The Storyspinner (25 page)

Chapter 71

Johanna

Joshua and Michael had a lifetime’s worth of experience picking berries and finding nuts to supplement their meals while traveling between performances. Johanna followed their tracks to a sunny rise in the opposite direction all the other people had traveled. Within minutes she spotted them; both had full hands and stained lips.

“I thought I told you to stay with the group!” she yelled up the hill.

“They’d be all picked if we followed everyone else,” Joshua explained.

She tried to be angry, but Michael stuffed his cheeks full of berries, and she found herself laughing instead.

“Don’t eat too many! They’ll make you sick.”

Johanna stopped at the tree line to fill a handkerchief with raspberries. She’d save a few for the next morning when the boys were hungry. Again.

Once her square was filled, she knotted the top and followed the noise her brothers made into the trees. It was cooler under the branches, the ground littered with twisting ivy and ferns that crunched under her feet. She checked over her shoulder to see if the two guards had followed her from the gazebos to the woods but found someone wholly unexpected.

Duke Belem.

He smiled when he saw her surprise. “I apologize if I frightened you, Johanna. I’d like a word with you, if I may.”

Rafi’s words echoed in her ears.
One of the dukes has expressed an inappropriate interest in you.
After her performance, she couldn’t say which of the lords gave her the worst impression. Inimigo stared at her with creepy interest, and Belem . . . Belem was vile.

“Of course, my lord.” Johanna measured the distance between them. She could run, but the ground cover and her skirts would slow her down.

“I have room in my house for a girl such as you.” His gaze traced down her body and back up. “I could use someone of your veritable talents.”

Every time she saw Belem, he had a bottle in his hand and was either drunk or well on his way. There was a drying wine stain on the front of his tunic, but he stood balanced on the balls of his feet, as if expecting to burst into motion. Johanna shifted the raspberries into her left hand, freeing her right so that she could reach for her dagger if she needed it.

“I’m sorry, my lord, but I’ve signed a contract with the DeSilvas, and my family is settled here. I couldn’t take any offer that forced me to leave them behind.”

“Those sweet little boys I saw earlier?”

“I have an older brother, as well. He should be along any moment.” The lie came smoothly, but Belem clicked his tongue in response.

“You mean the one who has an apprenticeship in town? I’d be surprised to see him now, given that he doesn’t generally leave till after sunset.”

Shivers ran along Johanna’s skin like an army of ants. “I’m surprised you know so much about my family.”

“I don’t know everything, Johanna, but I’d like to.” He took a step forward and she matched him with one backward. “My estate is beautiful, and wealthy. We make a healthy profit on the items we buy from Maringa and sell to the rest of Santarem at a premium price. Such fools they all are, holding to their honor and misguided principles.”

He reached toward the belt hidden under his paunch and Johanna drew her dagger. “Put your hands down.”

Belem laughed, his jowls wiggling with amusement. “Relax, girl. I was reaching for my purse.”

“Don’t bother. I’m not interested in your money.”

“Come now, you can’t honestly tell me this is how you saw your life turning out? Performing in a tiny state rather than Santarem’s biggest cities?” He lowered one hand slowly, untied his purse, and tossed it at Johanna’s feet. It split open and gold coins spilled out the top, cascading over her foot and rolling under the vines below.

Then she was flat on her back with a knee pinning her knife hand and strong fingers at her throat.

“Performers are always distracted by money.” Belem exhaled into her face, his breath reeking of wine fumes and rotten cheese. “It appears you are a fool as well.”

He was so heavy, his weight pressing her into the soft dirt. Her skirt was trapped under his legs and she couldn’t get them free.

“Get off of me!” She swung her left arm, dragging her nails across his face. He caught her wrist and slammed it into the ground.

“That will come out of your salary.” Belem spit blood from a split lip. “I came to you with an honest proposal and then—” His words cut off with a sharp intake of breath, his eyes wide with shock. “Wh-what is that? Where did you get that necklace?”

She could feel it then, the green crystal pressed against the hollow of her throat.

Belem broke the chain holding the pendant, cradling it in his meaty fist. Johanna struggled and bucked her hips, but the duke didn’t seem to notice. He swatted her hands aside and stood up, still staring at the necklace.

“Mother Lua, it can’t be.” Without another word, he walked toward the pond, swaying like a drunk as he went.

Johanna sat among the pile of coins, feeling the sting of the broken chain across her neck and grateful she hadn’t suffered worse.

Chapter 72

Jacaré

Something had changed among Jacaré’s troop members. Strained silence drifted around their camp with the smoke from their small cooking fire.

They were tired and worried—he knew that and felt it too—but there was something more in the dark looks Tex sent both Pira and Leão. Pira kept her distance from the men like they’d been skunked.

Scrapes between soldiers were common, but they were a small, tight-knit group and needed to focus on something other than their disagreement.

He’d chosen to stop in the late afternoon so that everyone could catch a few hours’ sleep without anyone having to stand watch. They’d eat, rest, ride on at dusk, and be at Santiago by the following afternoon.

