I said nothing in reply, but I was eternally grateful in that moment Ben had someone to help him. I breathed out a quick sigh of relief, my breath forming a cloud against the lights along the port.
It was then that I noticed the ship was sailing away from the docks.
What is he planning for us now?
Lumiere was still onboard. He might have been buying time for Lord Maximillian to escape with Karl, but he was still stuck with us and the guards.
“You must be exhausted from all the failing you’ve done tonight,” Lumiere said, as if to confirm my losses. I turned my attention away from the river, ready to face Lumiere at last.
Ben was injured, all because of me. We were trapped on the ship, Lord Maximillian was gone, and there was no way for us to keep up with him as he carried Karl off.
“Eleanora,” Lady Penelope called. She stared up at me from beside Ben’s fallen form, and it seemed hard to believe that I had forgotten how imposing she could be in the last two days. “Get to work. If he wants a fight, don’t just stand there.”
“I’ve been assured by many of my lovers how much work I can be,” Lumiere warned me playfully, as Lady Penelope took off again. “Are you up for the challenge of fighting me?”
To answer him, I stepped forward with my dagger stretched out. It was true that I had failed tonight, but I was determined to see to the protection of those who were mine, and if Lumiere did not let me see my brother, I would force him out of my way.
He twirled away as I attacked, but I anticipated his movement. My dagger was high and dropped down swiftly, allowing me to cut through his coat.
The fine fabric spliced open with a loud rip, and while I did not think I drew blood, I had a feeling Lumiere was just as upset as he would have been if I had.
“This is French,” he shouted, holding up the ends of his coat, clearly upset. “There is no fixing this!”
“I agree,” I said, charging him again.
This time, he was more eager to engage. He grabbed my arm and elbowed me. I cried out in shock more than pain, and nearly dropped my dagger. I fully expected him to hit me; he had no weapons on his person that I could see. I was preparing myself for the eventual blow when Amir stepped in between us, pulling Lumiere away from me.
“Enough, Lumi. Leave Eleanora alone.”
“Amir!” I cheered at the sight of him. “How is Ben?”
He shook his head. “I cannot examine him now, but I promise I will take care of him, right after I interrupt your fight with Lumi here.”
I watched as Lumiere smiled. “I just need to occupy her attention for a little while longer, mon frère.”
“Why don’t you fight me instead?” Amir offered. “It has been ages since we last sparred.”
“Don’t you have more amusing targets to chase?”
Amir sneaked a quick glance over at me, one that was strangely amused, before looking back at Lumiere. “How could anyone be more amusing than you?”
Lumiere grinned. “I’ve always loved your wit. A Turk with a sense of humor is indeed rare in this world.”
“As is a Frenchmen with a sense of honor, if we’re going to go by stereotypes.”
“Ha! Honor is for those who see good and evil, not for those of us who only want to win. And I happen to like stereotypes. Personally, there is nothing quite as thrilling to me as putting someone in a box and then watching them cut their way out of it.”
Despite the tension, Lumiere did not look insulted. He was talking with Amir the way that Clavan and Jarl often did, using the language of old comradery and respect, despite disagreements.
Amir slid his dagger into his sheath and took up a fighting stance to match Lumiere’s. “I’m still waiting for an answer, Lumi.”
Lumiere ran his hand through his hair, brushing back his ruffled locks. “You have a fight on your hands, then.”
The two of them began to fight, and it was hard not to stare at them. It was a violent form of waltzing, where Amir would bob and duck and Lumiere would jab and cross.
“Ella.” Ferdy appeared at my side, nearly out of breath. The bandage on his arm was leaking blood, but he seemed determined to ignore it. “That’s the Turk who robbed you before. What is he doing here?”
“He’s on our side,” I said, as I caught sight of the new layer of sweat that had appeared on his forehead. I put my hand on his brow, discouraged to find he was terribly hot. “You need to be careful. That earlier wound is still causing you pain.”
Ferdy gave me a weak smile. “I’ll live. If for no other reason than I’m hungry.”
