Chapter 16
Lucy: A Scrap of Good News
Sebastian looked at her like she’d suddenly grown three heads. “Lu—Lucy?” he whispered, his voice uncharacteristically shaky.
Lucy found herself scanning him for injuries. From the moment she’d entered the hall, he’d appeared stuck in place. She’d called his name multiple times, tried to get him out of his trance, but nothing had worked until she’d touched him. Even then, he looked shell-shocked.
He noted her scanning gaze and took her by the shoulders. “Are you alright?” He was now doing a similar examination. “I thought…I saw…”
Lucy frowned. “What did you see?” she whispered.
Sebastian hesitated for a moment, then removed something from his pocket—her locket, she realized. “Do you remember…back when we were courting, sometimes I’d touch things, and I’d see things from the object’s past? Or perhaps from the future, from time to time, but that wasn’t as common.”
Lucy’s breath caught in her throat as she nodded. “You mean…you saw something…about the locket?”
Sebastian gave a jerky nod. “It was an attack. An attack on you. The night the chain broke.”
Lucy closed her eyes, trying to push away the memory and, with it, the bile rising in her throat. “The night…”
“Which wolf was it?” Sebastian asked. “Did he—”
“No!” The word flew out of Lucy’s mouth before she could stop it. She colored sharply. “No…he…I managed to get away.”
Sebastian swallowed hard. “Did you?” He closed the short distance between them. “Because it didn’t look like anything would have stopped him. Not from what—”
“Seba.” Her voice broke a little as she said the nickname. “Please. Please, can we…just not talk about this right now?”
Sebastian’s eyes hardened. “There seem to be a lot of things you don’t want to talk about right now. Why are you shutting me out, vixen?”
Lucy stared at him. “Vixen?”
“Everyone else seems to have a different nickname for you. Why not me too?”
Fear made her stomach flutter. “Who is everyone else?” she asked.
Sebastian sighed. “Thaddeus Wilde, for one. And that visiting prince for another. How in Afeyra did you get close enough to a prince for him to give you a nickname?”
“It wasn’t my choice,” Lucy muttered. “How did you know about—”
“He mentioned it when we stopped to talk,” Sebastian shrugged. His dark eyes searched her face. “He said Red Riding Hood had many unseen talents. How can he know you well enough to give you a nickname, but not enough to know about your painting?”
“I told you, it wasn’t my choice,” Lucy said, her voice rising slightly. “He doesn’t know me at all. Not really. We were just introduced the day I—” She stopped, and her face grew red. One more topic she couldn’t discuss with him, and it was killing her.
Sebastian shook his head and opened his mouth to argue more, but before he could, a third voice cut through their tension. “Well, it looks like I’m interrupting something.”
Both Sebastian and Lucy whirled around to find Lady Quinn standing there, bemused.
Lucy recovered first. “My lady,” she said, dropping into a wobbly curtsy.
“Please, no need for formalities,” Lady Quinn said. “Come, we should find someplace less…exposed.”
Lucy nodded and gestured for the other two to follow her. “Our quarters aren’t far, and there’s a secluded parlor. Unless I miss my guess, the Lees should still be asleep.”
Lady Quinn’s brow furrowed. “Still?” she repeated.
“They showed up during our preparation period, soused,” Sebastian said. “Lucy had to put them to bed before we could begin work.”
Lady Quinn scowled. “So our mission is a failure before it has begun,” she murmured. “The first round is over.”
“Not at all,” Lucy said, shooting a look at the fairy. “Sebastian easily created a perfectly lovely design. I’m positive it’ll at least keep us in the competition if not allow us to win the first round outright.”
Lady Quinn froze. “Did he now?”
Sebastian ducked his head. “It was nothing,” he murmured.
Lucy shook her head. “It was beautiful. He barely needed my help. I’m certain he could have finished the design on his own.”
“I see,” Lady Quinn said, though her brow was still furrowed.
Lucy led them into the quiet drawing room at the center of their quarters and pulled the door shut behind them.
She then tiptoed to the Lees’ sleeping quarters, where, true to her expectation, the two were still sound asleep.
She nodded in satisfaction and pulled that door closed as well.
“There now,” she said. “We’re alone. Or, at least, as alone as we can get for the moment. ”
“Excellent,” Lady Quinn said. “What have you found out thus far?”
“Not much,” Sebastian said. “Both the team from Umber and the team from Zaffyre speak Moyaran, but that doesn’t mean that they’re in league with whatever plot is in the air now.
” He avoided looking at Lucy as he continued, “The prince from Hopka, one of the guest judges, also speaks Moyaran and he was brought in at the last minute, so it’s possible that he could be a part of the plot as well. ”
“I know for a fact that Prince Robert is not a part of this plot,” Lady Quinn said.
“In fact, if you run into trouble and I or my informants aren’t around to help, you can turn to the prince.
He is a dab hand at both fencing and archery, and not a bad strategist, if it comes down to it. Is there anything else?”
Sebastian and Lucy stole looks at each other.
How did the spy mistress know for certain?
Lucy mentally shrugged it off as she added, “Aiako…Tanaka, I think her name is, is a member of the team from Umber. She may harbor a grudge against the emperor, though. He chose her partner’s design over hers when they were competing over who would design the empress’s wedding dress. ”
“I don’t think that’s likely, but I may be wrong.
She appears more interested in flirting with me and every other man in the room than she is in committing acts of violence,” Sebastian put in.
