Theo’s shoulders released their tension, having prepared for the snapping of his tongue, but that might have been far worse. “I’m well.” Theo shifted in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. A simple lie, but he saw no reason to be spilling what haunted his thoughts or had his head pounding.
His father’s gaze remained fixed out the window, but it was beyondTheo’s comprehension what he was even staring at. The charged atmosphere between them was more enticing than anything outside that window.
“We have yet to discuss your time overseas, but I was kept updated throughout the war. It devastated all of us to hear you went missing after your first several seasons of service.”
Theo forced his mind shut to the vivid images attempting to leak through. Maybe it devastated Adelaide, Jeremiah, or even Genevieve, but Theo doubted his father would’ve shed a tear for anyone. Theo had been avoiding him since he’d returned home, and then the issues in Duncaster further pushed their discussion of the war.
“I don’t see that as a pressing matter,” Theo said. “More important things are worth discussing.”
“Lord Freville’s murder.”
“I presume Bennet explained our situation?” Theo asked.
His father relinquished his attention from the bay beyond the window and offered a single nod.
“When the sailors in Duncaster discovered I was a soldier, they despised the idea of our presence. Then the fight broke out, and some of them got away on their ship. They spoke Tendasy. It can’t be a coincidence that the city is struggling, and we discover an enemy ship within our docks.”
“It’s not uncommon to find Tendasy speakers outside of a tutoring session.” His father returned to his desk.
“If their language isn’t incriminating, the pistol aimed at my head was surely enough.”
His father’s even breaths faltered, but he resumed the steady cadence of an old man’s breath.
“They can’t be the only ship coming to Duncaster’s port. If it were, that would be some luck we had,” Theo began. “No, I believe these disappearances are due to slavers.”
“Theodoric—”
“Think about it, Father. First, it’s beggars and poor boys, who mightnot be missed—”
“What about Philip Veduco and Lord Freville? I doubt slavers would kill their cargo.”
Theo still felt the unease at the lack of respect given to the common people, but he wanted his father on his side and would play his game. “Phillip Veduco is still missing, but what if Lord Freville’s death was completely unrelated? He was known for his gambling debts. We must also focus our efforts on the other missing tenants, not only Lord Freville. I fear, with the vulnerabilities from the war, slavers have begun infiltrating our cities.”
“What about these traders who spoke Tendasy? What was their cargo?”
“We checked their manifest they left with the clerk but didn’t have the opportunity to search their ship. They were spice traders, and their papers said they were from the Vukubua Islands, but they could easily forge their documentation.” Theo dragged his hand down his face, feeling exhaustion settling in his bones and the steady beating against his skull.
“What of this woman you found in the woods? Does she reside in Godwin?”
Theo forced himself to sit taller in his chair. He would get one chance to speak his thoughts on the matter, even though they still jumbled around and switched sides with each passing heartbeat. “The woman we found speaks Akaric well, but I don’t recognize her accent. Her allegiances are unknown, but she said she was fromGainesville.”
His father tested the word, playing with the way it slipped off his tongue. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Neither have I. She could be deranged for all we know or traumatized.”
“Traumatized?”
“As Gris had said, Freville had been killed long before we found her, but with the state of her injuries, she was in an attack.”
“If she’s injured, is it possible she obtained these from the assault? What are the state of her injuries?”
“An injured hand and scrapes across her body, but what has me questioning is how she injured it. She punched a mirror, and I found shards of it still embedded in her skin.”
A silence settled over them as they both thought over what Theo set before his father. The tick of the clock behind Theo grew louder, and his heart beat to each strike of its hand.
“Do you believe her to be dangerous?”
After what Theo experienced during the war, he believed anyone had the capability to be dangerous, but something still didn’t sit well with him regarding Amaris or their entire situation. Isabel again passed through his head and her words.Aslorn per de eclahard.
