The girls turned to look at Jone. He reddened slightly over his sparse, elegant beard. “I didn’t go upstairs. Whoever told you that lied. Actually, I left the party for another engagement when I couldn’t find either of you. I apologize, Tesara. I should have known better than to leave you in the hands of my cousin. I did come back, as I said.”
“You left?” Tesara said. All that time she had been looking for him, and he hadn’t even been there. Mirandine was shocked too, but for a different reason.
“Jone!” She pointed at him dramatically. “You went to the schoolboys’ party!”
“They aren’t schoolboys. They’re mates from the academy. And yes, since we were across the street, I went to the Maiden of Dawn public house. Where, if you must know, we were robbed at gunpoint.”
“That was in the Gazette this morning!” Tesara said. “You were there?”
He nodded. “The Gentleman Bandit strikes again. I thought it was somebody’s stupid stunt from the Fleurenze masked ball, but apparently not. He shot a pistol into the air, aimed another one right at Pierret Iderci, and cleared everyone of their cash. The constables came but it was such a crush he got clean away.”
“Oh my God,” Tesara said. It was all coming together. They looked at her. “I think I saw him. Upstairs at the Fleurenze’s. I was looking for you and heard the commotion outside. So, I looked out the window, and as I did I heard someone running up the stairs. He stopped when he saw me and went the other way. He was slender, carrying a satchel. That must have been him.”
Jone nodded grimly. “Clever lad, getting lost in the big house. Probably picked up a few more bits of silver on the way. Well, I came back too and I looked for you.”
Tesara felt a pang. “I went home not long after that.”
“I’m not surprised. I should never have left you alone.” Jone took her hand, and she pressed his.
Mirandine rolled her eyes. “Jone, she’s not an infant. Now, have we all made up? I say, a bit of the sea air will do me good. I’ve got a terrible aching head.”
“Serves you right,” Jone snapped, but it was clear he was no longer angry.
Neither was Tesara. She realized it just as she registered the waning of the energy in her fingers. I think I’m learning to govern it, she thought. It’s starting to respond to my reason, not just my emotions. To test that, she focused on causing the energy to resurge, clasping her fingers together and releasing them slightly. Sure enough, the power came to life just before she tamped it down again.
Tesara felt exultant. She had control. She had a weapon.
She was no longer powerless against the Guild.
Unaware of any of that, Mirandine was sunny again, her mood lighting up now that she was no longer the object of their anger. “Come on, then,” she said, jumping up and down a little. “Can we go? Please?”
“Yes, we should go now,” Tesara said, casting a practiced eye toward the harbor. “The tide’s coming in, so we won’t have much time. We should go before it’s all under water.”
Accordingly, they started down the steep hill, taking the Staircase Street.
“You see? What expertise you have, growing up in a seafaring family. I long to go on a sea voyage. You’re a merchant – have you been out to sea?” Mirandine asked.
“Yes, but only once and I got terribly seasick,” Tesara said. “It was horrible. My sister loved it. I think she would be a sea captain if she could.”
The air grew colder and sharper here, and she wrapped herself more tightly in her shawl, wishing she had her pelisse.
“I told my mother once that I wanted to be a sailor,” Jone said. He was still smiling, but his smile was muted, his expression far away. “She didn’t take it well.”
Mirandine snorted a laugh. “Don’t tell me – she took to her bed and sent for the advocate to revise her will again.”
He gave a strained grimace. “Anyway, it was just a boy’s fancy. I can’t imagine it now. Too dangerous – storms and shipwrecks, and sea monsters, and who knows what else that can break a ship apart.”
Like a bratty child, from her bedroom window.
“There are no such things as sea monsters,” Mirandine scolded. She jumped down the last step to the strand. The docks were to their left and she led the way toward the beach. The waves were rolling in now, and there were only a few beachcombers remaining. Tesara grew dizzy again watching the waves, as if she were getting seasick even though she was on dry land, and turned away. In response, her hands grew rich and fat with energy. Instead of panicking, she soothed the energy and it quieted, and with that came a new awareness, and a sudden thought.
Waves have something to do with it.
It was a revelation. She felt she was coming closer than ever to understanding what she could do. To distract herself, she pushed over a pile of drying seaweed with the toe of her rough boot, causing some crabs to scuttle at top speed toward the incoming tide, and asked idly, “Are you going to the Scarlanti salon next week?”
“Not I,” Jone said, his hands tucked in the pocket of his overcoat. He looked miserable. “I am not at all the thing.” He sounded disinterested.
“Neither are the Scarlantis,” Mirandine said with a laugh. “Worse than the Fleurenzes. I never received an invitation, but I can’t imagine how they would know me anyway.”
All the better, Tesara told herself staunchly. With Yvienne’s plan in play, it was better that Jone and Mirandine were not her co-conspirators this time. She felt a pang of regret anyway.
“They invited me, you see,” she said. “I thought perhaps you were going too.”
“I’d rather go to the Scarlantis than the Kerrill salon,” Jone said. He stooped to pick up a wet stone, and then threw
