It was another of those nights when I felt like I hadn’t even had a chance to close my eyes before waking. And when I stepped outside of my room, the whole house was buzzing about what had happened in Hadisen.
“Did you know?” Sylvia kept asking me. “Did you know Adelaide was the Countess of Rothford?”
But that wasn’t even what they found most shocking. Apparently during his arrest, Cedric had been caught possessing Alanzan artifacts—which increased the stakes for him. No one thought to ask if I’d known about that, but they speculated on everything else. The chatter was grating.
“No one knows for sure what he was caught with. And even if he did have something, that doesn’t mean he’s one of them.”
“Why else would you have something Alanzan?”
“Do you think Jasper and Charles knew?”
“I don’t think so. Jasper won’t even come out of his office.”
“Yeah, but if he did know beforehand, of course he’d pretend he didn’t.”
The gossip persisted in the days that followed, and I stayed away in my room as much as possible. The delay caused by Cedric’s recovery in Hadisen only fueled the excited speculation. Everyone was eager for Adelaide’s return, simply to hear more of the drama. I wanted her back so that I could see with my own eyes that she was safe and sound. Her continued absence gnawed at me, as did Grant’s. I had no idea what had happened on Ramiel’s Day. Silas, reported Aiana, didn’t either. It worried her too, and she continued with the crossbow lessons when time allowed. She needed the distraction as much as I did. What I really longed to do was don Lady Aviel’s mask and strike out into the city. When my housemates could drag themselves away from gossiping about Adelaide, they had plenty of tales of danger and intrigue they’d heard about in Cape Triumph. Petty robberies, assaults. The militia could only follow up on so many—and the ones they did usually only involved influential citizens. The injustice of it made me restless, and I longed to stand up for the downtrodden. But I held myself back, both to avoid being the type of vigilante I’d lectured Tom about and because I didn’t want to cross paths with him.
I almost wished I had the backing of Tom’s crew again so that I could go see Warren Doyle in jail and . . . what? I wasn’t actually sure what I’d do. Even though he was locked away, I heard that he was well treated and even allowed fine food and clothing from his father. It incensed me to think of him enjoying those luxuries while Cedric healed from his beating. And there was Tamsin, of course. Warren knew more than he’d revealed, and I wanted to shake the answers out of him. I wanted him to pay for the way he’d made my friends suffer, but the law would have to decide that, not me..
To my surprise, a few social events crept into my schedule. Jasper and Charles were making a last, desperate effort to throw me in the path of eligible men, but it was to no avail. I didn’t even have to try to dissuade any would-be suitors. My mind was full of Grant, and I hardly spoke to anyone.
A little less than a week after he’d left, I found myself at a party honoring some visiting delegates from Williamston. There’d been no further communication between Lonzo and me, and I made an attempt to be charming tonight, in the hopes of learning more about the territories he worked in. But partway through the event, Aiana slipped into the elegant drawing room. She wasn’t assigned here tonight, and I stopped mid-sentence in a conversation I’d been having. Her eyes quickly scanned the crowd, and she hurried over to where Charles chatted with a few merchants. She pulled him to the side and said something in his ear. He looked across the room and, after spotting me, gave Aiana a nod.
She cut through the guests—who were more than a little startled to see a casually dressed Balanquan among them—and took my arm. “We have to go.”
Her face held a rare urgency, and all I could think was that something had happened to Grant. “Why? What’s the matter?”
“Adelaide is back.”
CHAPTER 31
CEDRIC HAD GONE STRAIGHT TO THE JAIL UPON arriving in the city. Jasper had refused to let Adelaide come back to Wisteria Hollow, so Aiana had offered up her home. She had another of those second-floor lofts, one as large as Silas’s. When we walked in and I saw Adelaide, I rushed across the room and dropped the secondhand clothes we’d acquired for her. Aiana retreated to give us privacy, and all I could do at first was take in the sight of Adelaide, alive and well. Her hair was damp, and she wore a robe. Tears glittered in her eyes.
