Venture Unbroken

by R. H. Russell

  If Earnest were tall enough, he would’ve had Venture by the sides of the head, the way he used to when he was an out-of-control kid who wouldn’t listen.

  “Have you forgotten the lockup already? He’s a Crested man. Everyone you love will pay for this. The last Jade sees of you will be your body swinging from the hangman’s noose in the square. The Capital Square! How many years will she cry over you?”

  Venture turned away, but Earnest gripped him harder.

  “Your nieces will hear all the other kids talk about it, about how their beloved uncle looked with a rope around his neck. They’ll be known wherever they go for their relation to a murderer.”

  “I can’t let him get away with what he’s done. He’ll get away with it. Just like the rest of them.”

  A door banged open and Justice ran in. He took in Dasher’s face, then looked, wide-eyed, at Venture.

  “You have got to listen to me,” Dasher said. “I know what they did, but I wasn’t involved in it. I had nothing to do with trying to take Jade.”

  “If that were true, you’d have gone to the lawmen, and that guy who threatened me at Beamer’s would’ve been rotting in the lockup, not sitting in the bleachers at this tournament!”

  Dasher shot to his feet. “It’s not as simple as that. You ought to understand by now that justice doesn’t work the same for Cresteds as it does for everyone else! I’ve been doing everything I can to find out how far this scheme goes and to put a stop to it.”

  “You’re just trying to save your own skin, and it’s not going to work. Your cousin, Dasher! Your cousin wants me dead! And he wants something with Jade too, doesn’t he?”

  “What the blazes is going on here?” Justice said, but no one answered him. He glanced into the hallway behind him, as though to see if anyone else had heard, then shut the door.

  “Can’t you see this is what they want? If you kill me, they win. You’ll prove once and for all that you’re nothing but a scoundrel. A man who turned on his friend and coach over some petty dispute. That’s how they’ll spin it. And then what happens to Jade? What happens to everyone else who hoped because of you, who stood up for you?”

  “I don’t care about everyone else! I care about what happens to Jade now. That woman who threatened me before the Championship last year, she came to me again. She told me Jade isn’t safe.”

  “Sparrow.” A deep sadness welled up in Dasher’s eyes, and his calm began to crumble. “She’s a servant in my father’s house. My own brother sent her to bribe you, to threaten you.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Venture’s arms fell to his sides, and his voice fell too. Part of him wanted to believe Dasher.

  “I was ashamed. I am ashamed of what my family’s done. I wanted to be able to tell you I had taken care of it, that there was nothing to worry about anymore. How can you believe I would’ve hurt you, that I would hurt a lady? Especially Jade? What have I ever done to make you think I’d try to keep you from your dream of being a champion or take the woman you love from you?”

  Venture swallowed hard. The pain behind Dasher’s words was so raw, so real. It seemed true. But how could he believe it?

  Dasher dared to take a step closer to him. “You’re more my brother than Mark ever was. You don’t know how glad I was that I lost two cousins and a brother at your hands instead of the other way around.”

  Venture stared at Dasher, struggling not to believe, then struggling to believe.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything. I was waiting until I had more evidence, until I could tell you the rest of them were going to pay.”

  “I knew they didn’t like what you were doing, Dash, fighting, helping me, your beliefs about Uncrested rights, but your family hates me. They want me dead. And now I’ve killed your brother, your cousins. How did this happen?”

  “Not all of them want you dead,” Dasher said. “My parents have been angry with me for too long to blame who I’ve become on you. And I don’t believe my father would ever resort to treachery. He made it clear what he thought when I left home to be a fighter. He makes it clear every time I see him. But he never did anything to stop me.”

  “But the rest of your family?”

  “They don’t like our friendship. They don’t like your being Champion, especially with me at your side. And some of them are willing to do just about anything to turn us against each other.”

  “Is what she says true?” Earnest spoke up. “That Sparrow woman?”

