“Good, good. May I speak frankly?”
“Go on,” Reg told Jean-Andre. The two of them fell even further behind the others.
“You care a great deal about those men.” Jean-Andre indicated Querry and Frolic with a jut of his chin. “Do not worry; I understand about men caring for each other. Loving each other. You want them to be safe.”
“Of course I do,” Reg allowed.
“I can make them safe, free them from this ridiculous agreement,” Jean-Andre said.
“Oh really?”
“Oui. How badly do you want it?”
“Say what you mean, sir.” Reg was through playing with the Belvaisian.
“Very well, then. I can do what you have been unable to accomplish. I can release your… friends… from their contract with the Anglican lord. For good.”
“How?”
Jean-Andre laughed. “How do you think?”
“Dear God,” Reg whispered, realizing what the other man implied.
“Too much for you, ami? I worried it might be.”
“It isn’t that,” Reg said, nervous even discussing it. He’d killed for Querry and Frolic before, and he’d do it again. He just knew it wouldn’t come for free. “What do you want in return?”
“Your friend Frolic’s book,” Jean-Andre said.
“Out of the question. It isn’t mine to give.”
“But you know better than them,” Jean-Andre said. “They are impetuous, while you use reason. Get me that book, which your companion already knows by heart, and I will put an end to Lord Gavindale Starling. You’ll all be free to leave. You can save them.”
“No,” Reg said. “Not like this.”
“Then how will you keep those you love from harm?”
“I don’t know,” Reg admitted. “Not like this.”
Jean-Andre’s face betrayed no emotion. “My offer stands. Let me know if you reconsider. I think we will all die if you do not.” With that, Jean-Andre walked quickly toward Tom and the baron.
Reg watched him go, wondering if he’d made the right decision. Was he simply too fragile to save Querry and Frolic? Jean-Andre presented a simple solution to the problem. If Reg agreed, they could all go home. But he’d spend the rest of his life knowing a man, maybe not a completely innocent one but not one who deserved it, was dead because of him. Frolic wouldn’t willingly relinquish his book, and Querry would certainly take Frolic’s side. They might never forgive Reg for taking it.
Reg tried to assure himself good sense and not weakness had made up his mind.
NOT LONG after they stopped for lunch, thick black clouds rolled in to cover the brilliant blue of the sky. Only minutes after they appeared, the storm broke open, dousing the jungle in a heavy downpour. Querry hurried to help the others pull the sheet metal coverings over the cart beds so the guns and explosives would stay dry. By the time they’d finished, Querry’s clothing, including his protective leather waistcoat and heavy boots, dripped as if he’d just emerged from a lake. The water was warm as tears, and it intensified the cloying scents of jungle flowers and decaying leaf litter. The narrow trails they traveled turned to slippery mud, slowing their progress and making everyone irritable and uncomfortable, with the exception of Frolic, who stared with obvious fascination at the unusual vegetation, bright birds, and even occasional small monkeys they passed. But then, the warm water and the thick, heavy mist it conjured wouldn’t annoy the clockwork boy the way it did the humans.
Querry looked back at Reg, trudging along several feet behind everyone else, wiping his foggy spectacles on his sleeve every few minutes. He knew Reg felt like he’d somehow let them down by failing to find a way out of their contract, but he hadn’t predicted Reg’s melancholy would last so long. Querry stepped off the trail, into the thick, dripping undergrowth, and waited for his friend to catch up. Then he fell into step beside Reg. They walked in silence for several minutes while Querry considered how to start the conversation. He abandoned his original intention of making some joke to cheer his friend, knowing what had to be said.
Querry took a deep breath and caught Reg’s wrist. Both of them paused on the trail, and Querry took Reg’s other hand and guided him around so they faced each other in the decreasing rain. Reg’s blond hair sparkled in the weak sun finally breaking through the clouds. Querry reached up and gently removed his glasses. Even Reg’s thick eyelashes glittered. Though Querry wanted nothing more in that moment than to tell Reg how beautiful he was, instead he said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry any of us are here. But I need to say that it’s my fault we are. Mine, not yours. I’d rather have you cross with me than feeling responsible. I made a mistake going to Starling’s villa. You did nothing wrong. You’re here with us when you didn’t have to be. If I seem too confident, it’s just because I know what the three of us can do together. Still, I should have listened to you from the beginning. From now on, I’m going to start. You’re much cleverer than I am.”
