Free Destiny of the Heart (Viking Destiny) by K. Young Page A

goods in and out of England.
    Oh, he was quite good at what he did, and no one else
seemed to know what he was up to. Why, Alice only knew
because she was trained to know such things. When she had
been assigned to live in England, it was the worst punishment
she could imagine, and to her knowledge, she hadn't done
anything to deserve it. But, she had met Derrick shortly after
her arrival three years ago, and he'd made it bearable. She'd
taken the post of his mistress, but that didn't seem permanent
enough. Once her assignment was completed, she would be
forced to return home, and frankly, life with Derrick was
simple. Her punishment had turned into a haven, and she had
grown accustomed to the simplicity. She had hoped to bring
up the subject of making their arrangement more permanent
that evening, but she had been stood up.
    Alice walked to what remained of the candles and blew
them out. She drank the rest of the wine straight from the
bottle, then glaring at the bright fire before her, she threw the
bottle into the flames. The glass shattered and pieces went
flying everywhere, but she paid little attention as she watched
the flames dance and burn brighter from the alcohol. There
was no hope for it now. She would have to carry out her task
before someone else was sent and she was permanently
removed. As it was, she was already two weeks late with her
delivery. Any longer and someone else would come, and Alice
knew exactly who would be sent. She shivered at the thought.
    That in mind, Alice swung around and headed for the
door. She would need to change quickly as it was almost
dawn. If she hurried, the girl might still be asleep, and Alice
would be in and out before the first rays of light crested the
hills. The beauty of being a mistress was that there were no
live-in servants to watch her comings and goings. As she had
frequent late night visits from Derrick, the servants merely
stayed until after dinner was prepared and cleaned away, then
Alice was left to her own devices until morning.
    And, so it was that after Alice had changed into men's
breeches, she made her way out of the house with no one the
wiser of her actions. She knew the streets of London well,
having spent the last three years creeping through them in the
dead of night. Not the nights she spent with Derrick, of course.
But, taking out an entire royal family was a lot of work. And,
the one who paid her had a strict schedule for their demise.
The girl was already supposed to be dead, but Alice had been
hoping to spend more time with Derrick. If she married, she
got to leave her old life behind her.
    As she made her way to the manor on the outskirts of
London, she began to wonder why Derrick had stood her up.
Usually, if he was detained for any reason, he would send a
note. Doubt began to creep into her mind. Was he with
someone else? Was he losing interest in her? She couldn't let
that happen. She needed Derrick, and she was desperate
enough to make certain that his interest remained with her.
Alice decided she would just have to snoop around a little to
see what was going on.
    Alice reached the manor without issue. Stephen Ashby
wasn't exactly well off, and since Alice had caused the
accident that killed his wife Marie, the manor had fallen to
disrepair. But, Ashby was neither here nor there as far as
Alice was concerned. No, she was there for the girl. The last
remaining descendant of the Christiansen line, and the only
one left to contest Sander's rule. All Alice had to do was slit
her throat and be done with the whole sordid affair. It was
nothing personal, but Alice had a job to do. The Lady Kristen
Ashby would be no more after tonight.
    Standing behind a wide oak tree, Alice scanned the
grounds. There weren't any servants lingering about in the
wee hours of the morning, so she crept toward the back of the
house. She knew exactly which window was the Lady
Kristen's and began her climb through the trees at the back to
reach it. Once