by A. W. Exley
“He’ll return me to where he found me.”
She closed her eyes tight to chase away the tears and then opened them again.
“How could I betray Zeb?” she asked rhetorically. “Eloise would kill me.”
Jared stared out the window for a moment. “Not hand him over, no. But we could use him as bait, to get us close enough to strike. We have to report in to General Galloway tomorrow and I have an idea.” He raised her hand and brushed his lips over her fingers. He left Allie pondering his words as he walked back to the fireplace and his waiting friends.
“So the Dark Garden is our next stop,” he said.
Eloise and Duncan exchanged curious looks about the conversation by the window, but deferred to Jared.
“I think we’re all missing the point here,” Duncan spoke up, breaking the tension in the room. All eyes turned his way. “How does Matisse know about this club?”
“It’s my job, Lord McLaren, to know all things,” the butler said.
“But have you been there? What’s it like?” Duncan wanted to know.
“That information I cannot reveal, but I can tell you it’s not somewhere frequented by most of society. Although aligned to the guilds, Ms North-Turner’s status is neutral. The Dark Garden, as the name may infer, caters to darker tastes and its activities are not always in line with the laws of the land. It is more of a subterranean garden.”
“So we’re definitely going then?” Duncan swung his head to stare at Jared. The more Matisse tried to put them off, the more determined Duncan was to go.
Jared nodded in agreement. “Yes we are, but not anyone else by the sounds of it.”
Allie coughed and her gaze flew to Jared. “You’re not leaving me out, plus I’m the one he is expecting and I have a guild background. The rest of you are precious nobles, with your standing in society to consider.”
“Well, why am I left out?” Eloise piped up. “Again,” she moaned.
“You’re not going.” Jared shot at Eloise. “We’re certainly not putting you at risk in a place like that.” His tone shut down any further discussion from her before it had a chance to surface. He turned his gaze on Allie. “As for you, since you seem to cause me nothing but problems, you may as well come with us, at least that way I’ll know what you’re up to.”
Allie’s mood improved now the interrogation ceased. “I missed you too,” she murmured, looking up at Jared from under her lashes. She was rewarded to see him falter and lose his train of thought. She had almost forgotten how much she enjoyed baiting him and throwing him a daily challenge.
“If I might make a suggestion?” Matisse broke in once more. “Lady Eloise would be the perfect person to acquire your clothing for the evening. The dress code at the Dark Garden is somewhat different to what you are accustomed to. I can supply the name of a seamstress who caters to that market.”
Eloise brightened up at the idea of a shopping trip and even better, getting to be the stylist for the evening and dressing everyone else.
“Marvellous,” she said. “How exciting, a different dress code? When are you planning on attending, so I know how much time I have?”
“We need to go as soon as possible. See what you can obtain tomorrow so we can go there tomorrow night. We’ll head to base tomorrow morning and run it past General Galloway.” Jared replied.
The others rose to leave, to start dressing for dinner.
“If you have a moment?” Jared asked of Allie. “There is something I would like to show you.” He led her out of the parlour and through a small side door that opened onto the courtyard shared with the stables.
Allie held in her questions as they walked the short distance over the cobbles to the stables. On entering the barn, she heard a familiar soft nicker.
“Soiron?” she called and headed down the short aisle to a stall where a chestnut head poked out to say hello. Allie stroked the velvet soft nose and moved her hand up to the mare’s ears. The mare snuffled at her, returning the caress.
“How?” was all she could ask of Jared before the tears threatened to fall.
He smiled at the display of affection between horse and rider. “We usually bring our horses up with us during the holidays. The Lithgows aren’t equestrian folk and they have terrible nags to ride. I asked Eloise if she would mind if I included Soiron in the trip. It seemed a shame to leave her in a stall for two weeks, while you were up here.”
“Thank you,” Allie said. The little mare wormed her way into her heart in such a short time. She laid her head against the mare’s neck and inhaled the horsey scent.
