From Moonlight to Mayhem (Swords, Secrets, and Scandals Book 1)

by Jess Schira

  The carriage turned rolled into a part of town where Saika rarely ventured.

  Surprised, she withdrew her attention from the landscape and turned to Sebastian.

  A question about his intentions and their destination danced on the tip of her tongue, but she held them at bay. She’d been taught to avoid questions whenever there was a chance she’d object to the answer.

  Sebastian’s eyes met hers and he broke the silence. “What were you speaking of when the guard entered your chambers?”

  Saika stiffened with surprise. “I don’t recall mentioning anything.”

  “You cried out that you had been promised more time. I imagine you weren't expecting the Bow Street Runners and myself to enter the house, but your words made it very clear you did expect someone. I expect you to tell me who you anticipated.”

  Saika turned back to the carriage window and silently cursed. She must have cried out when the men entered her room. If he were still alive, her grandfather would be disappointed, he would be livid to know all the years he spent teaching her to control her actions and emotions, and she repaid him by shouting out and providing her enemies with information.

  Sebastian touched her knee, drawing her attention back to him. “I would not ask the question if I did not want to hear the answer and I assure you, I am prepared to wait for however long it takes to get your response. I suspect it has something to do with why you attended the Yule Ball and eventually took refuge in King George’s bedchamber.”

  Saika took a moment to tuck her emotions away and made sure her face was a blank mask. It gave her time to consider the best possible response. Just because she’d revealed too much earlier, didn’t mean she should compound the problem.

  “I should warn you, it is in your best interest to reveal your secret to me. I promise your future would be easier.” Sebastian’s voice changed, the stern toned and clipped words softened, became wheedling. Saika recognized it as the voice he used while he soothed Jennet.

  Unlike Jennet, she refused to be charmed and continued to stare out the window.

  It didn’t take long before Sebastian’s patience wore thin. He grasped her chin and turned her face until their gazes clashed. Annoyance thinned his mouth and his stare drilled through her.

  The carriage made a sharp left turn. Unprepared for the change in direction, Saika lost her balance and slid across the seat. Her shoulder bumped into the opposite carriage wall.

  Sebastian ignored her. He reached out with one hand and twitched the carriage window curtain opened enough to identify their location before he turned to Saika. The corners of his mouth lifted in a humorless smile. “Your resistance to supplying an answer to my very simple question means the only choice left available to me is leaving you here. I suspect a few hours here will loosen your tongue. If not, you can spend the night.”

  Saika arched a brow in silent question.

  Sebastian drew the heavy curtain aside and Saika’s confidence stumbled. She didn’t need to be familiar with this part of town to identify the structure they were approaching. She, along with everyone else in London, knew exactly what this place was and hoped to never be brought here.

  Newgate Prison loomed large on the other side of the window.

  Someone once told Saika the city had been using the prison for approximately thirty years but they must have misspoke. It wasn’t possible for a building to develop an aura of despair and hopelessness as the one surrounding the fortress in a mere three decades. Despair and fear emanated from the structure, as if the building was soaking in the emotions of those who resided within its walls.

  As frightening as the sight of Newgate Prison was, it didn’t compare to the stench. The carriage they rode in had not yet arrived at the prison yet the short chains connecting her wrists to her waist were the only things that prevented Saika from covering her nose.

  “Why did you bring me here?”

  “I need to ensure you don’t get into any trouble, and as long as you’re here, you won’t.”

  Saika’s stomach clenched and bile burned her throat. Sebastian intended to leave her in this place?

  She had deliberately avoided coming to this section of town, as did everyone she knew. She’d heard terrifying stories about the atrocities the inmates were forced to endure at this place.

  And now she was in a carriage that was bearing down on the dreaded facility.

  Saika swallowed and focused on drawing one steady breath after another. When he ordered her chained and then bundled chained her up and bundled her into the carriage, she had assumed Sebastian was taking her to Queen’s Lodge to meet with King George and provide an explanation for her actions at the ball.

  Newgate Prison hadn’t even entered her mind.

  Fear threatened to choke her.

  The building scared her even more than the graveyards her grandfather used to send her into when she’d been a small child during the middle of the night armed only with her wits and the instructions she wasn’t to leave the place until daybreak. She’d spent those long, endless nights with her back pressed against a rough tree trunk and her eyes boring into the darkness, alert to the smallest sign of an approaching ghost or evil spirt.

  In the beginning, her knees shook so badly, she wouldn’t have been able to escape if one of the night creatures she feared appeared directly in front of her.

  She moistened her lips. “You can’t take me here. I’ve committed no crime.” Not yet at least.

  Sebastian shrugged. “I can take you here, and I have the connections to make sure you stay here, at least for a little while.”

  “As far as committing a crime goes, I have friends who won’t question me when I say they need to keep you here, but if pressed, I shall just tell them you’re guilty of stealing into the King’s bedchamber without his permission.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t take me to the Tower of London,” Saika said. Her calm tone contrasted with the way her heart thundered against her rib cage.