Leão returned from the stream with a string of cleaned fish in his hand. He stepped wide to avoid brushing against Pira as she pulled the saddle from her horse.

Yes, there was definitely something going on.

“Help me get these wrapped,” Jacaré commanded Leão, pointing to the wide leaves he’d gathered to bake the fish in. “The coals are ready now.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hold up a moment,” Tex said. He held the glass on his palms, the wrappings dangling from either side. “The image is frozen again.” He shook it as if that would make the magic start working.

Jacaré snatched it out of the old soldier’s hand and studied the image. It showed a canopy of trees with late afternoon sunlight creating streaks of golden fog across the glass surface. There was something brown—
maybe a thatched roof?
—at the bottom of the image. “How long has it been like this?”

“I checked it this morning and it showed a wagon like the Performers live in, and then there was a stream of images changing every half hour or so, but it’s been stuck like this for two hours.” Tex leaned over Jacaré’s shoulder. “But I can’t figure out why she’d be lying on her back for so long unless . . .”

He couldn’t finish the sentence and Jacaré didn’t need him to. The last time the image had frozen, the person wearing the necklace was dead.

“She’s not dead,” Jacaré said with conviction. “Everyone back on your horses. We ride without stopping until we find her.”

“But—”

Jacaré cut off Pira’s complaint and kicked dirt over their fire and the fish. “Leão, heal the horses at steady intervals. I don’t care if their legs break. You heal them while they run.” He turned to Tex. “What do you remember of the last images? Can you find where she was living?”

“A mango orchard. From the angle of the sun, I’d say on the southwest corner of the Santiago township.”

“We’ll ride there first. If we’re lucky she’ll have dropped the necklace somewhere in the woods.”

Mother Lua,
Jacaré thought.
I’ve gone insane.
He replayed his instructions in his head but had no time to doubt anything he’d said. They had to get to the girl before. . . . Then the image made sense.

The bit of thatch at the bottom of the image wasn’t a roof. The texture was too smooth and orderly. It was hair.

Someone had attacked the princess.

Jacaré kicked his horse’s flanks. He’d ride the animal to its death if that meant saving the heir and Santarem.

Chapter 73

Rafi

Rafi had no problem following the trail Johanna and her brothers had laid. Broken sticks, trampled grass, toe digs in the soft dirt were all there for those who looked, but in the end he didn’t even need them. Michael’s voice blasted from over a rise and Rafi sprinted to the sound.

“I’ll kick him in the shins! I’ll bite off his nose!” the boy yelled, his face red in his frenzy. “No one knocks my sister down!” He demonstrated exactly what he wanted to do, spinning and thrashing, little fists swinging in anger.

Joshua stood nearby, snapping the heads off wild wheat and crumbling them as he walked.

Rafi jogged past both of them and straight to Johanna. “What happened? Who knocked you down? Are you hurt?” He grabbed her elbows to study her face. Her hair was a bit askew and the back of her dress had picked up some dirt, but otherwise she looked uninjured.

“It was Duke Belem,” she said, and Rafi could feel a slight tremble run through her. “He didn’t hurt me, not really. At first it seemed as if he had . . . intentions.” She tilted her head toward her brothers, and Rafi knew that he’d have to wait for a full explanation. “He knocked me down and stole my necklace.”

“Your necklace?” A thin line of blood, fine and bright, showed against her pale skin. “Why would he want your necklace?”

“I have no idea. It was just a flawed crystal on a chain.” She pressed her hand to her throat. “It was sentimental in value because it belonged to my father.”

Michael jumped between them. “Whatcha’ going to do, Lord Rafi? Are you going to punch him in the face? Throw him in jail?”

Flog, beat, castrate him.
The law in Santiago required no less, and Rafi wanted to hand out the Punishment personally.

“Nothing,” Johanna said.

“What?” Rafi asked.

“I’m unharmed. Lord Belem was confused, and likely drunk. He made a mistake.”

“Johanna, that’s ridiculous. There has to be some recourse—”

She squeezed his arm hard. “We’ll discuss it later. Let’s get back to the group, and have a nice afternoon.”

“You don’t intend to perform now. Not after this.”

“I
intend
to act like nothing happened, draw no further attention to myself, and then go home.” To end the conversation, she turned and followed Joshua up the hill, draping an arm around the little boy’s hunched shoulders.

There wasn’t much of a party to return to. Dom and Snout rode back from the estate announcing that Duke Belem had fled with only three of his retainers in tow.

“Did you see him? Did he say anything?” Rafi asked.

“I did, my lord,” offered Snout. “He didn’t even stop to pack. Simply grabbed the first few men he saw and headed due north like he had a hurricane on his heels.”

The two underlords who’d accompanied Belem to Santiago didn’t know what to make of their liege lord’s strange actions.