  “I don’t know. She’s hardly trustworthy. It’s likely whatever scheme she’s involved in is more about keeping Champ scared, keeping us from working together.”

  “But the Cresteds—and your family—they don’t want to see him married to Jade Fieldstone, do they?” Justice said. “That kind of mixing of classes undermines their status. And Jade Fieldstone marrying a bondsman instead of you, it’s an insult to all Cresteds, isn’t it?”

  Dasher looked at Venture, not at Justice as he replied, “You have to believe I don’t feel that way. I want you two to be happy together.”

  Venture nodded slowly. “Chance,” he said, “Go see if the kitchen has some ice for Dasher.”

  “But Dash,” Earnest asked carefully, “you had to have recognized your cousin when he threatened Vent at Beamer’s. What about that?”

  “Of course I recognized him. And I also recognize a conspiracy when I see one, a conspiracy that goes who knows how high, who knows how deep. Getting rid of my cousin Storm wouldn’t have gotten rid of the problem. Neither would getting rid of all of the other men who threatened us at Beamer’s last year. I was trying to fight them smart. Trying to gather information, trying to stop them from within. I still am.”

  Venture let out a long, slow breath. “Why’s he here? Your cousin, the leader of those men. What’s he doing here today?”

  “I don’t know, Champ. I really don’t.”

  Venture took two great strides and threw open the door with a suddenness that made the other men jump. He snatched up his sword and scabbard, and fastened it around his body. “I’m going to find him. I’m going to find out.”

  “What!” Justice said. “You can’t—”

  Venture gave him a glare that stopped him short. “Come on, Dash.”

  “What do you mean, ‘Come on?’ You just broke his nose! And now you’re going to try and get yourself locked up again?”

  “Or killed!” Justice said.

  “Shut up, Earnest!”

  “I am not going to shut up. Maybe you hit your head harder than I thought. You’ve completely lost your mind.”

  The door opened, and Chance stepped in with a bundle of ice for Dasher.

  Dasher gave Earnest a look that said, Are you crazy? And Earnest shot him a look in return that said, I’m not afraid of this boy, butt out.

  “Both of you ought to be thanking me right now for keeping you from killing each other,” Earnest said. “I knew you could be stupid, Dasher Starson, but I had no idea you cared so little for your life that you’d risk Vent thinking you wanted to hurt Jade. By the gods, what did you think it would look like to anyone who found out who’s been involved in all this? And you!”

  He turned on Venture. “You can’t go letting that craziness get into you again. After all we’ve been through together, you couldn’t even contain yourself long enough to wait for some proof before you tried to kill one of your best friends. You were going to torture him. ‘Paint the room with his blood,’ you said. Chance told me.”

  In the doorway, Chance, still holding the ice, looked down at his feet. Justice shook his head in disbelief.

  “You, who used to hate the idea of busting another man’s blood all over your face.”

  “I would’ve done it,” Venture admitted. “I would’ve hurt Dash, if I had to in order to find out the truth. But I would’ve hated every second of it.” He’d known that before the threats were even spoken. It would have just about killed him. The whole time he’d stood there over Dasher, he’d had
to keep picturing Jade, reminding himself that her life was at stake.

  “I know, Champ.” Dasher swallowed hard. “Earnest is right about Storm. He isn’t the kind of guy you want to mess with unprepared, and he’s surely not here alone.”

  Suddenly Venture wanted nothing more than to be alone. He sank onto his bed and let his face fall into his hands. What had he just done? Had he become that man in the cell again? For a long time he sat there, begging silently for forgiveness, for help, groping to find the rest of himself.

  I didn’t kill those guards, when it came down to it, when I had the chance.

  I only killed who I had to kill.

  He was guilty of many things. Capable of worse, if he allowed himself to go too far in the wrong direction. But the same power that had made him, that had kept him alive so far, was keeping him from the clutches of greater evil. Holding out a hand to help him up each time he fell in that battle. He couldn’t trust himself, but he could trust Him.