  “I’ll admit, I considered the possibility, but the Tower is only used to imprison people who pose a direct threat to the crown.”

  “Despite my personal thoughts, I have no proof you have any intention of committing treason or doing anything else that could put the king, or his family, in danger. Until I have proof, I have no grounds to hold you at the Tower.”

  “If we’re being completely honest, you have no reason to contain me anywhere. I haven’t done anything wrong.” She paused and considered the situation. “Unless humiliating one Sebastian Harper, Queen Charlotte’s favorite pet, is considered a criminal offense.”

  She thought she caught a glimpse of humor flit through his eyes. It dimmed almost before it began.

  “No, embarrassing me isn’t an official crime.” Even though Sebastian spoke in a placid tone, Saika sensed an element of danger in the soft voice. “But I’ve known the King and Queen for a very long time. They trust my judgment.”

  “Whoa!” The driver’s shout drifted through the roof of the carriage. A split second later, the carriage slid to a graceful stop.

  Sebastian angled his long body towards the carriage door and looked over his shoulder at her. “We’ve arrived”

  Saika linked her fingers together and nodded.

  “This is your last chance to tell me what you were doing at the Queen’s Lodge last night”.

  Saika kept her face clear of expression and her eyes locked on his.

  “You understand don’t you, that you could avoid everything simply by telling truth.” Frustration sharpened Sebastian’s tone. “A few words would be all you need to say.”

  He made it sound so simple, and maybe in his mind it was. Sebastian was missing a great deal of information. He didn’t know the magnitude of the obstacles she faced, and even if he did there wasn’t anything he could do to help.

  Saika was on her own.

  Still, for one brief second, she almost thought she would share her secret. It had weighed so heavily on her for a week and t
he weight kept getting harder and harder to bear. Sooner or later, the pressure might break her.

  “Very well,” Sebastian said, his words clipped, “I’ve given you every chance. You leave me no choice.”

  In a single fluid motion, he opened the carriage door and dropped to the ground. He turned and extended a hand towards Saika, looking every inch the well-bred son of an earl that he was and acting as if was doing nothing more than escorting her to some soiree.

  She considered ignoring him and sitting right where she until he was forced to climb into the carriage and drag her bodily out. No sooner did the thought cross her mind when she dismissed it. He was determined to get her inside the prison. Her stubbornness would only anger him.

  She slid across the carriage seat. The movement causing the chains binding her to clank and rattle.

  Her chains made it impossible to alight from the carriage without his assistance. If she tried, she’d trip on the short length of ankle chain would cause her to trip, and with her arm bound, she couldn’t protect herself during the tumble. The fact that she had no choice to accept Sebastian’s help, made her seethe.

  The feel of Sebastian’s fingers pressing into her soft flesh was all it took to have her teeth grinding together. It took every ounce of her concentration and training to keep her expression passive.

  Without saying a word, Sebastian transferred his grip from her hips to her elbows, forcing her to walk towards the imposing building.

  From Moonlight to Mayhem

  Chapter Five

  Saika rubbed her wrists and tried to decide which was worse; the creak of the hinges as the heavy door swung closed, the sound of the key turning in lock, or the overwhelming scent of the unwashed and ill who called Newgate Prison home.

  For the first time in her life, Saika knew what the smell and sight of lost hope and total despair was. She also knew that if she stayed here for any real length to time, her own soul would turn to dust. She wasn’t designed to be kept in this place.

  Saika drew in one shallow breath after another and examined her surroundings. Terror nipped at her insides and threatened to close her throat, but she pushed it aside. She didn’t have time to let fear cloud her mind, she needed all of her concentration to think of a way out of this situation.

  Things could be worse, she reminded herself. Sebastian had insisted she be placed in a private cell, which wasn’t nice, but was preferable to being thrust in a large room that was overcrowded with women. If the despair she felt seeping from the walls when she was by herself darkened her soul, being in actual contact with the inmates would smother it.

  One the other hand, being placed in a cell by herself made planning her escape more difficult.

  The cell was tiny. When she stretched her arms straight out from her sides her fingertips and brushed both the North and South walls, and it was twice as long as it was wide. It only took a few minutes for her to memorize every facet.

  A thin mattress occupied half the space. A battered tin lantern hung on a wall hook, and a bucket of water sat beneath it. A shabby chair that looked like it would shatter if anything heavier than a half-grown mouse settled on the seat was the only other furniture. A battered, lit lantern hung on a hook in the wall. High above her head, dust sparkled in the thin shaft of sunlight that shined through a narrow, barred slit. The illumination made the space even more depressing and bleak than if the space had been cloaked in complete blackness.

  Saika placed herself beneath the poor excuse for a window and examined it. Its height made reaching it difficult, but if she could if it became absolutely necessary. The real problem was its size. She was slim, but she doubted she was slender enough to force her body through the narrow space. Its existence let her know her cell was positioned against Newgate’s outer wall which was good to know. When she broke out of the cell, she wouldn’t have to worry about navigating her way out of the building. She simply needed to find the nearest exit.

