Moss Forest Orchid (Silver and Orchids Book 1)

by Shari L. Tapscott

  “What?” I cry. “Not in this gown.”

  It’s too late. Avery’s already broken the stained-glass window, and we’re falling down, down, down…straight for the moat. I gasp in a breath at the very last moment, and then the world goes pitch black and ice cold. I flail and panic. The gown pulls me down, makes me sink. Strong arms find me and yank me up, toward the surface.

  Avery drags me onto the prickly, grassy bank. Overhead, men yell.

  “Come on, Lucia,” Avery says, pulling me with him.

  Before I realize what’s happening, we’re running toward the gates. My dress is drenched and heavy, and I almost can’t keep up. Cold air envelops me, and I begin to shiver.

  “Do you have any idea what is in that water!” I demand. “And what about Sebastian?”

  “We’ll find him later,” Avery yells over his shoulder.

  I come to a full stop, taking the captain by surprise. “Find him later?”

  “We don’t have time for this!” Avery gives me a “friendly” shove between the shoulder blades to get me moving again. “There’s no hope for Sebastian if we’re all captured.”

  And that’s all it takes for my legs to start moving. We race through the darkened city, stopping in a lonely alley so I can discard my ruined velvet gown. Twenty minutes later, with me dressed only in a wet shift, we burst through Adeline’s door. The seamstress is nowhere to be found. Avery locks the deadbolt behind us and collapses against the door.

  “Why here?” he demands.

  “I didn’t know where else to go.”

  The captain’s sandy hair is still wet, and his jacket’s ruined. He takes in a deep, ragged breath, and then he pulls out the map, inspecting it.

  He seems pleased.

  “We stole it,” I gasp, horrified.

  Avery gives me a droll look. “We borrowed it.”

  “I broke the glass…we just…took it.”

  “And we’ll give it back once we find the orchids.”

  I glare at the captain. “What about Sebastian?”

  “Yancey will cool down in a few days.” The captain waves his hand, unconcerned. “He always does.”

  “He called you a pirate.”

  Avery shrugs, hiding a smile. “You’ve probably noticed I get that a lot.”

  Before I can respond, Avery is blasted across the room.

  “Avery!” I cry, shocked.

  Adeline stands at the top of the stairs, staring down at us, horrified, hand still raised. “Oh, Lucia, it’s only you.”

  Avery groans and clutches his head. Adeline’s face goes slack, and then she rushes down to check on the man she just attacked. She kneels by his side and looks at me. “Friend of yours?”

  “Something like that.”

  The captain opens his eyes, and Adeline blinks. “Oh. Oh…”

  “Pleasure to meet you,” Avery croaks.

  She fusses, hovering over him like a butterfly. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know—”

  “Our fault,” Avery assures her.

  A knock at the door startles us all, and we go silent.

  “Adeline, it’s Dominic!” A huge booming voice calls from the other side. “Open the door.”

  Adeline takes one look at us and holds up her hands, silently demanding to know what we’ve done. I only shake my head. She panics, looks around the room, and ends up shoving us into the dressing cubby. She tosses fabric over us—all kinds of dresses and materials—before she pulls the curtain shut.

  “You owe me,” she hisses before she rushes to the door. “I have half a mind to hand you over to the constable.”

  Even though I can’t see her, I know she’s fussing with her nightgown and hair. Finally, just when the constable yells again, the door creaks open.

  “Dominic?” she says in a sleepy-heavy voice, as if she were deep in dreams before he arrived. “What’s wrong?”

  There’s a moment of silence. “I’m sorry to wake you, Adeline. There’s been an incident at the castle. Is there anyone with you? We followed a trail to your door.”

  “Incident? And what do you mean you followed a trail here?” Her voice is high and shrill, and she truly sounds as if this is the first she’s heard of it. “Am I in danger?”

  “No, no,” the constable assures her quickly. “Just Yancey causing trouble again, but…you know how these things are. And the trail was spotty at best. They probably ran right past here.”

  He sounds weary, like he’s on these kinds of errands often.

