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“Either the poison or the gridway incident could have been fatal,” Reese said. “The knife attack could have been, too.”
“So they’re inexperienced,” Jayla said. A slight frown crossed her face. “But if someone who’s not very good at killing keeps attempting to murder a woman, it means that person has a strong motivation to keep trying. That person has a grudge. Or a cause.”
Madeleine looked at her blankly. “But—I can’t think of any reason either of those things would be true.”
Jayla shrugged. “Sometimes people get notions in their head, and those notions don’t make sense to anyone else. But those crazy ideas can drive them to do some powerful things.”
“Except,” Reese said. “All three of these attacks came from different people.” He appealed to Madeleine. “Isn’t that right? The man who pushed you into the gridway, the man who assaulted you at the restaurant—not the same person, right? And the physician was someone else altogether.”
Madeleine felt troubled. “I didn’t get a good look at the man who pushed me in the street,” she said. “I couldn’t tell you what he looked like. But the doctor and the man with the knife were two different people.”
“Here’s another factor to consider,” Jayla said. “In at least two of those situations, someone knew the details of your life. Knew you were sick, knew you would be at a certain restaurant at a certain time. If someoneistargeting you, it’s a person who knows you fairly well.”
Madeleine stared at the stranger’s calm, pale face and felt her whole body prickle with chill. She didn’t believe it, still, not really, this farfetched notion that someone was out to harm her. Mishaps blundered into everyone’s life; whohadn’tfallen down the stairs or accidentally swallowed something toxic? Just yesterday she’d been convinced she and Tivol would die in a fiery gridway crash as they careened down the main boulevard. Would Reese and her father have claimed that was the work of an assassin?
Although she supposed someone could have tampered with the bar that clipped the car to the cable—weakened it in some fashion so that the stress of one hard turn would snap the metal in half and send them spinning into oncoming traffic. Someone who knew Madeleine very well would have known that Tivol was expected at her house that day—would have known that Tivol loved to drive too fast and take ridiculous risks—
“So you’re suggesting one of my friends,” Madeleine said in a choked voice. “Or one of the servants.”
“Could be one of your friends,” Jayla agreed. “Probably not one of the servants, because they’ve got pretty unrestricted access to you. A lot of chances to kill you. Although,” she added, “if you’re thinking about hiring one in the near future, you might want to be careful.”
Madeleine couldn’t restrain a shiver. Reese reached over to give her shoulder a comforting squeeze, but he dropped his arm when she gave him a warning look. “I hate the way this is making me think,” she complained. “Like I can’t trust anyone in the whole world.”
“I apologize,” Jayla said. “I’m so used to thinking this way that it seems natural to me.”
“And yet it’s just this kind of thinking that could save your life,” Reese said.
“Ifsomeone is trying to harm me!Ifwe’re not just overreacting to a few unconnected random events.”
“Well, look at it this way,” said Reese. “Say we’re wrong. Say we hire a guard anyway. What’s the worst thing that happens? Your father adds the price of one salary to his household budget—which he can very well afford. But say we’re right, but wethinkwe’re wrong. And we don’t hire a guard. And someone kills you next week. Which outcome would you prefer? I know which oneIwould choose.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter what either one of us prefers, because my father wants to hire the guard, so I will have one no matter what,” Madeleine snapped.
Reese smiled at her flash of ill-temper. “Then let’s make sure he hires one that you can tolerate.”
Madeleine sighed, then looked over at Jayla, who was watching them both. “This is the situation,” she said. “My father will make the selection, but I believe he will take my opinion into account. I don’t know the salary he has in mind, but he’s a rich man, so I’m sure it would be fair. Would you take the job if it was offered? I mean—would you be willing to guardme?After meeting me, and learning what the job would entail?”
Jayla nodded, her face grave as if to show them that she understood the seriousness of the position. “I would be glad to take the job. But I have to tell you my own situation.”
Madeleine felt her eyebrows rise. “You’re not really a soldier?” For the first time, her eyes went to Jayla’s wrists. “You certainly looked like a fighter out there in the yard.”
Jayla smiled and extended her left hand so Reese and Madeline could see her bracelet. “No, I am. Guild certified.”
Reese leaned forward to examine the band more closely, then looked over at Jayla in admiration. “Not just certified, but at the highest level,” he said. “I’m impressed.”
Jayla’s smile went slightly awry. “The rank was hard won.”
“Then I’m impressed, too,” Madeleine said. “But, wait—if I’m supposed to distrust everyone in the world, shouldn’t I question you more closely? Shouldn’t I wonder if you earned these glyphs honestly, or if you had them made by a counterfeiter?”
“It’s a good question,” Jayla said. “And you’ll find the occasional charlatan pretending to be a soldier when he’s not.”
“But we saw her fight,” Reese said.
“You saw me fight,” she echoed. “And anyone who gets caught in such a deception generally regrets it.”
“What do you mean?” Madeleine asked.
“They get their sword hand cut off,” Jayla said dryly. “The practice isn’t officially sanctioned by the guild, but it happens often enough that most people won’t risk it.”
