyes narrowed on the shapeshifter. "Why would she go there?" It wasn’t an accusation; though nobody dared go into Direwood, Conrad appeared more curious yet threatening.

"She is on a quest to help her mother. Though, as of this moment.. I do not know the condition she may be in since last I saw her," Cilv added as her gaze followed the window again. For a moment there, Ronan thought he saw a slither of fear or discomfort, but it must have been the trick of the light. Her features were stoic once more.

The prince, however, marched towards her, his face fierce, eyes almost glowing, burning with golden flames. "You were with her? You were with Evanna in Direwood forest? On the Flori’s land?" His voice lowered to a growl.

Cilv took an unsteady step back, flinching slightly and looking away like she couldn’t hold his gaze. It made Ronan shift on his feet, wary of this prince most spoken of as a demon. Though Conrad’s back was to him, facing Cilv, he wondered if his ’dashing looks’ turned cruel and disgusting when angered. That was how the shapeshifter seemed to regard him. Ronan rested his hand on the hilt of his dagger, finding comfort with it in his palm.

"Yes, among a few others. Things got out of hand.. I barely escaped with my life.." Cilv started to retreat, her eyes wary, scanning the room again as though she might bolt while her hands curled over her daggers and then relaxed.

Ronan wanted to snort at the shapeshifter’s comment and the added fear she etched into her voice. They did escape, but as much as it would hurt his pride to say so, Cilv was the strongest among them and the least likely to have died.

"Others, you say? I see.." Conrad turned back, his eyes flicking directly to Ronan’s position again. Instinctively, Ronan held his breath again. He had a strange sense, something telling him that Conrad could tell he was there. But that was silly, right?

His heart pounded in his ears, growing louder and louder as he watched Conrad. The muscle in the prince’s jaw ticked as he glanced over his shoulder at Cilv, giving her a warm smile that many would gush and swoon over. That smile didn’t reach his eyes that remained as cold as a block of ice.

It was Ronan this time who gulped.

"And the Flori, did they find you and your party?" The prince asked, his voice as smooth as silk, but Ronan thought he detected a slight edge to his voice. The room was growing colder as a palpable tension began to smother the small space.

"They did.." Cilv trailed off, her eyes darting to the door.

"And you left.. the princess in the woods? In Direwood forest?" The prince asked, his tone lower, darker and chilling to the bone.

Ronan took a step back from his position. This was a dangerous place to be. The prince was searching for Evanna, and Cilv had given him what he needed to know. Whether Conrad believed her was now up to him. He wanted to corner Cilv after the meeting, but something pricked at the back of his mind; something didn’t feel right now.

He didn’t have the sixth sense like Evanna or the heightened senses Cilv had, but he trusted his instincts, and his instincts told him it was time to go. He began to turn, still listening to their conversation.

"It is not as simple as that.. the Flori chased us. She urged us away," Cilv was babbling nervously. Ronan hadn’t seen this side of her before. "I wasn’t the only one who fled.." Her gaze then went directly to where Ronan was behind the painting and wall.

"Ah, so the little rat belongs with you, does he?" Conrad responded with a smirk. Icicles trickled down his spine. Both of them had known he was there all along. "Get him."

Ronan cursed under his breath and fled down the secret passageway, kicking mud and dust up behind his boots and stomping through the creaky floorboards. He’d been stupid. Of course, Cilv knew he was there. She was a damned shapeshifter! She could probably sense him or smell him.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Ronan stopped at the end of the passageway that forked in opposite directions. He sprinted down the left side towards a door with sunlight gleaming behind it. It had to be a secret exit. Bursting through the door, he took a moment to orient himself and took off down an alleyway. He could fight, but it was easier to lose them to the streets of Kuramji.

Looking behind him, he whistled out a breath in relief. Now he just had to find the others and-

His breath was knocked out of him as he slammed into the dirtied ground. Before Ronan could lash out, his body was beaten by fists and boots, and he was dragged back to his feet again. Bloodied and bruised. A stabbing pain shot through his side, making it hard to breathe. "Did you really have to hit my thace?" His eye was already beginning to shut from swelling, his jaw bruising, and his split lip stung.

"You face worse punishment than this, son. Fancy getting on the wrong side of the Demon Prince." One of the men at Ronan’s side grunted, his iron grip on his arm tightening as he shoved his head down, so he could only look at the grimy street floor. He tried kicking out, struggling against the men, but he was outnumbered, and it wasn’t his finest moment.

Ronan lifted his gaze, scanning the streets for his last hope, but Axel and Ger were not in sight. His head was shoved back down again, and this time he made it harder on the guards, releasing his weight, so they had to drag him. He watched as the cobbled dirty streets turned into wooden floors and carpets.

"Will this ’Roach’ be useful?" Ronan snapped his head up at the approaching footsteps that creaked the floorboards under their weight and met the gaze of the Demon Prince. There he was, held captive in his freakish golden eyes.

"Yes," a croaked voice came out. Ronan’s attention flicked to Cilv behind him, tied up, shoulders bent forward. She didn’t seem injured, more.. terrified than anything. "If Evanna sees him, she will come for him."

"What did you do to her?" Ronan straightened his back, shoving the men off him as his eyes hardened, meeting Conrad’s. He didn’t feel anything for the woman, a sting slightly from her betrayal, but he was curious about her behaviour.

More importantly, what was to happen now?

"Good." Conrad ignored Ronan’s question. "Tie him up; we leave tonight."