Kes couldn’t be angry with him. He was right. She didn’t want to cry, but her eyes stung, and her vision blurred with tears.
“I’m selfish, Nicholas. I don’t want you to go.”
“I do not want you to go either,” he told her.
Did she have a future with him? Would she give up her past for him?
He took her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed her knuckles and closed his eyes.
She wanted to kiss him, to feel his arms around her. She did nothing and said nothing as he left Walter’s house and her life.
Chapter Fifteen
Kes stared at the beautiful bronze vase in her hands. It was of the Pala Dynasty, eighth to twelfth century. The workmanship was exquisite. It looked brand new because when it was taken, it was. There were other treasures, like Mycenaean pottery, and anthropomorphic iron figurines from the Mesopotamian era. There was so much, she could stay here for another year or two to catalogue everything.
This was her dream come to life. History, telling its stories of the people who lived in it. It was more than any historian or archeologist could ever hope for. She wished her father were here to see it.
And with that, came thoughts of home, and with that, came thoughts of Nicholas.
She thought he’d come back. It had been three days and he hadn’t returned. At first, it broke her heart. It still did. She missed him but he was doing the right thing.
He’d been kind enough to send over her dresses so she could change clothes.
It still shocked her that she had grown attached to him so quickly. But why not? He was there for here during a traumatic experience in her life. He was thoughtful and kind toward her. It shouldn’t surprise her that she wanted to be with him. She had to stop. They weren’t meant to be together. What did a stupid brooch know?
According to Walter’s contact, Mr. Roldan Simeon, a traveler who, after being cursed by an old hag after he’d tried to rob her in the woods, learned to use the curse to his advantage. He flitted around time snatching this piece or that and delivering it to his traders.
“I have many traders spread all throughout time,” Mr. Simeon told her that afternoon in Walter’s sitting room. “Your century gives me the most business.” His eyes were hooded and veiled by long, black lashes. She couldn’t tell if they were dark blue or brown in the candlelit room. He looked to be around her father’s age with long jet black hair tied into a ponytail behind his head and a black beard.
“Time travel isn’t something natural, allowed to us by the Omnipresent One Himself. Imagine the upheaval we would cause.”
“What about you?” Kes asked. “Don’t you change time?”
“No. I cannot leave one place or appear in another with any living thing or any object that would alter time, like a phone…or a magic brooch.”
She looked away. So, he couldn’t help her. But really, was she so disappointed?
“I can carry some goods but not people or animals or plants. I steal objects. I can be in and out of a place in a moment.” He snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Kes gasped and blinked, then turned when she heard his voice behind her chair.
“For you.” He handed her a hammered gold cuff encrusted with a tiger’s eye scarab. “From Cleopatra. Don’t worry. She will never miss it.”
Kestrel looked at the bracelet. You just stole this?”
He nodded and grinned. “Easy as…what is it you more modern folks say? Cake?”
“Pie. Take it back. I don’t want you stealing for me.”
“Oh, but asking me to steal the brooch is different?”
“It’s not stealing if you’re going to give it right back. Plus I signed for it so it’s technically mine.”
“True,” Mr. Simeon agreed with a short laugh.
“Please take the bracelet back to Cleopatra.”
He took it back and disappeared.
He reappeared in front of her a few moments later. “I like this view better.” He hooked his mouth into a friendly half-smile perhaps meant to lure her. She wasn’t interested. Even if she wasn’t mourning her loss of Nicholas, and even if almost all the guys she’d dated cheated, she wouldn’t be interested in Simeon because he was her father’s age and because he tried to rob an old woman. He didn’t know she was a witch or whatever she was. He did it because he was a piece of crap.
“Mr. Simeon, what else can you tell me about me getting back home? If you’re here for any other reason, I will tell the earl and he can withdraw his payment.”
“Eh, no.” His smile faded. “No other reason. Now, where were we? Ah, yes, your brooch. I can tell you what I know about it. ’Tis protected by the impenetrable force of Sir Gawaine and the other brothers of the table. Even if there was some way to get my hands on it, and believe me I would love to, they will know someone used it, and once they figure out it was you, well, I don’t know what they would do. Do you still wish me to learn more?”
Kes certainly didn’t want to stay here without Nicholas in her life. He’d said he cared and then dropped her as if she had the plague.
“Yes, and Mr. Simeon, a question please before
