Heir of Thunder (Stormbourne Chronicles Book 1) (10 page)

I hiccupped and bobbed my head.

He hesitated, but released me. I slid to the ground and went
to Nonnie, hugging her neck and stroking her velvet nose. She butted her head
against mine and snuffled in my ear. She had always been an affectionate horse.
She had always been
my
horse. Gideon’s feet clunked to the ground behind
me, but I couldn’t look at him, not yet. Instead, I buried my face in her mane,
inhaling her sweaty, beastly scent.

“I broke Gespenst when he was a colt. No one else has ever
ridden him.” Gideon spoke softly to me, as if I were the nervous colt from his
memory. “His mother’s owner gave him to me because he thought Gespenst had a
malformed leg, and I talked him out of putting the poor thing down. He tried to
buy him back the next year, but I wouldn’t sell.”

I sniffed and kept my face pressed into Nonnie’s neck. “What
was wrong with his leg?”

“Best I could determine; it had gotten twisted the wrong way
when he was inside his mother. I worked with him every free minute I could
steal. We rebuilt his muscle tone until he could run as fast as any other colt.”

“And now he runs faster than all of them.”

“Yes.”

“And you can bear to sell him, now?”

“No, but I have no other choice.” Gideon sounded as though
he spoke from the bottom of a deep, dark pit. His voice was hollow. Maybe he
felt as broken apart as I.

I turned to face him. He had revealed something of himself,
something personal, private. His vulnerability made him seem approachable and sympathetic.
“I’ll go to Galland alone,” I said. “You can take Nonnie and Gespenst and start
a new life here. I could part with her if I knew you had her.”

“Alone?” He huffed. “How will you survive? You won’t last a
day.” He tried to give me a contemptuous look, but didn’t quite succeed. His
eyes were still too sad.

“Maybe, but it shouldn’t be your problem.”

“I’ve made it my problem, and you’re not going anywhere
alone. I’ll see you safely to Dreutch. That was my promise.”

“What’s in Dreutch? Why there of all places?”

“Safety is in Dreutch, and that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

I stomped my foot. Why this persistent vagary? If it was
safe, why wouldn’t he tell me more? “Are you afraid I’ll run away from you or
refuse to go? Are you worried it’s someplace I won’t like?”

He climbed stiffly into his saddle. The chase had hurt him
and he looked peaked, drawn, and pale. Silly idiot. He should have let me go.
It wasn’t his fault if I rotted there, regardless of his promises. He looked at
me and dark circles underscored his eyes. “Yes, maybe that’s it.”

I didn’t believe him, but it didn’t matter. If he had made
up his mind not to tell me, nothing would convince him to do otherwise. I
hitched myself onto Nonnie, albeit with great reluctance, and turned her back
toward Braddock. Was it easier to make the sacrifice, knowing I didn’t have to
do it alone? Maybe. I sent a wish to Father and Grandfather. Somehow they had
to help me save her. I hoped they were listening from their place in the
shadowlands of afterlife.

Gideon’s respect of my dread, or perhaps his own reluctance
for parting with Gespenst, made him take us back to Braddock at an ambling
gait. Or maybe his soreness and pain, aggravated by my tantrum, discouraged a
faster pace. Either way, the horrid horse trader smirked at us when we returned
as if he relished our despair. His stable was a rambling shack of holding pens
attached to a grimy paddock that had needed a good shoveling out weeks ago.
Parting with my beloved friend hurt badly enough, but giving her up to this
gloating scoundrel felt like a knife twisting in my gut, paring away vital
organs.

A glossy coated mare, who hadn’t been there when we left,
stood out front. Her grooming spoke to her health and the wealth of her owner.
To think of another unfortunate animal spending even a single night in the
stable’s wretched conditions disheartened me even more, if that were possible.
At least she would have two wonderful companions to keep her company.

Tears burned in the back of my throat, even though I thought
I had drained my emotional well earlier with Gideon. I turned a stubborn face
to the clear blue sky. The snide horse trader would not see me cry, and neither
would Gideon, not anymore that day.

“Ah, so you’ve returned. I see you’ve talked a bit of sense
into the girl.” The stableman chuckled. I gave him a murderous glare, but he
only laughed harder. As I sat there, hating him for delighting in my misery, a
ruffle of breeze stirred the still air. I looked back to the previously blue
sky and found a mass of thunderheads lining up on the periphery of the harbor.
The stableman looked to the sky and back at me. I glared at him with all the
depth of my loathing. He stopped laughing and his smile sank into a more
bearable grimace.

“Storm’s come up out of nowhere,” he said, turning to
Gideon. “Happens like that at a seaside town. Best get this business over with
so you and the miss can find some cover.” He excused himself to get the payment
for our horses.

I held my seat on Nonnie. Maybe I intended to stay with her
until the last possible moment. Maybe Gideon would have to drag me off. I
couldn’t see myself relinquishing her easily, not even after my tantrum and
subsequent submission. The winds picked up and tossed my hair about. Cold
tongues of air licked the gaps at my neck, and I pulled my cloak tighter around
my shoulders.

