Am I?
“I feel as though I should be, but it was quite energetic, and all rather harmless, wasn’t it?”
Jasper fell silent and when he deigned to answer, he didn’t provide her with the reassurance she expected. “Do you want the truth?”
He wasn’t being condescending, but genuine. He wasn’t going to wax over the reality in order to shield her sensibilities. No. He would give her the truth.
Nia took a moment to recognize it as a form of respect.
“Please,” she answered.
Their steps had slowed, and Jasper stared at the ground. They had nowhere to be, no one waiting for them, and no pressing tasks requiring either of their attention.
They had all the time in the world.
“Festivals and carnivals provide a good deal of harmless entertainment,” he eventually explained. “As well as legitimate opportunities for commerce, but they’ve a darker side.”
“How dark?”
“It varies. The magicians are entertaining, but certain types of individuals don’t know when to walk away. Before they realize what they’re doing, they’ll lose a month’s wages. But that’s not the only danger. Carnivals are a magnet for pickpockets. Wherever there’s money, there is greed, and lust, which breed practices darker than any you’ll find at the emporium. Malum’s employees have the choice to walk away, and he goes above and beyond to protect them. Carnival prostitutes aren’t afforded those… luxuries.” He flicked Nia a glance. “Malum’s dedication to their well-being, ironically, is one of the reasons he’s shunned by society. Because the very people smearing his name are—”
“Those who’ve abused their privileges.” Nia put the pieces together. She was beginning to understand why Jasper would consort with Malum.
And why her father had taken issue with the mysterious duke.
“You, my dear lady, are smarter than you look,” he said.
Nia turned and leaned away from him to see his expression better. Was he teasing her?
Even so, she took some umbrage. “I may be naïve,” she said. “But I’m learning.”
“I know, sweetheart. But don’t learn too much, eh? And don’t wander off on your own here. Stay by my side?”
Those words, along with the devilish glint in his eyes, took her right back to that moment he’d had his hands up her skirts. She would have promised him anything so long as he continued touching her. “You trust me to touch you. Inside. But you don’t trust me with your safety? Next time I tell you to stay put, what are you going to do?”
A chill rolled through her. Stay by his side…
Unfortunately, she was beginning to like it there all too much. And regardless of whether or not they actually married, she feared he’d tire of her soon enough.
He was the Piccadilly Player, for heaven’s sake!
But until then…
“I will,” she said, her throat thick. She then forced a smile. “Where shall we go next?”
Another line of tents beckoned—each serving wine and declaring theirs was the best in all the shire. Jasper and Nia tasted them all and then placed their vote in a square box. Feeling lightheaded and even more content than she had before, Nia marveled that so much fun could be had in one small village.
Farther along, they came to a vendor where festival goers could test their strength. Nia tried hitting the lever first, but the massive hammer was nearly too heavy for her to lift, let alone maneuver effectively. But Jasper, of course, not only swung the hammer as though it weighed nothing, but hit the lever so hard that the bell attached at the top of the twenty-foot-tall contraption rang loudly. For a prize, he chose a scarf made of a transparent silky material.
And of course, he chose blue, though he declared nothing was as brilliant as her eyes.
Feeling pleased with her new scarf, she held Jasper’s hand as they came upon the ring where the fighting took place. There, they paused just long enough to see a quick end to a bout.
One man, a giant essentially when compared to normal men, had beaten every man who dared to challenge him. At the end of the bout, one of the judges raised the man’s arm in the air. “Who will be next?”
The giant’s gaze perused the spectators and seemed to catch on Nia. And the look reminded her of Dewberry. Feeling like prey, she turned her back on the spectacle.
“I don’t like the fighting,” she said.
