Armored Hearts

chapter 15

Gareth and Jessamine didn’t speak the remainder of the night. He’d folded the blanket to form a pallet from the parts which weren’t soaked, while she rested in the chair. Crickets chirped through the night, and the moon cut through the slit in the curtains with a silvery glow. The lonely sounds of constant repositioning came and went, but no sleep was to be had by either of the newlyweds.

When the early morning calls of birds replaced that of the crickets, a soft knock came to the door. “Are ye decent? I’ve got yer breakfast.” Sarah poked her head in before she entered with the tray. “I’ve made excuses fer ye with the extra guests that ye were sleepin’ in and wished them all safe travel.”

Sarah pushed open the curtains, letting warm golden sun illuminate the bed chamber before turning and gasping at the room in shambles. “What in heaven’s name?” She glanced between the two of them as she spoke. “Ye were gettin’ on so well last evenin’ until the assassin.” She stormed over to the bed. “And why is the bed soaked?”

Gareth no longer bothered with pretense. He flew to the table where she’d placed the tray and poured himself some coffee. He did his best to gulp the hot liquid energy without burning his tongue. “She poured water on me because I was trying to sleep when she wanted to argue.”

Sarah chuckled. “I’d forgotten this part of being newly married.” She bit back a smile as she began tidying up the room.

Jessamine strode toward Sarah, flailing her arms toward Gareth. “How can he sleep when we have such a big problem between us?”

Sarah turned to face her. “I don’t know, sweeting, but it seems to be normal for men to just roll over and sleep while we are still screamin’ at ’em. Now eat up so I can help ye with yer corset. Tabitha’s been circlin’ a big box sent here as a wedding gift. She hears tickin’ and is dyin’ to find out what it be.”

Jessamine marched to the table, grabbing a bread roll, as she headed for the screen. “Oh, I don’t need help with my corset. Mine are all self-lacing.”

Sarah tilted her head, her brows furrowed. “Self-lacing?”

“Yes, another creation from my mother. You pull a string and gears cinch it to your chosen tightness. Tell Tabitha we’ll be right down.”

“Yes, milady” Sarah nodded and left the room.

Gareth made his way to his bureau and quickly dressed before Jessamine could come out from behind the screen. When she emerged, she was put together in a stylish, garnet day dress and ruffled, black bustle. Dark ringlets fell about her hair bun.

She tilted her head just so she could glance up under dark lashes. “Shall I go down first to make sure you can fly down?”

Gareth sighed. “I suppose that is necessary with your father and Grandfather still in the house.”

Jessamine headed for the door and paused. “You want to send me away even though I know your secret?”

Gareth shook his head. “You’ve kept it this long…I suppose I can trust you’ll continue to keep it.”

“See, you admit you can trust me. How many people can you say that about? Does it really mean nothing to you?”

Gareth clenched his jaw. He was caught off guard and had no reply.

“Not only can you trust me but know that I am a woman who finds you extraordinary.”

Gareth rolled his eyes with a look of disinterest. “Because I can fly.”

Jessamine moved closer. “No, not because of that one thing, but because of who you are.”

“And how do you know who I am when I don’t even know?”

She positioned herself in front of him to make eye contact. “Because I can see you. I always could. Even before I knew you could fly, remember? If you let me into your life, I’ll help you see it, too.”

“Maybe you see only what you want to see.”

She shook her head as her shoulders fell. “I’ll whistle when it’s clear.”

She left, and Gareth took a breath to clear his head. But, as usual, it didn’t work when the room was full of Jessamine’s essence. A soft whistle came, and he zipped out the door and down over the stair’s railing, landing in his chair. Jessamine stepped behind him to push it.

“I can manage,” Gareth snapped.

Jessamine stepped away and put up her hands in surrender. “As you wish.”

They made their way to the study where Tabitha circled a giant, white box with a lavender bow on top holding it together. The box was the size of a wardrobe.

“Finally, you two are down. This arrived an hour ago, and I’m just dying to find out what’s in it. I hear ticks and clicks. I’m wondering if it’s from someone in the bonnet club.”

Gareth glanced away bored. “Perhaps it holds the world’s largest bonnet.”

Jessamine and Tabitha only giggled and made knowing glances at each other.

“Who does it say it’s from?” Jessamine asked as she moved closer to inspect it.

“It doesn’t. But I’d wager it something very modern.”

Jessamine stepped back and stood next to Gareth. She set a soft hand on his shoulder. He relented and let it stay. Her eyes twinkled as she nodded to Tabitha. “Go ahead. Pull the ribbon.”

Tabitha squealed, jumping around in her blue day dress, making her loose blonde curls bounce. She pulled the ribbon, and the sides of the box fell away to reveal a tall, silver horse. Steam escaped its nostrils.

Jessamine clapped her hands in delight. “It’s beautiful.”

Gareth wheeled his chair around to inspect it from a different angle. “What is it?”