“Finally realized that, have you?” Reg smiled, and the lines of tension on his forehead and around his hazel eyes smoothed. “Look, we’re here now, and we’re not going anywhere anytime soon. There’s no sense in getting cross with each other. We need to watch out for each other, now more than ever. What do you think of Jean-Andre?”
“He’s a conceited prick. Why?”
“I don’t understand what he’s after. He claims he helped you back in Halcyon, and he may have. But why? Why is he here now? What does he stand to gain?”
“We shouldn’t trust him,” Querry said. “He’d do anything for a paycheck. I think he’s worse than Owens and his lot. At least they admit what they are. I’ll keep an eye on him, don’t worry.”
Reg’s lips parted, as if he might say something more, but instead, he turned to look at the carts, almost a quarter of a mile ahead of them now. “I suppose we had best catch up. We should watch Jean-Andre around Frolic.”
“Why do you say that, Reg?”
Reg looked away. “No reason in particular. Frolic is just susceptible to deception, and Jean-Andre is a master of it. There’s no telling what he might try.”
“Agreed. Let’s catch up to them.” Then, since the others were too far up the road to see, he gave Reg a quick peck at the corner of his mouth. Reg rewarded him by coloring across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. “Thanks for putting up with my nonsense,” Querry said.
“It isn’t always easy,” Reg said in a gravelly voice. “You’ll have to make it up to me somehow.”
“That’s a promise, love. Let’s get going.”
The rain tapered to a light drizzle and finally ceased around sunset. The broad, wet leaves of the jungle trees looked metallic, reminding Querry of the faux, clockwork jungle his mentor, Dink, had built to house his mechanical menagerie. With a stab, Querry wondered how the old tinkerer, who’d been the closest thing to a father Querry’d ever known, fared back in Halcyon. Because of Dink, Querry had grown into a scavenger and a thief when he could easily have turned out much worse. Any moral compass and sense of honor he possessed he owed to that kind man. He suddenly missed him fiercely.
To take his mind off his unexpected homesickness, Querry sought out Lord Starling to see why their procession had suddenly stopped. Along the way, he noticed Frolic talking to a grinning Cornelia, raising his hand and pointing at his elbow to illustrate whatever he said to her. Reg was showing his augmented pistols to Jack Owens. The older mercenary nodded with approval as he looked down the sights of one of Reg’s guns.
Querry found the baron standing a little removed from the rest of the company with Tom Teezle and Jean-Andre. They all turned at the sound of his approach, but continued talking in low voices as he joined them.
“We’re within five miles or so of the slave camp,” Jean-Andre said. “They may very well be expecting us. I think at this time it would be prudent to send scouts ahead. I know this land well, and so I will volunteer to go. I would like to take Monsieur Teezle with me. You can sense men, guards, can you not?�
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“In most cases,” Tom said, his expression and posture guarded. “If it’s what my lord wishes, of course.”
“I’m not used to doing without him,” Starling said.
Jean-Andre bowed his head. “Of course.”
“I could go with you,” Querry offered, eager for some time alone to question Jean-Andre about his motives.
“Thank you, but no.”
“Why not?” Querry asked. “What’s wrong with me?”
“I’ll take a few of my friends from the quilombo,” Jean-Andre responded with a dismissive shrug. “They’re more familiar with the area.”
“A good plan,” the baron agreed, and Jean-Andre bent at the waist before setting off to assemble his team. Then Starling turned to Querry with one of his dark brows arched. “Enlighten me. How are you acquainted with that man, Querrilous?”
