We reach over to his apartment, and not bothering to use the hidden key keeps it for when he's drunk or for me when I'm really drunk.
I pick out the lock using swooping movements from the picklock. Helena has her eyebrows raised, but said nothing. We open the door, and I call out, "Dewey?"
No answer.
I look for the living room where there are two duvets meant for chatty courtiers or long hours lounging with drinks. The small kitchen only holds two pots, a small fireplace, and a kettle to warm water.
I go up to the bedroom, there is not one on the bed but one sitting against the wall staring at the empty space. His eyes catch on me and then the princess by my side, but he doesn't seem to focus on her. She crunches up his brow. "Taj?"
His voice is husky and slightly surprised, as if he didn't expect me. "We were supposed to meet at the pub."
I take a long, fast steps, crouching down to lightly slap him to wake him up. I look at his dilated pupils. "Are you drunk or high?"
He scrunches up his brows and thinks, "Both? Neither?"
I'm fighting an eye roll. Only a man would cover up a murder and then go get drunk.
"Why do you say that? A slap or bucket of water."
side of my eye, I see that Helena is fighting to grasp it, the implication that I'm about to violently sober my friend up. He purses his lip, his finger on his chin. "I don't want to drench my new carpets, so slap."
I hoist them up on his feet, our noises brush. he leans over, his breath close to mine, and his mouth is on me?
I barely have time to think before Helena tries to hoist me out of his grip when I realize he's holding a dagger to my throat. "What the hell are you doing, Dewey?"
"I'm so sorry, but the bounty on your head is high, and I have debts. Now that I see you have the princess, you can give her up, and I'm sure your crime will be forgiven." His hand is still on my neck although the knife is not pressed into it, I still feel the sting of betrayal.
"But not hers!" I bellow. "You know what they will do to her."
He sharply nods and shakes his head. "She's a princess, she can live through this. You can't. They will take off your head for this." He gives Helena a slight acknowledgment, wondering how much she knows. The sharp glare that she returns to his gaze probably tells him only he needs to know.
The cold steel to my throat slightly loosens, but his grip is firm. I could disarm him in minutes, but he is my friend. I thought I could trust him.
"You were the one who told the guards we were at the pub."
He removes the knife between us and brings his mouth inches from mine. not answering my question. "Are you really staking it all for a fuck with a princess? Come on."
I nearly roar, "She's not another fuck!"
I inch closer to the knife, welcoming it and the pain to my body. Helena tugs on my hands silently to back away from this fight, but I won't.
I grip his neck, holding it into the air, slamming it into the wall. He winces against the impact, but I don't care because I do it again. This time there is blood drawing from the back of his neck.
"Say something like that again about her, and I really will kill you. I don't care how many years we've been friends."
I dropped him to the floor, and he slacked like a rag doll, not able to walk without a master to talk through.
Helena's panicked eyes bug around the room. "We have to go!"
We turn to go to find another way out of town. But when we rebound to the entry door, the king of the realm, Lord of Malp, and Helena's Dad stand between us and the door.