Chapter 20
Lucy: The Street Fair
Lucy’s brain was a mess by the time they were told to stop working and go to the blasted street fair.
Her paintings were barely more than sketches at that point, because she kept finding herself looking at Sebastian.
Once or twice, she thought she caught him looking at her, but she dismissed this idea as madness.
Hadn’t he made it clear to her over two years ago that he would never be able to care for her that way?
Still, it came as a relief when a gong somewhere overhead announced the end of the first work period.
Sebastian, however, frowned at the tunic he was working on.
“I knew I shouldn’t have started the hem so close to the bell,” he muttered as he let the needle and thread that had been floating fall to the table.
“Do you think they’d be mad if I just stayed a few minutes over—”
“Seba, we both know that if you stayed a few minutes over, you’d end up staying the whole time,” Lucy said, shaking her head as she put her brushes aside. “Come on. If we hurry, we can look through Emilio and Tomas’s workspace and then get to the street fair before anyone is any the wiser.”
“You’re not looking through their workspace,” Sebastian said, though he followed her toward the door.
Lucy stared at him. “But we can go twice as fast if—”
“You’ve already gotten hurt one time by sneaking into their space. I’m not putting you in danger again,” Sebastian growled.
“What danger could I be in if you’re right there next to me?” Lucy asked, exasperated.
Sebastian shook his head. “I don’t know, and that’s what scares me. You go down to the street fair and keep an eye on the emperor while I—”
“Not a chance. If you won’t let me help you search the room, the least I can do is keep watch and let you know if someone’s coming,” Lucy said.
Sebastian sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Nope.” Her eyes glinted with mischief. “You might as well just let it happen.”
Sebastian sighed. “Very well. But no further than the threshold of the room. Or else I will—”
“You will what?” Lucy asked.
“Well, I’ll come up with an appropriate punishment and exact it with extreme prejudice,” Sebastian said, jerking the door open.
“Well, that doesn’t seem exactly fair,” Lucy protested. “How am I to know if the punishment is worth the crime?”
“Lucy…” Sebastian groaned, a smile on his face. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“Never,” Lucy said. She peered into the hallway and found it empty. “Now, let’s go.”
Sebastian ducked into the Zaffyre workroom, then turned to look back at Lucy, who leaned against the doorway. “Remember, not a step into the room.”
“Unless I’m willing to risk an undisclosed punishment. I know,” Lucy said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.
“Don’t mock my undisclosed punishments,” Sebastian said as he began searching the room. “Well, you were right. There’s not much here in the way of good fabric.” He lifted a bit of bright pink satin. “Especially fabric worthy of an emperor.”
“There’s nothing on the dressmaker’s dummy, either,” Lucy said.
“Unless we’re hopeless fools or not worthy of our positions,” Sebastian remembered.
“Well, I know for a fact that neither of us are fools, and if you’re unworthy of your position, then I’m a tressym,” Lucy said. “I might be unworthy of mine if I had one, but since I don’t, I find that unlikely.”
“What about your position as a lookout?” Sebastian chuckled as he approached the dummy. He ran his hand over it, frowning. “No, it’s bare. What have they been doing for the past four hours?”
Lucy pointed to a moderate pile of wood shavings next to the fabric heap. “Wood carving, from the look of it.”
“Amongst other things, most likely,” Sebastian shook his head. “What can they possibly hope to gain from a bare mannequin and a pile of cheap cloth?”
Lucy opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, footsteps sounded in the hall. She gulped as she saw Lady Soto step into the Umberian team’s room. “Time to go.” She dashed into the studio and threw open the window.
Sebastian glowered at her. “Lucy, I thought I said—”
“Unless you want to get caught by Lady Soto as she does her walkthrough, I suggest you forego coming up with a suitable punishment for a bit and take a stroll out the window with me,” Lucy hissed as she crawled through the window into the courtyard.
Sebastian shook his head but followed her. “Very well, but rest assured, I will devise and dole out my retribution,” he murmured to her as he joined her on the grass.
“I await it with bated breath,” Lucy breathed. “Now, then, we should get to the street fair before anyone notices that we’re missing.”
“Absolutely.” Sebastian grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
As he pulled her out of the courtyard, Lucy basked in the feeling of his hand in hers. The way her small hand fit in his larger one felt so warm and right, so much so that she had to keep reminding herself that it was just his way of making sure she was following him.
“What does one do at a street fair?” she asked, to keep her mind free from the shocking thoughts that his touch inspired. “They’ve never had one in the glade, at least to my knowledge.”
“They aren’t common in Moyar, but I accompanied Oliver to one a few years back,” Sebastian shrugged. “From what I can tell, they’re just a lot of food and drink and games and such.”
“Oh, so your favorite things?” Lucy quipped.
Sebastian squeezed her hand, looking into her eyes. “A couple of them. But not my very favorite.”
Lucy’s breath caught in her lungs. “What’s your very favorite?”
Sebastian’s eyes fell to her lips. “Can’t you tell?”
Lucy swallowed hard. “I—”
“Oh, Mr. Doyle!” Aiako’s voice broke through the spell. Sebastian grimaced, reluctantly turning toward the Umberian designer. She stopped short as she saw his hand intertwined with Lucy’s. “And Ms…er…Feral?”
