Prince of the Stable by Sydney Blackburn

Author:Sydney Blackburn [Blackburn, Sydney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Half Past Three
Published: 2016-02-09T23:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

Half-Snuffed

Aiden tried to sleep. He had to work come sunrise and would be busy at one thing or another until dark. If he was going to rise earlier to visit Ro, it would make for a long day. But he couldn't sleep. He thought about this Lord Gilbert, a name he'd heard once or twice in servant gossip, but never with the dark stories associated with Prince Edmund. He'd seen the guards of the Watch abuse both men and women, so he had some idea of how bad it could be. Ro was a professional, he reminded himself, with prior experience with this particular patron. What if he overslept? What if--?

He tossed and turned. He jerked himself awake, panicked that he'd slept too long, but the darkness outside remained complete. Maybe it was still too early? He didn't bother with a lamp, but made his way sure-footedly across the floor and down the ladder from long habit. He took up the pole and water buckets and stepped out into the cool night air, listening.

But there was no sound in the night from the taverns, no raucous singing echoing off alleyways. The sky still held no promise of morning. He made his way to the well, listening for any signs of life, but it seemed it was indeed the dead of night, when even the most dedicated drunk had passed out. He drew water from the well so that if he was able to linger with Ro, the horses would not suffer for his indulgence.

Other times he'd gone to that quarter of the city, he'd known roughly what time it was by the hour bells from the palace. But the royal timekeeper did not ring the hours through the night, so folks could sleep. The Watch and others that had to work while others slept kept hour candles to mark the time in silence. He laced the red ribbon token through his fingers, lest he drop it in the dark streets, and hoped the guards of the Watch would honour it, if they caught him.

The night torches maintained for a price by the merchants to discourage vandals and thieves cast small flickering pools of dim light. The emptiness of the streets at this hour made Aiden feel all the more conspicuous, and he rubbed the token as if it were a magic charm. Certain he'd be challenged at every corner, he was surprised to arrive at Ro's window without meeting the Watch or needed to show his token. Of course, if he hadn't had it, it probably would have been a different story.

Ro's window as dark, which he expected as the shutter would be closed, but he thought there should be some glimmer of light. Was he too early? Too late?

He scratched at the window, whispering, "Ro?"

But the only sound answering was a groan. He pressed against the screen with a rising trepidation, increased when the screen creaked open with no resistance. "Ro?"

He shuffled across the unfamiliar room to where he remembered seeing a lamp, and fumbled some more to find a strike to light it.

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