Chapter 16 #2
“Wait.” He turned toward her. “How much of an emotional surge do you need to open the passage?”
“I don’t know. As much as possible.”
“All right.” Before she could ask why he needed to know that, he leaned over, kissed her—and threw them off the balcony.
A tornado of feelings swirled around her as she fell.
Theo’s lips on hers, anchoring her to him, to safety, to something she couldn’t name, but she could feel it, in her bones, in her blood, in the very air in her lungs.
The shock of the fall, the absolute dread of the sharp rocks waiting below—and then, with Theo’s hand on her cheek, peace.
All would be well.
The smell of freshly trampled grass filled her nostrils as she fell and kept rolling down the hill, blades of grass cutting her face, her body aching from the hard landing, until she finally stopped.
For long moments, she simply lay there, gazing at the bright blue sky with wispy white clouds, breathing in the clean air.
From beside her, Theo groaned, rising into a sitting position. Smudges of green and brown ran along his sleeves, and his hair was sprinkled with remnants of grass and fluff.
She stared at him, and then they both burst into a relieved laugh.
“We’re alive,” she said.
“You did it.”
“I need to work on my landings.”
“I don’t care.” He rose and helped her to her feet. “As long as you land us back here.”
She shook the grass off her clothes, but her skirt was smudged, as well. “I’m going to hear it from the duchess for this.”
“At least she has servants to turn over the cleaning to.” He brushed a bit of dirt off his shoulder, then made a motion as if to reach for her hair—did she have something in it?—but stopped as their eyes met.
He kissed me.
“I …” He blinked. “I’m glad it worked. We should get back.”
Emmeline gaped like a stranded fish, but Theo took to walking as if there was nothing else to be said.
She ran after him. “Are you going to be in trouble?”
“For the—”
“Being away from the stables.”
He continued to walk, and eventually said, “It’s fine. I’ll take care of it.”
She cleared her throat.
He said nothing more.
It was fine. They didn’t need to talk about it. He clearly didn’t want to, and she knew why he’d done it: to boost her emotions, probably surprise her, so that they’d have a better chance of her opening the passage. And it worked.
But in those few eternal seconds of the fall, when their lips met, she’d felt like that night back in the study. Every cell of her body alive, yearning in expectation, sighing in content, relief, perfection.
And as right as it had felt moments ago, now, it felt wrong. She was marrying Daniel; in part, because of that kiss in the study. Why was she having the same reaction to Theo?
“What was wrong with the first passage?” Theo asked. “It looked strange, and when you dipped into it—”
She was glad to redirect her thoughts to other, more important matters.
“It was so cold.” She touched her chest at the memory.
“Whatever it was, you saved me by pulling me out, or I would’ve fallen …
somewhere.” She’d rather not think about it.
“Perhaps it was corrupted. Perhaps I did something wrong in opening it. That’s why I need Lady Scarlet!
She has to teach me the correct method, before I mess something else up. Speaking of which …”
She brought out the piece of paper from the castle. “Her message. It looks like a riddle.”
Theo leaned over, close enough she felt his warmth. As if he’d realized the breach in propriety, he drew back a few inches. Together, they inspected the note.
To my two lovely shadows
It’s time for you to quit the past
So we can properly meet at last
No need this time to leave your era
Find me where the view is fair
She may have slain the chimera,
Now she’s a different monster’s lair
But before you tie the knot,
Make sure you’ve cleansed the rot
“She’s here,” Emmeline said. “She must’ve been here all along!”
“She’s not very straightforward, though.”
“I wonder why she’s playing games with us. And who locked us into that room.” If it had been de Villiers, going after them and Lady Scarlet, did that mean he didn’t get to pursue the other man? Perhaps Lady Scarlet’s lover had survived.
Either way, for once, Emmeline didn’t mind being out of an adventure. But it wasn’t over yet. She ran over the poem again. “The first three lines are clear enough. Fair view—somewhere high up, where there’s a nice view? The castle ruins, maybe?”
“I hope not,” Theo said. “I’d be perfectly fine with never seeing that place again.”
“And chimera … as in the monster from Greek mythology?”
“I assume.”
“But who is she? Chimera was slain by—”
“Bellerophon,” Theo finished. “Mythological hero, son of Poseidon.”
“And what’s this: before you tie the knot …” Her stomach churned. “A wedding? Is she saying that before my wedding, I have to do something? Or that I shouldn’t …”
“May I?” Theo pointed to the note, and she handed it to him.
They walked for a bit, him frowning over the paper, Emmeline repeating the last two lines in her head. Cleanse the rot before she got married? What on Earth was Lady Scarlet trying to tell her?
“It’s a ship,” Theo exclaimed. “The knot and the rot. She means the cleaning of the barnacles off a ship’s bottom. They make the ship drag and can even cause corrosion. The knot, I assume, is a general reference to support the ship clue—sailor’s knots, and all that.”
“But why would that point to a ship?”
“Because she has slain the chimera.” Theo lifted his gaze to her. “HMS Bellerophon. The pride of the British Navy.”
That name sounded familiar. “How do you know it?”
Theo scratched the back of his neck. “It’s the ship that sank ours.”
Emmeline formed an ‘O’ with her mouth.
“We encountered it in the Channel, during the storm. She must’ve been running a blockade.”
Emmeline jumped as the memory came back to her. “Louisa!”
“I’m sorry?”
“Louisa told me—HMS Bellerophon is the ship that picked up Bonaparte after Waterloo. Before they exiled him, they took him to Plymouth. The ship was docked there for several days, with him on board. Louisa tried her best to convince the duchess to let her go see it. To no avail, of course.”
“I’d call a seaside town a ‘fair view.’” Theo stroked his chin. “Lady Scarlet might want us to go there.”
“But that’s at least a day away.”
“Two, probably, and back.”
Emmeline swallowed. “I don’t have the time. The duchess …”
“I understand.”
“And the Bellerophon isn’t even there anymore. It sailed weeks ago. I could attempt to send us back in time to when it was there—”
“She says we don’t need to do any more time travel. The Bellerophon might be just a hint to the location. Plymouth. But we’re actually looking for a ship that’s being careened there, or dry docked, in order to clear off the barnacles.”
Emmeline could only stare at him. “You’re brilliant.”
A slight blush rose on his cheeks. “You helped, a lot.”
“So we go to Plymouth,” she said before she could process her own words.
When? She was getting married in five days. There was no way the duchess would let her leave, and no good way to explain it, either. And afterward …
Afterward, she’d be a married woman. What was she going to do—ask Daniel to accompany her and her fake servant to a treasure hunt?
“I’ll go,” Theo said. “Lady Scarlet knows us both. I can do this. I’ll tell her you couldn’t make it and, if she wants to, arrange for another meeting you can attend. You have things to do.”
Her stomach tied into knots. “Are you sure?”
“You’re still my employer,” he said. “All you have to do is send me on an errand.”
She slumped her shoulders. It was the most prudent thing to do. “All right. I’ll ask if they can prepare a carriage for you.”
He nodded, and as they continued walking, it seemed everything was settled.
But Emmeline couldn’t help but think neither of them was completely satisfied.