Chapter 24
Lucy: Meeting with Lady Quinn
Sunlight was streaming through the windows when Lucy awoke. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what had awoken her, but then, the pounding at the door answered the question.
Lucy pushed back the covers and stumbled to the door, her body protesting all the way. The bruises from the night before ached intensely, and, coupled with the throbbing of her head in time with her heartbeat, it was nearly overwhelming.
Still, she managed to get to the door. It was unlocked, so, initially, she wasn’t sure why the person hadn’t just come inside.
But the faint golden glow encompassing the door answered her question.
She smiled softly, her gratefulness plain on her face as she made a mental note to thank Sebastian for his protection spell.
Another pounding knock on the door reminded her of her goal, and she wrenched it open. Outside, Lady Quinn was frowning, perplexed. When she saw her, the bemused expression disappeared, as horror replaced it. “What in the Stars happened to you?” she demanded.
Lucy sighed. “It’s a long story,” she said. Her voice was still a little raspier than normal. She stepped back from the door. “Won’t you come in?”
Lady Quinn shook her head. “I don’t think I can. Your young man, apparently, can cast very powerful protection spells. He must care for you deeply.”
Lucy frowned. “He’s not my young man.”
Lady Quinn arched an eyebrow. “Oh? Then he is a better actor than I gave him credit for. Is he in his quarters?”
Lucy frowned and ducked into the bedroom that Sebastian had chosen. Almost immediately, she came out again, shaking her head. “No. He must already be in the throne room or the studio.”
Lady Quinn nodded. “Well, I’ll go look for him there, then.”
“I’ll come with you,” Lucy said. “Just give me a moment to change clothes.”
Lady Quinn’s eyes lingered on the bruises around Lucy’s neck. “Are you sure? Maybe you should rest a bit longer.”
Lucy shook her head. “No. I can’t…I need to keep my mind and body occupied or I’ll go mad.”
Lady Quinn hesitated for a second, then shrugged. “Suit yourself. But hurry. We have very little time before you and Mr. Doyle need to be in the throne room for the judging.”
Lucy nodded and hurried to get changed. She put on her favorite dark green tunic and black breeches and pulled her wild curls into something resembling a bun before hurrying back to Lady Quinn. The spy mistress was still standing in the hallway, studying the spell around the door.
“It really is a first-rate protection spell, which, in and of itself, is remarkable,” she said when Lucy came into view.
“It’s terribly difficult to perform a protection spell on unfamiliar territory, and, what’s more, it’s only around your quarters, rather than along this entire hall.
More focused spells are more difficult to maintain. ”
“Sebastian’s always been a protector,” Lucy said with another soft smile. “Ever since I met him. He was always fighting off Oliver’s bullies, at least until Oliver convinced him to teach him how to fight for himself.”
“I imagine the grand duke didn’t like that. Even as a child, he preferred to fight his own battles,” Lady Quinn said, gesturing for Lucy to follow him. “How did you meet Sir Sebastian and Lord Khone?”
Lucy shrugged. “My mother had a job as a seamstress at Farraday when I was young. Sometimes, she’d bring me and my sister and brother along, and the headmaster decided that if we were with her, we might as well have jobs.
So he employed me and Eden as maids, and Judah got a position as a stable boy, at least until his first transformation.
My first year as a maid was Oliver’s first semester.
Sebastian was with him, but since he wasn’t a student, he spent most of his time in the servants’ hall.
” She shook her head. “He’d follow me around on my duties, keeping me company.
It didn’t take long for him to charm me into going out with him.
It was all so perfect until—” She stopped herself.
“Until what?” Lady Quinn prompted.
“School had ended, and Sebastian and Oliver were about to go back to Moyar. He wanted me to follow, and at first, I was happy to. But then, Tha—one of the wolves in my pack told me my father needed me at home. I went back to Moonwood Glade, and when I got there, that wolf gave me a letter and told me that Sebastian had decided he didn’t want me to come anymore. ”
“That doesn’t sound like the young man I’ve seen,” Lady Quinn remarked. “Didn’t you try to figure out what was wrong?”
Lucy nodded. “I was…shocked, to say the least. I tried to write to him, asking what had happened, but I never received anything back. Finally, I got the message. He was done with me. And I decided I would not chase after him, and that was that, until we found each other again earlier this week.” Her cheeks flamed.
“And, as it turns out, the wolf from my pack was lying.” She rubbed her bruised neck.
“He’s good at that…making trouble, I mean. ”
Lady Quinn hummed softly. “Perhaps. Or maybe there’s something deeper going on there.” Her eyes flicked once again to Lucy’s bruises. “I seriously doubt you really think he was just trying to make mischief.”
Lucy made a face but didn’t respond as she pushed open the door to their studio.
As she did so, she blinked in surprise. Sebastian was indeed in the studio, working diligently on something made of dark blue fabric.
Lucy tried to get a good look at what he was making, but as soon as the two women entered, he snapped his fingers, and the garment disappeared.
A fixed smile appeared on Sebastian’s face as he turned to them. “Lucy! Lady Quinn! You’re up early.”
“Yes, well, I wanted to see what you’d learned. I apologize for not coming last night; I was…unavoidably detained,” Lady Quinn said, ushering Lucy into the room and firmly shutting the door behind them.