His wry humor was comforting in that moment, and I could only hope we would be able to escape. While Ferdy wanted to get dinner, I just wanted him to get his arm fixed.
“Eleanora.”
There was something so painfully distinctive in how Lady Penelope said my name as she appeared beside us.
“What is it?” I asked, turning to her. “Is it Ben?”
“No. No, he’ll be fine, eventually. His leg is broken again.”
The world went out from under my feet as all I could think was that it was my fault—entirely my fault. My hand went over my mouth in shock, but Lady POW did not seem to notice my dismay.
“There aren’t too many guards left, but if you’re just going to stand here and let other people fight your battles, I have a task for you.”
I frowned at the accusation. Amir and Lumiere seemed to enjoy fighting each other. “What is it?”
“We have to stop the ship,” Lady Penelope said. She pursed her lips as she nodded toward Ferdy. “See if you can get the other Mr. Marcelin to help with that, perhaps? If he does not feel like too much of a prince to help with such a lowly task?”
The bitterness of her voice was clear. She was more than a little upset with me, and possibly with Ferdy, too. I knew if she was fighting alongside Amir, she would not let her anger at us interfere with the mission, but it was only a matter of time before she said something.
“How?” I swallowed hard. “How—”
“How did I know about him?” Lady Penelope shook her head. “There was a reason Karl was comfortable taking me to the castle dungeons. He accused me of the murder of his brother. At those charges, even Empress Maria Anna wanted nothing to do with me.”
“I apologize if my mother has said or done anything improper,” Ferdy said as he kicked at another guard, preventing another attack on us. He hurriedly wiped his hands off on his pants and extended one in greeting to Lady Penelope. “It is lovely to finally make your official acquaintance.”
“The feeling is not quite mutual,” Lady Penelope said, eying his bloody knuckles with a raised brow. “But if I can curry favor with the royal family, especially one who is supposedly deceased right now, I will take it.”
“You can have all the favor you want, if I can only keep Ella.”
“I’ve already figured out your earlier attempts, Prince Ferdinand, and I do not much appreciate them, given that I was put in jail because of them.” Lady Penelope frowned. “But right now, I will excuse you, since we have a ship to stop and villains to catch.”
“Yes, Madame.” Ferdy looked more than a little deflated.
Lady Penelope paused and rolled her eyes. “If you are willing to prove your worth, help Eleanora stop the ship.”
Ferdy brightened, but I only balked. “How do we do that?” I asked.
“Figure it out yourself,” Lady Penelope said. She brandished her dagger in one hand while she pulled out her pistol in the other. “But try not to hurt the crew. We can use them for information later.”
“That’s even more difficult—”
“Just find a way to do it. I’m going to help Harshad with the last of the guards on the bow.”
With that, Lady Penelope sped off. I watched as she headed for a trio of guards, firing shots and using their sudden movements to attack with her dagger.
“Come on,” Ferdy said. “We’ve got to go.”
“Go where?” I asked, looking at th
e port. We were already floating toward the middle of the Vltava, heading down the riverway. I wondered where Lord Maximillian had taken Karl.
“We have to stop the ship first,” Ferdy said. “That means we have to get Lumiere.”
He wants to get to Lumiere so we can get the rest of the crew to stop the ship.
“You’re a genius,” I said, following after him.
“Of course I am. I told you I was smart enough to outsmart you.”
I felt irritated by his remark, but I decided not to say anything as we turned our attention back to Lumiere and Amir, who were still fighting. Ferdy and I agreed to barge into the fray from opposite ends.
But as we circled around, I stopped when I heard my mother’s name.
“Naděžda would be proud of your little Eleanora,” Lumi said, wiping a small amount of blood off of his lip. “She’s just like her mother.”
“There’s no need to taunt me by mentioning Naděžda.” Amir stepped back and they began circling each other again. “If you have to resort to such lows to win, it only means you lack the skill.”
