“How goes your work this evening?” A man’s voice asked from beside her.
She turned to see the cell keeper again, his face rosy from drinking, his hair combed back neatly. “All went well.”
He nodded and gripped his chin, rubbing as he thought. “I wonder, would you like to accompany me to the tavern this evening? I’ll buy you a meal and a drink.”
She took a step back, fearful of what else he might want from her. “I should get to my room. I have work to do.”
The cell keeper frowned. He looked away from her, his small eyes searching the darkness growing in the sky. “I’m sorry to hear that then.” He sighed and started away from her toward the road that led to the tavern. The keys at his belt jingled with every step he took.
Even a servant has some sway, she thought. Hessa tucked the lip of her bag into her belt and hurried after him. “Maybe I could come with you…for a little while. If you promise not to-”
“I only want the company.” He stopped and faced her, his eyes sad. “Nothing more. I swear it on the grave of my late wife.” He held out his arm to her. She slipped her hand through and let him lead her away. No one had ever paid much attention to her, not like this anyways. “My name’s Kadley. Friends call me Kad.”
“I’m Hessa.” She smiled up at him.
He looked away, keeping his eyes on the road ahead. “We can sit in the back room. It’s quieter there.”
She’d never been in that part of the tavern. They entered the building to the raucous greetings of surly men who’d been drinking for some time. Those of the assassin’s guilds sat near the bar, most wearing garb that shadowed their features. Hessa tried not to look at them. She didn’t want their kind of attention. Whores danced across a rickety stage at the other side of the room, their garb vibrant and eye-catching. Coins bounced at their feet, offered up from the appreciative men seated before the show. Hessa wanted to watch, but Kadley kept moving, bypassing it all as if it meant nothing to him.
He took her into a dimly lit back room with few patrons seated about. A fire burned in a large hearth, heating the space. This was more a place to eat than to drink and be merry. They sat by the fire at a small table, and a serving girl attended them. Soon bread, stew, and cheese were laid out, as well as a decanter of wine. The cell keeper poured out the glasses of wine and sat back in his seat, sipping between words.
“Do you have a man you fancy, Hessa?”
Her wine went down the wrong way, causing her to cough. When she recovered, she shook her head, no. It was the safest answer.
“I imagine it must be difficult for you as a servant. The men of Omi House take what they want, and most aren’t honorable about it at all.”
She nodded and ate a spoonful of stew.
“My wife was from Omi House, born into it. She worked as a whore when she was young. But after my first night with her, I saved up my pay and bought her out.” He refilled his glass, offering her a smile. “She was my only happiness. And we so wanted children.”
Hessa leaned forward. “How did she pass?”
“Nedra was with child. We tried for years, but she always lost them. The last one stayed, but when she was close to birthing…” Tears welled up in his eyes. He brushed them away, unable to finish his sentence.
“I’m sorry.” She reached across the table to set her hand on his. “That’s terrible.”
He pursed his lips, but went on after a time, sharing with her the moments he and his wife had been happy. He told her stories of his lost love until he swayed in his chair from having drunk nearly all of the wine. He ordered another decanter. She watched and listened as he finished that too.
Hessa ate everything that was offered to her. She had not felt so full in a very long time. But when she tried to excuse herself to leave, Kadley stood and grasped her hand. “Let me take you back to your quarters. There are men of a bad sort about,” he slurred. He wobbled when he walked, bumping into chairs and the edges of tables. At the door, he pulled her out and into the night. The wind had turned cold and chilled her skin as it passed through the thin cloth she wore.
Kadley wasn’t leading her to the servant barracks. He was guiding her to the guard housing. She tried to break away from him, but he was strong and held her hand with a firm grip. “It’s late,” he explained. “We should get to bed. There’s work in the morning.”
“I have to go to my room,” she tried to explain. “Have to feed the prisoners…”
“It’s past dark. No one will miss you.”
Her heart started to race. What would he do to her?
Kadley fumbled with his ring of keys when they reached a large home at the first line of the guard houses. He stabbed the key into the door lock and turned it. Hessa thought if she went into his room, she might never come out. She tried again to pull away. He snatched her other hand and dragged her inside.
“I’ve gone and had too much tonight,” he mumbled. “You’re a kind girl to listen to me as long as you did…” He pulled her along, although she resisted, and soon they were in his bedroom. Moonlight cast from the window bathed the space in blue-gray. “Be a kind girl and stay the night. I can’t sleep well anymore…without her to hold onto…”
“No,” she said, trying to sound forceful, but he only pulled her down against the bed. She smelled something sweet there, like dried flowers perfuming the sheets. Kadley’s arms wrapped around her body and held her tight. She feared he would do more, but his breathing became steady until he started to snore.
Crickets sang outside the window. Wind rattled the thin layer of glass that barred its entry. Hessa concentrated as her fear slipped away. Besides the sweet smell, she breathed in the odor of wine and Kadley’s own scent. He wasn’t dirty like most men. He smelled of clean linens and soap. She waited until she thought he was so out he wouldn’t keep hold of her, then she wriggled free of his arms and stood above his bed. The moonlight illuminated the round of keys at his belt. She would have to unbuckle it to get at them. Hessa didn’t want him to wake with her doing that. He’d have the wrong idea for certain.
She backed out into the main room and paced. This was a chance at freedom, no matter how many ways she looked at it. The keys meant she could release Gunnar. And if he was true to what he had said, he would take her with him-far from this place.
She should have fed the prisoners by now. The water bearer had already come and gone no doubt. A loud tap sounded on the roof. Then another. Rain pattered down in loud droplets. Hessa fisted her hands and marched back to Kadley’s room. She knelt on the bed and took hold of his belt, unbuckling and unlacing it from his trousers.
“Not that, little one. Ol’ Kad is tired…too tired for a roll in the sheets.” She closed her fingers over the key ring and slipped it off. The keys hit each other and tinkled, but the sound of thunder rolled across the sky, blotting out the small noise.
Hessa stumbled when she left the room, and at the open door, she stopped, frowning. Lightning flickered across the sky. It spilled into the main room of the small house, illuminating the far wall. There she saw a sword, a massive sheathed blade on display. She went back for it, and heaved the unwieldy weapon down from its hooks. It would be difficult to get it past the guards. She dragged it out, and shut the door behind her.