by Jodi Lamm
Maddy rubbed his tears from her own cheeks with the back of her wrists.
“You have to believe me,” he said. “I would give anything to take it back. What I did to you…”
“What did you do to me?” She backed away.
He shook his head and tried to coax her closer, but she wouldn’t budge. “Don’t be afraid of me. Please. I can’t say goodbye to you this way. No matter what you think you know, please trust that I want you to survive. I care about you. Do you believe me?”
She wasn’t sure, but something in his expression made her nod.
“Thank you… Madeleine.” He frowned. “I didn’t even get to name you.”
“Didn’t I have a name?”
“You never needed one.” He pulled her closer until his waistcoat buttons pressed against her cheek and the pounding of his heart filled her ears. The heat of the forest lulled Maddy into an uncomfortable serenity. In Jas’ world, she knew more peace than she would have ever thought possible. Even if she wanted to be afraid of him, even though she knew she should struggle, she wasn’t able.
She tried to speak several times before she finally managed a groggy sentence. “Something’s… wrong.”
“I know. I’ll fix it. I promise.”
“You can’t… fix it. I have to…”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be with your mother soon.”
What Maddy said next snapped her out of her daze as soon as she realized she’d said it. “My mother is you.”
Jas held her at arm’s length, studying her eyes in alarm. “What did you say? Do I look like a mother to you?”
She tried to laugh. “No.”
“You must be confused.” Jas smiled, but Maddy could tell it was a false smile. His true smile was scorched into her deepest heart. It was the same smile she imagined ought to have been on the golden boy’s face as he lay in his glass coffin. “We’re nearly there,” he said with a hint of regret. “It’s time to wake up, Maddy.”
And Maddy sat in the saddle of a horse with Will’s arms still wrapped around her. “Are you all right?” he said.
She nodded, but didn’t believe herself. Even in her dreams, she was in thrall to Jas, and nothing would stop his killing her when the time came.
They exited the forest in the same spot she had entered it three nights ago. The memory seemed a world away. So much had changed since that night. As they ascended one of the hills she knew so well, her mother’s house finally came into view.
Will caught his breath and muttered, “Unbelievable.”
To Maddy, home had been a prison—a beautiful prison, but a prison nonetheless. Now, seeing it from Will’s perspective, she understood what she had taken for granted. One room in her mother’s home could have contained more than the whole of his. The farmhouse mansion rose tall against the rolling hills beyond. Maddy smiled as they drew closer. How dark her home had seemed the night her brother forced her to leave. Now it was the beautiful center of her tiny universe.
A familiar figure emerged from the stables and ran into the house crying, “Mother! Mother!”
Maddy bit her lip.
“Is that your brother?” Jas stopped walking.
She nodded and fidgeted, too terrified to face the author of her miniature storybook—the boy who had always known she was nothing but a clay monster.
“That’s Marcus Lavoie?” Will laughed.
“Seems to be,” Jas said. “Though, I imagined him differently. He’s just a runt of a thing, isn’t he?”
“You’re no giant yourself,” Will pointed out. “At least you didn’t used to be.”
Jas growled. “His stature aside, Marcus Lavoie is heir to his family’s fortune. He’ll have his pick of brides, if he can get over his fixation with Madeleine.”
“His fixation?”
“Didn’t she tell you? The boy is mad for her.”
This again? Maddy glared. “No, he’s—”
“Wait.” Will stopped his horse. “Marcus Lavoie is in love with a… with her? Why am I only learning about this now?”
“He’s not!” Maddy wanted to tear all her hair out. No one ever heard her, and the only one who could, never bothered to listen.
Jas ignored her and continued his conversation with Will. “It’s the reason he threw her out, I’m sure.”
“I assumed it was an inheritance war.” Will kicked his mare into a trot and Jas followed.
