The Glittering Court (31 page)

“The king commissions them to travel and learn new things about rocks and minerals.”

“I'd like to do that. But once we've got enough gold for a farm, they say I'll have to help work it.”

I patted his head. “Never assume you'll have to follow the destiny someone else has planned out for you. And I'll show you some other neat rocks.”

I walked him over to the shaded pond, where I'd previously noticed some small mottled pebbles. Glen was fascinated, and I left him to it, figuring he couldn't get in much trouble. As I approached the others from the back of the shanty, I overheard Henrietta speaking to Cedric.

“—not my place, but are you sure that's the best idea?”

“Of course it is,” said Cedric. “I love her.”

“That's fine and well, but you're letting yourself get charmed by a pretty face. Once you're out of bed, you'll see the real consequences. What are you going to do when you have children? I hope you're at least going to make her convert.”

“No one makes her do anything. As for children . . .” Here, Cedric hesitated. “Well, we'll get around to discussing it.”

“You'd better discuss it now,” said Francis. “It's a serious matter. You're an educated man with a business background—exactly the
kind the Alanzans need to go forward and build respectability for the future. Founding Westhaven is the right way to do this. But how will it look if your own wife isn't a member of the faith?”

“It'll look like she has her own opinions and goes with them—just as we've been telling the orthodox we have the right to do. And the point of Westhaven is to welcome people of all beliefs. Alanzan or otherwise.”

The Galvestons weren't convinced, and Alice finally concluded with, “Well, there's a magistrate in White Rock who's one of us. You should seek his counsel before you do something stupid. She's a threat to your faith and a threat to our success.”

When I rejoined them, they all tried to act like nothing had happened, but didn't do a very good job. It was time to wrap up their visit anyway, and we were all a little relieved.

“Oh, Glen,” exclaimed Henrietta when she saw his bulging pocket of stones. “What did I tell you about those rocks?”

“They're for my collection,” he stated. “I'm going to be a royal geo-geologist.”

“A what? Never mind. We aren't going to keep hauling rocks around. Leave those here.”

Glen obstinately stuck out his lower lip, and I quickly knelt down before him. “It
is
a lot to carry around. Why don't you leave them here? I'll keep them safe until you're able to come back for them.”

He didn't look as though he liked that idea, but he also didn't like crossing his mother. So, the rocks were left in a small pile by the shanty, and we waved the Galvestons off.

“Don't say it,” Cedric said, as soon as they were gone. “I know you overheard, and you just need to forget about it.”

“It's kind of hard to forget being called a threat to you. Or hearing that our marriage would be ‘something stupid.'”

“No religion is truly enlightened. There are closed-minded people in all of them.”

I looked him in the eye. “What
are
we going to do when we have children?”

“Marvel at their perfection?”

“Cedric! Take things seriously for once.”

His smile faded. “I am. And as for kids, I don't know. We'll teach them my beliefs, and . . . whatever it is you believe . . . which I still don't really know. And they can make their own decisions.”

“I don't think your Alanzan friends will like that.” It was strange. There'd been so many complications in our relationship. The scandal of it even existing. Our money troubles. The danger surrounding him. But never had I imagined that
I'd
be the complication in his life. “I haven't gone through all this—given up so much—just for you to get out of bed one morning and realize you made a mistake.”

“In that scenario, the only mistake would've been leaving your bed in the first place.” He took my hands and pulled me to him. “In all seriousness, this issue—our difference of belief—isn't one that's taken me by surprise. I knew from the instant I fell for you that we'd have this looming beside us.
Beside
us. Not between us. We will deal with it, and we will overcome it just like we have everything else.”

I closed my eyes briefly and then sighed. “I just wish . . . I just wish there wasn't so much we had to keep overcoming. Probably when it's all over, we'll just be bored.”

“The two of us? Never.”

We kissed, and he pressed me up against the side of the shanty. Somehow, the argument had made me want him even more, and heat shot through me at the feel of his body on mine. One of his hands tangled in my hair, and the other played dangerously with the edge of my skirt, pushing it up my leg.

“Be careful,” I said, unable to resist. “I don't think this shanty wall can withstand very much.”

He pulled back, his breathing rapid and eyes hungry as they looked me over. Not hungry. Ravenous. “
Now
who doesn't take things seriously?”

“Hey, it's a credit to your prowess that I'd even think—”

I lost track of what I was saying as a flash of sunlight caught my eye.
I pushed Cedric aside, confusing him even more, and knelt down to where I'd seen the sparkle. It was in Glen's rock pile. Sifting through them, I found one that glittered golden in the sunlight. I held up for Cedric to see.

“Is it real?” I asked.

