Jade Mouse

Chapter 19

The carriage ride was a quiet, anxious one. We'd managed to get Theo through the hallway safely (barely, and once through, Theo admitted that it would be a fine idea if he continued using the secret passage to get to my exercise hall) and then hurriedly made our way to one of the waiting carriages.

It turned out that Garrett's unexpected arrival at my door had an equally unexpected advantage – there was now a public carriage available to carry my knights in addition to my own private one, which meant that we wouldn't be crammed into the same carriage. One of my knights, Sonja, had also offered to ride ahead of us on horseback and scout the streets. The reduced stress on the carriage horses in turn meant that we'd be faster, which was ideal. Cyrus and two of the knights who volunteered were following in the smaller public carriage, while Theo, myself, and the remaining two knights rode in my personal carriage, my driver Tarryl at the reins. Apart from the noise of carriage wheels speeding forward on cobbled stone, the only sounds were the occasional clink of metal on metal and the familiar patter of falling raindrops.

And, as I'd predicted in my exercise hall, some curious glances were being leveled at Theo, who was sitting beside me calmly, a few wisps of untied hair starting to curl around his face as they dried.

The knight sitting across from me, a fellow named Orin, seemed particularly curious about this stranger in black sitting next to his Lord. I covertly watched him spend a few minutes staring at Theo, a thoroughly confused look on his face. Eventually he turned and whispered conspiratorially into the ear of the knight sitting beside him, a woman named Khia. She in turn glanced at Theo and frowned, shook her head slightly, and whispered something back to him.

I gave a small sigh. Theo had been recognized – it was obvious.

Before I could interrupt the inevitable question I saw making its way out of Orin's mouth, Theo abruptly turned toward the knight.

“Excuse me, friend. Do I know you?” he asked, giving Orin a mildly curious look. “You look terribly familiar.”

“Uh,” said Orin, taken aback. “I . . . I don't know. I was actually about to ask you the same thing. You bear a striking resemblance to someone I recall seeing a few times around these parts, though I can't understand why-”

“Around here? No, not me,” Theo shrugged, calmly, his accent now only slightly preposterous. “I have only just started working for Lord Tucat recently. Perhaps . . . ah! Perhaps it was at my former place of work, where I've seen you! Yes, that must be it,” Theo beamed.

“Oh? Where was that?”

“I worked protection at the Grey Swan, taking care of the girls. You've been there, yes?” said Theo with a friendly, cheerful smile.

I'd only heard of the Grey Swan by reputation. As brothels went, it was supposed to be pretty good.

“Err, no,” Orin replied, coloring slightly and sending a quick glance in my direction before looking over at Khia, who was now looking out the window and appeared to be suppressing a giggle. “No, I think that must be someone else you're thinking of.”

“You're sure? Meh, it will come to me. Let me think on it,” he said, shaking his finger at nothing in particular and looking thoughtfully at the carriage ceiling, perhaps stifling a grin. “Though, I'm sure I've seen you somewhere . . .”

I had to stifle a grin of my own. The young knight was suddenly much less interested in Theo or who he might have resembled, and was avoiding eye contact with his fellow passengers, inspecting the passing city scenery.

There are times when I forget just how smart Theo can be.

A few minutes later, I heard Tarryl calling my name.