by Katie Roman
Jack nodded, his eyes never leaving the bottle as he gave his consent.
~*~*~
Aleka even had Jack visit a barber to trim his scraggly hair. She made him pay for it, of course, not daring to use her precious few remaining coins on bathing him. Beneath the filth and apathy, he was quite handsome, but he looked tired. His eyes were still bloodshot and he looked like he’d be sick all over their breakfast, but he didn’t smell anymore, at least.
“Gods, what happened to you?” Aleka asked as she shoveled a meat pastry into her mouth. “Or were you born in the bottle?”
“I used to be a stable boy up in Ursana. Served in the King’s own stables, but then a girl broke my heart.”
Aleka couldn’t keep the sneer from her face. “That all? A girl broke your heart? And here I thought your family had been murdered.”
Jack’s head snapped up, and almost immediately he winced in pain. Aleka handed him a waterskin, hoping to alleviate some of his hangover.
“What do you know of heartbreak?” he grumbled into his minced meat and onion pastry. “Pampered pet of the nobility, as you were.”
“I know there’s more heartache in this world than one girl bruising a foolish boy’s ego.”
They sat in silence on the ground in front of Jack’s boarding house. Aleka finished her pastry without another word, waiting on Jack to do the same. Nervously she tapped her foot, kicking up the dirt around them.
“You were trying to help me,” she said finally, as Jack finished off the last of his breakfast. “When you taught me Wicked Hearts, you were trying to help me in your own way. Before the guards came sniffing around, you were trying to help me survive the city.”
“I don’t like to see women get hurt.” He flushed red under his newly trimmed beard. “You were too good to just have learned from a cousin. I saw court musicians at the King’s palace in Ursana. They’re a different breed from those like Ronald. You had all the makings of a court musician, yet you were clearly trying to hide. Poorly.” He looked down at the sword strapped to Aleka’s belt. “And now, apparently, you want to be what, a duelist?”
Aleka smirked. “A duelist, indeed.” She shook her head. “If I’m to leave Glenbard, I need to know how to better defend myself.”
“Smart girl. May I?” Jack asked, pointing toward her sword.
Aleka shifted positions and unhooked the sword from her belt. Jack removed it from its sheath and held it aloft. He turned it this way and that, checking it from every possible angle. For her part, Aleka had barely inspected the blade, deciding to put her trust in Iuhry and Paora. She also figured a sword was a sword.
“It’s a fair blade,” Jack said as he ran a finger along the edge. “It looks like one of the swords commissioned for soldiers or sailors. Easy to make; not the strongest, and you’ll need a good whetstone to keep it serviceable, but it has a pointy end and can make an enemy bleed. The only truly interesting thing about this sword is how did you get it?”
“I found it.” Aleka kept a neutral expression.
“You’ve been practicing your Wicked Hearts face.” He laid the sword gently across her lap, rubbed his head, and sighed. “I don’t suppose you’ll allow me some hair of the dog…?”
“Blades and drink do not mix well, in my experience.” Aleka stood, dusting off her bottom. She hooked the sheath and sword back onto her belt.
“As you say, Your Majesty.” He rose and cracked his back. “It takes years to master a blade. A teacher will normally start you off on a practice blade so you can learn the motions, and also so you get used to the stances and train your muscles in the actions. Then you can act without stopping to think about what your next move is. Since you’ve not given me the option of training you properly, we’ll have to do all this with a real sword in hand. To avoid the guards, I suggest we adjourn to my room to practice.”
~*~*~
Despite stopping the lessons several times due to his hangover, Jack proved to be a fine teacher. First, he showed each drill slowly so she could make note of how he moved. Through the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon, he continued taking her through her paces, teaching her each step to what he referred to as a ‘sword dance’.
Aleka was clumsy with the blade, and stumbled as she tried to make her feet and hands work in tandem. With each mistake, Jack would stop her and make her repeat the maneuver. It didn’t matter how small the error, he would call a halt and start her over. Aleka flushed with anger as the stops became more frequent. She gritted her teeth and glared at him, but he just made her start over, no matter how much malice she wished upon him.
