by J. K. Holt
Tread carefully, Tess, she warned herself. We are.
Did you unearth anything in the Isles?
The Isles? Did he mean the Lonely Isles? Not as much as I’d hoped. She thought back, trying to stay vague.
Loren was growing frustrated. Wharfton has the answers. I’m certain of it. We need more time at the Dimple. Now that you’re here, we can provide enough pressure to convince the Captain. And we can go back for the girl.
No. She already knew about Wharfton, and could think of no question that might lead to Loren giving up more information about the Dimple without arousing suspicion. The locals are becoming suspicious. We may need to retreat for a while, consider options.
Where?
Tess chose her next words carefully. A safe place. She paused, then thought- The place you would choose.
Tess caught a whiff of surprise and disbelief. You can’t mean the cabin? It’s weeks away. Rainy season in the mountains is dangerous. And it’s not smart to meet there, not when it’s where we’re hiding the scholar. Loren’s thoughts were pressured, as if arguing quickly lest he be cut off.
He’s the inferior in this relationship, Tess thought. Whoever he thinks I am, he’s at the disadvantage. She needed to know where the cabin was.
Can you get there by land? There are too many unknowns right now to travel by sea. I’m not certain who can be trusted.
The whole journey? He thought back. It would be another week on top of that. Possibly a month before I could get there. And if I can’t return to the ship, I’d be without additional men. I can’t take any of the ones I’ve planted here in town- I need them to maintain control in my absence.
Fine. You should be able to make the trip by land. I’ll meet you locally. That way we can travel the last leg together and be on the lookout for any signs of trouble.
This is a bad id-
I didn’t ask your opinion, did I? But if you’re so desperate to help, tell me where to meet you.
Loren withdrew in response, and Tess swore to herself. She’d pushed him too far. I apologize. This is difficult to manage. I do need your help.
Loren’s response was a feeling- sullenness.
Tess considered her options, but found them limited. She was about to withdraw when Loren finally responded. The Inn, then. At Green Springs.
Thank you.
I’ll meet you there.
Tess withdrew finally, slowly untangling her consciousness from Loren’s. It was difficult sometimes, almost like trying to pull a hook from a fish’s mouth without damaging it. And she was wary of guarding herself as she withdrew, keeping her thoughts and feelings hidden until she was firmly detached.
She pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. Emotions buffeted her- elation at finally gaining some additional information, tempered by a feeling of disdain at her own tactics. Fooling a person, pushing them to her own advantage by manipulating their weakness was not something she was used to.
Her neck was cricked, and she rubbed it, opening her eyes to refocus on her surroundings.
She heard an intake of breath in front of her, almost a hiss.
Loren was awake, and staring right at her.
∞ ∞ ∞
In front of him now, Tess froze, her blood turning cold. His eyes were an impossibly deep brown, the irises so dark they appeared almost black, and they were focused on her as he tried to find his bearings. Tess began to inch backward, but he reached out a hand and clamped it around her own. He had a surprisingly powerful grip, given how weak she knew he must be.
“Tell me where I am. Now,” he whispered.
“Let go of me,” Tess said, wrenching her hand free. “You don’t make the rules here. Not anymore.”
Loren grabbed for her again, but she was faster, knocking over a chair in her haste to put distance between them. He had begun to try to lift himself from the bed, like a spider uncurling from playing dead. Tess refused to take her eyes off of him as she fumbled for the doorknob, yanking it open.
“Dray! Tulla! Somebody! Help, now!” She screamed.
Loren was still moving towards her, albeit slowly. He wobbled as he steadied himself on his feet, but lurched in her direction. She steeled herself between him and the doorway- she couldn’t allow him to escape.
The door pushed open behind her. “Tess, what’s wrong? Is he-” Emme cut off as she entered the room and caught sight of Loren. “Oh, rot.”
He charged them, and Tess ducked down, instinctively shielding her newly healed ribs as she cut into Loren’s own chest with her shoulder. Emme must have done the same, because they were pushing him back now. “Onto the bed, Emme!” Tess said.
