Midnight Jewel
Page 96

   “It’s him, Mira.” She clutched my sleeve and looked like she might hyperventilate. “In person. He asked to talk to Jasper. Do you know what that means? He’s going to make an offer! This could be it! What I’ve been waiting for.”
   I didn’t know what to say. I wanted her to be happy and fulfill her dreams, but was Warren the right person?
   Not long after his arrival, Tamsin was summoned to the office as well. She came back to our room an hour later, elated. “We’re not engaged,” she announced.
   “You . . . aren’t? Then why are you so happy?”
   “Because I’m going to Hadisen! Warren says he doesn’t want to lock me in until I’ve seen exactly what I’ll be facing. So I’m going back with him in two days by boat. The wife of one of his associates will come stay with me in Warren’s house while I’m there, so it’ll all be very proper. We worked out the details with Jasper.”
   “Two days.”
   She was too excited to know just how hard those words struck me. First Adelaide, now Tamsin. I was going to be alone again, just like I’d been in Osfro after Lonzo left. Grant was . . . out of the picture. I had no one, except Aiana, I supposed. And the looming potential of becoming Rupert Chambers’s bride.
   If I stopped delaying, I could marry Rupert now and have a whole new world open up to me. Freedom from Mistress Culpepper’s rules. Lonzo back in my life. The ability to visit Tamsin and Adelaide in Hadisen. What was I waiting for?
   Who was I waiting for?
 

   Tamsin left on the hottest day we’d had since coming to Adoria. The air hung thick and heavy with humidity, and Mistress Culpepper was at her wit’s end trying to keep us doused in powder and relatively sweat-free. Tamsin was supposed to have sailed in the afternoon, but some delay on Warren’s part pushed them into an evening departure.    “I’m sorry,” he said, when he finally arrived. Two of his associates accompanied him and loaded her luggage into a carriage. “We’ll have to make part of our trip in the dark, but we’ll still arrive tonight. I hope it’s not too exhausting.”
   “No need to worry. Our Tamsin can handle anything,” said Jasper, eager for the prospective deal.
   Tamsin hugged me, and just like that, I was alone. Both of my roommates were gone, off to glorious futures with the men they wanted. I went upstairs and gazed at my friends’ beds. It was selfish to feel sorry for myself. After all, they were alive and happy. But I couldn’t help it. The room seemed ten times bigger than it had before, and I felt very small.
 

   It might have been lucky, then, that I had Tom’s fifty-gold job that night to distract me. I had no social engagements at all (though Jasper had told me he could arrange a visit to the Chambers house anytime), so I was able to sneak out earlier than usual once darkness fell.    I rendezvoused with Tom’s men in the same spot as last time. There were a lot more people present this time—but not Tom himself.
   Elijah smiled warmly at me as he leaned against a tree. “Don’t worry, he’ll be here.”
   “Is everything okay?” I asked.
   “Oh, yeah. He had to go oversee something in person. We’ve got a regular who buys a lot of our fancy stuff, but he was trying to change the price at the last minute. So, Tom went to see him and our, ah, sales associate.”
   “Do you mean fence?” I teased.
   “Hey, I’m trying to be genteel for you.” His smile faded as he stared off over the bay. Even at night, the heat was still oppressive. The air stood perfectly still, with no hint of a breeze, and everyone’s clothes were sticky with sweat. I wished Lady Aviel’s image didn’t require so many itchy and heavy accoutrements.
   Tom came trotting up soon, with Lesser Tom at his side. “Glad to see you didn’t leave without me,” Tom called, earning a few chuckles from the men milling around. “But we’d best get on with it.”
   Elijah straightened up from his lounging position. “I don’t think we should do it.”
   “Why not?” asked Tom. His tone was light, but I knew he didn’t like being questioned in public. Or ever.
   “This weather, for one thing. It’s going to turn on us.”
   Tom shrugged. “I’m aware, and that’s what we’d hoped for. Those eastern clouds will help us.”
   Elijah looked skeptical. “Well, that’s not all. I saw two naval ships in port when I was in town.”
   That drew everyone’s attention, but Tom’s expression didn’t change. “Yes, I already know that too, but we have no reason to cross paths. They’ve just arrived and will restock before moving on to patrol the coast. It’ll be dark. We’ll get to the Sun’s Promise without being seen and make sure no one raises an alarm. Now. Let’s not waste any more time.”
   A few men looked uneasy, and I couldn’t blame them. Facing armed sailors defending their ship was risky enough. But detection by the royal navy? Their entire purpose was to hunt down pirates and any hostile ships from other countries. We were exactly the kind of group they wanted to seize.
   “My lady.” Tom tipped his hat upon noticing me. “Come ride in my boat. I need someone cheerful to counteract Elijah’s doom and gloom.”
   Elijah made no comment, but once our group set out on the water, I couldn’t help glancing over at his skiff. His face was still dark and troubled.
   Tom noticed my stare. “It really will be fine,” he told me. “Elijah is making a big deal out of nothing. I’ve had much closer calls with the navy, and I wouldn’t lead any of my people into something that was stupidly dangerous. No matter the profit at stake, I always look out for my own. I value those who follow me more than any agenda.”
   As our party approached the harbor, I admired the way Cape Triumph’s lights hugged the coast. The port was full of ships of all sizes, now that the crossing from Evaria and Osfrid was safer.