“All done?” Tom asked, making no threatening moves. “Then let’s get you back. Dawn is coming.” Aviel remained quiet. In the light of the lanterns hanging in town, her hair glittered gold.
Our journey back was frenzied as we tried to beat the sunrise. We were going too fast for me to see Beth, but I did notice the point where we’d had the altercation. The lantern still burned on the road, and two men lay prone nearby. I wasn’t sure if they were dead or unconscious, and no one stopped to find out.
Our speed was good—but not that good. The sun was touching the eastern horizon when we reached the outskirts of Cape Triumph, and here Tom and Aviel left me. “We disappear with the dawn,” he said with a smile. “But I hope you can handle things now.”
I got off the mare. My legs were so stiff from all the riding that I nearly fell over. “Thank you for your help. I couldn’t have done this without you.” I glanced at Aviel. “Either of you.”
“Our pleasure,” he said. She simply nodded in acknowledgment as she mounted her horse. He sketched me a bow from his saddle. “Que Ariniel te garde, Lady Witmore.”
I couldn’t help a smile, both at hearing a pirate perfectly deliver an old Lorandian proverb and at having Ariniel invoked on my behalf. Back at my parents’ crypt, I’d dismissed the glorious angel who helped with safe passages, but I could certainly use her help now. I waved to the pirates, and their horses soon thundered out of sight.
I walked into Cape Triumph alone. I didn’t know the exact time, but seeing so many businesses open didn’t bode well. The trial would be starting soon. What would Cedric think when he didn’t see me among the spectators? That I’d abandoned him. No. He knew me too well. He’d know I was working to save him. I just hoped I could do it.
I went to Nicholas Adelton’s home and found him walking out the door. He sized me up from head to toe. “I’m running late and had planned to go to the courthouse—but it looks like you need me more.”
“Gideon Stewart talked to you?”
“About his tenuous plan? Yes. And I really didn’t think it could be pulled off in time . . . especially the part about the woman with nothing coming up with five hundred gold.”
I pulled back my coat and showed him the money bag.
He shook his head and laughed. “Never a dull moment with you.”
“Will you help us? I know it’s a lot to ask after everything we—”
“Miss Bailey,” he interrupted. “Let’s go find the Westhaven representatives.”
They were staying at an inn in town, one of the nicer ones. The common room here was quiet and orderly, and Nicholas and I sat at a table while the innkeeper fetched the Westhaven representatives. I yawned once, then again.
“You look like you’re ready to fall asleep,” Nicholas said.
“Just need a quick break,” I said. “Then I’ll get a second wind. Or maybe I’m on to my third or fourth at this point.”
I could tell he was struggling to say what came next. “Adelaide . . . you didn’t do anything, uh, illegal to get that money, did you?”
“No.” I reconsidered. “Well, not exactly. Maybe kind of. I don’t know. No one was hurt, if that makes you feel better.”
“Somewhat.”
A man and a woman approached our table. They looked respectfully middle class and were dressed no differently than anyone else. After seeing the Grashond residents, I wasn’t sure what to expect from those working toward a religiously tolerant colony.
“I’m Edwin Harrison, and this is my wife, Mary.” The man looked us over, no doubt perplexed by the extreme contrast in my and Nicholas’s attire. “Is there something we can help you with?”
“We’d like to buy a stake in Westhaven,” said Nicholas.
Edwin instantly transformed. “Absolutely! How wonderful. We’re so eager to have more people join our endeavor. Dear, would you go get one of the contracts?” He turned back to us while she went upstairs. “You must tell me more about yourselves, Mister and Mistress—”
Nicholas and I exchanged amused looks. “It’s not for us,” I said, though I would be affected if this worked. “It’s for someone else.”
A little of Edwin’s enthusiasm diminished. “That’s highly irregular.”
“The man in question is detained,” explained Nicholas. “I’ll be serving as proxy.”
“Highly irregular,” Edwin repeated. Mary returned with several pieces of paper.
“I’m his attorney,” Nicholas told them. “And this young lady is his—”
“Wife,” I finished.
Nicholas hesitated as he took that in and then made a quick recovery. “And should Mister Harrison doubt that, you could of course show him the proof.”
“It’s with a magistrate in Hadisen,” I said. Giving that up was a big secret, but legally, I should have a fair amount of power to act on Cedric’s behalf, especially with Nicholas as legal backup. Considering the trouble we were already in, revealing our marriage couldn’t really make things worse.
“Never a dull moment,” Nicholas murmured with a half smile. He turned back to the Harrisons. “So, you see, there’s no problem with our going forward for him.”
Edwin wavered a bit more and then conceded. “Very well then. We’re eager to begin our work with those passionate about our vision.”
He and Nicholas began going over the paperwork. I knew a little bit about the terms from Cedric, but hearing it laid out in detail was fascinating. Most of the other colonies were founded on orders of the king, who then appointed governors and other prominent leaders. Westhaven’s founding had been initiated by the crown as well, following ceding of the land by the Icori in another morally questionable truce. Unlike other colonies, the crown operated this one as a business in response to those clamoring for freedom to practice their faith. The priests of Uros might want to hunt down and persecute heretics, but the king found it easier to simply ship them off.