They shoved him back onto the creaking pallet, pinning his hands down as Loren struggled, murder in his eyes. “Get off of me, you useless little-”
Tess shoved a rag into his mouth with her free hand. “Shut up.” Then, to Emme- “have we got anything to tie him down with?”
“I don’t know.” Emme looked frantic. “Not here, in this room, anyways. Poor planning, huh?”
“It’s okay, Emme. I think we’ll be alright.” Tess watched Loren as the fight seeped out of him. This spurt of physicality seemed to have drained any reserves Loren had left. He was panting, a fine sheen on his pale face, though his eyes still shone with intelligence and malice.
“Be a good boy, now,” Tess said. “And we’ll let go of you.”
“We will?” Emme asked.
“Yes.” Slowly, Tess released some of the pressure on his arms, glancing at Emme as she sent an unspoken message. Trust me.
Emme followed suit, and they both released him and stepped back. Loren recoiled, pulling himself to sitting position but making no effort to rise again. He pulled the rag from his mouth and spat on the floor. Tess imagined she could smell fear, though she was uncertain if it was his or theirs.
They retreated towards the door. “Does this door lock from outside?”
“Yes,” Emme answered. “Though I hate to leave him in here alone. I don’t trust him.”
“He won’t be alone. I’ll stay. You go, lock the door, and get help. Where is everyone?”
“I told Tulla to go for a walk, said I’d stay the night. No one else is here. I don’t know where Ashe and Dray are- probably out haunting the Spilling Inn Gull or roaming the streets looking for a fight.” Emme’s voice barely hid the bitterness that resided beneath. “I don’t like leaving you with him here alone.”
Tess didn’t like it either. “It won’t be for long. I just want you to find some twine. We need to tie him up until the others return.”
“No,” Emme replied. “It’s too dangerous. Anyways, I don’t want to have to touch him again to tie him up. We’ll both stay here until they get back.”
Tess considered arguing, but Emme had already sat, her back against the door, brooking no further argument. Tess sat beside her.
“What happened?” Emme murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I was sitting next to him when he just opened his eyes,” Tess lied. “I pulled away from him and called for you. You know the rest.”
Loren was glaring at them, his aura glowing a dark angry blue against the shadows. “I’m in the bakery, aren’t I?” he said.
“I can put that rag back in your mouth, you know,” Tess warned.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Loren hissed.
“Watch me,” Tess responded, faking bluster. Truth be told, she didn’t want to touch him again either.
“Maybe we’ll finally get some answers from him,” Emme said, though it sounded as if she was speaking to herself. “Please let this all not be for nothing.”
Tess took Emme’s hand in her own. “It won’t be.”
Loren, for his part, stayed silent, coiled like a viper. Depleted, but still with some venom. Tess was grateful Emme had stayed. Together, they could protect each other.
Tulla and her sons arrived sometime later. It felt like hours but may have only been minutes. The boys made qu
ick work of subduing Loren and binding his arms and feet. Dray shot Tess a questioning glance but she shook her head slightly. Not now, in front of everyone.
When they’d left the room, with Ashe staying to keep watch, Dray walked Tess home. It was a short distance but gave them a few minutes alone.
“I have information,” Tess said, “so you don’t have to hurt Loren to get it. And I’ll share it, but I have to figure out a way to do it that won’t… give away how I was able to obtain it. You understand?”
“Yes,” Dray responded. “But you don’t have to pretend with me, remember? You can tell me now.”
“I will if I must, but I’d much prefer some sleep first. Please. The information isn’t urgent. And that way, when I share it, it can be with the group. It might keep you from-”
“Doing something reckless?” Dray finished her thought. “Fine. If you think it can keep. We’ll all meet together tomorrow.”
“Another thing- I’d like Gowan to be there as well.”
“Gowan?”
“Yes. You can ask your mother, but I don’t think she’d object. I’ll feel better if he’s there. I think… I mean, I know he has my best interest at heart. It would be like having another person in my corner.”
