Page 73 of The Rebel and the Rose
‘So what?’
‘So it might not be in our best interests to kill him. He could prove helpful to Sera.’
‘But he’s a mark. He’s the key to Bibi’s freedom.’
‘Maybe he can help her too,’ said Sera.
Val’s lips twisted. ‘That’s a big maybe.’
The weight of that maybe sat heavily on Sera’s shoulders, but one thing she was sure of was there was more than one way to storm a dungeon, and she didn’t trust the King of Valterre any further than she could toss him.
Taking out Fontaine’s tarot cards, Sera studied them in the waning light. Idly, she traced her finger along their edges, like they might tell her a secret if she waited long enough. Val yawned, laying her head on her shoulder.
‘Do you two smell smoke?’ Across the bench, Theo pulled the window curtain back. The sky was a haze of pink and orange, but the clouds in the distance were darker than usual. ‘I think something’s burning.’
Sera stuck her head out of the window. Though she could detect a faint whiff of smoke on the wind and see the greying sky well enough, she was distracted by the trill of jaunty music and the high-pitched squall of children’s laughter. She drew the rest of the curtain back, revealing a big wooden wheel.
‘There’s a carnival up ahead,’ said Val, pointing to where food stalls were dotted around the fairground. There were games of skill and chance, a carousel filled with white horses, and what appeared to be a small petting zoo, full of harried-looking animals and overexcited children.
Sera’s stomach grumbled. ‘I smell doughnuts.’
‘I smell pony shit,’ said Val.
‘What about the smoke?’ said Theo, still frowning. ‘It looks like it’s spreading.’
‘It’s coming from beyond the carnival,’ said Sera, returning her gaze to the sky. ‘Let’s pull over. I have an idea.’
A short while later, they disembarked their carriage. The others arrived in various states of confusion, the coachmen seizing the opportunity to slip away for another cigarillo.
Ransom sauntered over. ‘Looking to ride the ponies or just delaying the inevitable? We’re kind of on the clock here.’
‘Calm down,’ said Sera, breezily. ‘We won’t be long.’
‘Why don’t you go shove a little icing sugar in your face?’ Val suggested. ‘It might help you lighten up.’
‘Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll stick to my actual job.’
Val tapped her chin, looking around. ‘I doubt you’ll find any princes to kill here, but best of luck.’
They took off as a trio, making their way into the heart of the carnival where boisterous music filled the air, and giddy children with sticky hands chased each other round the pens. Sera didn’t have to turn around to know that the Daggers were following. The soldiers too. For all their grimacing, they must be hungry. And the smell of spiced sausage and fried potatoes was hard to ignore.
‘I’m getting a doughnut,’ said Val. ‘And I might see about petting those donkeys over there too. Come and find me after.’
She waved them off towards the turning wheel. Sera had only been on one once before, when she was six years old and a travelling carnival had set up in a field not far from her far house in the plains. She had spent the entire day at the fair with Mama, stuffing her face with doughnuts and whipped ice cream, riding the carousel round and round until she was too dizzy to stand. After, they found a stall offering teddy bears as prizes. She spent a fruitless hour fishing for rubber ducks, until Mama had emptied her coin purse and boughta bear straight off the rack, pressing it into her arms like treasure.
Her heart gave a pang as they approached the wooden wheel. This one was so much larger than the ride in her memories. At least as tall as Our Sacred Saints’ Cathedral, it would allow them to see far and wide across the northern plains of the kingdom and find out where all that smoke was coming from.
They paid a copper and hopped into a gondola, the wooden seat creaking as it slowly lifted into the air. Sera clutched the sides, reminding herself to breathe.
Theo glanced sidelong at her. ‘Didn’t Ijustwatch you scale the Aurore? I thought you weren’t afraid of heights.’
‘There’s heights, and then there’sfloating in the air on a flimsy creaking bench,’ she said, between laboured huffs. ‘Turns out, there’s a difference.’
‘Just don’t look down.’
Too late. Like a magnet, her gaze was drawn to Ransom. Leaning against a gaming stall with his arms folded, he was looking up at her with an utterly bewildered expression on his face. To him, it must have looked like an impromptu lovers’ outing, Theo and Sera stealing a moment together to overlook the tapestry of their kingdom.
She waggled her fingers at him.