“Here you are. Sixty for the two.” The stable master
presented a bag of coins similar to the one Gideon had passed to the
LaDonna’s
captain. As Gideon reached to take it, a familiar voice called out over the din
of the rising storm.

“Grace! There you are. I was hoping to find you.” Standing
under the eaves of the shabby stable was my angel incarnate. Jackie Faercourt’s
face lit with such a bright smile I nearly had to shield my eyes from the
brilliance of it. He wore more casual attire than when I had seen him in
Thropshire, but still looked immaculate and tailored in a tweed waistcoat and
slacks capped off by a buttery suede walking coat. His hand rested on his horse’s
nose and I realized, then, that the mare had looked familiar. Because I never
expected to see her—or Jackie—again, I had failed to place her in the
appropriate slot in my memory.

I slid to the ground and felt the weight of Gideon’s
astonishment settle over me. “Jackie?” I asked, “What are you doing here?”

He strode toward me, still wearing his grand smile. “Going
to Galland of course.”

“What? But, why?”

“You stoked an excitement in me when you spoke of your
travels. I could hardly sleep because of it. I decided it was high time to
visit my sister again.” He stepped closer and lowered his voice so only I could
hear. “Also, I was not ready to let you go without seeing you again, and this
was the best way.”

Gideon coughed, clearing his throat. Jackie noticed him and
raised an eyebrow, obviously expecting an introduction. “Um, Jackie,” I said, “this
is my brother, Gideon.”

“Gideon Faust,” he said and bent at the neck.

I hadn’t known his surname before that moment, and I felt
small for never thinking to ask.

Jackie bowed. “Jonathan Faercourt, of Connolly, but friends
call me Jackie.”

“And my sister is one of your...
friends
?” Gideon
said the word as if speaking of something filthy. I grimaced at him. He ignored
me.

Jackie nodded. “I’d like to think so.”

No doubt, Gideon exercised extreme self-control to look as
nonplussed as he did at that moment. I knew him well enough to expect another
horrendous confrontation the next time he caught me alone, so I resolved to
avoid him at any cost. I pulled Jackie’s arm and tugged him away, wanting to
keep our conversation private. “What are you doing
here
, though? Are you
selling your horse, too?”

“What? Sell Arabella? No, I had a feeling you might board
your horses, so it seemed a good place to start searching for you. Turns out I
was right.” He waggled his pale eyebrows, and the gesture lightened my mood for
the first time since I had left him yesterday. He straightened his back and
gave me a solemn look. “You asked me if I was selling her,
too
. You don’t
intend to sell
your
lovely horse, do you?”

“I don’t intend to, but I think I must.”

“Do you need money for your passage?”

“No, the captain says we can’t take them with us.”

“Why don’t you board them until you return?”

I made up answers on a whim, trying not to give away too
much. “We don’t really know how long we’ll be gone, and the stableman says he
won’t board them indefinitely without payment upfront.”

Jackie’s elegant brow crinkled and he frowned, but his worry
flitted away as easily as it came. He smiled again and said, “Send them back
with Brewster. I’ll keep them in my stables as long as you need.”

“Who is Brewster?” I looked around to see if I had overlooked
someone in our party, but I saw only Gideon and the horrid stable master. The
looks on both their faces made me turn away again.

“He’s my valet,” Jackie said. “He’s loading my things on the
LaDonna
as we speak. He’ll take my wagon and Arabella back to Connolly
this afternoon. He can take your horses as well.” Jackie scrunched his nose as
if he had sniffed an offending odor. “My stables are nothing grand, but they’ll
fare much better at my home than they will here.”

Gratitude and relief swirled through me, cleansing the
stains of my worry. “Oh, yes, Jackie. Thank you.” I hugged him on impulse. “You
can’t know what that would mean to me—to us.” I waved a hand between Gideon and
me.

“Good, it’s settled.” Jackie raised his voice so that the
other two men could hear him. “Master Faust, I am aware of your situation, and
I’ve offered your sister the use of my stables until you return and reclaim
your horses. There should be no reason to sell them today.”

Gideon, who was always self-possessed and poised, became
even more stolid. But then he nodded. “I thank you Master Faercourt. Your offer
is generous, but I’ll accept it only if you’re certain it won’t be too much a
burden. Where, may I ask, is your home?”

“It’s no problem at all.” Jackie smiled. “Yours is a fine beast,
and I can’t imagine you’d want to part with him, even for a better price.”

A spark flared in Gideon’s eyes that he intended for only me
to see. I suspected he was relieved to send Gespenst to a better fate, but I
would certainly pay for this indiscretion.

Jackie continued, “To answer your other question, I live
south of Thropshire, which is not so far from here, as you know.”

His statement was as good as a headstone on an already deep
grave, one I had been digging ever since he introduced himself to me two days
ago. Gideon would never accept excuses for why I had given so much information
to this stranger, and he certainly wouldn’t care to hear how Jackie’s beauty
made my breath go short, or the way his touch paralyzed my common sense.

“Just south of Thropshire, huh?” Gideon turned away from the
stable owner and stepped closer to Jackie. Realizing his business transaction
was lost, the stableman grunted, spat again, and strode away.