“In your corner?” Dray had stopped walking, and she turned to face him. “I’m in your corner, Tess. Haven’t I proven that?” The hurt was plain on his face, and Tess stepped closer.
“Of course I know that.” She hesitated, then placed her hand on his cheek. “I know that. But you’re also driven by grief. By rage. Sometimes that can cloud anyone’s judgment. Gowan might be able to provide a level head, just by being a bit removed from all of this. And that might help everyone.”
Dray clenched his jaw, then sighed. He reached up and covered her hand with his own. “If it’s what you want.”
A wind swept up the alley, harsh and biting. Tess unconsciously took a step closer to Dray to buffet herself from the wind, and he wrapped his arms around her. So unexpected was the gesture that she nestled her head in the crook of his neck, suddenly forgetting the cold. He ducked his head towards her and she felt his breath on her ear, sending a chill of an entirely different nature down her spine.
“I wish we’d met in a different life,” Dray murmured. “With less pain.”
“Mmm,” Tess snuggled closer, desperate to hold on to this moment. She breathed in his scent, like woodstove and musk, trying to memorize it.
“I wish I knew more about you,” Dray said, and Tess stiffened. He felt it. “I wouldn’t judge you, Tess. It’s just… you were inside my head. You know me in some ways more deeply than anyone.”
“I wasn’t trying to pry, though, Dray. I only held your memories- I didn’t experience everything you felt. And I only looked at the important ones- enough to help you fill in the rest, to remember yourself.”
“You don’t have to explain yourself. You saved me. I just know so little about you, and it’s beginning to feel unfair. I know your mother died, and you ended up here. I know you’re from Merktown, and that Gowan’s your uncle. But so little else.”
Half of what he knows about me is lies. Tess grimaced. Loathe as she was to do it, she pulled back slightly, enough to look up into his gray eyes.
“There are things,” she admitted. “Big things, that I need to tell you. They’re just so… so overwhelming. I know you don’t think so, but they’ll change how you see me. It will shift… well, everything. And until I can muster up enough courage to tell you about them, I feel like I can’t look at you straight. Because I know how unfair it is of me.”
“Then tell me,” Dray said. “Once it’s out, it won’t feel so powerful. Let me decide if it changes how I see you. You owe me that.”
“I will. But it’s not the kind of story you tell on a cold street in the middle of the night. I’ll want to figure out how to tell you. Be patient a little longer.” Tess swallowed down the urge to beg.
Dray looked skyward, grumbling. “Fine. But soon. No matter what other messes we get ourselves into. I get the feeling there will never be a perfect time, so you can’t wait for one, Tess.”
“I understand.” Begrudgingly, she extricated herself from his arms. “Give me a few days. By then, whether I’m ready or not- we’ll talk.”
Dray held her eyes for a moment longer, as if searching for the truth of her words. Finally he nodded, and pulled away into the milky darkness. “We’ll talk soon then,” he said as his silhouette joined the other shadows.
Yes, we will. And you’ll never look at me the same again.
Chapter Four
Gowan seemed to have aged five years in the few short months Tess had known him.
He had always had a quiet dignity, a reserved manner that made him seem aloof to the people who knew him as the shopkeeper down the way. The more Tess came to know him, the more she saw it as the defense that it was. It kept him out of sight, on the periphery of people’s lives while never entangled directly in them. He hid in plain sight, seemingly content to live a solitary type of existence.
She knew he’d once been close with Tulla, before her husband had been blurred and Gowan had been unwilling to believe her, to join her on her quest for the truth. She knew he still blamed himself for the pain it caused Tulla. This, combined with his protectiveness over Tess, had convinced her that she wanted him to come with her to meet the group the next day- it was the same quality that had made her trust him with her secret about how she’d fallen into Wharfton.
After being invited to the clandestine meeting Dray had convened, he’d grumbled his way through breakfast. “I’ll lose business closing up early, you know.”
“It’s midweek, Gowan. Who comes in on afternoons anyways?” Tess countered. “You’ll be back by the evening crowd.”