Lady DeSilva took control. “Duke Belem must have had a reason to return to his estate. Perhaps he received a missive we are unaware of or had an ominous feeling that he should go home.” She patted arms and offered smiles as she moved through the crowd. “Given the strange circumstances, I suggest we retire to the manor for the rest of the evening and I’ll have my staff provide you each with private meals. You can send birds to the towns he may pass through or pack for your own return journeys if you choose to leave.”

This appeased most of the guests, though it didn’t stifle the murmuring. Heads were bent together, nervous questions filled the air. Why had Duke Belem left? Was he offended? Was there an emergency? Was war on the horizon? Eyes darted between the DeSilvas and Inimigo, judging and deciding based on the lords’ actions what their next steps should be.

Rafi was happy to let his mother handle it all, to whisper in ears and calm nerves. His mind festered with a question he couldn’t answer: What happened between Belem and Johanna that sent the duke running?

Chapter 74

Rafi

Rafi’s hands gripped his reins too tightly, causing Breaker to toss his head irritably. The horse recognized his master’s feelings and pranced a bit in response. Rafi wanted to relax, but he couldn’t forget what had nearly happened to Johanna that afternoon. He patted the horse’s neck in apology.

“We’re ready to ride, my lord.” Captain Alouette already had Michael mounted on his horse and a bedroll attached to his saddle.

Dom hauled Joshua up behind him. Rafi wasn’t going to leave Johanna’s care to the two guards who drew the short straws for the duty, who could so easily be distracted by a cherry tart or a tart in a dress. Captain Alouette was the best soldier on the estate and someone he trusted implicitly. He and Dom had agreed to stand guard at the Van Arlos’ camp—though Alouette had raised questioning eyebrows at the order. With these men, Johanna would be safe until different arrangements could be made.

Arrangements Rafi was certain she wouldn’t like.

“Here she is,” Dom said as Johanna walked out of the estate dressed in her hunting leathers.

They fit better than Rafi remembered, hugging her like an acrobat’s costume. She’d been eating well since she’d started working for his family, and it showed.

She held up a hand and Rafi tugged her into the saddle without a word.

Rafi let Dom and Captain Alouette lead the way to the forest trail. Breaker wanted to stay close to the other horses, but Rafi held him back, trying to maintain enough space to keep their conversation private.

“How are you?” he asked quietly.

She sighed, her breath warm on his neck. “I’m fine. Grateful. Confused.” She snorted. “My mother said that necklace never brought my father good luck, but I can’t help but think it saved me today. Though I have no idea why.”

Rafi had explained the situation to his mother, who was equally dumbfounded by Belem’s strange actions. Rafi wanted to send a group of men to ride after the duke and drag him back to face justice. As usual Lady DeSilva cautioned him to do the opposite. “Any action you take will have political repercussions. Right now, with things so unstable and so much in question, I suggest you send a letter to his estate expressing your displeasure—”

“I’m not displeased, Mother. I’m livid.” Rafi had stomped around the lady’s sitting room, wanting to drive his boots into Belem’s face.

Lady DeSilva considered him for a time before asking, “At Belem or at yourself?”

The answer, of course, had been both.

The rest of their conversation—discussing his feelings toward Johanna—wasn’t something Rafi wanted to revisit, especially with her sitting so close to him now.

“I have a proposition for you,” he said, tracing the horn of his saddle idly.

“I’ve already been propositioned once today, thank you.”

Rafi smiled. If Johanna was in full command of her wit, then she was probably fine.

“It’s not that sort of proposition.” He paused, knowing that if he didn’t phrase his request just so, Johanna would balk and he’d have a fight on his hands. “I’d like to extend the terms of your contract, to make you my estate’s official court performer. The title would offer your family a sense of stability, a constant income, and room and board.

“There’s a small cottage that generally belongs to the Captain of the Guard and his family, but Alouette is not married, so it’s currently vacant.” He pressed on through her silence. “It has two bedrooms on the main floor and a loft above. It’s not large, but it’s comfortable.”

“I can’t,” she said simply, her fingers tightening in the sides of his vest and pulling it taut across his chest.

“Yes, you can.” Rafi tried to peer at her over his shoulder. “You don’t have to stay with us forever. When you turn eighteen you can return to Performers’ Camp, and they won’t hold any of your actions against you.”

“I just . . . can’t.”

Rafi bit down hard enough to make his teeth hurt. Couldn’t she see that he was trying to protect her? Couldn’t she see that he cared?

He turned halfway in the saddle and grabbed the poorly tied strap of Johanna’s satchel.

“What are you doing?” She shied back a little, her eyes wide and frightened.

He yanked the bag off her shoulder and threw it into the bushes.

“Are you cra—”

“Oh blast!” Rafi yelled loud enough to catch both Dom’s and Captain Alouette’s attention. “Johanna’s lost her bag somewhere along the trail. You ride on ahead and we’ll be right behind you.”

Dom grinned and wagged his eyebrows. “Sure thing, brother. Catch up to us when you can.”

If only.