“Not at all. I don’t think Madeleine is even legally Lavoie’s daughter. The general couldn’t keep her a secret so easily if he’d written her name in his family book. And if she did want the Lavoie fortune, all Madeleine would have to do is come out into society, reveal her non-relation, and marry the boy. He’d have her in a heartbeat. She doubts it, but I’m sure. We have a wager.”
Maddy folded her arms. “Your head is mine.”
Will squeezed Maddy tight as they approached the mansion’s drive. “Poor thing. His nobility aside, if that boy’s temperament is half as bad as it’s rumored to be, I wouldn’t wish his hand in marriage on the Queen of Silence.”
“True. Of course, compounding the problem is the fact that he can overpower her.”
Maddy rolled her eyes. “You two sound like a couple of kitchen maids.”
Jas continued to ignore her. “By the bye, William, can you think of any way a person would be capable of preventing her obedience?”
Will scratched his chin, and the sound made Maddy think of sand blowing against sea cliffs. “Well, no,” he said, “unless that person were a Titan…”
“Who’s a Titan now?” A sweet voice interrupted their conversation, and all three travelers turned to see Lady Charlotte Lavoie standing in the drive beside her son, who showed his teeth in a smile that would have been more appropriate on the face of an angry cat.
Charlotte held out one hand in greeting. In the other, she cradled a glass of red wine, which perfectly complemented her dress and the color in her cheeks. Every sharp angle a woman could have was rounded in her, softened by her smile and her ease of manner. She had a young, glowing face and eyes that sparkled when she saw her daughter.
After Maddy dismounted, her mother swept her into a stifling embrace, nearly spilling wine over her daughter’s shoulder. “You’re home, baby.” She pulled away and brushed a tear from her cheek with her free hand.
“Mother.” Maddy pictured Jas as she said the word.
“Marcus promised you’d come back.” Charlotte combed her fingers through Maddy’s tangled hair. “I made him swear to go and fetch you if you didn’t.”
As her mother moved to embrace her again, Maddy looked over her shoulder at Marcus. His face was stone. But Maddy knew her brother could not hold his stoic expression forever. It would change, if only for a second, and if she missed it, she would never know the state of his heart. So, even as her mother passed by her and approached Will, Maddy watched Marcus.
“You must be the young master we’ve heard so much about,” her mother said, and Maddy saw Marcus flinch. Charlotte had obviously mistaken Will for Jas, but Maddy wondered who had told her anything about either of them.
Will kept his composure beautifully. “Oh, not at all, My Lady. I’m just a tag-along suitor.”
“A what?” Marcus’ mouth dropped open and he finally returned his sister’s stare. His reaction was better than she could have imagined. How had Will guessed her fantasy? The man had a knack for knowing what made people happy; she believed that now. She felt herself glow with pride, even as Marcus’ face contorted into a look of utter disgust. Genius. Let him try to throw her out now that she had found a suitor all on her own, now that she meant something to someone who would never call her “Madeleine the Mute.”
Jas answered for them. “William Taylor has offered his services as Madeleine’s personal corsetier, and as it turns out, she has accepted his romantic advances as well.”
Maddy breathed a sigh of relief when she realized Jas would not be telling her family she’d paid for her fiancé. But no
one else cared what the stag had to say, only that it had spoken at all. An odd silence followed, in which Will gazed stupidly at Jas, who tried to look away, embarrassed that he’d forgotten himself so easily.
Marcus had yet to close his mouth.
Charlotte gasped and pointed with her glass. “Did that creature just speak?”
“It did,” a stranger’s voice answered from behind them. “Allow me to introduce James Mahler, the last living Titan and my own adopted son and protégé. Unfortunately, his impulsive behavior has had him in the bind you see there for the last three years.”
Maddy whirled around, half expecting to find that Father Androcles had followed them all the way there. But this voice lacked the grittiness she had grown to recognize as his. Instead, it had a smooth musicality that made Maddy’s spine tingle. And the man standing behind them was definitely not a priest.
