Her thoughts mocked her. And how much of this is your fault?
It wasn’t a pleasant thought. She’d been the one to introduce railways, and banking, and even microloans. She’d seen them as nothing more than a way to galvanize small businesses and encourage innovation, but Vesperian had taken the concept and run with it. And he’d had just enough success to make further expansion seem desirable. And yet…
I also destroyed the Accounting Guild, she reminded herself. She hadn’t regretted it at the time – everyone she’d met had distrusted and disliked the Accountants – but it had had an unexpected side effect. No one was watching as the bubble started to grow.
She forced herself to think, yet nothing came to mind. Vesperian wouldn’t give her a look at his books – if what she suspected was true, he wouldn’t let anyone see them. Only a complete lunatic would loan someone money after discovering that costs were skyrocketing and profits were nowhere in sight. No wonder he had abandoned his attempts to convince her after she’d insisted on seeing the books.
“Poor man,” Frieda said. Her words broke into Emily’s thoughts. “A blacksmith can normally find work anywhere.”
“I know.” Caleb sat next to Emily, just close enough to be comfortable. She leaned against him, ignoring Frieda’s disapproving look. “But if he can’t get the raw materials, what can he do?”
“Nothing,” Emily said.
She shook her head. It would be easy to write Jack a letter of recommendation for Imaiqah. Her word would be more than enough to get Jack a place at Cockatrice. But he was one person, with a small family. How could she help everyone who would be affected, directly or indirectly, by Vesperian? She couldn’t find them all jobs. Even trying might set off the crash.
If I loaned him money, she thought, the best that will happen is the crash will be put off for a few months.
“He’s bit off far more than he can chew,” she said. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t see the line being profitable for years, perhaps decades. “And it’s going to blow up in his face.”
She looked back at the station. More crowds gathered as another steam engine crossed the bridges and made its slow way towards the platform. A third locomotive? How many locomotives did Vesperian have? And how much were they worth? She couldn’t imagine them being that useful outside the railway, although she supposed one of them could be turned into a steamboat engine.
Or someone could melt them down, she mused. The thought was horrific, but she could imagine someone deciding to do just that. That would solve the iron shortage, wouldn’t it?
Caleb rose. “Frieda, we’ll see you at sunset,” he said. His tone was firm. “If we meet you by the horse statue I showed you two days ago…?”
“Far enough from your mother’s wards to be safe.” Frieda smiled. “Be careful, all right? Lady Barb will kill me if you get Emily into trouble.”
“I don’t think she’ll kill you,” Caleb said. He put on a pedantic tone. “I think she’d merely thrash you to within an inch of your life.”
“That isn’t an improvement,” Frieda said, tartly.
“You’d still be alive,” Caleb pointed out. “Sore for weeks, perhaps, but alive.”
“I hope you two weren’t bickering all the way to the city,” Emily said, rising. Caleb and Frieda would have taken the portals, she thought, but they would still have had to cross the bridges to reach his home. It would have seemed a very long trip. “We won’t get into trouble.”
“You attract trouble.” Frieda pointed a finger at Caleb. “See?”
Emily snorted, then spoke before Caleb could fire back with a devastating insult of his own. “Remind me which one of you two started an in-school rebellion that nearly got the instigator sentenced to death?”
“Well…that wouldn’t have happened without you,” Frieda countered. She looked down at the paving stones. “Emily…I’ll…I’ll try and get a tour at the station, then have a wander around the city, see what I can pick up.”
“You’re good at that,” Emily agreed. Frieda was much better at reading people than Emily was, let alone coaxing them to talk. “See what everyone is saying.”
“And try not to get into trouble,” Caleb added. He sounded amused. “Emily would kill me.”
Frieda gave him a rude gesture, then hurried off towards the station. Emily watched her go as another whistle blew, echoing through the air. Another locomotive was moving into view, larger than the others she’d seen. Cylinders flexed as the engine picked up speed, heading towards the bridges. It pulled a long line of muddy-looking trucks. She couldn’t help thinking that they looked ominous.
Caleb touched her hand. “We have a few hours,” he said, glancing at the sun to note its position. He suddenly looked hopeful. “Do you want to find a hotel room?”
Emily hesitated, briefly. Sienna hadn’t told them not to make love, merely not to do it in her house. And it had been a long time…she cast a glamour around her, then gave him a tight hug. As long as they weren’t recognized, everything would be fine.
She leaned forward and kissed him. “Why not?”
Chapter Eleven
“PRICES ARE GOING UP HERE TOO,” Caleb said, afterwards. He lay next to her, his body moist with sweat. “I had to pay twice as much as normal for three hours in a room.”
Emily shot him a sidelong glance. “Have you done this before?”
Caleb flushed. “No, but I had to organize hotel rooms for some of our guests last year. They got a much better deal for an entire week in a room.”