The King's Cursed Bride

Dead

She slipped through the crack between the door and the wall and closed it behind her—as if hiding Aleck from view could somehow help him. "Can I help you, sirs?"

The one on the left was a wiry old man, his coarse gray hair bristling beneath his helmet. He released a phlegmy cough. "You'll be coming with us."

The other knight was quiet and solemn with his plump lips pursed and his scruffy double chin set. He latched onto her forearm.

Searing hot pain branded her skin as his fingers curled around the burn. She jerked her arm away and cradled it to her chest. "Whatever for?"

The old man cleared his throat and paused to think. "Unpaid... unpaid debts. Yes, that was it."

It seemed the woman she'd bought the Miracle Oil from was collecting her payment early... but why? Carissa gritted her teeth and forced her breathing to slow. If she panicked and began heaving for air, her chest would explode with pain. "The apothecary agreed to give me a year to pay off my debts."

The thickset man stared at the door above her head blankly, while the old man scrubbed his jaw, evoking a rasping sound like sand paper. "Well, now. We don't know about an apothecary—do we, Tibby?" The old man continued before the other could respond, "We're taking you in an account of the debts you owe to your employer."

"My employer? Akar?" The muscles in her forehead pinched, a harbinger of an oncoming headache. "I don't owe him anything."

The old man made a noise that sounded like he was gurgling gravel. If Carissa had to guess, she'd say he was clearing his throat. He whipped out a scroll and unrolled it. "Five silvers owed for grooming."

She swayed before steadying herself against the doorpost. "For grooming? You mean the makeup Akar demands I wear?"

"Ten silvers for clothing."

Her gaze dropped to her dress. She'd been given two, and though they were serviceable enough... ten silvers? "No, there must have been some—"

"Seven silvers for cosmetics."

"Then what in Esmeray was the charge for grooming?"

The old man shrugged his knobby shoulders. "Five silvers for food."

"They're charging me for food? But they agreed—"

"One gold and three coppers for lodging."

Heat surged across her skin. She felt certain that if she reached out to touch the man's skin with her hand, his flesh would dribble off his bones, so certain than she was nearly tempted to try it. "Lodging? Lodging? They've charged me a gold for lodging?"

The bigger of the two smacked his lips. His gaze had wandered to the wall.

The old man bobbed his head. "Tibby says not to forget the three coppers. That will be a total of two gold coins, seven silver, and three coppers."

Carissa twisted the knob and shoved open the door to her and Aleck's room, revealing a single bed, a heap of blankets, a rickety table, and a basin. "They want gold for this room?"

The old man nodded his head.

"And when is all this due?"

"Three days ago."

"Three..." An icy undercurrent of dread drifted beneath her rage. "Then–then that means—"

"You're payment is overdue."

"Why wasn't I shown this charges earlier? I didn't know any of this."

The man held out the paper. "But you agree that all of these are services or goods you've received?"