“But there is one other thing: as we were leaving the workrooms after our time was up, I found this vial.” He produced a crystal vial filled to the brim with a liquid that pulsed with a strange, magical aura.
Lucy stared at it, mesmerized. “I’m not sure what it is, but it’s too small to be an effective dye and it doesn’t look like any seasoning I’ve ever seen. ”
Lady Quinn held out her hand. “May I see?” she asked. Sebastian handed it over without delay, and Lady Quinn studied it carefully, taking care not to remove the stopper. “I can think of a few things this might be, none of them good. Where did you find it, again?”
“Outside the workrooms,” Sebastian said. “Where I was standing with the team from Zaffyre and Miss Tanaka. Prince Robert was there for a few minutes as well, but I think he was too far away from the others to have dropped it.”
Lady Quinn nodded. “We shall have to show this to Avelar; he might have a better idea of what this is than I do.” She glanced at the clock on the mantlepiece. “He should be back at your grandmother’s cottage in the morning, Lucy. Would you mind showing it to him and getting his expert opinion?”
“Not at all,” Lucy said, forcing a smile.
“Excellent,” Lady Quinn said, handing her the vial. “Go early and stay on the path. My informants say that werewolves have taken to patrolling these woods.”
“I grew up with werewolves. I know how to avoid them,” Lucy assured her.
Lady Quinn nodded and clapped her hands. “Well, the street fair will occur after tomorrow’s competition, and we’ll have a few souls in the crowd to stop any attempts on the emperor’s life.” She lowered her head. “I can only hope we’ll have time to act.”
“Depending on what outfit the emperor chooses, we may not need your men in place,” Lucy said.
Lady Quinn cocked her head, staring at Lucy quizzically. “What do you mean?”
Lucy motioned to Sebastian, whose face had erupted into a scowl. “Sebastian cast a spell on his design—all poisons and weapons will be repelled as long as the emperor is wearing the clothes. If his design wins, any assassination attempt while he’s wearing that outfit will fail.”
Lady Quinn looked from the fairy to Lucy, then back again. “You did? But that’s a marvelous idea! Brilliant, in fact. How ever did you think of that?”
“It wasn’t me,” Sebastian said. “Lucy thought of it. She also created all the illustrations that decorate the robe. It depicts the most beautiful recreation of the northern lights that I’ve ever seen.”
“I can’t wait to see it, then,” Lady Quinn said. “I shall hope that your design wins the first round. And not just because it’s the best way to ensure that you’re able to remain in a position to stop the emperor’s murder.”
Lucy preened a bit at the spy mistress’s words, though, in truth, she knew they had very little to do with her.
However, a loud snore from Damien Lee’s bedroom put a scowl on her face.
“Lady Quinn, is there anything we can do about the Lees?” she asked.
“Having them here may prove to be a distraction we can’t afford. ”
Lady Quinn sighed. “I fear you’re right.
Perhaps it would be best if I…er…discretely helped them leave the palace, returning the money for the application fee, though, in truth, since I was providing the supplies, I’m spending far more on this venture than they are. Still…if the judges should find out—”
“We’ll say they were unexpectedly called away, and they begged us to take their place,” Lucy suggested. “Then, no one can complain that we’re here unfairly.”
“An excellent suggestion,” Lady Quinn said.
“I’ll make the arrangements tonight. From the rumors spreading about the palace, their departure would be welcome for his imperial highness.
I understand they somehow got into the royal wine cellar and drank several rare vintages of fairy wine before someone found them.
Plus all the, er, breakage in here.” She surveyed the room, her eyes narrowing on the smashed pottery that lined the walls.
“Yes, I think I can easily convince some of my compatriots to remove the Lees with no one being the wiser.”
“Thank you, your ladyship,” Sebastian said. “I won’t forget this.”
“It is I who should thank you, Sir Sebastian. I feel more confident in your abilities than ever. Now, then I should let the two of you eat and rest. You have another long day tomorrow, and I know you will need your strength.”
“Thank you, my lady,” Lucy said, curtsying. “I’ll send Avelar your regards.”
“Please do,” Lady Quinn said with a curious smile before sweeping out of the room.
For a moment, Sebastian and Lucy stood in silence, not sure what to say. Finally, Sebastian said, “Oh…here.” He retrieved the dagger Lucy had plunged into the bandits leg from his belt. Catching her confused stare, he ducked his head. “Prince Robert asked that I give this back to you.”
“That’s…unexpected,” Lucy mumbled, taking the knife from him and sliding it up her sleeve.
“No more so than you still carrying around my second-best dagger,” Sebastian quipped.
Lucy gave a half-hearted scowl. “Only second-best?”
“Of course. I needed to save something for the silver anniversary,” Sebastian grinned.
Lucy froze his words. Silver anniversary. He didn’t mean…
Sebastian cleared his throat. “And, also, I need to thank you, Lucy.”
She blinked at him, surprised. “What are you talking about?”
“You got her to give me a chance,” he said simply. “I don’t know if she would have agreed to send the Lees away on her own.”
“Well, that’s simply because she doesn’t know what you can do yet,” Lucy said softly, stepping closer and putting her hand on his chest. “You’re more than capable of taking on these rich toadies. I have complete confidence in you.”
Sebastian’s arms circled her waist. “And I treasure it,” he breathed. His eyes lingered on her lips. “More than you will ever know.” Slowly, as if waiting for her to object, he lowered his lips to hers in a kiss more gentle than a whisper. Against her mouth, he whispered, “Thank you, Lucy.”
She smiled into the kiss. “It was my pleasure.”