Lucy and Sebastian shared a look. “Well, we’re fairly certain that we’ve identified at least two members of the team,” Sebastian said at last. “The team from Zaffyre, Emilio Rossi and Tomasso Lemorta, are working for someone…they kept mentioning a ‘boss.’ They’re at least the owners of the vial of green liquid we found.
” He turned to Lucy. “Did you give it to Avelar to identify? In all the excitement yesterday, I forgot to ask.”
“He did. It’s a special variety of poison,” Lucy said, nodding.
“A little bit goes a long way, according to him, so he was concerned that they had a whole vial available to them. But it’s also incredibly rare, so it’s unlikely that they have any more of it, and fortunately, I don’t think they’ve ever been close enough to use it. ”
Lady Quinn frowned, rubbing her forehead. “Well, thank goodness for small mercies. I’ll have my people keep an eye on their visitors.”
“Did you hear about the arrow that someone shot at the emperor during the street fair yesterday?” Sebastian wondered.
“I did. Fortunately, it was unsuccessful, thanks, in no small part to you,” Lady Quinn said, offering both of them a curious smile. “Prince Robert was able to extricate the arrow and bring it to me. We agree it is a specialty arrow, made of black obsidian, and coated with some type of poison.”
Lucy frowned. “Black obsidian?”
“Yes, it’s a type of stone—”
Lucy waved the explanation away. “I know what obsidian is. But you’re sure that the arrow was made of black obsidian?”
“Lucy?” Sebastian’s eyes focused on her. “What are you thinking?”
“It might be nothing,” Lucy said. “I just…I know someone who prefers weapons made of obsidian. But they couldn’t…even they wouldn’t stoop that low.” Would he? She knew Thaddeus was a cad and a brute, but he wasn’t a paid murderer…was he?
“Who wouldn’t?” Lady Quinn demanded, unheeding of her mental gymnastics. “If you know something—”
“I’m not sure if it’s anything,” Lucy said, shaking her head. “It’s probably…probably nothing.” I hope it is nothing. I don’t want to track him down to determine whether I’m right.
Sebastian frowned at her, clearly not believing her, but Lady Quinn had turned her attention to him. “Anything else, Sir Sebastian?”
The fairy didn’t take his eyes off of Lucy, but he nodded.
“Prince Robert informed me that the team from Zaffyre will be the winner of yesterday’s competition.
Their ‘magical cloth’ was the deciding factor.
Apparently, Mr. Han and the emperor didn’t want people to think them to be fools or unworthy of their position.
” He rolled his eyes. “There’s a bit of irony for you. ”
“Well, I suppose we couldn’t be so lucky as to use a protection spell a second time,” Lady Quinn sighed.
“No matter. I’ll inspect the parade route myself and determine which spots the emperor would be in the most danger.
At least if we know that, we can have someone at those spots to prevent the worst.”
“It wouldn’t be possible to cast the protection spell on the emperor’s drawers, would it?” Lucy asked, glancing at Sebastian.
“No,” Sebastian grumbled. “Not unless I can get close enough to touch them, and I expect that would inspire more questions that we want to answer.”
“Quite right,” Lady Quinn said. “Well, we’ll have to hope for the best and plan for the worst. And In the meantime, we’ll keep a close eye on the two Zaffyrain designers.
” She sighed heavily. “Well, I should get a move on. We'll see each other at the parade. Or, rather, I’ll see you. If I do my job properly, you won’t even know I’m there.
” With a smile and a wave, the spy mistress let herself out of the studio.
Once they were alone, Sebastian turned to Lucy. “Who is it you know who uses obsidian arrows?”
Lucy swallowed hard. “I’d hoped you’d forgotten about that.”
“Nothing doing,” Sebastian growled. “You know something, Luce…why wouldn’t you share it with Lady Quinn?”
“Because I don’t know if he still does. When I first met him, he always used obsidian weapons, but that was before…well, he had more access to obsidian. But his access would have been cut off when he left the pack,” Lucy explained. “I didn’t want to alert her to something that might be nothing.”
“And if it turns out to be something?” Sebastian demanded.
“If it does, then I’ll deal with it,” Lucy said, lifting her chin to look him directly in the eye.
Sebastian sighed. “No. We’ll both deal with it.” He raised his hand to stop her protests. “I let you go once, forcing you to deal with whatever trials came on your own. I will not make you do it again.”
Lucy shook her head. “That wasn’t exactly your fault.”
“No, but I’m taking responsibility for it.” He offered her a crooked smile. “You might as well accept it, Lucy. You’re stuck with me.”
Lucy opened her mouth, though she wasn’t sure if she was going to argue with him or kiss him, but before she could decide, the door to the studio flew open and Lady Soto stormed in.
“Whatever are you two doing lurking around in here?” she demanded. “You’re supposed to be in the throne room. The emperor is about to announce the winner of the second task.”
Lucy frowned. “But—”
“No time for that!” Lady Soto said, trying to usher them from the room.
Sebastian, never one to be ushered anywhere, resisted and tried again. “We—”
“No time for that either,” Lady Soto snapped.
“Come on, come on, we must get to the throne room now, or else the whole day’s schedule will be completely thrown off.
” She froze as she noticed Lucy’s bruises for the first time.
“Well, you look rather wretched, my girl. Maybe I’ll act as an interpreter today. ”
Lucy shook her head. “No, I need to—”
“That’s an order, my dear. You wait here.” Lady Soto fairly pushed Sebastian out of the room, slamming the door behind her.