Page 41 of A Night of Secret Surrender
‘Are you ready to disembark?’
She blinked into the light at the sound of his voice and was once again back in the moment.
‘There will be horses waiting and we will travel south tonight. The more miles we can cover the better. Tomorrow we shall each become someone else again.’
It was a busy wharf, but there were no soldiers anywhere. The ease of having transport made the transition from boat to land simple and within half an hour they were leaving the river behind them.
Celeste had the thought that she might never see this waterway again, but as the outline of the city against the distant horizon faded, she was not sad. Paris had been her father’s home, but it had never been her own. When they turned south it was like shedding another skin, like a cicada, the symbol of a new beginning. She felt immeasurably lighter.
* * *
Shay glanced at the time on his fob watch and calculated that they had at least five hours’ fast riding before they stopped. That should put them somewhere in the vicinity of Versailles, he thought, which was good because it was a town large enough to be invisible and there would be places to find a lodging. The identity cards they carried would suffice, but Lian had warned him that the checks were more rigorous now. Napoleon’s capacity to incite fear, he thought bitterly. Nobody he had ever talked with believed in the wisdom of the Emperor’s mission to strike towards the heart of Russia, particularly given winter in the northern lands was known to be uncompromisingly bitter.
Thoughts of the Battles of Narva and Poltava came to his mind, the failed campaigns of ancient defeats suffered in the snow. It felt like the beginning of the end, Napoleon’s demise hanging on poor choices and grand pretensions, and today he and Celeste had only just escaped the tail end of it. A crumbling dictatorship was always the most perilous, so many losers scrambling for purchase.
She looked exhausted, the dark rings under her eyes easily seen in such a flat light. But they could not afford to relax their guard, and if anyone had observed them closely today, then they might remember more detail tomorrow.
There was no logic or sense in war, but a thousand different possibilities that could be strung together at any time. Relax, and disaster would follow like it had in the north of Spain, as he and Guillermo had ridden through the olive groves, imagining they were safe.
* * *
Four and a half hours later, when they reached Versailles, Shay was more than relieved. It had been a long day after a long and sleepless night and the tavern on the edge of town seemed to suit their purpose exactly.
‘Just the one room?’ The proprietor was an elderly man and hard of hearing.
‘Yes, thank you. The boy can lie on the floor by the door.’
‘I’ll send up an extra blanket, then, sir, with your food.’
The chamber was small and the bed was, too, a single cot with two grey blankets and two pillows stacked at its foot.
* * *
Locking the door, Summer motioned for her to sit, though the movements required to accomplish even such a simple task seemed onerous and difficult. Her bottom stung, her thighs were chafed and every muscle at the back of her neck felt hard and tight.
Celeste prayed to God that they would not be disturbed tonight and that she could just close her eyes and shut out the world until the dawn.
‘Here. Have this.’ Summer passed her his water canister and she drank from it, the cool liquid making her head clear a little.
‘The food will be here soon.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think...I can stay awake...long enough.’
He crossed the floor and kneeled down before her, removing her laced boots with a tug, the hat and jacket following. ‘Lie down, then. I will save you some.’
‘There’s only...one bed.’
‘But two blankets and I will be fine on the armchair.’
This close up she saw the shards of gold in his eyes. His hair was growing, too, the light from the window bouncing against the sprouting strands. Gold and white and wheat and cinnamon. No wonder he had dyed it on his journey from the Spanish border for it was so very particularly him.
Her hand reached out and felt the bristles.
‘You were always...too beautiful.’
There was puzzlement in his eyes as she lay back and he spread the blanket across her. Then she was fast asleep.
* * *
