The Gender Game by Bella Forrest (historical books to read txt) 📗

the rest of the noise in the pub. They were talking about rowing, Cad was, apparently, as keen a boater as ever.

It was strange to hear my cousin's voice again. Strange, yet comforting. I felt a bittersweet twinge in my chest, wishing I could greet him. But I couldn't stand where I was much longer without looking seriously odd. I sensed that a waiter would be the first to ask me if I was all right.

I twisted ever so slightly, just enough to glimpse the nearest exit. If I moved tactfully, I could slip around the back of Cad and his friends' chairs while they weren't looking. Then I could get lost in the crowd and make my way back outside. I could rejoin the dinner and tell Lee that I was feeling sick and that we needed to leave.

But before I could even begin my attempt to move around them, Lee spoke up behind me.

"Violet?"

He'd come to see if I was all right. And he either had not been informed about my cousin or simply hadn’t seen or recognized him.

I was already picturing Cad turning to Lee, and then following Lee's gaze toward me. I didn’t have time to think. My gut instinct took over and I found myself darting forward, past the out-of-order sign and into the ladies' bathroom.

My heart raced as I gazed around the stalls. I spotted a window above the line of sinks and, kicking off my shoes and hanging them over one wrist by their straps, I climbed onto the sink and pushed it open. Gripping its frame, I hauled myself up to find myself above a trash yard around the back of the building.

Swinging my legs over, I leapt and landed on the roof of a trashcan. I slid off, tearing the hem of my dress in the process, and landed on the puddle-strewn ground. I quickly slipped my shoes back on before hurrying toward the gates that marked the exit of the yard. Thankfully, they weren't locked. I rushed through them while trying to tidy my hair and straighten my dress. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back against the yard's wall.

Lee would probably go barging into the ladies' room after me and suspect that I had climbed through the window. I guessed he would climb through, too. I would wait here for him to emerge, and then the two of us could roam back to the tables before taking our leave.

I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head right now, though. He might be doubting me, thinking that I'd decided I wanted to get out of all of this and tried to escape while I thought I could. If I hadn't had a reunion with my brother dangling ahead of me as a carrot, the notion of running away would probably be tempting, but even that would require a level of insanity I didn't possess. I'd be caught, and probably thrust into jail… And jails in Patrus were rumored to be a woman's worst nightmare. I would be better off in a Matrian detention center any day.

As for Cad, I'd gotten out of the building before he had been able to see me properly. The most he would've seen of me was my back. Although Violet was not a very common name, I had to hope that he'd write it off as a coincidence and not think any more of it.

I clasped my hands together, waiting tensely. The street was dark, except for a single strip light a few hundred yards away. It cast eerie dancing shadows on the brick work surrounding me.

Where was Lee? Why was I still waiting for him? It occurred to me that maybe, rather than climb through the window, he might've gone around the front and would be making his way to the back alley now.

I started moving toward the crowded street that ran perpendicular to the alley. I'd feel easier waiting where there were bright lights and people, but as I had almost reached the busy sidewalk, a group of men turned the corner. Big, heavy-set men with identical tattoos—a solid black square beneath the left ear. They had the rough appearance of farmers or manual laborers: sun-tanned skin, windswept hair, baggy clothes, and clunky boots.

Almost colliding with me, they stopped abruptly, their eyes raking over me curiously. Balling my hands into fists, I kept my eyes firmly on the ground while attempting to dodge and slip past them. But one of them—a man with a pockmarked face and a jungle for eyebrows—apparently wasn't done looking at me. He moved directly in front of me, blocking my path.

"What are you doing alone?" he asked.

"What business is that of yours?" I said through gritted teeth. He clearly wasn't a warden.

I moved to push past him but again he obstructed my way, taking a step closer to me this time.

"She's too well dressed to be a stray," one of his companions muttered.

I glared into the eyes of the man looming over me, refusing to be intimidated. I could have flashed my ring to show him that I had a guardian, but I wasn't a Patrian girl. And I wanted him to know it. He couldn't just push me around.

I could tell that my stand aggravated him. His arm shot out to grab my wrist, but I had already predicted his movement and with a sharp chop of my right hand, I knocked his arm aside and jerked backward.

His eyes lowered to where I had struck him, which would soon show bruising, and then raised to me again in disbelief.

I hadn't been sure why Lee had been hesitant to come to this part of town, but perhaps men like these were the reason. The man surfaced from his surprise and lurched forward, giving me no choice but to remove my stupid heels again and hurry back. I was feeling angry and frustrated enough to get into a physical fight with him, but I wasn't quite