10: The Duke of Silence
His Grace, the Duke of Frieden, was dressed like a working boy, a hired hand tending the family’s stables. He could not have been younger than forty, by the look of him, but he walked with the energy of a man half his age. The closer he drew, the more Maddy wished he could not see her. His eyes were the scales of grey fish, cold and dead like the priest’s. But unlike his brother, whose hair had already become silver with age, Eli’s head was topped with a sandy mess that almost perfectly matched his complexion. He looked past Maddy and spoke to the stag. “James, you’re still trapped in that wretched body?”
“Why are you here?” Jas stared the man down instead of greeting him.
Eli threw out his arms in surrender. “I came to see you, of course.” He approached the stag and wrapped his arms around its neck in a ridiculous embrace. “Why did you ever run away from me? I can do nothing for you when you run away.”
Jas bowed his head over Eli’s shoulder.
“I see you brought your old body with you.” Eli spoke into the animal’s ear. “I can’t give you back the years you’ve lost, but I can try to give you the one’s you have left.” He patted Jas on the side of the face. “How in the world have you lived so long this way?”
When Jas didn’t answer, Eli turned to Maddy. “And you must be the one they named ‘Madeleine.’”
Maddy moved away from him.
“Don’t be afraid, little one,” he said. “I know you well. Do you remember me?”
Maddy bit her lip and nodded, but thought again and shook her head. She glanced around for a way to communicate, and finally pointed to each of her eyes.
Eli smiled. “You remember my eyes. Wonderful. I’m glad I don’t have to introduce myself to you as though we were strangers. Instead, I can take you in my arms and hold you just the way I did when you were my only daughter.”
Jas tensed when Eli opened his arms, but Maddy felt a strange familiarity in the embrace. Just as she had felt a mother in Jas, she felt another source in Eli. Was he a father to her? Did she have what even Marcus had lost? She pulled away and tried to see past his eyes, but she couldn’t, not when they were smiling at her, glowing at her, blinking back tears at the joy of their reunion. “Who are you to me?” she wanted to ask. The more he seemed to love her, the less she trusted him.
Behind her, she heard Will introduce himself to her mother.
“Well, if we’re going to be family,” her mother said, “would you call me Lotte? I dislike formality so.”
Will laughed as though he were nervous, but Maddy knew he only displayed insecurity to disarm those around him. The man was never nervous around anyone other than Jas. “Lotte, it is then. And you may call me William if you like, or Will, or darling. Whatever suits your fancy.”
Lotte laughed, and her laughter sent Maddy into state of perfect ease. “‘Darling’ will do nicely,” she said. “Won’t you all come inside? I’ll have the cook prepare supper. I’m sure we can manage a meal for two more without gong to market—that is, assuming the young master doesn’t…”
“I find my own food.” Jas spared her from asking. “And if it should happen there still isn’t enough, Madeleine won’t be needing—”
“Maddy can have my supper,” Marcus interrupted him. “I don’t mind.”
Maddy spun around to catch his expression, but he was stoic, as usual. Still his voice had an unmistakably nasty tone when he spoke to Jas, which shocked her, not because he was usually polite, but because she had never heard him defend her so fiercely.
Will raised an eyebrow, and Jas nodded at his friend in a way that said, see what I mean?
“I can’t believe you’re spreading that around,” Maddy said to Jas as everyone else made their way inside.
“You still don’t believe he’s in love, even after that display?”
“No,” she hissed, “it’s something else. Something’s wrong. You don’t know him. He’s not behaving normally.”
“I know love when I see it.” Jas nudged her with his nose and chuckled.
“Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself because I’m not.” Maddy began unpacking the Titan’s body from Jas’ back. “Why is the duke here?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea, but I intend to find out. Only…” He bowed his head as Maddy slid the body off his back.
“What is it?”
“I don’t feel comfortable going into your mother’s house.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m an animal, and this is not a tailor’s apartment or a priest’s hut. I’ll keep to the stables if I can, but I want you to stay with William. Never leave his side, understand? I want to believe in my father, but I can’t—not yet. And I need to find out how Lavoie’s boy manages to overpower you. It pains me to say it, but right now, William is the only person we can trust.”