“I’m sorry for how I behaved,” he dropped his voice to a soft tone. “I would never use you, that wasn’t my intention. Things are a bit messed up, in here.” He tapped the side of his head.
“I thought you were different.” She pressed her cheek against the horse’s coat, watching Jared and determined not to cry in front of him.
“I am, but I wanted—needed you to admit how you feel. You’re so determined to shut me out.” He tried to make his point without raising his voice.
“You’re so determined not to see all the obstacles in our way,” she threw back.
“You won’t even try,” he retorted. They sparred constantly, one way or another. “I’m the one who is supposed to be honour bound. I had you pegged for the rebel.”
She rolled her cheek against the mare. He’s right. If I’m going to hang, what does it matter? I’d rather bask in the warmth of the sun, for whatever time I have left.
She turned to face Jared and brushed his cheek with her fingers before she leaned forward to place a brief kiss on his lips. The mere shadow of a kiss, as he did to her.
He froze and drew in a sharp breath, but Allie returned to Soiron’s side before he could react.
“All right,” she said to the unspoken question.
He searched her countenance. “Where exactly does this leave us?”
“Exhausted for today. Can we talk about it tomorrow?” She held his gaze, but deep within her was an openness that had not been there before.
“Of course.” He lifted her hand and placed his own kiss in the centre of her palm. She buried her face into the mare’s side and when she lifted her head Jared had gone.
“What am I going to do?” she asked the little horse. Giving her one last pat for the evening, she headed back into the house.
Allie and Eloise had adjacent rooms with connecting double doors, which they immediately flung open and latched back against the wall. They talked as they unpacked. Weasel jumped from Allie’s bag and took up a position on the windowsill while the two girls helped each other dress for dinner. Eloise had matching tops for their skirts that would carry them through to the evening.
Allie’s bodice was of small pin tuck pleats that criss-crossed over the bodice and sat off the top of her shoulders, exposing all her shoulder, collar bone and elegant neck. Eloise’s dress had a simple sweetheart neck line with a large rose done in beadwork in the centre of the bodice.
“You’ll do,” Eloise remarked after she finished pinning Allie’s hair up.
“Do we have to do this every night?” Allie asked.
“When in Rome,” Eloise replied as Allie stood up from the dressing table stool.
“If we were in Rome, I would be serving, not dining,” Allie remarked on her proletariat status. Panic grew in her stomach, fed by her terror of using the wrong fork.
“Yes.” Eloise drew out the syllable. “I’m not sure what, if anything, Zeb has told his mother. So follow my lead. Cutlery starts from the outside and works its way in. If there’s anything unusual, like escargot, I’ll signal you.”
“And if the questions get too personal, I’d appreciate it if you would faint and save me from answering.” Allie already laboured under the layers of protocol and expectation.
Eloise pushed her friend out the door and they descended the stairs arm in arm and entered the formal lounge, where they assembled before entering the dining room. The girls were rel
ieved to see Zeb standing by the fireplace, unaffected by his confinement to the military base.
The young men were in their formal attire, resplendent in black frock coats, muted tonal waistcoats and crisp white shirts. Their snowy cravats tied with preciseness, which in the case of Zeb and Duncan, Allie strongly suspected was largely thanks to Matisse. When Matisse announced dinner, Jared held out his arm for Lady Lithgow and took the lead, as protocol demanded. Eloise quickly claimed Zeb, while Duncan and Allie exchanged rolled eyes at the charade of it all.
“What are the chances we could slip out and dine at a local pub instead?” Allie whispered to Duncan, as she hooked her arm through his. “We could have a quiet beer and raucous company. I saw one not far from here.”
“Don’t tempt me,” he whispered back.
“Ah.” Allie sniffed success and knew Duncan would be a willing accomplice. “Now I know that, it’s just a matter of when I can lure you away.”
Duncan risked a glance at his cousin, who held a chair for Lady Lithgow. “Jared would kill me; he takes these things very seriously.”
