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He raked a hand down his face. “Not at all, Lady Lilstrum.”
Snorting, I could not help but enjoy Killian’s discomfort. Why leather bothered him so was beyond me.
Jo rose to her feet. “Very well. Follow me and I’ll get you sorted.”
Trailing behind Jo to her bedchambers, she opened a small wardrobe revealing various garments: dresses, trousers, tunics, and even men’s clothing. However, when she retrieved the items she expected me to wear, my mouth fell open.
“Here we are,” she said, setting the dark-brown leather trousers and matching tunic, with a decorative vest that looped together in front (much like that of a corset but less stringent). The brass-colored rings that covered the entirety of the vest were something to behold.
Would I sweat in that getup?
Yet, when I touched the supple material, it felt like butter against my skin. Oh, yes, it was breathable as well. I certainly would not sweat while wearing this.
It was truly magnificent!
“It’s beautiful.” I stared at her in awe. “Thank you. I…”
“No need to thank me, Ainsley. It’s my pleasure. “I’ll leave you to it then.” She patted my shoulder and exited the room, leaving me to change.
Once I’d donned the garments and adjusted my cutlass at my side, I made my way back to the table. As soon as Killian noticed me in the room, his eyes grew wide, and he opened his mouth to speak, yet nothing seemed to escape his lips.
Placing a hand on my hip, I repeated his own words. “See something you like?”
He smirked. “Well played, mi’lady. Aye. The color of your hair suits you fine.”
Jo chuckled. “Come, come. Have a bit more tea. I’m happy to see the clothes fit you well.”
“They do. Perfectly, in fact.” I pulled out a chair and sat opposite Killian, who was still staring at me.
“Now, where were we?” Jo snapped her fingers. “Your parents…Hattie.”
I needed to change the subject. As much as I wished to learn more about myself, there were larger things at play here. Like why my mother wanted me to locate Jo in the first place. “You said the book I saw was a myth. Why?”
Jo sipped her tea and glanced outside her window before reaching up and drawing the hand-sewn curtains tight. “Your parents were responsible for the brink of prosperity we had only dreamt of. They united magic casters, pirates, and royalty in a way that made people believe in good again. Hattie helped others see magic could be used to prosper and help many people without fear, while Silverthorne demonstrated that even a brute could be good-natured. It was incredible the charisma they had, especially together.
“As things picked up, Sebastian James saw an opportunity for power. Magic is powerful, and with so many casters working together, he saw the potential for what it could mean if it were exploited. Greed makes people mad with hunger, and it bit him hard. He slowly weaseled his way so far into the depths of royalty pockets, that soon, he was controlling everything: supply and demand chains, businesses, the Royal Navy themselves.”
“How?” I questioned.
“Magic and fear,” Jo answered, taking another sip and closing her eyes. She inhaled slowly before she continued, as if reliving a memory. “Whatever magic he was able to hold onto, he intertwined it with widgets and who knows what else, testing the limits of magic and taking it beyond what it was intended for. Not alone, of course. He had help.”
“From?” Killian chimed in. He was sitting forward in his chair, just as engrossed as I was in this tale that so few knew of.
“Violet Hatter.” Jo scoffed as she said the name and her teacup slammed to the saucer, nearly breaking it. “She was a water caster who betrayed us all by sharing magic with Bash: secrets, many of our goals and hopes. She also told Bash of the book. It’s a book of our power, one we carefully crafted that helped unite all of us. It’s what Hattie had worked so hard on, gathering one of us from each class of magic together to demonstrate the different ways our powers could work together to help the world.”
“But Bash never found the book?”
“Luckily, your mother didn’t tell anyone where it was,” Jo said.
“My father was guarding it at the hall, disguised. Although now—” I paused, and my eyes widened. “Now it would be vulnerable.”
Jo shook her head. “Hattie was smart. Wherever you found that book, you would have only been allowed in because you're her blood. Only those originals with keys would be able to find it; we created that spell before Hattie took it. Her blood runs in your veins, and so the book would reveal itself to you as well. Just another precaution. We knew with the book, Bash would hunt us down to retrieve our keys one by one, and then he’d truly be unstoppable. It would be difficult to find casters of each kind to bend to his will now.” She smiled at me. “Save for a lightning caster of course.” Her eyes flicked between Killian and me, as though she wanted to say something else, but she refrained.
“We scattered once Hattie took the book to hide it,” Jo continued. “The five of us have never been in one place since.”
Something clicked inside my mind. A puzzle piece and a glimmer of magic swirled around the thought. “That’s it,” I said. “That’s why I was sent here. I believe Hattie wants everyone gathered again.”
“Good luck with that,” Jo said. “I’m not sure where everyone is. Scattered meant not confiding in anyone where we were fleeing.”
I would know. Hattie’s magic would be our guide. “Leave that to me,” I told her. “I think.”
A few shouts from outside had Killian jumping to his feet and gripping his blade. Jo’s eyes darted from the window over to the door, and she rose from the table, heading to the other side of the room where another window looked out onto the street.
“Well, you may want to think of something quick, child,” she said from the window before turning back to us. “And you better hope you know how to use that blade well. Bash’s men are here. And they’ve come in droves.”
I rose from the table as well, lacing my fingers through the handle of the cutlass at my side. “Is there another way out?”
Jo stared back at me and shook her head. “Wouldn’t that be easy?”
“Josephine Wildrin!” A loud booming voice echoed through the old house. “Come out of your home now if you wish to live.”