  “You poor thing,” she purrs. “Always working so late.”

  “It’s fine, Addy,” he says, his voice a little warmer than before. “Just doing my job.”

  I roll my eyes and then panic. Flink has wandered into the room, probably to see what the noise is about. Sensing me immediately, he infiltrates our hiding spot and is now butting our fabric coverings, making churring noises.

  “You’re so dedicated.” Now Adeline’s just flirting, probably hoping to distract the man’s attention from the dragon. “Perhaps you could come in, have a nice hot drink? I can put on a pot of tea.”

  Next to me, Avery stiffens.

  “No, I can’t,” the man reluctantly answers. “I don’t have time.”

  “The offer stands anytime, Constable.” A little giggle. “You know that.”

  He reluctantly bids her goodbye, and the door closes. We wait several minutes before we push the fabric back.

  Adeline faces us, her eyes lingering on Avery. She sets her hands on her hips and pins me with a hard gaze. Getting to the most pressing question first, she demands, “Lucia…what did you do with your gown?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Need a Key?

  Dusk falls over the city, casting the stone building in front of us in shadows. Two guards stand outside the entrance, laughing. Neither seems terribly concerned with their watch.

  “They’ll let Sebastian go eventually,” Avery says for what must be the hundredth time. “He’d want us to get started, head into the wilds. He had a good look at the map. He’ll catch up.”

  I glare at the captain. “You said he’d be out by morning. Twelve hours have passed, and he’s still there.”

  Avery has the audacity to shrug as he gives me a “what can you do?” grin.

  Adeline clears her throat, nervous.

  “You don’t have to do this,” I say to her, though I begged her to come, and I’ll beg her to stay if she tries to leave.

  “It’s fine.” She gives her hair a fluff.

  “You’ll have no trouble,” Avery assures Adeline, turning his charm on the seamstress. “When you’re in the room, what man could keep his wits about him? You’ll have the constable eating from your hand.”

  She stares at him, completely besotted, as she has been since she blew him across her shoppe using the same elemental wind spell Yancey used on Sebastian at the dock. I almost roll my eyes but manage to contain myself. All that matters is Sebastian.

  “Go on then,” I say to her. “It’s now or never.”

  Adeline nods her head once, determined. Then, after taking a deep, bolstering breath, she turns the corner, onto the street, and sashays toward the jail with a cloth-covered basket hanging on her arm. One of the guards stops mid-sentence to watch her as she makes her way toward them. Their expressions brighten considerably when they see she’s headed their way.

  “Evening, Adeline,” one calls.

  She gives them a coy smile. “Good evening, Marshall, Bradley. Look at you two, working late.”

  “What have you got in there?” The second guard, Bradley asks, eying her basket. He gives her a wide smile. “It smells good.”

  She touches his arm and leans closer. “I heard about your mishap last night.”

  The men glance at each other, unsure whether they are at liberty to discuss it.

  “I thought you might need a little something extra to get through another long night.” Adeline pulls back a corner of the fabric, giving them a peek at the tiny cakes withi
n.

  My stomach growls. I haven’t eaten all day.

  “Do you want one now?” she asks, her face the picture of innocence. “Or would you rather I leave them inside for later?”

  As I fully expected, the men need no further invitation. They each grab a cake, thanking her heartily. The pastries are gone before the crumbs fall to the ground. Adeline, looking mighty pleased with herself, covers the rest of the cakes, tosses her auburn locks behind her shoulder, and gives them a little wave as she walks up the stone stairs to the jail.

  “I’m going to say a quick hello to Dominic, and then I’ll be out of your hair.” She gives them a flirty smile and disappears into the building. They watch her go, and Marshal whistles once she’s out of earshot.

  They lower their voices, but I don’t have to hear them to know what they’re talking about.

  “Men are pigs,” I say to Avery.

  He stands next to me, not bothering to watch the show, with his shoulders resting against the wall of the building we’re hiding behind. Nonchalant, he crunches on an apple he bought from a vendor. “Lucky for you.”