Tabitha circled the metallic animal, rubbing her hand along the body. “It’s a steam horse. It’s part of the women’s underground movement.”

Gareth circled back in the other direction. “The what?”

Jessamine pulled out her charm necklace to show Gareth. “It’s a small underground movement headed by women to modernize society. It’s like a secret sisterhood. Our charms show other women of the movement that we too are part of it. We have an owl charm to symbolize wisdom, a gear to show we are mechanizing, a clock to show we are women of the times, and individual charms for our special interest of knowledge. See, I have wings.”

Tabitha continued to circle the horse. “But if it’s steam-powered, why do I hear the clicking and whirring of clockwork gears?” Her face lit up. “Ah, here is the source. There’s a saddlebag. The sounds are coming from there.” Tabitha lifted the flap of the bag.

Two mechanical doves took flight and began to circle her and the horse.

Jessamine smiled, her eyes following the two birds. “How lovely.”

The doves circled Tabitha and the horse together at first, sending off clicks as their circle of flight narrowed to just Tabitha. Then the birds lowered, and a trapdoor sprang open on their backs. A silver thread flew out of one and connected to the door of the other bird as they continued their circled flight, only faster now and lower, entangling Tabitha in the thread before anyone realized what was happening.

“What’s it doing?” She cried out as the birds strapped her arms to her side, and the steam horse lowered its head, scooping her onto its back.

Gareth gripped the arms of his chair at the look of panic on Tabitha’s face. But before he could react, the horse spun and galloped toward the large picture window, crashing through it and down the lawn. Gareth leapt from his wheelchair.

Grandfather rushed in. “What in the blazes?”

“Tabitha,” Jessamine answered, her face pale with shock.

Together they raced to the window. Gareth’s thoughts of hiding his ability from Lord Pensees were lost in the moment. He followed the horse’s path out the window as Jessamine pulled the flap in her corset, releasing her wings. She leapt and grabbed hold of him as he climbed higher.

“Tabitha?” Grandfather shouted his question after them.

Steam rose in a white puff behind the silver horse as it galloped full speed for the woods. A dark cloud hung low over the forest, giving birth to a foggy vapor, oozing its way between the trees. The ghastly sight appeared like a scene from a gothic novel. Gareth pushed the ominous thoughts from his mind and aimed right for the horse when arrows began to rain down around them. Jessamine quickly flipped herself in front of him, hugging his body with her arms and legs as they rolled around to avoid the onslaught of arrows.

“All my clothes are fabric armor,” Jessamine shouted breathlessly at him. He ducked them into a patch of bushes to remove them from the path of the arrows.

Once in the bushes and out of the range, they sought out the direction of the steam horse and Tabitha, but neither were anywhere to be seen.

Gareth shot up in the air. “We’ve got to find her.”

Jessamine, unable to follow him up, shouted at him. “Get back down here. You don’t have your armor on. We have to go back to the house for help. Sarah and Thompton will know what we need to do.”

The crunching of leaves drew Gareth’s attention to the footsteps behind them. Lord Pensees stumbled through the open field, sweat beading his forehead. His blue eyes were wide and panicked as he headed toward them.

“Grandfather!”

Gareth zoomed out to stop Lord Pensees from charging into the forest. An arrow whistled through air, the feathers nearly brushing Gareth’s ear. The morning sun glinted off the steel arrowhead the moment before it sunk itself into the old man’s chest. Jessamine’s scream sounded muted and distant in Gareth’s ears. He froze in shock. Blackness closed in on the periphery of his vision as it narrowed on what he saw. He sunk toward the ground, his knees buckling under him.

Jessamine grabbed Gareth and shook him out of his trance. She climbed on his back. “I’ll shield us both. You fly us to your grandfather so we can get him to the house.”

Gareth shook his head and swallowed. His eyes darted toward the ominous dark fog filling the woods to overflowing. “Tabitha?”

“Lord Pensees is hurt. We need to tend to him and get help. If you go after her alone, you’re going to get yourself killed, and then you won’t be able to do anything for Tabitha.”

He swallowed and reluctantly nodded. Reduced to hiding behind his wife’s skirt. Not anything a man ever wants to do. He bit down on a curse and flew them out of the woods to his grandfather.

Blood bubbled on the old man’s lips. Grandfather’s eyes had taken on a far-off look. Gareth scooped the man’s limp body into his arms. In a harsh whisper Grandfather asked, “Where’s Tabitha?”

Gareth swallowed his heart as it rose in his throat. The man was heavy in his arms, and his wife clung to his back. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he made Waverly Park his focus. He just needed to make it there.

Jessamine whispered in his ear, “We’ll get help and we will find her. We will. We have to.”

Her words echoed his thoughts. He had to rescue Tabitha, if it was the last thing he did. She had no part in this war, and he would make damned sure she wasn’t a casualty of it.