“It is not the individual skill that decides the victory,” Lumiere argued. “It is the sum of all skills, and that should include mockery, ridicule, and insult.”
They exchanged a few more blows before Amir landed another punch to Lumiere’s side, driving the hilt of his weapon into Lumiere’s rib. He bowed over in pain.
I met Ferdy’s gaze, and between the two of us, we knew it was time. We would follow Amir in delivering the final blow, and then use our opening to capture Lumiere.
Lumiere seemed to know he was about to fall himself. His smile left his face, and he glared at Amir as a hint of genuine animosity finally came through. “Besides, Amir, if I wanted to render you helpless, we both know that Naděžda is not your greatest weakness.”
“Is that so?” Amir asked.
He nodded toward Amir’s hand, the one that was marked. “All I have to do is mention Nassara.”
Nassara?
Amir’s face suddenly contorted in the worst sort of rage. I watched as his chestnut eyes darkened with blood and rage, as his mustache twisted along with his mouth into the deepest frown. His heavy brows slanted downward. His dagger was suddenly out again and flying through the air.
That’s the name of the Christian converts in the Ottoman Empire.
It was also the meaning of the symbol on Amir’s hand and the inscription on my mother’s journal.
I did not know how badly he did so, but it was immediately clear Lumiere had miscalculated. Lumiere fell back hard as Amir tackled him, holding his blade at Lumiere’s neck hard enough to draw a fine line of blood.
Ferdy motioned to me, but I shook my head. We could not let him continue. We had to stop Amir from killing him—though I do not know if I would have objected—if we were going to use him to stop the ship.
“Amir,” I said, coming up and grabbing his wrist. “We need Lumiere to live for now.”
“Well, I am certainly glad to see you again, Ella.” Lumiere’s eyes were still wide with fear as he attempted to add levity to the situation. “I will be ecstatic to help you, if you would only tell Amir to get off of me, please.”
Amir did not move. He seemed to be in shock.
Ferdy shook his head as he struggled to pull Lumiere free from under Amir. “Good God, what did you do to him, Lumi?”
Lumiere’s smirk came back as he looked at me. “I suppose you’ll have to excuse him, chérie. It has no doubt been many years since he’s thought of Nassara.”
Amir dropped his dagger and ducked his head. When he looked back up, there were tears in his eyes and grief written all over his face. “Don’t mention her to me. You dishonor her like this.”
I felt terrified. Even as my lips formed the question, I did not know if I wanted to know the answer. “Who’s—”
“How did you know?” Amir asked, his voice cracking as he held Lumiere by the collar.
“Naděžda told me, of course,” Lumiere said. “I came to see her along with my father when the League was last in Prague. She told me she lost the baby, and that was why she wanted to stay with her Dolf, and why she protected the empress.”
“Baby?” My voice was a whisper, and I did not have to ask any further questions.
I could see it all play out inside my head. Amir and my mother grew up together, and then they fell in love. Lady Penelope objected to the union. My mother had been pregnant, and then she miscarried the baby.
Nassara.
The baby had been another little girl, I realized. My mother had another child before Ben and me. Amir’s child.
Xiana’s words to me when she arrived made much more sense. “How wonderful it was that she was able to keep you.”
My mother had been able to keep me, after losing her previous daughter.
And when Máma tried to convince Amir to leave the Order with her, to start a new life, he said no. And so she left him.
The fighting and everything all around me went numb as I watched Amir wrestle with his pain. Lumiere, no longer struggling, was trying to shrug it off. It was Ferdy who reached out a hand to Amir, breaking the spell that seemed to capture the rest of us.
“If you please, sir,” Ferdy said. “We need you to move. We need Lumi to order the crew to stop the ship. We can still hold his life hostage, but we need him to live.”
“For now,” I muttered darkly.
Amir allowed Ferdy to help him up, and I kept my guard on Lumiere.
“They already have their orders,” Lumiere said to Ferdy as he stood up and began adjusting himself. “They’ll finish them, and then evacuate.”
I frowned at him. “Evacuate?”