  “How do you figure?” I shoot him a look.

  The captain laughs. “Where did our trail of moat water lead the duke’s men last night?”

  “Adeline’s shoppe.”

  “And yet the constable took one look into her wide, innocent eyes and bid her a good evening and walked away. Now tell me, logically speaking, who’s the last person they should be accepting pastries from at the moment?”

  I narrow my eyes. “Adeline.”

  “So, why did they?”

  “Because she’s gorgeous.”

  He holds the half-eaten apple toward me, praising me for the right answer. “See? There you go. As I said, lucky for you. Because men are pigs, and any man in his right mind would know she’s up to something.”

  “Are you saying my plan is a poor one? Because I didn’t hear you coming up with any ideas.”

  He bumps my shoulder and gives me a smoldering smirk. “All I’m saying, Lucia darling, is that you are skilled at manipulating men. So, naturally, that’s the foundation you used for your strategy.”

  “You say that like I’m bending you to my will at this very moment,” I scoff.

  Avery takes another bite of his apple. “I’m standing here, ready to assist the woman of my dreams as she breaks another man from prison. I’d say I’m bent.”

  “And yet, somehow I get the feeling you’re using me.”

  He gives me one of his enigmatic smiles and cocks his head to the side. “Perhaps you are sensing that we are evenly matched.”

  Before I can answer, Adeline turns the corner, rejoining us. As soon as she’s in the shadows, she lets out a great sigh of relief. “They ate them—Dominic ate three. I hope that won’t be a problem.”

  “When will they begin to feel poorly?” Avery asks.

  I cross my arms. “Five hours or so, according to the apothecary, but the cramping should be mild. Still, they’ll be in enough discomfort that we should be able to sneak in while they’re…distracted. Dominic will likely be worse off than Marshall or Bradley.”

  “And they won’t suspect Adeline?” Avery asks me, looking doubtful.

  Offended, Adeline sets her hands on her hips. “Why would they?”

  Avery only shakes his head.

  I ignore the conversation and look instead at the guards, studying them for early signs of discomfort. “We’ll be back in five hours.”

  ***

  I watch, morbidly intrigued, as Marshall shifts back and forth. Beside him, Bradley wipes sweat from his brow. It’s only a matter of time before the two desert their posts.

  “Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Avery says to me.

  “Avery, never get on my bad side,” I parrot absently.

  He snorts, but I ignore him because it’s time.

  “Come on.” I lead as we hurry down the street. Quietly, we sneak up the stairs and through the door. Torches burn at the entry, but the hallways are dark. A dim light burns down the stairway directly to our right. I motion for Avery to follow me and whisper, “This way.”

  Then I cringe because I accidentally kick something on the floor, and it makes a scraping noise that echoes off the walls. I continue, silently berating myself.

  “Are you wholly focused on our task?”

  I glare at him over my shoulder. “Yes…why do you ask?”

  Avery nods toward the object I ran into—a heavy ring of iron keys that must have been dropped at some point during the evening. “I just thought these might come in useful. What do you think? Should we pick them up?”

  I snatch the keys from their resting spot and give him a droll look, which he answers with a quiet laugh. We continue down the stairwell. I’m quiet, but Avery is nearly silent. The prowess of a criminal, I think. I’d mention it if I weren’t so worried about being discovered.

  I’ve never been in a jail before, and this isn’t what I expected. To begin with, it’s clean. Second, the cells we pass appear to be empty. Apparently, Mesilca doesn’t have much of a crime problem.

  We reach the bottom of the stairs. A candle burns on a table, and melted wax pools on the tin plate it rests on. There are voices just around the corner; one I know as well as my own.

  “You need rezalea,” Sebastian says conversationally. “Make some tea out of it, add a little honey if you have it.”

  A man groans. “What’s rezalea?”

  “It’s an herb that grows like a weed in Reginae. I don’t suppose it’s native here, but your local apothecary should have some.”

  Another groan. This must be Dominic, the constable who ate three cakes. Gluttony—it has a way of catching up with you.