Querry raked his soggy curls back as he considered how much to divulge. He didn’t trust Starling, but he trusted Jean-Andre less, and decided maybe the baron needed to know why. Though he scarcely knew where to begin, he asked, “How much do you know about what happened back in Halcyon?”
“A bit,” Starling said. “I daresay every magic-user for hundreds of miles knew when the Grande Chancellor fired up that clock tower. It interrupted the flow of the world’s magic, and I felt it. Tom filled me in on the rest. I also know you, your friends, and a small group of ruffians managed to put a stop to it.”
“Well, we had loads of help. Normally I’d cite my extraordinary skill”—Querry flashed Starling a smile—“but the fact is, plenty of people had a hand in it. Jean-Andre was one of them. He claimed he’d been watching out for me for weeks before I’d met him, and maybe he had. I don’t know. Anyway, he offered me money for… certain information about Frolic. He wanted to sell it. He also offered me a job, as a spy, like him. Obtaining and selling information. Listen, mate. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything about this to Reg or Frolic. I never told them.”
Starling surprised Querry with his shocked expression. “Really? That’s interesting.”
Shame welled up inside Querry. “I should have said something, but there was so much going on at the time, and I never considered accepting, anyway…. I’d like them to hear it from me.”
“I respect that,” Starling said. “It’s not my place to say anything, and I won’t. On my honor as a gentleman. More importantly, based on what you’ve said, I can only assume we’re dealing with an opportunist, rather than a selfless defender of liberty. Typical. The race of men never ceases to disappoint me. Now I wish I’d sent Tom with him after all.”
“It’s hardly too late,” the fey said. “Or do you forget I’m not hampered by human limitations? Sir,” he hurried to add sarcastically.
Starling surprised Querry yet again when he turned to Tom and patted him on the shoulder with genuine affection. “I know you won’t believe it, but I truly do appreciate you.”
“I’m sure you do,” Tom said with a sneer before vanishing into thin air.
Since both of them had dealt with the Fair Folk before, neither Querry nor Starling flinched at Tom’s disappearance. Starling draped his arm over Querry’s shoulder and led him back toward the others, saying, “I appreciate your honesty with me tonight, Querry. I know you don’t trust me. I know you don’t even like me, so I am truly grateful.”
Though he kept quiet, Querry decided he disliked the baron a little less than before. “What do you want me to do? How can I help?”
Starling beamed at him with an expression Querry had seen on Dink’s face when Querry had returned with a particularly rare bit of salvage or when Querry’d exceeded the tinkerer’s expectations. “We should get moving. If there’s something coming, you’ll be the first to notice. I’d like you to stay with me, near the front of the line.”
It wasn’t lost on Querry that Starling had asked instead of commanding. The aristocrat appeared a little nervous, possibly because of the absence of his fey steward. He seemed to look to Querry to fill the void, and Querry didn’t resent it.
Still, he said, “I need Reg and Frolic with me. No matter what, their safety comes first.”
“Absolutely,” Starling said, and the two of them moved to take their places.
Querry knew they were in for a long night. He checked his weapons and gear, prepared to use them soon.
Chapter 17
WITH HIS senses so heightened in anticipation of trouble, Querry noticed every one of the countless noises of the jungle. All around him, he detected life: in the branches above, moving through the undergrowth, and stalking between the massive trunks of the strange, twisted trees. Some of the animals sounded large and lethal, while others made noises unlike anything Querry had ever imagined. Even the drone of the insects sounded alien. Querry sensed creatures, hungry, dangerous creatures, waiting just beyond the light their lanterns and torches cast.
Every muscle in Querry’s body tensed, ready to react. The strain exhausted him, and his muscles ached as they proceeded slowly into the eerie forest, but every time he looked over his shoulder at Reg and Frolic, he renewed his determination to keep them from harm at any cost.
It hardly surprised Querry when, half an hour into their journey, Jean-Andre and the three former slaves he’d taken with him came crashing through the brush. They skidded to a halt in the mud before the baron.
“Be ready,” Querry said to his friends, and Reg and Frolic drew their weapons.