“Please don’t tell me this is his idea of fun?”
“No, but he has an overinflated sense of duty,” Duncan whispered as he held out Allie’s chair.
Jared gave them a sharp look. “What are you two plotting?”
“Escape,” Allie whispered. Then an idea lit up her brain. “Does Zeb have a laboratory in the house?”
Tuesday, 27th September.
hile Matisse showed Eloise the laboratory in the cellar, Allie raided her luggage.
She dressed in muted earth tones with her favourite leather corset. While she slipped her dagger into her boot, Eloise returned and recounted how she now had room in Zeb’s workspace. Then her enthusiasm shot through the ceiling at the thought of her impending shopping trip with Lady Lithgow. An activity Allie managed to avoid. Instead, she would ride to the KRAC base with Jared and Duncan.
Lady Lithgow met them in the hallway and took Eloise’s arm. Allie trailed several paces behind. As they descended the stairs to the waiting carriage, she saw Jared standing by the stables. He finished tacking up his gelding and flashed a smile that made her stomach roll itself into a tight knot. She dragged her attention around long enough to give the women a wave, before wandering over to the stables and her own waiting mount.
“They seem to be getting on rather well,” Jared said.
“Aren’t they?” Allie couldn’t help the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“Does Zeb stand any chance?”
“Practically none, now his mother is involved.” Her smile turned into a grin, while Jared shook his head and laughed. “It’s better this way, otherwise you and Duncan were going to have to draw him a schematic diagram.” She thought about Zeb’s blindness to the physical world around him. “Actually you might still need to.”
Jared watched the retreating carriage. “Given what you have told me about Eloise, do you think it a wise idea for the two of them to get together?”
“Why do you mean?” Allie had never seen a more suited couple. “Eloise has been pining over Zeb since her first day at St Matthews. With her looking after him, you won’t have to worry about Zeb having clean socks and food on the table.”
“Zeb is a mechanical genius, he can make anything out of metal, and with access to the stone, give it a form of life.”
“And Eloise’s mind absorbs the biological sciences like a sponge. She doesn’t need a stone to reanimate flesh.”
Jared’s amused gaze met hers. “My point exactly. What do you get if you put the two together?”
Allie imagined Eloise and Zeb working alongside each other. As her imagination filled the laboratory with inventions cobbled from both their minds, the colour drained from her face. Zeb could create skeletons from steel and brass of any shape or size, and Eloise could dress them in flesh and give them life. She sucked in her bottom lip and dared a look to Jared.
“Oops. I thought twitching frogs were the extent of my problem, I think I just created a Thumper-sized one.”
He burst into laughter and she joined him. Tension fled her body and the atmosphere between them eased. The chestnut mare turned to nudge her rider and Allie played with Soiron’s ears. The little mare looked eager to get going and stretch her legs.
“She’s keen to be off,” Allie said.
Pales eyes still dancing, he held out his hands to give her a leg up. The morning sun glinted off the dagger hilt sticking from her boot as she lifted her skirt. He legged her onto the sidesaddle and watched her settle.
“Do you go anywhere without that knife?”
“Nope,” she replied. “And that includes the night of the school dance.” The words slipped out before she could call them back. Her thoughts drifted to what happened in the alcove and she saw Jared equally lost for a moment.
“I know, that’s why I made sure you couldn’t reach it.”
Heat rose up her chest. She cast her eyes down and fussed with the external girth straps of the sidesaddle, pulling the leather up another notch.
Duncan appeared, whistling a Scottish ballad. The two boys mounted up and then the three friends headed off. Allie was grateful Jared brought the mare up to Edinburgh. The sensitive mare required no effort to ride and with her boundless energy, she kept pace with the larger geldings as they galloped toward the King’s Royal Aeronautical Corps base on the edge of town.
