Page 51 of Company of Thieves
I tossed back the soda water, and marched out of the mess, fetching from my cabin a spare toothbrush, which I used to thoroughly scrub my mouth before curling up on Mr. Ho’s spare bunk. “I am strong,” I repeated to myself. “I can do this. And by god, Alan just better resolve himself to doing it with me, or I’ll have his guts for garters.”
Dooley woke me up a few hours later. “Miss, the cap’n and Mr. Fletcher want you in the captain’s cabin.”
“Huh?” Groggily, I sat up, rubbing my face and yawning. “What do they want?”
“I don’t know. They just said to fetch you. The cap’n said it was important.”
“All right.” I looked down at my stomach. I hadn’t seen any sign that a miracle had happened, but something was definitely off with me. “You had better not let me down now that I’m embracing this idea,” I told my womb.
I brushed my hair out of my face, and went to see what it was that had Jack and Octavia in such a swivet. “If it’s Etienne,” I muttered as I went down the gangway to the captain’s cabin, “I want the first shot at stabbing him with a dull dagger. Oh, hell, they’re back at Alan’s camp. Dammit. I’ll just have to get Jack to give me something, which won’t be easy, because he insists on not killing people, and if that’s not the most unreasonable thing ever, then I don’t know what is.”
I knocked on the cabin door, entering before Octavia could answer.
“Hallie,” Jack said, greeting me.
“Look, I know you don’t want me to stab him, but it’s only fair. Just one dagger, that’s all I want,” I told him.
Jack stared at me with an open mouth. “Stab who? That fiend Akbar?”
“Of course not. Etienne.” I glanced around. Octavia stood near Jack, and next to her was a man in a dark suit. I glanced at him, but figured he must be the local farmer who owned the surrounding area. “Isn’t he here? I thought you called me in so I could have my shot at stabbing him.”
“No,” Octavia said, looking from the man to me. “It’s nothing like that—really, you thought Jack, of all people, would give you a dagger? It’s ... er ...”
She looked at the dark-haired man again. He had been smiling, but that smile faded now.
“What?” I asked, feeling that I wasn’t up to whatever it was they were doing with all those silent glances. “Look, I’ve got a lot going on right now, so if you could just come to the point, I’d be really grateful.”
“Er ...” She seemed to have a problem continuing, staring at me, then turning to look at the other man.
“Tavy wanted you to meet this gentleman. He’s a diplomat, the one who tried to get you out of prison last year. Alan Dubain, this is my sister, Hallie Norris,” Jack said, shooting a frown at Octavia.
“What is the matter with ... Hallie, did you hit your head?” Octavia asked, coming over to stand next to me, giving me a quick once-over. “Is your vision impaired?”
“No to all of those,” I said, then waved politely at the man, who stood still, like he was made of rock. “Nice to meet you. Oh, wait, you’re a diplomat? You don’t by any chance have connections to the Moghuls, do you? Because I really want to get a message to Prince Akbar.”
“A message?” the man asked in an odd sort of croaking voice. Then he cleared his throat and looked at Octavia. The two of them stared at each other before both looked back at me.
“Jack, what’s wrong with her?” Octavia asked in a whisper that was loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Hmm?”
“Is her vision amiss? She doesn’t seem to see ...” She stopped, looking confused.
“Her vision is fine, I think. Except, of course, for the thing.”
“What thing?” Octavia sounded frustrated.
I rolled my eyes, waving at my brother. “You can tell her if you want.”
“Tell me what?” she asked, turning to Jack.
He shot me a grin, then hustled Octavia out of the room, leaving the door open. “It’s this weird thing we have. I have a slight touch of it, but not nearly to the extent that Hallie does. ...”
I pursed my lips, then sat down at Octavia’s desk and started writing a letter. “If you don’t mind, Mr. Dubain, I’m going to write a letter that I very badly want to get to Prince Akbar.”
“She haswhat?” I heard Octavia shout in the hallway.
“A letter?” The man sounded like he was choking. He moved closer to me, one hand rubbing the back of his head when he said under his breath, “I must still be feeling the effects.”