We'd heard plenty of stories in White Rock about prospectors being deceived by look-alikes. Cedric got down beside me and held the rock up. It was only a pebble, but it was solid gold.

“It's real,” he confirmed. “Where did this come from?”

“The future royal geologist found it over by the outcroppings, heading toward the foothills. I saw it shining but thought it was some kind of crystal.”

We walked to the far side of the claim, opposite the river. The sparse vegetation thinned out even more here as the rocky land took hold. I pointed to the base of the outcropping in question. It was no mountain, but the large formation was still high enough to make me uneasy when I thought of how high Glen had gotten. And that wasn't even near the top.

Cedric stared up at it for a long moment. “You need to meet my neighbor. Sully. Nice old guy. He's helped me figure a few things out. His claim has some rock formations like this, and he said he nearly ground them to dust looking for gold. Apparently, there was some early Hadisen explorer who found big deposits of gold in things like these—massive deposits. Larger than anything gleaned from the river.”

I followed his gaze, and let those words sink in. “How would you be able to find out? Just start chipping through?”

“Kind of. Look, there's a crevasse at the top. Digging into it might show something. If I can get up there—”

“Get up there?” I stared at the tallest cliff. “That's pretty high.”

“I'll need some equipment to climb up and check. Come on, Adelaide,” he added, seeing my face. “It's safe with the right gear. And if there is a deposit in there, we're set.”

“Where are you going to get that equipment?”

He held up the pebble. “This'll buy what I need for the initial inspection. If there is gold in there, that's going to be a much more serious excavation. One we'll need to talk to Warren and Elias about. We might need to talk to them anyway. The sooner we can move on this, the better.”

The smile on his face was radiant as he looked back at me. The sunlight lit up his tanned features, turning his auburn hair molten. He looked like some sort of ardent young god. A dirty one. But despite all the doubts I had in the world, I believed in him.

“Adelaide,” he told me. “You might just be married in silk after all.”

Chapter 25

I stayed back with the Marshalls the next day while Cedric went to buy the climbing gear. It was hard to hide my excitement as I helped with the chores, but I couldn't risk tipping my hand yet.

“Well, you're in a good mood,” Mistress Marshall remarked. “Haven't complained once about the lye.”

“Just have other things on my mind, that's all.”

“Getting use out of the cinnamon thorn, eh? That's the only thing that could give you a smile that big.”

“Haven't even touched it,” I said. She obviously didn't believe me.

When Cedric took me out on the claim the next day, I barely waited until we'd cleared the Marshall property. “Did you get the gear?”

“Yes and no. The supply store had only some of the things I needed. And then I ran into Elias Carter.”

“Wonderful. Is he smiling yet?”

“No. Especially when he found out what I was there for. He's skeptical about a deposit in the cliffs and says I'm just stirring up trouble. If there really is a substantial amount there, we'd have to bring in more laborers, and there are a lot of men in town jumping at the chance for extra work.”

I could picture Elias delivering all of that in his condescending tone. “So, what? He's not going to let you do it?”

“I can survey it, but he wants to see it himself—at least from a distance. He's supposed to come out today and bring some climbing gear
from another supplier in town that was closed yesterday. He made it clear, of course, that it was a terrible inconvenience for him.”

“Of course.” I sighed. “And here I thought this was going to be a nice day.”

It
was
a nice day. The work was so second nature now that I could do it automatically and spend time talking with Cedric. We talked about the future, what we'd do in Westhaven, what we'd name our children with their yet-to-be-determined religious futures. The happy mood evaporated when Elias rode up with a few cronies in tow.

“No ball gown today, huh?” he asked. “From a distance, I wouldn't even think you're a woman at all.”

“Do you have the gear?” Cedric asked pointedly.

Elias nodded to one of his men, who threw down a pile of ropes and spikes. “The gold you left didn't entirely cover it. We'll be adding it to your account.”

Cedric managed a tight smile. “Of course.”

Elias gestured impatiently. “Well, then, let's see this fortune you think you've found. I don't have all day.”

We went to the far side of the claim, opposite the river. The sparse vegetation thinned out even more here as the rocky land took hold. Cedric pointed to the base of the outcropping in question. It was no mountain, but it was still high enough to make me uneasy. The jagged, uneven surface was equally disconcerting.

“Sully says this is just what Davis Mitchell had on his claim when he made his big strike,” Cedric said.

Elias squinted up. “Sully? You mean George Sullivan? I'd hardly consider him an expert. He's been out here a year with no luck.”

“But he knew Davis Mitchell,” Cedric pointed out. “And saw his claim.”

Davis Mitchell was a legendary figure in Hadisen. He'd made a huge fortune in gold and eventually returned to Osfro to live on his earnings. If there was even a remote chance this might yield the same, it had to be investigated.