Lucy smiled sweetly. “Savage. Lucy Savage. Are you enjoying the fair?”
“I am now,” Aiako said, winding her arm through Sebastian’s. She turned to Lucy. “I see you wore trousers today. What, did you not have any more ugly dresses to afflict us with?”
Lucy fixed a smile on her face. “No, I have plenty more. I simply had to run a quick errand this morning and thought it would be faster to ride than to hitch up our horses. Besides, I prefer breeches most of the time. You do not know how freeing it is.”
“I really don’t,” Aiako said. “It’s not appropriate for a woman to wear breeches. At least it’s not in Umber.”
“Well, I never have cared much for what is proper,” Lucy said, shrugging.
“Sometimes breeches are necessary. I find it’s rather more difficult to ride horses astride in skirts and, while I can ride side-saddle, I prefer riding astride.
So, if I have to hurry, I usually choose to wear breeches.
” She snuck a glance at Sebastian and grinned, remembering his lingering glances toward her legs.
“Besides, breeches have…other advantages.”
“I see,” Aiako said icily. “Well, when you’re in polite company, you might wear a gown, like a proper lady.”
“Ms. Tanaka, I’ll have you know Lucy is as much a proper lady as you are, regardless of what she’s wearing. And I like it when she wears breeches,” Sebastian said. With some difficulty, he began working to extricate himself from Aiako’s grip.
“Oh, I have no doubt,” Aiako simpered. “In any case, I came over here to invite you to join me in the celebrations. Mai and I know the owner of the stall down the lane. It has the most lovely vintage of Fey wine I’ve ever had. Won’t you try some?”
Sebastian finally freed himself from Aiako’s iron grip and shrank a little closer to Lucy. “No, thank you.”
Lucy put herself between Sebastian and Aiako. “It’s very kind of you to ask, but neither Sebastian nor I enjoy drinking so early in the day.”
Aiako’s face twisted into a sneer. “Well, I wasn’t inviting you.”
“Which I thought was rather unkind of you,” Lucy said. “After all, we’re all friends here, aren’t we?”
“Friends?” Aiako rolled her eyes. “I could never be friends with such a—”
“Ms. Tanaka, I would watch what you say here,” Sebastian said, a note of steel in his voice. He tightened his grip on Lucy’s hand as he continued, “Lucy is not only my partner in this venture, but someone I care for deeply. I do not take attacks on her person, verbal or physical, lightly.”
Aiako’s pretty face paled. “Well, I—”
“Now, then, we still have a good deal of work to do after the fair, and I’d prefer my stitches to remain straight, so I believe we will take a rain check on the Fey wine. Good day to you.” Sebastian stalked away from the Umberian designer without looking back.
Lucy had to run to keep up with him. “Sebastian! Sebastian, slow down!” she cried, unconsciously echoing the words she’d cried earlier in the morning.
Sebastian obeyed her command, lowering his head in shame. “I’m sorry. She just…the fact that anyone could think badly of you—”
Lucy lifted her hand to his chin. “Sebastian, I grew up in a wolf pack. I know people look down on us. Aiako Tanaka isn’t the first. She certainly won’t be the last. And if I have learned one thing about dealing with people like her, it’s that you can’t stoop to their level.
” Her thumb idly stroked his jaw. “Not that I don’t appreciate it, though. You were very sweet, you know.”
Sebastian lifted his hand to meet hers. “Only when I’m with you,” he whispered.
He brought her hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss, sending her heart racing a million miles a minute.
“With everyone else, I will perform the part of the soldier, tailor, spy, or whatever other role they want me to play. But with you, I—”
A cry from the streets interrupted him once more. He tore his eyes away from her face and frowned at the sound. “What in the devil—”
“It’s the emperor,” Lucy said, pointing to a crowd forming at the edge of the road. “He and Han and Prince Robert are making their way through the stalls, I suppose.” She smiled, watching all the admirers pointing at the robe the emperor was wearing. “Your work is positively eye-catching.”
“Thanks to you,” Sebastian said. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he watched her face. “Lucy, there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you.”
Lucy tore her gaze away from the crowd, her dark eyes meeting his. “Yes?”
Sebastian opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, screams of terror interrupted him. Both he and Lucy whirled as one and dashed toward the source.
“What happened?” Sebastian asked, his tone automatically commanding the attention of the throng.
“Someone fired an arrow at the emperor!” a woman with long black hair shrieked. “It was headed straight for him.”
“It should have hit him dead on,” a blond man said. “It’s a miracle it didn’t.”
“Is the emperor alright?” Lucy asked, trying to crane her head over the assemblage to where she’d last seen the ruler.
“I think so,” the man said. “The imperial guard hustled him away, but I didn’t see another arrow or anything. But, can you believe…”
Sebastian and Lucy let the man ramble on as they melted away from him. Once they were far enough away from the crowd, she said, “Well, at least we know your spell works.”
“Yes,” Sebastian agreed. “But how can we protect him next time?”
They pondered the question as they continued back to the palace in silence.