When he finally called a halt for the day, she could perform the most basic of sword dances. She ran through it one last time without Jack stopping her for some insignificant error.
“You’ll do well enough against a bale of hay,” he joked, smiling until his dimples showed. “Or a dress maker’s dummy, but watch out for marble statues. They could most certainly best you.”
Aleka mopped the sweat from her forehead and threw the rag at Jack.
“I’m only teasing. You do well for a beginner. You’re a quick learner, and if you practice every day, you could be an accomplished swordswoman. Though,” he continued, “you let your temper rule your actions.”
Aleka flushed. “I didn’t snap at you once, even when you continually picked on me for silly, minute mistakes.”
Jack raised his eyebrows, making a face that said she was only proving his point. He tried a different tactic. “You’re a brilliant violinist. You must have practiced for years.”
“Of course,” she snorted and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Did you ever yell or snap at your instructors?”
“What? Gods, no!” Aleka opened her mouth to continue, but saw exactly where Jack was going. “You’re saying I should treat this training the same way I treated that training.”
He nodded and crossed the room to pat her shoulders. “I’m sure you grew tired of repeating scales, but you did them every day to get better. Just because you have only given me a few days to teach you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work on the basics.” Rolling his shoulders, he added, “I’m heading off to the Emerald to start my shift. Do you have a place to stay tonight?” Aleka waved her arms, indicating the floor of his small room. “Of course. Well, I beg you not to wake me before ten tomorrow.”
“Do me two small favors tonight, Jack, and I’ll let you sleep.”
Jack started gathering his cloak, sword, and coin purse. “Yes?”
“Tell Daisy I want to meet her for breakfast at the boar fountain tomorrow around eight. If she’s willing, that is…but uh, if it seems like she might turn me over to the guards, don’t say anything.”
“Daisy? Nah, her and Pim wouldn’t turn you over. I’ll tell her. And this other favor?”
“I know you like to sneak some wine or ale during the night, but just for tonight, I’m asking you to stay sober. I don’t want a drunk teacher.”
Jack sighed, his shoulders slumping forward, and Aleka could tell he had planned to sneak his normal bit of wine once he was away from her. After a moment, he turned to face her and bowed low like a knight would bow to a lady at the King’s court.
“I promise not to drink tonight.”
In an impulsive moment, Aleka pulled Jack into a hug. She felt him wrap his arms around her, giving her one good squeeze before gently pulling back.
“What will you do tonight?” he asked.
“Practice this sword dance, and then I have business to attend elsewhere.” She snuck an abashed glance at the ruined lock.
“I never bothered with a lock anyway. Nothing around here to steal. Stay safe, Kunegunda.” With that, he walked out of the room, his boot heels clicking softly as he left.
Chapter Twenty-One
The Gilded Lily stood in the heart of Rogue’s Lane. It looked like a large house with maroon painted shutters and heavy curtains in the windows. A wooden fence surrounded the house and
rose bushes grew by the door. The whole house was modeled to look like any number of fine houses on Merchant’s Way. Madam Alise clearly did well for herself to have such a fine house on the Lane.
Aleka knocked on the front door. A woman near her age opened the door and raised an expertly manicured eyebrow.
“One silver for an hour, three for the night. But you’ll need to leave your weapon at the door. We’ll see it is taken care of and no other patron wanders off with it,” she said without hesitation.
“I’m not here for the services of your ladies,” Aleka said hurriedly. “I only wish to have a few moments of Madam Alise’s time.”
Now the woman cocked her head to one side. “And you are?”
“Kunegunda Lansa. The name’ll likely mean nothing to you or anyone else, but it’s all I have to recommend myself. If you could just tell Madam Alise that I wish to talk business with her, I would appreciate it.”
“Come in,” the woman said. “But don’t move from this spot.” She hurried off, leaving Aleka standing awkwardly in the foyer.
