“You will tell the truth.” Mara dropped her hand to her sword hilt. “Where I am from, even a child pays for being a traitor.”
The threat hung in the air, and neither Sir Marcus nor Sir Matthias moved as they both stared in disbelief.
Desa took a step back, then another. “If I do, what will you do to me?”
“That will depend.” Mara raised a blood-red brow.
“He’ll kill me if he finds out I told.”
“I will kill you if you don’t tell.” In one swift movement, Mara drew her sword, and black fire shot down its length. “And I am the more immediate threat.”
Sapphire swallowed hard, stamping down any sympathy she felt for Desa. The child could have cost Sapphire her life, and she’d jeopardized the Valerians.
The girl sucked in a breath, her gaze sliding from Mara to Sir Matthias and finally to Sapphire. “Lord Carsons left me at the fire. I was supposed to find Miss Sapphire and get her to take me in.”
Sapphire pressed her hand against her breastbone. “Why?”
“To report on you and help him find something your father stole from him.”
Sapphire glared at the child. “My father didn’t steal anything.”
Desa shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t, but Lord Carsons believes Gregory Darrington had something of his. Something real important. Said he’s had it a long time and has it hidden real good. Not even your momma could find it.”
“My mother?”
Desa nodded then glanced at Mara’s sword. “Once heard him say the only reason he made your momma marry Captain Darrington was so she could get in his house and get it back.”
Sapphire leaned against her husband to steady herself. “Do you think Lord Carsons killed my father to get it?”
Sir Matthias held her close. “There’s no way to be certain.”
Desa cocked her head. “Don’t know, but Lord Carsons was real upset when Captain Darrington died and took the secret of where the thing was with him. But Lord Carsons killed your momma.”
Sapphire’s mouth dried, and her words were little more than a croak. “Why?”
“She was polluted, and once he realized she couldn’t help him find the thing and that she couldn’t control you or your fortune, he poisoned her. Fast and painless as his final gift to her. I didn’t give the poison to her, but the kid that did Lord Carsons killed afterward for hurting his daughter.”
Sapphire shuddered so hard her teeth chattered. “Sounds like Henry Carsons.”
“He might be the one burning the buildings.” Desa lifted her shoulders and let them fall. “When he sent me away, he was figuring out what Captain Darrington owned and sending men to see if he’d hidden the thing at one of those places.”
“What would be so important that he’d kill hundreds of people to get?” Sir Matthias asked.
“People aren’t important to him, at least not poor people.” Desa wrapped her fingers in the folds of her dress. “I don’t know what it is, but Rashalee is angry with him for losing it. She won’t bless him or the Carsons family until he gets it back.”
Mara narrowed her eyes at the child. “How did you discover all of this?”
“I’m less than dust to Lord Carsons. Easy not to see servants, especially kids he thinks of as trash. And I have to know stuff so I can be useful.” She puffed up her thin chest. “I’m one of the few kids that’s seen eight summers. Gotta know which jobs to get picked for, and which jobs to go hungry a few nights to avoid.”
“Why would you work for Lord Carsons?” Sir Matthias asked, not hiding the hurt in his words.
“Because he’d have killed me and replaced me with another kid from the orphanage if I didn’t.”
Sapphire winced at the matter-of-factness in Desa’s tone.
Sir Marcus turned his purple gaze to Sapphire. “Any idea what he could be after?”
Sapphire shook her head. “We had nothing magical in the house. My father said it was too dangerous. Had seen too many men die when not handled properly.”
“It may not be magical,” Mara said. “Anything else Rashalee might want?”
“We had jewelry and paintings, but none of it was secret. My mother loved to show off the beautiful things my father gave her.”
“Anything he might have given you that your mother wouldn’t have known about? Something he asked you to keep secret?” Mara asked.
“My father gave me gifts, particularly as I got older and started taking on more and more of the household responsibilities, but nothing he asked me to hide from my mother. And both she and Lord Bartley would’ve had access to my rooms and my jewelry boxes.”
“What about a safe or the like to store things in?” Mara asked.
“We have one, but I found nothing unusual in there after Papa’s death. And Lord Bartley would’ve been able to get into it. I would’ve noticed something missing, but I wouldn’t have noticed if someone had looked through it.”
“It’s difficult with Rashalee.” Mara sheathed her sword. “The goddess of greed and vengeance could just as easily be angered over a cheap trinket She wants to possess as a crown of rubies.”
Sapphire clenched her jaw. “I don’t know what my grandfather wants, but he’s not getting it.”
Sir Marcus turned to Mara. “Like Sapphire said, we’re going to my family’s country estate, all of us. Brelynn needs the rest, and I want distance from Lord Carsons.”
“He sent men out to kill us at my family’s farm,” Sir Matthias reminded him.
“And he might again, but he will find us a very difficult target.” Sir Marcus and Mara exchanged a glance. “I have increased security out there at Mara’s urging. She wanted a safe place to go once the baby arrives.”
Sapphire studied Sir Marcus. “While it’s the right thing to do, people will talk. You already know the vicious things they say about Lady Brelynn, and leaving before the baby’s born will make it worse.”
Sir Marcus shrugged. “Don’t care what people say, but I do care that Brelynn is safe and happy.”
The way he said it made it sound so simple.
To him, it was. He loved his duchess, and nothing mattered more to him than her.
They’d have plenty to say about Sapphire and Sir Matthias, too, but to the seven hells with the gossips. Wouldn’t be the first time she was the target of malicious rumors, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Rashalee had more power in Tamryn society than anyone wanted to admit.
Sapphire sucked in a breath. “As this may be a longer trip, I need to see to some things at my house and give the servants directions during my absence.”
“I’ll go with you,” Sir Matthias said.
“And either Mara or I will come along, too,” Sir Marcus said.
“I’ll go,” Mara said. “You see to Brelynn.”
Sapphire’s chest warmed.
Friends.
It was the one thing her mother had desperately wanted, and despite all of Captain Gregory Darrington’s wealth, the one thing her mother never had.
“I’ll get ready,” Sapphire said and hurried upstairs.