Page 59 of The Hood and his Thief

She cleared her throat. “What are these arrangements Little John mentioned?”

Ansel ran his hands through his own hair, pushing it back out of his face, although the single silver strand fell forward defiantly again. He glared at where it hung between his eyes in frustration, the expression so endearing that Rhosyn felt herself smiling despite her efforts to be serious.

“Archer’s Circus was lucky enough to get a fortuitous invitation during our trip to the palace,” Ansel explained. “I thought accepting might give us a chance to get more information about Mr. Gower.”

Rhosyn lifted an eyebrow. “Do tell.”

“It seems the King enjoyed our performance at his ball—so much so that he wants the circus to provide some entertainment for an excursion to his country estate that he is planning with some members of society. I had some of the Foxes do some digging, and it appears that Mr. Gower is on the invite list.”

“Do socialites really have nothing to do but throw parties and attend balls? What about their supposed business?” Rhosyn mused.

“Parties are where their daughters find wealthy marriages and influential men find women with dowries to support them. That is their business,” Ansel pointed out.

Rhosyn frowned. It was such a strange way to think of things, but she supposed Ansel was right. “I suppose the Circus is going to another party then.”

“We are. And you’re coming with.”

Chapter twelve

The glass chilled Rhosyn’s nose as she all but smashed her face against it, watching the countryside roll by. She had never known there was so much green so near the incessant grays and browns of London. In the clearer air of the country, the leaves seemed even brighter than those on the sparse trees outside the manors in the upper city, where the smokey air from the nearby factories made everything muted.

A dry chuckle from the bench across from Rhosyn made her pull back.

“One would think you’d never seen a tree before.” He teased.

“One tree? Yes,” Rhosyn conceded. “This many in the same place? No.”

Ansel tilted his head. “You’ve really never been out of the city before.”

Rhosyn shook her head, looking away towards the window to avoid the feeling in Ansel’s eyes as he observed her. They still hadn’t talked about what had happened between them in the Merry Men’s tent, and Rhosyn was loathe to bring it up. After all, what was there to say? It couldn’t possibly mean more than a simple physical release. Not when Ansel would leave with the circus and Rhosyn would go back to the police after Mr. Gower’s plans were uncovered.

“I never had the chance to travel,” Rhosyn admitted. “When I was with the Lions, none of us had much time to do much but stay alive and keep the young ones fed.”

Of course, after the Lions had dissolved, life had been different. Nate had taken Contessa to a cottage by the ocean, and even Kristoff and Gregor had managed to steal away for a holiday. But Rhosyn had entered training for the police as fast as she could and never taken more than one consecutive day off since. Not until her time with the Foxes.

“But you wanted to?” Ansel asked, drawing her from her thoughts.

She turned back to him. “Yes,” Rhosyn admitted.

“Where did you want to go?”

It wasn’t a question Rhosyn had expected, so much so that it surprised the truth out of her without a second thought. “The ocean.”

“Really? The consummate city girl has a taste for exploring?” Ansel’s brows rose, and a smile toyed with the edges of his lips.

Rhosyn sighed. “My father. He was a sailor on transatlantic steam ships. I barely remember him, but the images I do have of him are always headed off to another adventure. All the time away from London was probably what let him hide his Talent for so long. I’ve always wanted to see where he was running off to for all those years.”

Rhosyn swallowed, looking down at her hands in her lap, unconsciously popping her knuckles. The sound was loud in the quiet carriage at the end of her speech. She had once admitted to Contessa that her dream had been to follow in her father’s footsteps. At one point, when she was barely more than a child, she had inquired about jobs on one of the steam ships down at the port. Rhosyn had even gone so far as to gather up her meager belongings, to leave the perils of London and the lower city behind.

Then Nate and Kristoff had come to check on the overcrowded Den, looking hopeless and harrowed by the monumental task they had set for themselves, and Rhosyn knew she couldn’t go. They were her family, and she owed them her life after they had broken her out of the textile factory she lived in after her parents’ deaths. So, she stayed. Only Contessa had ever heard that she dreamed of something else for her life at one point. It wouldn’t be fair to lay that responsibility at the feet of the men who had loved her like a sister for so many years.

“You know,” Ansel said with purposeful casualness, “I’ve thought about taking the circus to America for a tour before. Talents are so much more widely accepted over there, after all.”

Rhosyn blinked. The way Ansel said it almost sounded like an invitation—like a chance for a new life where her mixed past wouldn’t have to constantly be locked in eternal battle for her future. But that would be impossible.

Rhosyn hummed noncommittally and turned her attention back to the countryside rolling by outside the window. In the absence of conversation, the rattling wheels of the carts traveling with them permeated the enclosed space. Alongside the modest carriage carrying Ansel and Rhosyn, Archer’s Circus had sent several wagons of performers, whose equipment could be easily packed up and transported without the train. They had been on the road for an hour now and should be just over halfway to the estate where the King’s gathering was to be held.

“We only have a little while until we get there.” Ansel broke the silence to echo her thoughts. “We should finish getting you into your disguise, just in case.”