“Mira—how did this—Tamsin—”
I hugged her closer. Aiana had warned me that Adelaide had only learned about Tamsin today. My letter had never reached her. “I don’t know. I couldn’t believe it when I heard.”
I recounted what I knew—what was publicly known—and how strange the circumstances were. I withheld any speculation about Warren since Silas and Grant didn’t have their hard proof yet.
“I can’t lose her again,” Adelaide said.
“I know. I feel the same way.” I had a lump in my throat and had to fight to stay in control. Tamsin would have to wait. Adelaide was the one who needed me right now, and I tried to give her a brave smile. “But you have to put that grief aside for now. We’ll cry for her later—a lot.”
Adelaide told me her backstory in Hadisen, explaining how Warren and his men had tried to kill Cedric and make it look like an accident. Warren denied it, and the words of a new governor earned more respect than those of a suspected heretic—even one involved with a noblewoman of considerable standing. Studying her as she spoke, I felt increasingly foolish for not having suspected her secret sooner. There was something powerful in the way she behaved and talked, even when she played a scattered student or looked as disheveled as she did now.
A knock interrupted a conversation about Jasper. In a flash, Aiana was at the door. Alert and dangerous, she placed one hand on the knob and held a knife as long as her forearm in her other. She reminded me of Grant, the night she’d discovered our affair.
“Who’s there?” Aiana yelled.
“Walter Higgins,” came the muffled response. “I’m looking for Adelaide Bailey—Cedric Thorn’s partner.”
“That’s Cedric’s agent!” exclaimed Adelaide. “Let him in.”
A svelte young man entered, his eyes scrutinizing every detail around him. I’d had no idea Cedric had an agent of any kind. Adelaide explained to us how Cedric had been trying to buy his stake to Westhaven Colony by selling a forged Myrikosi painting. After a lot of searching, Walter had finally found a buyer for him—one who wanted authentication from anyone who might have knowledge about Myrikosi art. That wasn’t an easy request around here.
“Sirminicans look a lot like Myrikosi,” Walter told Adelaide, giving me a quick glance.
Adelaide immediately latched on to the idea. “You can do a Myrikosi accent. I used to hear you do it back at Blue Spring. All you have to do is meet this guy and tell him the painting he’s interested in is an authentic piece from one of Myrikos’s greatest masters.”
It turned out “this guy” lived an hour north of the city, but I couldn’t refuse her. If Cedric had a stake in Westhaven, Denham would have to grant him immunity for his religion. With the trial beginning in the morning, the odds of getting everything together in time seemed slim. But, as Aiana bluntly pointed out to Adelaide: “You need to accept that there’s a chance Cedric may not get out of this. And if he doesn’t, you’re going to need your own resources to escape.”
I later left Adelaide with assurances that everything would be okay, just as I had the night she and Cedric had been found out. I hoped my words would end up being true now—because I really wasn’t sure they had back then.
Everyone was up early the next morning to see the trial that would determine Warren’s and Cedric’s fates. Aiana had to help chaperone girls at the courthouse, and our hope was that no one would notice my temporary absence amidst all the drama and activity. I put on a deep burgundy riding dress that was
far too elegant for a day in court, but no one paid any attention to it.
A throng of hopeful spectators had formed outside the courthouse when we arrived. Aiana managed to slip away from her duties long enough to lead me out of sight and direct me down a small road canopied with oak trees.
“I arranged for Silas to go with you,” she told me. “I’m sure you’ll say you’d be fine on your own, but a fancy Myrikosi lady wouldn’t be traveling alone.”
“Silas . . . not Grant?” There’d been no word from Grant, and he’d left almost a week ago.
Aiana shook her head. “Still not back.”
My heart heavy, I turned down the rough road and found Silas easily. He wore a wide-brimmed hat, tipped down to shield him from the morning sun, and sat atop a deep brown mare. A gray one stood nearby.