Jackie took one of my hands between both of his, drew it to
his chest, and his touch made my heart skip a beat. Gideon glared at me,
looking pointedly toward our entwined hands. I pulled away and locked my wrists
behind my back.

“Where are you staying?” Jackie asked. “If you haven’t
arranged rooms yet, then I suggest the Contemporary. It’s a little more special
than your average inn. More like the hotels on the Continent.”

He continued to chatter about the accommodations as he led
us out of the stable yard. Gideon raised a questioning eyebrow to me, and I
shrugged as if to say,
what other option do we have
?

“Brewster will be waiting for us when we get there. You can
arrange for him to take your horses then.” Jackie turned and smiled at me. As
with the first time we met, his good humor was infectious and made me want to
return his cheer.

The wind diminished to a playful seaside breeze, not nearly
so chilly or brisk as before. By the time we reached the bustling center of
town, the black clouds that hovered so ominously at the edge of the harbor had
rolled away. The fair day returned, even as the sun started its late afternoon
descent.

We stopped on a sidewalk across the street from the
Contemporary. The large, granite staircase leading up to gilded front doors
awed me. Fallstaff was old and huge, but not especially grand. It was a humble
home for a line of ancient sovereigns. I knew from my father and from my
studies that kingdoms on the Continent were often ruled from palaces mired in
complicated social mores and hierarchies. If Fallstaff ever had presumptions of
grandeur, they were lost by the time I was born.

Outside the Contemporary, two young men in port colored
coats adorned with gold braid and brass buttons stood ready to open the heavy
doors at the entrance. They both wore black velveteen knee pants and floppy
hats fitted with gold tassels. Anywhere else, the costumes would look
ridiculous, but the uniforms complimented the hotel’s opulence.

A black carriage occupied the cobbled drive leading from the
main thoroughfare to the front of the Contemporary and back out again. Porters
from the hotel carted luggage while a tall man in a long black cloak
disembarked from the carriage and made his way through the grand doorway. Our
lodging at The Silver Goose had required only a few coins. I wondered much more
would this establishment would cost. And how did Gideon intend to pay for it,
especially after the sack of coins he had given to Captain Barilla? It all
seemed like so much money, and I had left home penniless. Where had my guardian
obtained funds for our escape? If my father had prepared Gideon for an occasion
such as this, then why hadn’t he informed me of those plans as well?

“Master Faercourt,” Gideon said. “Our funds have been
carefully allotted for this trip, and—”

Jackie put up a slim, long fingered hand, halting Gideon
mid-speech. “Call me Jackie, I insist. I already reserved a suite of rooms, and
I will be quite put out if you don’t accept my invitation to stay with me this
evening.”

“It would be presumptuous of us,” Gideon said, barely
withholding a grimace.

I stepped forward and put a tentative hand on Gideon’s
shoulder. He turned and looked at me with a stony face, but he understood my
intention.

“My sister, however, will appreciate your kind gesture. For
her sake, we’ll accept.” As he spoke, a team of muscled draught horses pulling
a dark wagon turned into the circle drive and stopped behind the black
carriage.

“Ah, Brewster. Perfect timing.” Jackie recognized his
employee and urged us to follow him into the Contemporary’s driveway.

Gideon and Jackie sorted the details of turning over the
care of our horses, leaving me to take advantage of their distraction and
disappear into the hotel, safely away from Gideon’s ill temper. A porter saw me
to Jackie’s suite and promised to send a chambermaid to assist me.

When the maid arrived, she introduced me to the hotel’s
amenities, including hot water plumbing, a giant claw footed tub in a private
bathroom, and a collection of finely milled soaps and crèmes imported from
Galland.

She started the water for the tub and ushered me into a
plush bedroom to undress. “I’ll be happy to lay out your things, Madame, if you’ll
show me where the porter has set your luggage.”

“Oh, my bag has already been put on the ship,” I said. “We’re
traveling lightly.”

The maid’s face dropped. In her line of work, and in such a
fine place as this, she must have rarely encountered a woman without stacks of
luggage. “The hotel can supply you with a dressing gown, m’lady, and I’ll have
your, ah,
attire
laundered and returned by morning.” Her gaze roamed
over my disheveled hair to my dusty boots and back, and she barely managed to
mask the distaste on her face.

I thought of Moira taking my clothes away for a washing and
leaving me stranded with an ill-fitting dress. “No,” I said. “Leave them here,
please.”

She bobbed her head and exited the room.

Jackie and Gideon stayed away during my bath. I washed my
hair several times with the fragrant soaps, leaving the water with a murky cast
from all the filth and dust rinsed from my hair and skin. In the dressing room
adjacent to the bath, the maid had laid out a cream colored silk and cotton
robe embroidered with the hotel’s emblem, and it felt like a dream when I put
it on. The hot water had eased my tired muscles, and even though my empty stomach
rumbled, I couldn’t resist the call of the soft, clean bed.

I fell onto the down mattress as Jackie and Gideon came into
the suite, their voices trickling under my door. The reassuring safety of their
presence eased me into the soundest sleep of many nights.