The Black Robe of Flanders: Carnival of Mysteries by Sara Ellis

Author:Sara Ellis [Ellis, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Heidelberg, Germany – June 4, 1936

Val did not sleep well for what was left of the night.

This was something of a surprise. His headaches were debilitating enough to knock him flat, and the one at the Hotel Excelsior had been the worst he’d had in years. Between it and the tense, uncomfortable meeting in the Cathedral he’d barely managed to stay awake long enough to hand Skavadale his train fare before drifting off in the passenger lounge in Cologne. He’d awakened long enough to stumble onto one train, then the other, before dropping each time straight into the deep, almost painful sleep of true exhaustion. If he hadn’t roused just enough to hear the hard-faced blonde arguing with the Gestapo agent right outside their compartment, he likely would have dropped off again and slept straight through until the train pulled into Heidelberg.

Rest had been impossible after that. Val had been wide awake when they’d debarked, letting Skavadale take the lead as they made their way through the empty, echoing station, those remarkable eyes narrowed in concentration as they swept the dark station and the taxi stand outside for trouble. Val hadn’t noticed anything out of place, but he was not surprised when Skavadale grasped his arm, murmured “hold on, I’ve got you,” and shifted them straight to the front door of their hotel. Five minutes later a half-awake night clerk had handed them their keys, locked the front door behind them, and escorted them to their room. The clerk had then informed them that breakfast began at seven o’clock, managed a perfunctory bow, and made his way back to the elevator.

The room itself had been comfortable and clean, with a nicely appointed bathroom, elegant furniture, and a quaint sitting area for two by the window. Skavadale had checked the locks while Val unpacked his shaving kit and stumbled into a bathroom that lived up to every stereotype about German cleanliness. By the time he’d washed, brushed his teeth, and stripped off his rumpled suit, the exhaustion had come roaring back, with interest, and he never remembered brushing past Skavadale and all but collapsing into bed. The sound of running water and the flush of the toilet as Skavadale took his turn barely registered, and from what he could tell, the spy was unconscious almost as soon as his head hit his pillow.

Which was right next to Val’s.

It wasn’t that they were actually in the same bed. Whomever had booked their room had asked for “ein Zimmer mit zwei Betten,” a single room with two beds, and that was exactly what they had gotten. The problem was that in Germany, this meant not twin beds separated by a nightstand, but twin beds sharing a headboard, with a six inch gap between the two mattresses.

Normally this would not have been a problem. Val had shared rooms with fellow correspondents on more than one assignment, including similar arrangements in Vienna and Berlin, and outside of the occasional half-drunken grope after a party there had never been an issue.

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