  She pivoted and examined the door.

  When it came to the cell door, no expense had been spared. The wood was too thick to be shattered by anything short of a battering ram. She wouldn’t be able to break through it on her own.

  Unless …

  Saika stood on her toes and ran her palms along the door until she encountered a wet spot. She curled her fingers and smiled when the tips depressed the damp wood. She tighten her grip and created grooves in the surface. The door wasn’t quite as secure as it appeared to be. There was no way of knowing if the wet spot went all the way through or not and even if it did, chipping her way through it would take forever, but it gave her something to do until she figured out a better way out of this place.

  There were several flaws with her plan, the biggest being Sebastian or a guard would enter the cell and see the destruction, but it gave her something to do until she thought of a better escape plan.

  Prison guards.

  The words rattled around Saika’s mind and the spark of an idea lit the dark recess of her mind.

  She stopped removing tiny shards of wood from the door and dropped down of her toes while the idea evolved into a plan.

  Sebastian had made it clear he didn’t intend to lock her up in this place and throw away the key. Not yet, at least. He wanted answers to her questions and until he got them, he’d keep asking her. In the meantime, he needed to keep her health, which meant the guards would have to bring her food and water, and since the door didn’t have a slot cut out of it, it needed to be opened in order for the food to be delivered to her.

  She’d been meek and mellow when Sebastian brought her into this cell and unlocked her manacles, and the impression would serve her well now. Her mild behavior, coupled with her small size and sex, meant the guards wouldn’t consider her a threat and would not take any precautions when they walked in. It was likely they expected to find her cowering in the corner.

  Saika smiled and stepped from one end of the cell to the other where the poor excuse for a bed was tucked against the wall. She ignored the thick layer of dust and grime on the mattress and sat on it. She pulled her legs up and crossed them at the ankles, cobbler style. The only thing she could do now was sit and wait for the right moment to execute her plan.

  When it did, she’d be ready.

  ********

  Sebastian looked at the house before him and suppressed the urge to sigh.

  This was the eighth house he’d visited since he had left Saika in the care of Newgate’s watchful guards. He still wasn’t sure what he was doing. His entire adult life had involved working closely with Queen Charlotte plan her gala’s and celebrations and made sure everything went according to plan. It was pleasant work which made good use of his active and analytical mind. He quite enjoyed it.

  He didn’t understand why now, instead of basking in the glory of last night’s success he was going door to door in an attempt to unravel the mystery of Saika Donavon.

  She was pretty and he was prepared to admit he found her attractive, but he knew legions of far prettier girls and they failed to make an impression on him.

  She lacked the silly manners other girls seemed to learn at a young age, but he understand how that should make a difference one way or another.

  Granted, his instincts told him she was up to something. Something serious. He sensed whatever that something was had the power to change his entire world, and he didn’t like change at all. He was convinced that whatever the something was, it involved the king and Sebastian was loyal to King George, so why hadn’t he told the Bow Street Runners about his suspicions and let them decide what to do with her. So why hadn’t he?

  Something about her had gotten under his skin and now he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  Sebastian prided himself on being a logical man. Emotions never dictated his actions, yet now, rather than turning over what little he knew about Saika to the people with the experience and authority to handle the situation, he was working to neutralize her while also investigating the situation himself.


  Yet when it came to Saika, the line between logic and emotion was less clear than it had ever been before.

  Sebastian didn’t like it.

  An image of Saika backed by a mildew coated stone wall flashed through his mind. She appeared so small and fragile. The way she’d looked at him had triggered a spasm of guilt. He’d felt horrible, like he’d kicked a kicked a sick puppy out of its cozy spot by a fire and into the rain to fend for itself.

  This was the first time he had ever set foot anywhere Newgate Prison. Although he had heard stories about the place, he’d assumed most were exaggerated. It seemed impossible any place could be as horrible as people implied it was. He’d been wrong. He’d only been in the prison for a few minutes, just long enough to speak to the guards and secure Saika, but it was sufficient time to make him doubt anyone, even the worst criminals, deserved to be contained in such a place.

  He couldn’t believe he had left Saika there.

  One the other hand, Saika had a frightening quality. Her movements were smooth and fluid, unlike anything he’d ever seen before. And he didn’t know it was possible for a woman’s face to remain so devoid of emotion until he met her. Even when he looked directly into her eyes, he was unable to gauge her thoughts and feelings. It was disconcerting. Each time he stared into her eyes, he felt like he was engaged in a conversation with one of Princess Amelia’s dolls.

  And if Saika really wasn’t up to something, why didn’t she do or say something to defend herself.

  Nothing added up.

  While part of Sebastian wanted to turn her into someone else’s problem, a niggling sensation in the back of his mind, prevented him from doing that very thing. He couldn’t shake the sense that she was somehow a pawn, now all he had to do was figure out who was moving the pieces around and what the desired results were.