"It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Which part?" Cerise asked. "The part where you put yourself on a collision course with the Hand, or the part where you complicate a Mirror agent's life to the point of compromising his mission?"
The bird didn't answer.
"Or maybe it's the part where your brother-in-law loses his head and tries to bring charges against my cousin for kidnapping you two?"
"Declan wouldn't do that," George said, but he sounded hesitant.
"I expected this from Jack," Cerise said. "He gets tunnel vision, although it's a stretch even for him. But you know better."
The bird began cleaning under its wing.
Cerise sighed. "Do Declan and Rose know where you are?"
"I imagine they do by now."
"How?"
"Lark was supposed to tell them."
"So you even managed to drag my sister into this mess." Cerise shook her head. "Jack seems calmer. Did he rend?"
"Yes."
"Was it bad?"
"Not at all."
"It was awful," Audrey said. "It went on forever, and he cried at the end."
Cerise sighed. "This conversation isn't over. I'm not covering for you with Rose, either."
"Understood," George said.
"Keep the bird here, please. I'll tap it if we need you." Cerise turned to Audrey, stuck her bottom lip out, and blew the air out of her mouth. "Hi."
"Hi."
"One day, I will have children with William. This is what I have to look forward to."
"Scary," Audrey supplied.
Cerise smiled, sharp. "I can't wait."
Audrey's earlier suspicions were confirmed. All Mars were insane.
Cerise sipped a tiny bit of her lemonade. "Jack really cried?"
"Yes."
"Would you mind telling me the whole story from the beginning?"
Fifteen minutes later, Cerise had drained most of her lemonade. "The boys kicked ass. There will be hell to pay at home, but Declan and Rose will be proud. And honestly, George is what, fourteen? Most of my family had their first taste of blood by that point."
Violent psychotic swamp people. Yep, that's where Kaldar came from. It explains volumes.
"And Kaldar, that scheme with the preacher, that's just priceless. The man is brilliant. He knows it, which makes him insufferable, but he's still brilliant. I would've never thought of that."
The subject of Kaldar had to be avoided at all costs. Audrey leaned forward. "What are you and William doing here?"
"Did you see the boy with glasses?"
"The one who follows you around like a puppy?"
"Yes." Cerise sighed. "Francis. He makes these paintings. Elaborate, ornate paintings. They make you dizzy if you look at them too long. And if you look at them under a certain magic illumination, you will see interesting things, like the complete blueprints of strategic buildings. The Ducal Palace, for example. The Castle Ordono, which is an Adrianglian stronghold on the northern Louisianan border. He has a photographic memory, and once he looks at something, he remembers it. He thinks the blueprint gimmick will make his paintings special."
They were special, all right. "How did he get access to all those blueprints?"
"When his talents were discovered, the Adrianglian military idiots in their infinite wisdom thought he'd make a good spy, so they started shoving complex blueprints at him and training him to reproduce them. He is doing exactly what they trained him to do, except, you see, he doesn't want to be an engineer or a spy; he wants to be an artist. So he ran away. We tracked him down to Morell, who will be auctioning one of his paintings. Francis thinks people are buying his blueprint paintings because they are art. He doesn't realize they are buying his blueprints to use them for their own purposes. William and I have to extract him and take him back."
"What will happen to him?"
"They will confine him. They won't kill him, but they will put him in a controlled environment, probably in Lona-ret. It's a military building, very beautiful, like a resort. Except with tall walls, magically capable guards, and handlers who make sure the guests don't leave. He is not ill or mentally deficient. Francis knows he is committing treason. He was warned before, and he is aware that someone may use his art for nefarious purposes; but he's so arrogant that he scoffs at that idea. He's convinced that his work's artistic value trumps all those silly little national-security rules. He just doesn't care. He's lucky he's talented, or they would jail his scrawny ass in some dungeon and forget he was ever born." Cerise leaned forward. "The Mirror's agents aren't permitted to discuss the nature of their missions with each other. The Mirror provided us with an invitation, and we arrived here. William is a Louisianan smuggler and a jealous thug. I'm minor nobility and a delicate flower in need of rescuing. Francis is a romantic. He filled in the blanks very quickly. We had no idea Kaldar would wind up here. We must coordinate things now."
No kidding.
"You are still thinking of marrying him, right?"
What is it with the two of them and marriage? "Cerise, he is joking. Besides, I wouldn't marry him if he paid me."
"Why not?"
"Because Kaldar isn't the marrying kind. He's the have-fun-with kind."
Cerise frowned. "You have to admit, he is a great agent."
"Yes. He's clever and capable, and he gets the job done."
Cerise glanced at her. "And he is quick on his feet."
"Yes."
"And handsome."
"Well, of course he's handsome. He's a great thief. He also did that sword thing your family does and killed one of the Hand's swordswomen, I guess you'd call them. None of it makes him a good candidate for marriage. He has wandering eyes and wandering hands." And he lies. Constantly and with great skill.
"He was always very good with the blade. He's a good provider," Cerise said.
Funny how she completely ignored that wandering eyes bit. Audrey hid a smile.
"Family is really big with our clan. In the swamp, you can't count on anyone but family. Kaldar was our matchmaker. He arranged most of the unions for the family."
Well, that explained volumes. She'd asked him about his friends' being married. Of course he knew his friends were married. He had probably married his relatives to them. And she had rubbed his nose in the fact that he hadn't tied the knot himself. That explained his sudden urge to marry.
"So you wouldn't have to worry," Cerise continued. "Kaldar knows all about what's required to start a solid household."