From where she stood, she could see a small sitting area. Though it was empty now, she could see visitors were clearly expected. Food was laid out on a silver tray, next to a silver pitcher and cups. The air smelled of vanilla and citrus. It was as fine as anything Lady Ghilian set out. Aleka smiled to herself, thinking of Lady Ghilian learning that her tea services were comparable to a brothel’s.
The woman who greeted her returned with an older woman. “Leave your sword with Bree and follow me,” the older woman said briskly.
Aleka unhooked her sword and gave it to Bree, and then fell in step behind the other woman, who had yet to give her name. She led Aleka to the second floor. Everywhere Aleka looked, there were fine trappings of wealth. The carpet was plush, and fine pastoral paintings and tapestries of mythical creatures were scattered here and there. They passed five closed doors, though it didn’t take much thought to know what happened within. At the end of the hall, Aleka was ushered into an office where a steel-haired woman sat behind a simple writing desk, hands folded demurely in front of her. Aleka had a flash of the Admiral before his desk, glaring down at her. She swallowed her fear and stood with her feet apart and her hands clasped behind her back.
“Leave us, Krassi.”
The woman who had brought Aleka in quickly departed, the door clicking softly behind her. An air of tension settled over the room.
“Madam Alise.”
“Your Majesty,” the woman replied, no softness to her voice.
Aleka felt the corners of her mouth turn down. “I imagine that will follow me around forever.”
“I have regular dealings with Marcus Hunewn, and Thom told me you’d eventually come my way when you realized you didn’t belong at the Emerald. Certainly no one expected you to turn the place respectable, albeit briefly, with your violin.”
“If you know all that, then you know that the city guard sniffed me out there.”
“They came here and to the Angel, too. You’re not safe on the Lane right now – you must know that. And you can’t think I’d offer you employment. I can’t and won’t protect you from the King’s law.”
Aleka stepped closer to Alise, putting her hands flat on the desktop. “I didn’t come here for employment.”
Alise moved Aleka’s hands, knocking them off the desk. “You still think you’re too good for this? I assumed that since you were here, it meant you were desperate enough. Had you come here first I could have kept you safe, but I know you responded with repulsion to this work, and now you’re a known and wanted woman.”
“I’m not here to debate the merits of your establishment and care for your girls. I came to ask for your assistance.” Without a word, Aleka reached into her purse and dropped two gold pieces on the desk. “I’m willing to pay for your time.” There had been four gold pieces and several silver pieces at one time, but Aleka paid her dues to Marcus and to the urchin who helped her relieve the owner of his purse. She found it easier with each purse she stole.
Alise picked up a coin and produced a dagger from her belt. She scratched the surface of the coin, checking to see if it was counterfeit. “You know you owe a portion of every cut purse to the King of Thieves,” she said, placing the coins back on the desk.
“I do, and rest assured, he’s been paid. I made the mistake of not giving my dues once, but I learn from my mistakes.”
Alise nodded, satisfied. “What do you want?”
Aleka began pacing the room. “I’ve heard Captain Victor Blackstone is in Glenbard making repairs to the Fearless Dawn. Thom told me he usually spends time gambling at the Emerald before seeking comforts here at the Gilded Lily. Obviously, I can’t go back to the Emerald, but I would like to set up a meeting with Captain Blackstone. I hoped you could arrange a card game between us tomorrow night.”
Alise leaned back in her chair, resting her hands on her stomach. “You want to meet Blackstone?” she said skeptically.
“Glenbard is no longer safe for me. He already works outside the law, so who better to take me out of Cesernan?”
Alise cocked her head to the side, scrutinizing Aleka. She had to be at least Halia’s age, likely even a bit older. She had crinkles near her eyes and mouth, and a faint white scar across her freckled cheek. However, her blue-gray eyes caught every little thing around her. Aleka’s eyes shot down to the gold coins. Although King Frederick now had a scar across his golden profile, the coin was true and Alise couldn’t argue. The real question was whether or not she would take it.