“I have afternoon customers, you know.”
“Who? Ms. Gusteed? She was in twice in the last week and bought two coppers worth of fluff, just to see you,” Tess teased. “She’s sweet on you is all. You might even return the feeling, though she’d never know it the way you clam up when she comes in.”
Gowan scoffed. “Don’t talk of things you know nothing about.”
“Regardless, if you’re worried about losing her business, I’ll pay you the amount she normally does and then you won’t worry so much. I’ll forgo my pay for the whole day. Will that help?”
Gowan gestured as he spoke, crumbs dropping on the ground from his bread. Tinker scrambled underneath his chair to scoop them up. “That’s not it, really. You’re involved in this mess, already, I can see that. And I’m involved now too, not that I blame you. But you can choose to detangle a bit now. You have other answers you’re searching for, anyways. Why keep this up?”
They’d been around this a million times and Tess saw this as the game it was. She called his bluff. “Fine, then. You don’t have to stay involved. But I’ve made my choice. I’ll go alone.”
He sighed. “You’re a dramatic sort, you know.”
“Only because you make me that way.”
Tess scratched Tinker behind the ears and slid him some ham. “So you’ll come?”
Gowan rose from the small table, wiping his hands. “Only because you’ll flounder without me.”
Well- it was possible. “I owe you.”
Gowan snorted. “You owe me more than you can repay already, girl.”
“True,” Tess said. “What if I clean up after breakfast every day for the next week?”
“You mean, the thing that I pay you to do?” Gowan raised his eyes to the ceiling and feigned lightheadedness. “My goodness, the maker has smiled on us today. Your generosity of spirit is unparalleled.”
Tess stood as well, taking a bow before collecting the plates. “Think nothing of it, good sir.”
∞ ∞ ∞
The group had decided to meet at the Spilling Inn. There was a golden hour, when the lunch crowds had thinned, then disappeared entirely. The pale winter light of a sun low in the sky drifted in through the
glass windows, meek in comparison to the fierce yellow warmth of the fireplace. Tables shone from their recent wipe-downs, though the odd spill still glistened on the floorboards.
The place felt alive with the spirits of those who had just inhabited it- boisterous fishermen and shrewd merchants, talking, chatting, filling the space with life. The echoes were loud here, as if in a time stood still. Now, only a select few were occupying the space.
Rosie’s mum, Bev, proprietor and co-owner of the establishment with her husband, had let Tess and Gowan in when they’d knocked, locking the door behind them. Though usually full of life and generosity, she’d said few words to them before pointing them towards the group gathered at the far side of the room. Tess took a head count as they approached.
Tulla sat between her two sons, Ashe and Dray, while Emme sat on Ashe’s right. Fish sat beside her, and next to him- Rosie. Tess tried to take measure of her without staring. She sat rigidly, fierce in her expression, her red hair in a messy braid that hung over her shoulder like a fiery snake. But her eyes looked haunted, her cheeks slightly sunken. Tess wondered if she’d been eating.
There were three chairs still empty around the table, and Tess and Gowan took two. Tess glanced at the last empty chair, about to ask if there would be another person joining them when the answer hit her. It was for Russ. A symbolic reminder of what they’d already lost. It was beside Rosie, his twin.
If anyone was confused by Gowan’s presence, they held their tongues.
Tess started with a realization. “Wait. Who’s watching-”
“No worries, Tess,” Ashe interrupted. “He’s tied up tighter than a trusset fish on Queen’s Day. On top of that, we’ve shackled him to the wall. And the door is locked, for good measure. He won’t be going anywhere.”
Though Tess didn’t quite grasp the reference, she took his meaning. Still, she was uneasy about the idea of Loren being left alone for long. From the slanted looks cast round the table, the others felt the same.
Tulla leaned forward, her mouth drawn in a thin line. “It seemed too important that we all attend this meeting, when Dray pressed upon us how important your information may be. No one wanted to be left out, and I understood. But, given that time is of the essence, perhaps you’ll get on with whatever it is you came to tell us.”
