The Chocolatier's Wife (6 page)
Read The Chocolatier's Wife Online
Authors: Cindy Lynn Speer
Tags: #Fantasy, #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #Women Sleuths, #General
You are
quite right,
that
it seems as
if
my
ship is too well armed for its duty,
but p
i
rates infest
the
waters worse than
ever, and
a
ship must be
able
to defend
its men
and
cargo
from the ruffians.
In
fact,
the
growth of
piracy
has
deprived me of
a
great
deal of
good men,
not by
the
sword, but either
by
impressment to
a
Royal
Navy
vessel
or by
the
scallywags
being
drawn off
by promises of rich prize money. I lost five
men just this morning to Comm
o
dore Lavoussier.
You’ve doubtless heard
of
him,
the
terror of
the
seas,
a
darling of
the
people
if
not so much
the
Admiralty. Watching
him pick
over my
sailors as
if
he
were at
market has
not made me care
for him much,
especially
since
there
is naught I
can
do about
the
situation. I
do not wish to see
the
inside of
a prison.
Forgive me for wasting your time with such
nonsense.
I
shall
close
now,
and
hope
I
am in a
better
frame
of
mind on
the
morrow when
we
reach
T’lecka
port. In
any
case
I
wish to say that
I
am very
proud of
your accomplishments.
I
have
asked about
the
trad
i
tions of
your people
and
gather
that
you
have done extremely
well indeed,
and
know you
will continue
to do so.
Yours,
William
The young
woman
stood
gracefully
when
called and
named
all
herbs
and flowers
associated
with memory.
She
said
them
in
a
sweet,
clear
voice,
and
then
stared at her teacher, waiting.
The
teacher
tapped
a
stylus
on
the
table
and
arched
an
eyebrow,
clearly stating that she was not impressed.
The young woman
swallowed. “Did I
miss one?”
Tasmin
Bey
placed
her
stylus
aside,
folded
her
hands,
and
looked
at
the
young woman very firmly.
“I
think
that
you
will
find,
if
you
turn
to
page
325
in
your
book
on
magical herbs
and
flowers,
that
you
have
recited
the
wrong
list.
In
the
future,
Miss Hollins,
I
believe
you
should
consider
pouring
more
of
your
efforts
into your
studies,
rather than
in
love
potions.”
This
was
greeted
by
laughter, and
she
glared
at
them
all.
“None
of
you
are
perfect,
so
I
will
thank you
to stop
laughing.
Miss
Elsbin,
I
would
like
you
to
list
the
herbs
that
are
said
to prove against sea sickness,
if you please.”
Sh
e
listene
d
a
s
th
e
nex
t
gir
l
ros
e
an
d
recite
d
th
e
list
.
A
s
on
e
o
f
th
e
youngest member
s
o
f
th
e
university
,
he
r
tas
k
wa
s
t
o
teac
h
student
s
basi
c
herba
l
lore
,
ston
e
lore
,
an
d
craft
.
Th
e
meaning
s
o
f
flower
s
an
d
o
f
stone
s
wer
e
he
r
particular specialty
,
an
d
ever
y
mornin
g
sh
e
taugh
t
fou
r
group
s
o
f
student
s
a
t
varying degree
s
o
f
dif
f
iculty
.
Som
e
o
f
th
e
st
u
dent
s
wer
e
wonderful
.
The
y
didn’
t
jus
t
memorize
;
the
y
understood
.
Mos
t
wer
e
merel
y
adequate
;
the
y
onl
y
learne
d
wha
t
the
y
coul
d
apply
.
Som
e
o
f
the
m
use
d
wha
t
sh
e
taugh
t
the
m
a
s
a
sor
t
of sneak
y
shorthan
d
language—whic
h
annoye
d
he
r
furthe
r
becaus
e
surel
y
the
y
understoo
d
th
e
correlatio
n
betwee
n
th
e
fac
t
tha
t
sh
e
taugh
t
the
m
wha
t
it mean
t
an
d
th
e
fac
t
tha
t
sh
e
kne
w
wha
t
i
t
meant
.
“Mister
Hibbs,
since
you
seem
determined
to
talk
during
class,
perhaps you will be so kind
as to recite those herbs that cause silence?”
No
wonder
I
have
such
a
headache.
How
ever
am
I
to
work
on
my
own studies when
this lot wears me down so?
But
still,
when
she
had
sent
the
last
group
off
to
lunch,
after
which they
would
have
laboratory sessions
and
study
time,
she
went
directly
to her
own
study
in
the
library. She
kept
a
cache
of
fruit
and
nuts
there,
so that
she
would
not
have
to
socia
l
ize
with
other
faculty
during
lunch.
It
was not
that
she
did
not
enjoy
talking to
others,
she
rather
liked
many
people, but
she
wanted
to
concentrate
on
her
work. She
drank water
with
a
little wintergreen
in
it
for
her
head,
and
then
picked
up
a
light
stone
to
augment the
muddy
daylight.
She
knocked the
light
stone
on
the
desk
to
get
it
to work,
placed
it
in
its
bracket,
and
began
to
take
notes.
She
was
doing
work on prote
c
tion
amulets.
Sometimes
amulets
could
grow
unstable,
even
do the
opposite
of
what
they
were
supposed
to, and she
was
trying to
find quick
and
efficient ways
of
breaking
them,
so
that
even
those
without
the right talent could disable them.