“You have more brass than brains,” Alise said at length. “But we look after our own on the Lane.”
For a price, Aleka thought, watching Alise palm the coins and slip them into an unseen holder. “So, you’ll help me?”
“I’ve been acquainted with Blackstone for years. He’s always looking for fresh crew members. I, however, have never actually set up a meeting for him. But he is in the city, and has already contacted me. He’ll be at the Gilded Lily tonight when he tires of throwing dice and playing cards. I’ll speak with him tonight and have one of my girls bring you a message in the morning. Where can we find you?”
Aleka didn’t think, or perhaps just didn’t want to believe that Alise would harm her, but she still didn’t want to reveal where she slept. “I’ll be in the market, at the boar fountain, tomorrow when the eighth hour is called.”
“You do realize that this comes at a fee for taking one of my girls away from her work?” Alise leaned forward again, folding her hands on the desk.
“I assumed as much. What’s the going rate? One silver?” Aleka could feel her purse getting lighter already, but she still had a couple coins left.
“Smart lass,” Alise said. “I’ll have one of my girls deliver Blackstone’s decision at eight tomorrow.” Alise reached her hand across the table, offering a handshake. Aleka took it, finding that the madam had a firm grip and work-hardened hands.
“Thank you, Madam Alise.” Aleka turned to leave, when behind her she heard the rustling of heavy skirts. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Alise had stood up.
“I have one question for you, Miss Lansa.” She circled around her desk to stand beside Aleka.
She saw that Alise seemed much smaller now, barely coming up to Aleka’s shoulder. Yet she still managed to cast a wide presence, dwarfing Aleka.
“Yes?”
“Your story, though incomplete, is not wholly unknown. You ran away from an indentureship, supposedly striking your magistrate employer in the process, and you sought shelter in the one area of the city that could potentially shield you. I’ve heard the same story a hundred times, out of the mouths of a hundred girls and boys. Most people in your situation would just want to hide and stay hidden, but not you. My question for you is this: What is it you are trying to accomplish? You seem hell-bent on being rooted out and caught.”
Aleka turned away from Alise, staring forward at the door.
“I want to turn the wor
ld on its head,” she said softly, and then swept out of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Aleka spent a fitful night on Jack’s floor, leaving her tired and somewhat on edge the next morning. For his part, Jack at least stayed sober. Aleka couldn’t be sure he didn’t sneak a drink at the Emerald, but he only smelled of sweat when he came in after the third hour was called. He tossed and turned as much as Aleka did.
When she left for the market just before eight, he was curled onto his side on the filthy hay mattress, snoring. Aleka slipped out, leaving her sword behind. If a guard caught her with a weapon in the marketplace, she’d be hauled off to the lock up without a chance to run.
It was still early, but it promised to be a hot day. She was already sweating, and there was no breeze to offer any relief. They were barely out of spring, and summer was proving to be a hot one. Aleka wiped her forehead and sighed.
She worried that Daisy wouldn’t come since Jack didn’t say anything about it when he came in. Aleka bought two egg and cheese stuffed pastries and had her water skin filled with fruit juice before she took a seat on the edge of the fountain. Her heart raced and her palms sweated. Daisy was her friend and she wanted a chance to say good-bye. One way or the other, at the end of the following day, Aleka wouldn’t be in Glenbard anymore.
“You no good trollop!” a voice cried.
The market was just getting busy for the day, so it was easy to spot Daisy with Essie in tow. Essie carried a wicker basket while Daisy had a bottle of amber liquid, but she handed it off to Essie when they drew closer. She pulled Aleka up and into a hug, squeezing all the breath from her.
“We thought you died!” she exclaimed dramatically, releasing Aleka and sitting at the fountain.
Essie gave Aleka a small one-armed hug before sitting down as well. Aleka sat between them and offered Essie a pastry, but she declined and pulled an apple from her basket.