For the Rebellion

Chapter 7 - Under Your Scales

Theo frowned, draining the remainder of his cup. The wine was beginning to taste sour on his tongue. He glanced around, taking in the sight of Xander with a pretty woman on his lap. She was giggling as Xander stroked her cheek, leaning in close to whisper. At least one of them was having fun. He shouldn't have felt anything close to jealousy, considering that same woman had tried to sit in his lap earlier. He'd turned her away, turned all of them away, actually.

There were at least twenty of them in the room, all pretty, all showing off generous curves. A musician sat in the corner, strumming a harp, creating the soft sound of background music. Several servants milled about, waiting to be needed. Torin's friends joked and laughed, some sitting at a card table gambling, others daring each other into more and more risky behavior.

"What's the matter, princeling?" Torin called from across the room as he led one of the prettier ladies in a scandalous dance, more touching than dancing. "Are the women not to your liking? Or do you need more wine?"

"I think I need some air, actually," he groused, setting his goblet on a nearby table and striding from the parlor. He passed Amil and Fallon on his way out. They sat side by side, deep in conversation, but looked up at him as he passed. Idris was...who knew where he was. Parties weren't usually his thing, anyway.

He strode through the covered hallway and out into the open corridor beyond. The corridor ran the perimeter of a large, square courtyard with a fountain in the center. It was a mild afternoon, the weather warm, and the keep fairly calm, save for the occasional passing servant.

It was easier to breathe out here—easier to clear his head.

A movement across the courtyard caught his gaze. Three women slipped along the corridor. One of them glanced in his direction and quickly whispered something to the others before the three of them disappeared through a door. The hairs at the nape of his neck prickled.

He frowned, grabbing the arm of a servant passing by. "You there, a moment."

The man stopped and turned. "Your Highness?"

"Those women there, the ones that just went inside. One of them was wearing a veil to conceal her face. Who was that?"

The servant made a point of looking in their direction, then shrugged. "I'm afraid I didn't see them, Your Highness."

He eyed the servant. The man was lying. "All right. Then tell me, which of the ladies visiting this keep walk around veiled." He'd seen plenty of ladies this week, milling around the keep, or attending the lord's dinners, but none of them had covered their faces.

Something was amiss. His dragon's prey drive kicked in. He'd gone nearly a week without hunting. The beast inside was feeling restless at the thought of stalking this woman. A desire that surprised him.

He chalked it up to curiosity.

"I am afraid I cannot say who it might be, Your Highness. Some fathers require their daughters to be veiled, in order to keep certain...men from tempting their virtue."

Theo snorted. He would have chastised the servant but, the dragon in him was too awake now. He stepped back from the servant and strode off, rounding the corner and slipping through the door he'd seen the women disappear through.

The light winked out and he was thrust into a dimly lit hallway. He strode down, noticing the closed doors. When he reached the end, he found a stairway leading both up and down. He decided to go up. He thought he caught a slip of a gown disappearing around the corner. He took off at a jog, rounded the corner—

And nothing.

He stood, breathing, listening. There wasn't a single sound. He waited that way for a minute, five, ten?