“A sidesaddle?” I asked, not bothering to hide my disdain.
He lifted the hat’s brim to examine me. “Only way you’re going to ride in that dress. Or convince whoever it is you’re trying to fool that you’re some aristocrat. Aiana didn’t really give me the whole story.”
“Do you want to know it?”
“No.”
We set off down the quiet road. Sunlight shone through the trees in dappled patterns, already making the heavy riding dress itchy and smothering.
“Aiana said Grant’s not back.”
“No, but I did finally receive a message last night. He got what he went after, but it needed some follow-up. He had to chase down a few more people, seize some more evidence. Even had the army arrest a couple of men to question. We’re starting to dismantle this.”
“And Grant’s okay? Not hurt?”
Silas shot me a sidelong look. “Yes.”
We rode in silence until our little road joined a larger one. Unsettled woodland flanked it, but the size and packed dirt suggested it saw a lot of travel. Silas cleared his throat a few times and finally asked, “So. Do you still want to fix the lawlessness in Cape Triumph?”
For a moment, I thought he knew about my work with Tom, and then I recalled the conversation in which I’d asked about the city’s haphazard justice. “Well, I’d like to see it fixed. I don’t think I said I wanted to do it myself.”
“You didn’t. I said you should bring it up with the governor. You said he wouldn’t listen to a Sirminican woman.”
“I still don’t think he would.”
He shrugged. “Well, he listened to me when I went and talked to him—before this whole Hadisen mess broke out.”
“I . . . don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“He agreed the city needs an official watch and went ahead and authorized the formation of one. The paperwork’s back in my office, detailing a few operating procedures, as well as how much money he’ll allot.”
“That’s wonderful!” It was probably the only purely good news I’d heard in a long time.
“I’m glad you think so,” Silas said. “Because you’re the one who’s going to put it together.”
“What?” I repeated his words in my head. “But you just said that you’d talked to him—”
“I got the paperwork and permission to get it started, but that’s it. You think I want to take that kind of job on, along with everything else I juggle? Organizing patrols? Hiring watchmen? I’m not that crazy. But I think you might be.”
All those dreams of valor, all the stories I’d idolized . . . even my attempts at justice as Lady Aviel. None of them had anything to do with reality. But this . . .
The light that had surged in me at his words abruptly darkened. “I can’t do anything like that. I’m still bound to my contract with the Thorns.”
“Well, that’s the other thing.” Silas scratched one of his ears and stared off down the road. “We’ve got a budget. That’s meant to cover your pay and anyone you hire. Work the numbers, and you could take an advance against your pay. Deal with the fee that way.”
My head swam with the possibilities—and complications. If this freedom was even possible, it would be hard earned. “But how could I hire anyone? Most would be men. They’d never accept me. They’d never respect me.”
“Then you make them respect you. You fight and stand strong until you’ve won. You survived through Sirminica, Osfro, here. You think you can’t whip a few patrolmen into shape? Plus, you’d be paying them. Holding the purse strings goes a long way.”
I swallowed. “Speaking of purse strings . . . could I . . . could I get an advance on a little more than my fee?”
Silas snorted. “Depends on your definition of ‘a little,’ I suppose. Borrow too much, and you won’t have any watch at all.”
“I know. But, my brother . . .” I took a deep breath. It still felt strange talking about Lonzo. “My brother’s a bondsman down in—”
“Yes, yes,” Silas interrupted. “Williamston. I thought that was all taken care of.”
I gaped. “You . . . know?”
“Of course. I’m the one who passed the money on to one of our agents headed that way.”
“What money?”
“The sixty Grant gave me a couple of weeks ago.” Silas rolled his eyes. “I don’t even want to know how many card games it took to get that. Last I heard, the paperwork’s finalized, but your brother’s been delayed because of some injury.”
My hand flew to my chest. “What?”
“Something with his knee, I think. I just heard yesterday that he’ll be okay and should be here within the month.”
