The Soulstoy Inheritance by Jane Washington

of his hair. 
    My guard disappeared as they reached me, and I found myself relaxing somewhat at their presence, though I was worried that their attitude to me would change, now that they weren’t drunk.
    “I’m in need of a new personal guard,” I said, without preemption. “Apparently there is a war coming.”
    “I’m not surprised,” said Quick easily, flicking a caterpillar from his shoulder. “Leif has been fluttering around rather much, for spring.”
    “We’re nowhere near qualified for the royal guard,” Sweet admitted. “We can barely afford armour, Lady Queen, and our weapons are subpar at best, you’d be better off with some of Grenlow’s men.”
    “You’re not Grenlow’s men?”
    “We’re Leif’s men.”
    I blinked. Silent, spymaster Leif has men ?
    “Well, can you fight?”
    “We’re better with poison,” Teddy said, “but we can kill a person, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    “I suppose the question is can you protect a person? I’m fairly self-sufficient, but—”
    “But you have an unholy death wish? Yeah,” Teddy tried to hold in a laugh, “we’ve heard. It won’t be a problem, Lady Queen. We will protect you.”
    “Then whatever you need, you’ll have. I’m fairly sure I can give that order.”
    Teddy grimaced. “I’m sure you can, Lady Queen.”
    I walked the three back to Grenlow, who raised his brows.
    “These?” He gestured to them as if they were clumsy children I’d just kidnapped. “You want these three?”
    “Yes, must I ask Leif for permission?”
    “You’re the Queen, Lady Beatrice.”
    “I mean out of common decency.”
    “Common decency?”
    I sighed, rubbing the base of my palm against my forehead. “No wonder Nareon thought my empathy was a good quality.”
    “Either way, Leif probably already knows,” Quick said.
    I glanced at him, wondering if he was joking, but he looked serious enough.
    “Leif is everywhere. He’s the Spymaster,” Grenlow said by way of explanation, seeing the look on my face.
    “I didn’t see him anywhere.”
    “That’s the point.” Grenlow sighed, clearly my insolence was beginning to wear him down, and I actually started to feel guilty.
    “Right, well okay then. These three need new weapons.”
    “Oh, you’re not trying to kill yourself after all? Come with me, I had the smith make something for you too, Lady Beatrice.”
    We walked together past the castle gates and down the slight incline that stretched from the castle itself to Castle Nest. This city was gated too, though the gates hung wide open, and there were no soldiers guarding them. The city was a flurry of busy activity, and Grenlow strode through it with ease, though I found myself bustled on more than a few occasions so that I was forced to pay closer attention to where I walked. Once I got the hang of jumping out of the way, my progress was much smoother, and soon we turned off the main road and down a much quieter street. People began to notice me then, so I kept my head down, until Grenlow ducked into a shop front. It was a blacksmith’s shop, and the man at the anvil stopped what he was doing immediately and strode over to us.
    “My Lady Queen. General.” He ignored the other three men completely. “The holster is ready.”
    “Good. Lady Beatrice, this is Jad, our best Blacksmith.”
    Jad hurried off, and reappeared a moment later, holding a leather sheath out to me, along with a handful of different lengths of belt. I took it, confused, and then Jad produced a knife, and the realisation sank in. The knife hadn’t been cleaned, it was still stained with my father’s blood.
    “I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed it,” Grenlow said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. “I thought you should be able to have it on you at all times.”
    I reached for the hilt, my hands shaking, completely unable to speak as I stared at it. Grenlow, synfee, monster… whatever else he was, he understood.
    “Thank you,” I