“Actually,” said Jasper, face grim, “I really don’t feel like I know my son at all. What I do know is that before you came along, he wasn’t abducting noblewomen, practicing heresy, or assaulting government leaders. So you’ll understand when I say politely as I can: Get out of my house.”
“She can stay with me.” Aiana strode forward from those gathered, as cool and confident as ever. “And don’t look at me like that, Mister Jasper. I rent my own home and can do as I like. Come on, Adelaide.”
What else could I do? There was no home for me here. I had to take whatever allies I could get—though I was surprised to find that my two biggest ones hadn’t been in the foyer.
“Where are Tamsin and Mira?” I asked, once I was inside Aiana’s home. It was a surprisingly spacious suite of rooms above a tavern in the city’s busy entertainment district. The soundproofing was good, but I could still make out the faint tinkling of piano music from below.
Aiana had been putting a teakettle on her large stove and turned to me in surprise. “You don’t know? About Tamsin?”
“What is there to know? Did she get married or something?”
“Sit down,” Aiana ordered.
I obeyed, settling into a chair covered by a blanket with an intricately colored turtle design. I wondered if it was Balanquan, but the look on Aiana’s face made me forget all about art. “Where is Tamsin?”
Aiana pulled up a stool and sat across from me. “Adelaide, Tamsin was lost on the day of the storm a couple of weeks ago—the tempest? Part of it hit you too, right?”
I almost thought I was mishearing, that we were somehow talking about our initial sea voyage. “Lost . . . what do you mean, lost in the tempest?”
“She was in Mister Doyle’s party—going back to Hadisen. They were practically engaged, and he was going to show her around. They were approaching the bay as the storm was rolling in, and they say she panicked and . . . well, left. No one knows what happened to her.”
“Panicked? Tamsin’s never panicked in her life!”
“I don’t know anything firsthand, only what they tell me.” Aiana’s calm was impressive. “She didn’t want to get on the boat during the storm. She ran away from the party. They tried to find her, but it was too late—especially in those conditions. They searched for her the next day, but there was nothing.”
I put my head between my hands, afraid I would faint. “No. That’s impossible. You’re confused. She was lost once—this can’t happen again! She wanted that marriage more than anything. She wouldn’t have let a stormy crossing hold her back . . .”
And yet as I spoke, I wondered. Would she? The tempest had upset me with painful memories of that night at sea. What had it done to Tamsin? Maybe the thought of boarding another ship in the storm really had been too daunting. But enough to run off alone into the night?
“I’m sorry,” Aiana continued, oblivious to my mental revelation. “I thought word would’ve gotten to you, especially since Mister Doyle took the blame upon himself and still paid the Thorns her price.”
“How nice,” I said, lifting my head. Anger was easier to deal with than grief. I still couldn’t truly process this. “I’m sure Jasper was glad to make a profit on her after all, especially if . . .” My words gave way to a gasp as I replayed what she said. “Warren knew . . .”
“He was there when it happened.”
I jumped to my feet. “Why didn’t he say anything to me? I talked to him the morning after that storm! How could he have not mentioned that my best friend disappeared?”
“I don’t know.” Her face was filled with compassion. “The more I hear about Warren Doyle, the more certain I am that I can’t ever guess what he might be thinking.”
I felt a sob catch in my throat and swallowed it back, not wanting to cry in front of her. Understanding, Aiana got to her feet. “Mira’s at a social engagement. I can get her excused early. I think it’d be good for you to be together. You can make yourself at home, and I’ll pay one of the girls downstairs to bring up hot water for the tub.”
I could only nod by way of answer, and as soon as she left, I broke down in tears. The stress of everything came crashing down on me, and I didn’t even know what I was crying for anymore. Cedric, Tamsin . . . what good was I to the people I loved if I couldn’t keep them safe? Was this some kind of divine punishment for running out on my responsibilities in Osfrid?
I was red and puffy-eyed when the girl came to fill the tub, and she politely pretended not to notice. Sinking into that kind of bath was a luxury I hadn’t experienced in almost a month. Baths at the Marshall place had been sparse in water. And cold. Really, after my time in Hadisen, everything in Cape Triumph seemed luxurious by comparison. Aiana’s rooms were on par with a royal Osfridian estate as far as I was concerned.