  Then Sebastian says, “You know…I could fetch you some.”

  There’s a long pause. “Do I look like a fool?”

  “No, you look like a man whose night’s going to get worse long before it gets better.”

  The constable takes his time in answering, weighing his discomfort—extreme in his case—against the potential fallout of losing a prisoner. “If you don’t come back, I’ll hunt you down like a dog.”

  “I swear, I will return.”

  Avery and I stand just outside the room, not daring to barge in. When I glance at my companion, he raises his eyebrows, grudgingly impressed.

  But what the captain doesn’t know is that if Sebastian says he’ll come back, he will. Which makes our job of springing him more difficult.

  I gesture back up the stairs, silently telling Avery to lead us out. We sneak out of the building without any trouble, but about the time I’m stepping onto the street, I realize I still have the keys.

  “Oh no.” I show the ring to Avery.

  He holds out his hand. “I’ll put them back.”

  “They’ll find you—the constable is probably climbing the stairs to retrieve them as we speak!”

  “Give them to me.” He wiggles his fingers. “Hurry.”

  “Don’t get yourself locked up too.” I push the keys into his hand.

  A quick grin spreads across his face. He catches me and pulls me toward him. “Why, Lucia, is that concern I hear? Perhaps I haven’t lost the game yet.”

  “For the last time, there’s no game.”

  “So you say.”

  Before I can reply, he places a hand over my mouth, listening to a man curse in the room on the other side of the wall.

  I pull his hand away. “We’re too late. He’s just realized he dropped them.”

  Without a word, Avery winks and then saunters into the building, not bothering to be quiet this time.

  Horrified, I sneak to the window, hiding in the shadows.

  “Looking for something, Constable?” Avery says, twirling the keys on his finger.

  Dominic turns from a cabinet and gapes at Avery. He looks awful. Beads of sweat dot his brow, his face is deathly pale, and he stands slightly hunched over. “You.”

  “Good evening. I�
�ve come to make a deal with you.” Avery’s completely at ease as he pats his sword. “You hand over a certain prisoner without fuss, and I won’t kill you.”

  “And what makes you think you’re capable?” The constable leans against the cabinet, weary.

  “No offense, but on a good day, you wouldn’t be in any shape to duel me. We both know you’re not right now, and your men seem to have deserted their posts.”

  “How do you know I’m ill?” the constable growls.

  Avery smiles. “Just a guess.”

  Several seconds go by, and then Dominic swears under his breath. “Adeline.”

  I gasp and try to pull myself up higher so I can see better.

  The constable grits his teeth and draws his rapier. Taking a deep breath, he lunges forward. Avery doesn’t even bother to draw his own weapon. He simply sidesteps, easily avoiding the blade. I cringe, embarrassed for the constable.

  I’m just about to go in, see if I can release Sebastian while Avery entertains the jailer, when the point of a cold blade meets my skin, just between my shoulder blades.

  “Hold up your hands and slowly walk up the steps, into the building,” a man says from behind me. I’m not certain since I can’t see his face, but I would be willing to bet good money that one of the guards has returned.

  Pursing my lips to hold in a curse, I do as I’m told. Avery’s still toying with Dominic, but when he sees the guard and me, his eyes go wide with surprise.

  “This evens things up a bit,” Dominic says, breathing hard as he collapses in a chair. “Well done, Bradley.”

  “Toss your weapon aside,” Bradley instructs Avery. He doesn’t sound like he feels well, but he’s not as far gone as Dominic.

  Avery’s expression isn’t quite as amicable as it was a moment before. His rapier clatters to the ground. “You will release her.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  I wince and angle away from the blade as Bradley nudges it a bit closer. The guard makes a show of sliding the dagger from my sheath before he tosses it to the floor as well.

  Making Avery lead, Bradley drags me down the stairs, toward Sebastian’s cell, with the dagger still pointed at my back. I think of all kinds of colorful names to call him, but I’m not sure that would help, so I keep them to myself for the time being.