Princess Avenger - Brightcastle Saga Book 1 by Bernadette Rowley Page A

the
outset?
    Alecia pulled
a parchment with the descriptions of the five mercenaries from her
bedside drawer. The second on the list was the man already dead.
First was a tall, thin man with narrow shoulders and eyes set
close. The third was almost as tall and heavyset, with six earrings
on each ear. He was bald but sported a bushy black beard. Fourth on
the list was a man shorter than Alecia with close-cropped blond
hair and a red gem set in the lobe of his left ear. Last of all
came the one she had nicknamed ‘the Devil’. Jorge’s father had been
eloquent in his description of this man: of average height with
wild black hair balanced by a moustache and beard, cold green eyes
and a cruel laugh. The Devil was the leader and his sword had cut
down Jorge Andra as he tried to defend his parents. Well, he would
soon discover how it felt to be the victim of cold steel.
    But how to
find these men? Her first assault had come on impulse. She had seen
the five men enter the tavern and realized at once who they were.
It was then a matter of waiting for one to come out. There had been
no plan, and the aftermath had shown her the folly of that. She had
heard The Dancing Lion referred to as a favorite watering hole for
mercenaries. Would the killers continue to associate there or had
her father ordered them to disperse? It was time to
investigate.
    Alecia shed
her nightgown and donned a dark gray shirt and breeches, bundling
her hair up under a tattered black cap. Then she pulled on the
hood. She stuffed her nightgown with her spare blankets and placed
her nightcap over the top. By candlelight, when the covers were
pulled up, it would appear that she was still in her bed if anyone
should check.
    She retrieved
five knives from a cavity inside the wood box and hid them about
her person. A puff of breath snuffed the two candles by her bedside
and she pulled the tapestry aside with a whispered prayer to Izebel
to keep her safe. The stone door swung open with a low rumble and
closed just as quietly. The trip to the trapdoor was uneventful and
she soon found herself outside the castle walls.
    Alecia paused
in the stand of trees that hid the trapdoor. A three-quarter moon
floated in the sky. She kept to the shadows as she made her way
into town. The backstreets frequented by drunks, thieves and other
unsavoury types were well known to her but darkness made the narrow
alleys forbidding. After half an hour of creeping through the
putrid streets Alecia’s teeth ached from the strain of avoiding
notice. She stopped in an alley across from The Dancing Lion. Light
blazed from the windows and the sounds of a woman singing a bawdy
tune floated to her. The patrons were comfortable in their warm
retreat and none ventured into the street.
    Open slats on
two windows at the front of the building and one on either end
spilled lantern light into the night. Alecia cast her gaze around
the streets and rooftops for signs of watchers but saw no movement.
She took a deep breath and sprinted across the street to the alley
beside the tavern, dropping beneath the windowsill. Her heart
raced, her breath coming in gasps. She waited until her body
settled, then peered above the sill.
    The
crowd was not large. The four men she wanted were seated around the
room. Two talked together in a corner while the Devil and the blond
man rested on a bench in front of the fire. Alecia flirted with the
idea of boarding the place up and setting it on fire before she
caught herself. If she did that, she would be no better than the
mercenaries or her father. She slumped back to the ground under the
sill, her arms wrapped around herself. What is happening to me? First the incident yesterday
when she nearly died, then the captain unnerving her and now she
was contemplating killing innocents to attain her goal. She hugged
herself tighter, shivers of panic sliding over her
skull.
    Massaging her temples with cold fingers, she took deep
breaths to stem the rising dread. I can do this . As