The main building at KRAC was a domineering two-storied monolith of local dark stone. The expansive stairs swept up to the double entrance doors, flanked by pillars supporting the outreaching roof, which protected those in carriages from any inclement weather. To one side were railed yards, with timbers painted black. Dismounting, they tied the horses in a large yard and headed up the stairs.
Jared took Allie’s hand as they ascended the curving stairwell and along a corridor to General Galloway’s office. The office was cavernous and contained several chairs grouped around a fireplace and a wall of books. The General’s desk rivalled a billiards table in size, maps and dispatches littered on its surface. An aethergram unit zinged from its corner and small pieces of ticker tape shot out every time a message registered.
The general was engaged in a discussion with Lieutenant Harris and two soldiers. The conversation stopped as they entered and four sets of military eyes appraised the friends. The general waved a hand at the two soldiers and they exited the room.
Jared released Allie and she gravitated to the wall of books, curious as to what a general would keep handy.
“Well? What have you learned?” General Galloway asked.
Allie stiffened. Yet again, men expected her to spill guild secrets, each word adding a fibre to the noose around her neck. She drew a deep breath and thought of Zeb, caught in a web not of his making.
“Allie had a productive meeting in London.” Jared chose his words with care, leaving her to decide what she told.
Turning, she found all eyes on her. She tried to swallow but found her throat parched.
Harris offered her a respite. “You’re asking Allie to betray the guilds, sir, not an easy situation to be in.” He activated a sonic emitter on the desk and soon the familiar hum washed over her skin.
Allie let her gaze linger on Lieutenant Harris. He had shed his street brat image, and years of immersion in the military soaked into his pores. She stared at his right wrist, a leather gauntlet poking out under the sleeve of his jacket, and wondered if he still bore his guild mark.
The general’s busy eyebrows rose. “The covenant will protect her.”
Allie found her voice. “From you and being placed in a workhouse, it doesn’t protect me from guild retribution.” She stepped closer to Jared and Duncan.
“I promised Captain Marshall that if you help us find Lord Lithgow we’ll help you deal with the consequences,” he offered before narrowing his eyes. “Time is running out and you need to decide, where does your allegiance lay? Are you with us, or working for th
em?”
Allie blinked at the question. Where are my loyalties? She rolled the question around in her head, before holding up her wrists. “No guild owns me, I follow my own path and my loyalty lays with my friends and rescuing Zeb’s father.”
With one sentence she erased four years and resumed her walk to the gallows. She expected darkness to drag her down, but instead a weight lifted off her chest. She made the right decision, whatever the outcome.
“I am to contact an agent at Deviant’s. He is to give me the co-ordinates to his base so I can deliver Zeb.”
“We’ll have some of our men go and make contact,” the general said, shuffling papers on his desk.
Harris coughed into his hand. “It’s not that simple, sir. Deviant’s is a guild club, they won’t admit our men. We have tried on previous occasions.”
Jared stiffened. “And their man is expecting Allie.”
She took a step closer and slid her hand into his. Warmth spread up her arm as he wrapped his fingers around hers. “I go with Jared and Duncan or I hold my tongue.”
“This isn’t a game,” the general growled and rose from his desk.
“I am aware of that,” Allie answered. “My life is as stake here too.”
“We’ll use Allie to make contact,” Harris said. “And I will be there. Watching to ensure they don’t run into trouble.”
Galloway nodded. “Report back tomorrow.”
Dismissed, they returned to the horses. Allie’s heart pounded and she kicked Soiron into a gallop as though she could run away from the unfolding events. They rode until the horses started blowing and brought them back to a walk to head to the pub for lunch. Jared helped Allie down. His hands lingered on her waist for several seconds before letting her go. They hitched the horses to a nearby rail and left them grazing on the lush clover, while Duncan wandered over to the tavern to purchase lunch.
Allie gave a stretch while she sized up the massive oak on the banks of the fast running river, and opted to nestle herself down against the supportive trunk in the sun. Jared dropped to the ground next to her. She closed her eyes and soaked up the sun’s rays.