Maddy held the Titan’s body to her chest and felt the shape of her bow, tucked away in the bundle. “Jas, I don’t think the duke is at all like his brother. There’s something odd…”
“Don’t worry about it.” Jas nudged her toward the house. “He can’t hurt you unless he can get to me. Just play along for now. He may turn out to be the best friend we have.”
***
With the Titan’s body hoisted over her shoulder and Will on her arm, Maddy walked back through the rich halls of her mother’s home. It was an even bigger, darker, and more delicious world than she remembered. When she came to her private rooms, she imagined how she would have reacted three days ago, had someone told her she would soon find herself alone here with a man she’d paid for, and laughed. She took some pleasure in knowing she’d broken with her mother’s high moral standards. She was capable of a little independence, at least.
Will threw back the curtains in her bedchamber and gazed through the bars in the windows, while Maddy slipped the Titan onto her bed. “And where do you plan to sleep?” he said, scowling at the cords still tied to her bedposts.
Maddy pointed to the floor.
“I don’t think so.” Will leaned over the body, but Maddy grabbed his arm before he could touch it. “Listen, doll. James is right. That’s just an empty shell. Maybe one day it will be reunited with its soul, but until then, there’s no reason for you to treat it better than you treat yourself.”
Maddy did not release his arm.
“You’re acting on instinct, understand? You aren’t…” He paused and rethought his argument. “What I mean is, you know, he could fall off the bed if he’s left there. He’s less likely to be damaged on the floor.”
Maddy relaxed her grip.
“That’s my girl.” Will smiled. “We’ll make him comfortable. Don’t worry.”
She chewed her thumbnail as Will pulled the body from her bed. She hated how easily her instincts could be manipulated. She didn’t want to believe herself incapable of overcoming her nature, but no matter how gently Will handled the body, she couldn’t relax. As long as it lay in hands other than her own, she was unnaturally alert.
“Your rooms are… normal.” Will propped the body against the foot of her bed. “I mean I expected
them to be, you know… I imagined them plainer, more like a prison cell. This looks like it could be any lady’s bedchamber, except…” He sat on the edge of her bed and fingered the broken cords. “Did he really call you every night?”
She nodded.
“Persistent bastard.” Will began untangling the cords from Maddy’s bedposts. “At least you won’t be needing them any more.” When he had removed all four, he balled them up and handed them to Maddy.
She held the cords in her hands as though someone had handed her what was left of a shredded blanket she’d slept with since infancy. What was she supposed to do with them now? Will watched her stuff the cords into her coat pocket and frowned. “You look unhappy.”
Maddy pulled her book from her other pocket and began to write. I’ve never slept alone before. Marcus had always stood guard just outside her door. Now he wouldn’t need to.
“Don’t you worry about that.” Will stood and hugged her. “I’ll be right here with you.”
Maddy’s shoulders dropped. She shook her head. Mother will never allow it, she wrote. Then she remembered Jas’ advice. But Jas told me not to leave your side.
“Makes sense. You stick by me. I’ll take care of you.” Will swayed to some silent music, forcing Maddy to dance along with him. “You don’t want to be alone with the Duke of Silence running around the house. It’s suspicious he’s even here, don’t you think? And that brother of yours…”
A long dressing mirror in one corner of the room reflected them while they swayed. Will bent over her like a walking cane, his shirt just a little too small, his trousers a little too short. And Maddy was like a child dressed in her father’s military coat. She laughed to herself and hugged him tightly. “I’ll protect you, too,” she said into his shirt. “I’ll do it because I choose to and for no other reason.”
“Thank you for the dance, Miss Lavoie.” Will bowed and tipped an invisible hat. “I’ll leave you to dress for supper now. And we’ll see if His Grace explains himself tonight.” He kissed her cheek and started for the door. “I won’t let him enjoy his meal until he does.”