“Watch where you hold that thing, Ella. I don’t need you ripping up my coat even further.” Lumiere shook his head, running his hands through his hair again to smooth it over and flick it back in his stylish way.
“Just tell us what you’ve planned,” Amir said. The anger was gone from his face, while the shadow of sadness remained.
“If you know me so well, you know it’ll be a blast,” Lumiere said with a small chuckle.
Not one of us—Ferdy, Amir, or myself—appreciated it.
Lumiere rolled his eyes. “Didier’s been loading them into another boat, back by the stern,” he explained. “I’ve already dislodged the anchor, so the ship is not going to stop. Besides, I’ve already shot through the sails, remember?”
I thought about his temper tantrum earlier, as he was calling Lord Maximillian’s guards to attack. “Why did you do that?”
“For show, of course. There’s no point in committing acts of high treason without some fanfare. I might as well get caught at gunpoint or go into a dark room and hang myself.” He shuddered, appalled at the thought. “It’s such poor showmanship, in the end.”
“You’re worried about showmanship?”
“I told you he was big on fashion before,” Ferdy whispered. “It’s not so hard to believe.”
I glanced around. Harshad, Ben, and Lady Penelope were still fighting. The crewmembers, true to Lumiere’s assertion, were gone. They had their orders, they carried them out, and it was time to leave.
“We need to get everyone off the ship then,” I said. “We will have to see if another ship can haul it in.”
“No one will want to,” Lumiere warned. “There’s plenty of gunpowder and explosives down in the cargo holds.”
Ferdy groaned. “It was a literal blast you were talking about.”
“Did you think I was being facetious?” He gave Ferdy a grin. “Well, if that’s all it is, I think I will leave it to you, won’t I?”
Lady Penelope appeared beside us. “No, you won’t. You’re coming with us.”
“Since I am the one who is in charge of the crew’s rescue, don’t you think it should be that you’re the ones who are coming with me?”
Lady Penelope grabbed him and hauled him over to the side of the ship. “It would be a shame to toss you in, espe
cially in your fine clothes, Lumiere. I know you would sink to the bottom from the weight of your jewelry alone.”
Lumiere tried to fight her off. I took a step forward to help her, but Amir stopped me.
“Let her handle it now, Eleanora,” he said. “Lumiere’s rigged the ship to explode. It’s better if it’s in the middle of the river for that. We need to make sure the rest of the crew is off the ship first though.”
“Can’t we stop the explosion?” I asked.
“Lumiere has grown up working with the French and the Chinese,” he said. “They have some of the best and most potent gunpowder in the world. If we can save everyone, it will be better. That will also get rid of Lumiere’s ship, and that will force him to stay here. And we can definitely use that to our advantage.”
I took his arm. “If you say so. Ferdy and I will go and check the ship.”
“Stay away from the cargo hold,” Amir said. “You don’t want to set it off. I will go and see to it that Lumi does not escape. I have some more questions for him, it seems.”
I nodded but paused before I left. A half a second later, I reached around Amir to give him a hug.
Amir stiffened under my embrace. I could not blame him for the surprise as I held onto him tightly. Rationally, it was a silly choice; we were in the middle of a fight, and there was so much at stake. We did not have the time or the luxury to console each other on our losses.
But he had lost a daughter, I had lost a sister, and we had both lost my mother. What else could I do?
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. I did not know what else to say, and honestly, I did not know if I could have said anything else. Amir’s kindness to me took on a new light as I thought about how much pain he must have felt in seeing me. It was not just my mother he had lost. It was a daughter, one who would have been only a little older than me. Considering my initial hostility, and even our acknowledged silences and shared stories, I was a poor replacement for a future I knew he feverishly wanted.
“Thank you.” He patted my hair, reminding me of my own father in that moment. “But you have to go. We can talk later.”
I nodded and swallowed hard. I let him go and reached for Ferdy, who seemed to understand my heart was broken at another’s anguish.
Prince of Secrets and Shadows Page 30