“And,” added Cedric, “this is the edge of my property. If there's gold here—”

“Mister Doyle's property,” corrected Elias. “You only work it.”

Cedric was undaunted. “If there's gold here, it's likely part of a vein that runs up through those foothills and into that mountain stretch. Those don't have any leases, right? Mister Doyle could hire workers directly and wouldn't have to split it with a claimholder.”

“No end of trouble to mine those mountains,” grumbled Elias. But I could see the gleam in his eyes as he contemplated the possibility. “Fine. Climb that beast, and see what's up there. Report your findings to me immediately. If there's anything worthwhile there, Mister Doyle will help make arrangements for a proper extraction when he returns from Cape Triumph. And don't start spreading rumors until you're absolutely sure what it's holding.”

“Of course,” Cedric said, again keeping his tone polite in spite of Elias's snide tone.

An awkward silence fell between us all, and then Elias said, “Well, aren't you going to invite us into your home for some refreshment? We came all this way to help you.”

I flinched, remembering that Cedric had an Alanzan diamond on the wall. “It's so cramped in there,” I said. “Hardly any room between the bed and the stove. I'll go bring you something and you can enjoy it out here on this beautiful day.”

Elias eyed me askance. “How kind of you. And how fortunate you're so familiar with the shanty and its bed.”

I smiled sweetly. “I'll be right back.”

I walked away calmly, like some dutiful young lady serving the menfolk. Once inside Cedric's shanty, I hastily closed the door and performed a frantic search. I pulled the diamond down and shoved it in a trunk he'd brought from Cape Triumph. It held a pack of Deanzan cards, though they at least were at the bottom of the trunk. I wrapped them in a shirt to make them harder to find and deemed the house safe should anyone come in.

Refreshment options were meager, as Elias no doubt knew. This was a power play. I'd seen canteens on their horses, and he and his men probably had snacks far better than anything we could muster. Cedric's stove was quirky at best, which was why Mistress Marshall's food always seemed so indulgent to him. I wrapped up some corn bread that she'd given Cedric and brought it outside with cups and a pitcher of water. The water had come from a good well on the claim, but it had long grown warm in this weather.

Nonetheless, I served it with all the grace and courtesy drilled into us in all of the Glittering Court's “good hostess” lessons. I even earned a gruff “thanks” from one of Elias's otherwise silent men. A brief exchange of glances with Cedric told him all he needed to know. It was unlikely that Elias would search the shanty, but nothing obvious would point to the Alanzans.

“You should've never had that diamond out,” I told Cedric, once our visitors had left. “This is as bad as the open rituals.”

He pushed sweaty hair out of his face and nodded. “You're right.”

“Did you just agree with me?”

“I agree with you all the time. You're an astute and intelligent woman. Smarter than me.”

We both looked up at the stony outcropping. “When are you going up?” I asked.

He leaned down and began sifting through the lines and other gear Elias had brought. “No time like the present.”

“What, now? It's the hottest part of the day!”

“It's
always
hot these days.” He separated out a couple of ropes and some hooks. “I can't wait to get one of those big storms old Sully's always talking about.”

I tried to think of some other excuse to delay his climbing up, but there was none. And again, there was always the pressure of time and money weighing upon us.

“Do you even know how to use any of this?” I asked.

He fastened a leather harness around him. “You doubt me?”

“I've just seen you ride a horse, that's all.”

“No need to worry. I've researched it. Talked a lot to Sully and the suppliers in town. It's pretty straightforward.”

I was skeptical, but I couldn't deny that he seemed pretty competent as he hooked up the various lines and stakes. I handed him a pick and kissed him on the cheek. “Be careful. Don't leave me a widow before we're married.”

He grinned by way of answer and began his climb. I knew little of such matters and was impressed with the way he could pierce the rock with stakes and hooks, creating handholds to scale up. The jagged surface I'd worried so much about actually helped along the way, as it provided extra traction.

“You might be good at this after all,” I called up.

“I told you: no need to worry.”

A few clouds had moved in. I was still sweating in the humidity, but at least it cooled me as I waited. The climb didn't take that long, really, but I watched it with clenched fists, aware of every second until he finally swung himself up onto the wide ledge at the top. He waved down at me, and I exhaled in relief. He unhooked his pick from the harness and stepped inside the crevasse. Losing sight of him made me tense again, especially since I didn't know how long this part would take. I doubted he'd simply walk into a wall of gold. And how deep did that opening go? Was he entering some cavern that would put him in danger of a rockslide?

A half hour passed before he finally emerged. “Well?” I yelled.