  When Venture raised his head again, he knew exactly what he was supposed to do, and he felt a strange peace about it. Win or lose, he had to keep fighting against his enemies. Not defying them because he hated them and he wanted to see them suffer, but because protecting the innocent, pursuing justice, and revealing the truth was the right thing to do.

  “I have to go to Jade.”

  “You’re right.” Dasher lowered the ice from his face. “They probably know where she is, and they may be after her. You should warn Grant, whether she wants you to or not.”

  “I have more than that to say to Grant. And to Jade. And I’ve waited much too long to say it.”

  Understanding dawned in Earnest’s eyes. “You’re finally going to marry that girl!”

  “It shouldn’t have taken this, but it’s time I asked for her. There’s enough for her to worry about. She shouldn’t have to wonder anymore about the two of us.”

  “You’re going to go over to her cousin’s house and wake her father in the middle of the night and ask for her hand?” Justice said.

  Dasher let out a warm, rolling laugh. “That’s perfect, Champ.”

  Venture couldn’t help laughing, too.

  Justice sat down next to him. “Vent, just wait. Think this through. You always wanted to do this the proper way.”

  “Justice, when in my life have I ever done anything the proper way?”

  Justice shook his head and got up. “You’ll go with him?” he said to Earnest.

  To keep an eye on him. Keep him in line. But how could he blame Justice for worrying about what he’d do, after what just happened?

  “We’ll both go,” Earnest said.

  Dasher eyed Venture questioningly, but Venture nodded his assent.

  “Vent,” Justice said, “I hope it works out. I really do.”

  Venture nodded and turned away to find another shirt. Justice said good-night to the guys and went back next door. He sounded worried—and defeated.

  Venture shrugged it off as he slipped into his fresh shirt. Crazy or not, he was going to do it. Tell Grant everything. Be who he was meant to be for Jade.

  Dasher said, “I’ll get dressed and meet you out by the carriage.”

  Venture put a hand on Dasher’s shoulder. “Dash . . .”

  “I understand.”

  “Forgive me?”

  Dasher clamped a hand on Venture’s shoulder too. “Of course, Champ.”

  #

  Earnest and Venture climbed into the carriage and Dasher took the reins.

  Venture snapped the carriage door shut. But someone was missing. Hastily, he opened it again. “Chance?”

  Chance was clambering up next to Dasher. “I ride with Mr. Starson,” he said.

  Venture frowned and shut the carriage door. “I scared him pretty bad back there, didn’t I?”

  “He’s known you’re dangerous for a while now,” Earnest tried to joke.

  “I turned on people he cares about. People I care about.” Venture looked at Earnest on the carriage seat across from him. Apart from Jade, his oldest, closest friend. “Are we okay, you and me?”

  “Yeah, we’re okay.” Earnest said. “I guess I shouldn’t have reamed you like that in front of Dash,” he added.

  “You shouldn’t have to save face for me in front of him, and he shouldn’t have to be afraid of me.”

  “You want any man who’s considering messing with Jade Fieldstone to be ready to piss himself at the sight of you. I can understand that.”

  “I didn’t think things through. I didn’t wait to hear what he had to say. Why would Dasher threaten me with death if I competed in the Championship when he’s been working so hard to get me there all these years?”

  “If I ever have any mortal enemies, you can feel free to torture them,” Earnest offered.

  Venture gave a self-conscious laugh.

  “Seriously, Vent, if you’re not okay, you’ve got to tell me before it gets bad. Don’t shut me out.”

  Venture looked out the carriage window, watching the moonlit road roll by. “The lockup messed me up. I knew that all along. I knew it while I was in there, and I knew it when I got out. But what happened on the road on the way home—I didn’t realize that messed me up, too, until now. I killed four men. Three of them Dasher grew up with. One was his brother. His brother.”

  “You did what you had to do. You did the right thing.”

  “I know.”

  “You’ll work it out. Just give yourself some time.”

