You Are Mine (Mine #1)(72)

“He does.”

She picks up the fallen pastry and sets in on a plate. Then she brushes the crumbs from her skirt. “I've never heard of such a thing. It may be something I should mention to Daniel.” Her voice trails off.

“Have you spoken to many tarnished?”

“Not a one.”

I can do this. “My seamstress is a tarnished.”

“Your seamstress? How did that come about?”

“None of the regulars would make what I desired for my engagement gown.”

Her eyes widen. “But she did?”

“Yes. I've discovered the tarnished are very capable.” More than capable.

“Perhaps I'll get one. The ease of dressing myself would have advantages.”

I don't mention the breeches. That's too far for me. Or the gun slit in my pocket. I've no idea how she would react to it and I've pushed everyone's safety enough for one day.

She scoots closer to the edge of her chair. “Who's this seamstress?”

I give Katherine's information, all the while silently hoping good things come of it and not ill. After that, our conversation drifts into the more mundane. Despite the shift in topics, she's still not afraid to say what she means.

A while later, Zade returns. Having him back in the room fills me with relief, though he's breathing hard and his clothes look a little ragged. My shoulders roll down as the tension seeps from them. I feel as if I succeeded with Annabelle. At least I hope I've helped Katherine without making anything worse for Zade.

“Your grounds are great. If Daniel ever needs a hunting partner, be sure to let me know.”

“Only if you'll bring Serena to keep me company.”

He grins at me. “A woman does need a break from her intended once in a while.”

She laughs. “I'll be sure to give him word.”

We're shown out and Zade escorts me to the carriage.

“You two seemed to get along.”

“Better than expected. She has Katherine's information, though only time will tell if she makes use of it.”

“Good to hear. I had high hopes for them. Let's end the day on that note.” He scans the area around us.

I look around, but see nothing. “What are you looking for?”

“Someone followed us here.” His jaw tightens.

After a second look, I still see nothing. “Trouble?”

“Nothing new.”

But from the set of his jaw, I can tell it is serious. He hurries me into the carriage and gives directions to the driver to head home. My gut twists. I think someone just tried to kill him. Again.





Chapter Thirty





The last chair is set in place. I survey Zade's room. A few servants are putting the remaining pieces of the desk together. The woodworker did a good job adjusting things to the proper size. Or at least it looks that way. It will be hard to know until he uses it. As long as everything is big enough, it's perfect, and the project somewhat helped to distract me from the fact that someone is trying to kill him.

All his chairs have been replaced with larger ones, except for one, which is left for a guest. The bed matches my new one perfectly, except mine has a canopy with a soft indigo cloth draped across it, an idea I borrowed from Julia's room. The size of the bed is too much, but something about the folds of cloth around me is comforting. Cynthia and I couldn't see Zade wanting the canopy, so his is plain.

The new desk will be left by the old one when it's assembled. There are so many papers, we didn't want to move any of them. The woodworker said if it works, it would be easy enough to make a second for his study. I rest in an over-sized chair, Cynthia across from me in the regular sized one.

“You did a good job. Thank you,” I say.

“Do you think Chancellor Zade will like it?”

I shrug. Maybe? It's hard to know, but I like it. I hope he does, as well. If it helps him feel more comfortable, it will have been worth the work. I want him to be comfortable. And safe, but I can't do anything about the latter. “We'll see.”

“If he doesn't like it, he can donate his bed to me and we'll get another canopy. Yours is fantastic.”

“It's big enough, I could probably go back to sharing it with you and our sisters and not even notice.”

She giggles. “It is most likely. Perhaps we should go to dinner.”

“What we should have done was think ahead and had it brought to us. I'm exhausted.”

Me, too, but hopefully it is worth it. “If the Chancellor doesn't like the furniture, we'll tell them to put it in another room up here so the servants don't have to keep moving everything.”

“We could ask them to bring dinner up, I suppose.”

“After all that, I'm not really hungry.”

BAM!

I twist toward the noise. In the open door way, Zade's a tower of rage. I freeze in place. Cynthia cowers in her chair.

“Get out!” he yells.

I can't move. The remaining servants scamper away. He pounds into the room. Black spells fly from him darting through the room. One zips close to me. I jolt back in my chair. After it whizzes past, I spring from my chair and hover in front of Cynthia.

“What are you doing in here?” He thunders closer, dark spells stained with red darting around him.