Page 11 of The Fifth Life of Alicia
I put on my cloak and secured it before pulling the hood up over my head. The hood was huge, and it hid almost all of my face with shadows. It was perfect.
The coachman opened the door, and I took his hand as I got out.
“Are you sure the carriage is hidden?” I asked him quietly.
“Yes, my lady. Exactly where Miss Bella instructed us to pull up. Nobody will recognise this as a carriage of House Vermillion anyway.”
“Good. Please wait here—we shan’t be long.”
“As you wish.” He bowed his head.
“Let’s go, Bella,” I said, motioning for her to follow me.
Luckily, the way to the guild had been detailed in the novel after Lillia and the Crown Prince had visited to get information on Kalon’s planned treason. They’d stopped a nondescript carriage in the exact spot I’d instructed Bella to tell our coachman, so I knew the correct path to take.
I led Bella through the rundown streets until we reached a small tea shop. It was nothing like the tea shops Alicia had frequented in my memories, but it was the exact place I’d seen described in the book.
The door creaked when I pushed it open. Despite being a front for Illusion, it served as a functioning tea shop for the lower class, and there was a low hum of chatter throughout the rundown store that was occasionally pierced by the laughter of children.
I approached the counter. “I’d like a milk tea with sugar and honey on the side, please.”
“Would you like to sit upstairs or downstairs?” the young woman asked me with sceptical eyes.
“Upstairs.”
She nodded and flicked her wrist. “Allegra. Show this lady to a seat upstairs while I make her tea.”
I turned to Bella. “Order what you’d like and pay. I’ll wait for you upstairs.”
Bella opened her mouth to say something, but as if my words from earlier resounded in her mind, she quickly stopped and instead turned to the woman behind the counter.
“Please follow me, miss.” The young woman who’d been called Allegra motioned for me to follow her, and I dipped my head as she guided me towards a staircase in the back of the shop.
We carried on up the staircase until we reached the top. There was a door to the left with a sign for no entry marked on it and an archway that lead to a small seating area. I assumed that was the waiting area in case there was nobody here, and I half-expected her to take me there.
Instead, she ran her hand along the panelled wall, muttering under her breath. She stopped and pushed on the wall, and a click filled the empty air as the wall gave way to a doorway.
I knew that was going to happen, but there was nothing cooler than a secret door.
“Mind your step,” she warned me.
“Thank you,” I said, sweeping past her into the dimly lit corridor.
Her footsteps echoed behind me, and my heart pounded for a second until the passage opened into a bright room that was decorated far more extravagantly than the tea shop had been.
“Is the guild leader here?” I asked.
Allegra paused. “Is that who you were hoping to see? He only sees the most important clients.”
“If you knew who I was, he’d be coming to see me.”
She eyed me with curiosity. “Excuse me for a moment.”
She disappeared through a door on the other side of the room, and she was gone for all of a minute before she came back out.
“Unfortunately, he’s not here today. Someone else will be out in a moment to assist you.” She bowed her head. “Please take a seat while you wait.”
She disappeared down the passage before I had a chance to respond, and I gritted my teeth at her quick escape.
