Jasper entered ahead of him, sitting beside Tamsin and taking up most of the seat on that side. Obligingly, the Sirminican girl scooted over on our side, creating extra space. Recognizing the cue, I moved as well. After a slight hesitation, Cedric sat down beside me. It still made for close quarters, and our arms and legs touched. My grandmother would have been scandalized. He barely moved, and I could feel that his body was as rigid as my own, both of us tense as we came to terms with this new situation.
Most of the subsequent conversation was carried by Jasper and Tamsin. I learned the Sirminican girl was called Mira, but she said as little as Cedric and I did. I commented once on the beauty of her shawl, and she drew it closer. “It was my mother’s,” she said softly, her words laced with a Sirminican accent. There was a sadness in her voice I understood, one that stirred up an ache in my chest that had never entirely gone away. Without knowing anything else about her, I instantly felt a connection and asked her no more.
When the carriage came to a full stop after about twenty minutes, Jasper looked up with satisfaction. “Finally. The gates. Once we’re outside the city, we can get some real speed.” We could hear agitated voices on the other side of the carriage door, and as the delay increased, Jasper’s expression grew annoyed. “What’s taking so long?” He opened the door and leaned out, calling to the driver.
The driver hurried to the door, two gate guards behind him. “Sorry, Mister Thorn. They’re checking everyone leaving. Looking for some girl.”
“Not some girl,” corrected one of the guards harshly. “A young noblewoman. Seventeen years old. A countess.”
I stopped breathing.
“Who are these girls?” demanded the other guard, peering inside.
Jasper relaxed. “Certainly not countesses. We’re with the Glittering Court. These are common girls, bound for Adoria.”
The guard was suspicious, studying each of us in turn. I wished again I’d thought to change my hair.
“What’s this girl look like?” asked Jasper conversationally.
“Brown hair and blue eyes,” said one of the guards, his gaze lingering fractionally longer on me. “Same age as this lot. Ran away earlier this evening. There’s a reward.”
I almost felt indignant, since I liked to think my hair was more of a golden brown. But it was a common enough description that it could apply to half the girls in the city. The vaguer, the better.
“Well, we’ve got a Sirminican, a laundress, and a housemaid,” said Jasper. “If the reward’s big enough and you want to pass one of them off as a countess, be my guest, but I assure you, we’ve seen where they come from. Hardly posh conditions . . . although, Cedric, weren’t you in some noble’s house today? Isn’t that where you got Adelaide? Did you hear anything?”
The first guard’s gaze locked onto Cedric. “Sir? Where were you?”
Cedric had been staring straight ahead this whole time, perhaps hoping a lack of eye contact would render him invisible.
“Sir?” prompted the guard.
The world seemed to move in slow motion, and all I could hear for several moments was the hammering of my own heart. I was reminded of that precipice again, only now I was losing my footing. All it would take was one word from Cedric, one word to get me hauled back to my grandmother and Lionel. I didn’t doubt Cedric was clever enough to spin the situation to make himself sound innocent. And for all I knew, Cedric might think collecting a reward now was easier than earning a commission in Adoria.
Cedric took a deep breath, and as if putting on a mask, he became the swaggering young man from before. “I saw Lord John Branson,” he said. He nodded toward me. “She was mending some fine lady’s clothes at his house when I retrieved her, though. Does that count?”
“This is hardly a joking matter,” snapped the guard. But I could tell he was already losing interest in us, ready to move on. There were probably a lot of travelers trying to leave before curfew, and they didn’t want to be delayed by one unlikely carriage. A runaway noblewoman would be skulking out, not sitting with reputable businessmen.
“You can go,” said the other guard. “Thank you for your time.”
Cedric, still putting on a good face, smiled back. “Not a problem. I hope you find her.”
The door closed, and the carriage started forward, finally moving at a steady pace now that we’d cleared the stops and starts of the city. I exhaled, all the tension melting out of me as I sank into the seat. I dared a brief glance at Cedric but couldn’t read his expression or intentions. All I could hope was that maybe, finally, I’d be free.
Chapter 4
The journey took all night, and I drifted in and out of sleep. My body wanted rest, but my mind was too keyed up, fearful I’d hear horses and angry shouts behind us. But the night passed uneventfully, the rocking of the carriage lulling me into more of a calm daze than a true sleep. I came fully awake when I heard Jasper say, “Ah, here we are.” The carriage’s steady gait began to slow, and I lifted my head, startled and embarrassed to realize I’d been resting it on Cedric’s shoulder. His cologne smelled like vetiver.
My companions’ reactions were mixed. Tamsin’s face was eager, ready to take on this new adventure and seize what she saw as her destiny. Mira was more apprehensive, wearing the expression of one who had seen much and knew better than to trust initial appearances.
Jasper helped each of us out of the carriage, and as I waited my turn, I had a momentary flash of panic at what I might find. I’d gone to a great deal of trouble last night, striving for a destination grounded more in my own fantasies than any fact. Cedric had wooed me with his pitch to Ada, but there was a very real chance I was about to walk into a situation far worse than a life of barley with Lionel. I could be walking into a life of sordidness and danger.