  “I think I’m going to have to kill Dasher’s cousin. But I’m not going to think about it. I’m not going to think about what I could do to him. I’m just going to think about Jade. About being together with Jade.”

  Earnest let out a long breath, undid the top button on his shirt, and readjusted himself on the hot seat. He let his sleepy eyelids droop.

  But Venture roused him with his worries. “What’s Grant going to think of me when he finds out his wife was nearly killed because of me, when I tell him it was supposed to be his daughter, and that she’s still in danger, all because of me?”

  “He doesn’t have to know all that right now.”

  “I have to tell him. I can’t just run away with his daughter.”

  “Run away with her?”

  “I’m going to marry her right away, if she’ll have me. No more putting it off. No more chances for anyone or anything to stop it.”

  To Venture’s surprise, Earnest grinned. “She’ll have you. I hope you’re ready.” Earnest gave him a friendly jab with his boot.

  Venture let out a short laugh. “I’m so ready, Earnest, you have no idea.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Grant had never been the sort to shout or pound a fist, but when Venture finished telling him the danger Jade could be in—and that he wanted to marry her anyway—the outrage was written all over his face.

  The guys were waiting in the sitting room, and it was just Venture and Grant in the den. Grant’s hands shook on the arms of his upholstered chair. With a cry, he jumped to his feet, picked up the chair, and flung it against the stone hearth. Grant brought his hands to his face. His shoulders drooped and his breath came out ragged.

  Venture’s chest ached with the weight of the hatred he was sure Grant Fieldstone felt for him. “Sir—”

  “I don’t blame you for this; I blame those blasted Crested men. But she’s my daughter. My only child. All I have left of her mother.”

  Grant looked at the couch, and Venture looked at the pile of cushions near the hearth, so much like Grant’s own den back in Twin Rivers. Neither of them sat. Neither of them moved. The unsaid lay awkwardly between them, thick as the summer heat. Venture read the memories of Grant’s little girl in his eyes. The thoughts of how empty his house would be without Jade. He felt like a thief—not of Jade’s heart—she’d given that to him. But of the wholeness of Grant’s heart, of the very way of life for everyone in the Big House.

  “It’s been strange enough,” Grant offered into the mugg
y silence, “having you gone. Worrying about you. And now Jade . . .” He blinked hard.

  “I love the Fieldstone family. When we’re married, I’ll be a part of it again.”

  “That’s how I’m meant to have you, isn’t it? As my son-in-law.”

  Grant held out his hand to him, but Venture caught him in an embrace instead.

  “I promise you Jade will have my faithful service. I’ll do everything I can to take care of her, till the day I die.”

  Grant looked him in the eye and nodded, and Venture knew he believed him. But he was just as worried about how soon that might be.

  “Jade?” A female voice called. Tempest dashed into the room. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m sorry to disrupt your whole house, Mrs. Silver. I had some urgent business to discuss with Mr. Fieldstone.”

  Tempest’s eyes widened as she took in the broken chair.

  “I’ll take care of that,” Grant started to say.

  But Tempest shook her head sharply. “If Jade’s not in here, then where is she?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When I heard voices, I went to wake her, but she’s not in her room. And her bed’s still made. I checked the kitchen, but—”

  “Jade!” Venture and Grant both called at once.

  In an instant the whole house was up and clamoring to find her.

  “I found something!” Tempest cried a moment later.

  Everyone ran to the bottom of the stairs, where Tempest stood, waving a folded and sealed piece of paper. “The wax is still warm.”

  “What if it’s private?” Tempest’s young maid warned, with a blush and a glance at Venture.

  “Just open it!” Rose stood on the stairs behind Tempest. “Or give it to me, and I will!”

  Tempest split the seal and unfolded the note. “If you find this,” she began, “something has—gone—terribly—wrong.”

  Tempest clamped a hand to her mouth to cover a sob. Rose snatched the note from her hand just before she dropped it.