“Where is Tom?” Starling barked.
Jean-Andre clutched his ribs and caught his breath before speaking. “He… he stayed behind to try to confuse the guards while we warned you. He is in no danger.”
“Of course not.” The baron paced in front of the carts, his arcane energy warping the air and making Querry’s teeth wiggle. “Just tell me what we’re looking at.”
“A regiment of imperial guards,” Jean-Andre said. “A dozen of them, accompanied by hired men from the plantation. From what I overheard, they have been searching the road between the camp and the quilombo for weeks. They are expecting this delivery, and they plan to stop it. They outnumber us, and they’re armed.”
“The weapons have to make it through,” one of the former slaves yelled, and the others loudly agreed. “Nothing else matters.”
“They’re coming,” Jean-Andre warned. “What do we do?”
Querry turned to face the rest of the procession and held up his arms. “Drag the carts into the jungle. Hide them. Starling, can you do anything to make them less evident? A spell?”
“Of course.” The baron hurried to trace arcane symbols in the thick air as the others pulled the carts off the road. Soon, the transports shimmered, looking translucent, almost invisible unless Querry caught them from the corner of his eye.
Querry pointed to Cornelia and the mercenaries. “Cover them if you have to. Keep it quiet. Don’t be hasty. I’ll lure them off you.”
“Querry, no!” Reg protested.
“Let me come with you,” Frolic pleaded.
“No.” Querry slid the new goggles he and Frolic had designed over his eyes and turned the knob to the night-vision lenses. The forest clarified in bright green with gray shadows. He blinked to adjust his eyes. These were nearly as good as the ensorcelled goggles he’d lost in the airship crash.
“Querry—” Frolic sounded distraught.
“Please listen to me, beauty. Stay here. Trust me. Get the carts off the road. Now! Reggie, Frolic, look out for each other. God, just stay safe no matter what.”
As he hurried onto the path, Querry detected the sound of galloping horses in the distance. It sounded like an army, but it didn’t matter. He’d make sure it never reached the others. Clutching the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it, he sprinted up the trail. He had to hold them off long enough for the others to hide.
“Let’s make this convincing, Querry,” Starling said.
Querry started, not having heard Starling following him. “What do you suggest?”
&
nbsp; “Show me what you’ve got, you filthy highwayman!” Starling shouted, just as the dozen men on horseback reached them.
Querry drew his blade and met Starling’s with a resounding clang.
“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you to bear the brunt of this,” the baron said. “Just make it look good enough for the others to get hidden.”
“Right then. Let’s see what you can do. Old man,” Querry added with a grin.
“Old man?” the baron crooned. “The capriciousness of youth shall be undone,” Starling stated with a smirk.
They dueled in earnest, the baron impressing Querry with his skill, as the guards approached. Querry had to suppress a smile as the men and horses sloshed toward them through the mud. The baron and the thief matched each other blow for blow until one of the riders called for them to desist.
Both Querry and Starling huffed, dragging in air after their serious match, as the guards looked down at them.
“I’m afraid you’ll both have to come with us,” the leader said in Anglican, but with a heavy accent.
Querry looked at Starling, and felt ecstatic when the aristocrat winked at him. “Like hell,” Querry said, pointing his sword at the throat of the man in front of him. “Bring it on, then!”
The guards guided their mounts to circle Querry and Starling. Querry readied his sword in one hand and his pistol in the other, while Starling literally hummed with magical energy. Both of them backed away before the guards could close them in. Before long, the pair stood with their backs to the jungle, ready to run into the trees at the first opportunity. Querry didn’t know how they’d accomplish it with a dozen rifles trained on them and the rough-looking men from the plantation drawing pistols and machetes of their own. He didn’t know the extent of the baron’s magical prowess. Could he stop bullets somehow? Querry certainly hoped so.
“Don’t be a fool,” the man leading the guards said to Starling. “We have you surrounded. You cannot hope to escape.”
“You have no right to detain me,” Starling snarled, clearly outraged. “On what charges do you impede me, anyway?”
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