Lonzo. Free. And coming here. Soon. I half expected to wake up in my bed at any moment. It was the only way to explain this increasingly astonishing day.
“You okay?” Silas peered more closely at me. I had no idea how long I’d been silent.
“I . . . yes. I just didn’t know. Grant never said anything.” I focused back on Silas. “Why wouldn’t he tell me?”
“I don’t know. My guess is he didn’t want to worry you until he knew the full story about the injury. But that’s just a guess. I have no idea what goes on in Grant’s head or what goes on between you two.” Silas cut me a look. “Actually, I do have a few ideas about what goes on between you, and if you were my daughter— Well. It doesn’t matter. Right now, at least. Let’s focus on the job offer. Do you want it? I’m not going to lie to you. It will be hard. I meant it when I said I think you can win, but you’ll be battling more than the men who work for you. A lot of this town doesn’t want any law. But the rest of it, the ordinary folk, they need that law.”
Since coming to Adoria, I’d imagined and adapted to countless scenarios. An opportunity like this never crossed my mind. It had never even crossed my dreams. Independence. The chance to really and truly help others in a fair way. I could give Lonzo a job when he arrived. “It’s amazing, Mister Garrett. Really. I’m flattered you even considered me. And yes . . . I do want it. I just hope you’re right about paying off my contract.”
“Eh, I’ve faced worse problems. And if we really are on the verge of closing in on the traitors, you’ll get that absurdly high reward that Grant promised without consulting me.”
“My reward,” I reiterated. And Grant would get his too. My brilliant, exciting career suddenly felt hollow as I accepted that it’d be without him. He’d be off with the Balanquans, away from me, away from everyone here. He liked working alone, though. Or did he?
Maybe . . . maybe you’d like to see the lands up north.
My breath caught in my throat as Grant’s words came rushing back to me with a sudden, impossible revelation. Beside me, Silas said something about us being on the outskirts of Crawford, but I barely heard him. My mind flew far from this sunny road. I was back in Grant’s dark bedroom when he’d nervously hinted that I might go with him to the Balanquans.
I’d been too mad at him that night to even consider it. When Aiana had later explained the deal’s strict conditio
ns on who could go with him, the implications of Grant’s offer hadn’t hit me. And even when I’d admitted to him that I would like to travel with him, I still hadn’t thought about my role. I just wanted to be with him—at least, I did until my priorities with Lonzo had dragged me back to reality.
Only the ambassadors and their families are allowed—wives and children, people like that. No friends or well-wishers. Not even servants or bodyguards.
Wives.
What had Grant been asking of me? Had he even known what he was saying? He’d been so hesitant each time the topic came up, as though he couldn’t acknowledge even to himself what he was doing.
Had he—in his bizarre, complicated way—been proposing marriage?
The rest of the morning passed in a daze. I put on a good performance for the potential buyer—an older man who reminded me a lot of Rupert—and convinced him I’d grown up around all sorts of fine art in Myrikos before falling in love with an Osfridian merchant who’d brought me here. If I’d had the painting on me, he would’ve handed over the money then and there.
But even as I smiled and chatted, all I kept thinking was: What had Grant meant?
Silas and I made good time back to Cape Triumph, and he left me almost immediately. “I’m testifying just before lunch and need to be on hand at the trial. If you don’t want anyone to notice that you’ve been gone, wait until the recess when you can blend in with the crowd.”
I made myself comfortable in a grassy clearing just off the lane, my mind still full of the day’s developments. When I heard the sound of voices growing in the distance, I hurried to the courthouse. I slipped in easily among the lunch-seeking crowd and was just in time to see the prisoners being led away. I almost looked right past Cedric. His arm was in a sling, and bruises shadowed his face. He wore rumpled and worn-out clothes, whereas Warren and his men were clean and smartly dressed. I thought about the day I’d met with Cedric in the church, when he’d been so stylishly dressed and hadn’t had a hair out of place. I never would have recognized that man as the one who walked by me now.