“Catch,” was all he answered back. He tossed something down. The throw was wide, and it landed several feet behind me. I scurried back, searching the ground. A flash in the sunlight caught my eye, and disbelieving, I picked up a gold nugget the size of a cherry. Five times the size of Glen's pebble. More gold than from a day of us panning together. I ran back to the cliff's base.

“Are there piles of this laying around?”

He put his hand around his mouth so I could better hear. “No, but
it didn't take that much digging to get it out. I think there's a huge deposit running through this. To do it right, they'll want more men and some engineers, I'm sure. But there's more than enough here to pay out your contract.”

“And will that ‘more' part also cover your Westhaven stake?”

“Definitely.”

“Then get down here so I can kiss you.” My heart drummed with excitement. Without even using a backup team, we could almost certainly get out what we needed in a relatively short term. If the vein was fully excavated properly, Cedric would have rights to everything pulled out, less Warren's ownership fee. It would not only get us to Westhaven but ensure we didn't have to move into another shanty. Maybe I could live on love, but that didn't mean I didn't want to also live with a solid roof over my head.

Cedric's climb down required some different maneuvers. In theory, it was simpler. He secured a rope in the stone and then swung himself down, gripping the rope with gloved hands as he rappelled over the stony face. It was less work than getting up, but I was constantly aware that a lot depended on his grip. The harness was secured to the rope as well, providing extra security. And despite his outward cockiness, I could see that he was moving very cautiously.

Which was why it was so astonishing when he slipped, suddenly sliding down, with neither hands nor harness holding the rope. I screamed as a brief, terrifying vision flashed through my mind of him crashing to the ground. His hands flailed out, trying to get purchase, and then somehow, amazingly, he managed to stop himself on a piece of rock jutting out about two-thirds of the way down. It was a narrow horizontal ledge that was just barely big enough for his feet to fit if he turned them outward in opposite directions. The rest of his body clung to the cliff's face, spread eagle.

“Are you okay?” I cried.

“Take Lizzie, and get Sully,” he called back. “You can probably be back in an hour.”

“Are you crazy? I'm not leaving you up there for an hour!” His hold looked tenuous as it was. I didn't even know if he'd last five minutes.

“Adelaide—”

“Be quiet. I'm smarter than you, remember?”

My tone was harsh, but it was only to cover my own fear. Cedric had fallen far from the rope he'd been on; it was too high up now. He'd placed another, lower rope just before his fall, but he could no longer reach it. I had a few extra pieces of equipment at my feet, most of which didn't seem to be of use—with a few exceptions.

That last rope he'd placed was just barely too high for me to reach. Picking up two sharp metal stakes, I practiced plunging them into the rock. To my surprise, I had the strength to embed them and get a secure hold. What was more problematic was pulling myself up. The muscles in my upper body just didn't have the capability to do it with ease. So, I did it with difficulty. I told myself over and over that I only had to go up a few feet. I told myself it was no problem. Most important, I told myself that Cedric's life depended on it.

“Don't do anything dangerous,” Cedric said.

“You can't even see me,” I yelled back.

“Yeah, but I know you.”

With every muscle in my body screaming, I managed to use the stakes to claw my way up enough to reach the rope. I gripped it and was surprised to find it harder to hold on to than the stakes. My hands immediately began to slide, and I yelped in pain as the rope tore at my skin. Using every bit of determination I could muster, I managed to stop my descent and hold on to the rope, bending my body at an angle so that my feet stabilized me on the rock.

I contemplated my next move as a light wind blew strands of hair into my face. I needed to get the rope over to Cedric. If he could reach it, he could climb down safely. Lifting my feet, I hopped to the side, attempting to swing over on the rope. I moved only a little and soon realized the problem. This low on the rope, my weight wasn't enough to move the line a significant distance. I needed to climb up.

Again, all my muscles were pushed to their limits as I raised one hand over the other. I'd seen laborers in Osfro climb ropes my entire life. I'd had no idea how much work it was. Having skinned-up hands didn't help either. When I thought I was high enough to swing myself and the rope over more effectively, I told Cedric, “The rope's coming in on your right. Grab it when you can.”

I then launched off again to the side and, as hoped, I moved the rope significantly closer to Cedric. But still not enough. Another ungainly swing got me within grasping distance.

“I can see it,” he said. “I think I can do it.”

Peering up, I held my breath as I watched him scoot over on that tiny ledge. A few rocks skittered down as he did, and I hoped it would hold him. His hand stretched out and grasped hold of the rope—but now he needed to get the rest of him over. With what sounded like a muttered prayer, he jumped off the ledge, reaching wildly for the rope with his other hand. Once more I had that terrible image of him falling, but he managed to make contact and grip both hands on the line.