Ultimate Nyssa Glass by H. Burke (ebook reader browser txt) 📗

aside then started picking the trunk. She needed to find something that explained this man’s ferocity. Some idea of why he was really after Amara and Renard.

The lock gave. The trunk’s hinges squeaked as she opened it. Nyssa winced.

Inside, on top of carefully folded layers of clothing, was a brown paper folder. She opened it. Inside were travel documents but also a small stack of photographs. The first was of Renard, but blurry and with his head turned half away from the camera, as if it had been taken without his knowledge. Beneath this was a photograph of Amara, clearly posed, in her best silks with her hair done up in an even more elaborate style than usual.

She pulled away the photo of Amara and read the document that rested under it. The phrasing was thick legalese, but she got the gist of it. Amara was legally a ward of Cyril Blythe, Esquire, until her eighteenth birthday, four months away by the dates given.

Nothing new here. She put down the folder, and stared into the eyes of Amara’s picture. What are they hiding? It has to be something.

The door behind her creaked opened.

Nyssa spun around, the photograph still clutched in her hand.

The older man from the observation deck—Uncle Cyril, she assumed—raised his eyebrows. “You again?” He shut the door, his fingers tapping against the handle of his cane. “How do you fit into all this? You aren’t the sort of girl my niece would willingly befriend, considering your attire.”

Really? What is with people and clothes?

Nyssa drew herself up. “It’s more of a matter of need than taste. Where’s your crony? The one you had break into our room last night?”

“Keeping watch in the hall,” Blythe replied. “I considered sending him for ship security, but I wanted to speak with you first.”

Nyssa narrowed her eyes at him. “It doesn’t make sense to me. You seem like a reasonable man, and Amara is … Amara. Why come after her? Why send armed thugs to harass her and Renard?”

“Under normal circumstances, you’d be right.” He tilted his head. “What sob story has my niece given you? Was she locked in a tower, like Rapunzel, waiting for her prince to rescue her from my callous care? Did I beat her? Feed her bread and water?”

Nyssa shrugged. “Something like that.”

“I won’t pretend any particular fondness for my niece, and less for her sticky-fingered Romeo. No, if it were simply a matter of them running off together, I wouldn’t shed a tear, but that Renard is a thief of more than just Amara’s heart. He stole the Dragon’s Heart.”

“The what?”

He motioned towards the folder. “If I may?”

She picked it up and passed it to him. He thumbed through the documents then pulled out a picture of a matronly woman with a massive gemstone pendant on her ample breast. Even in the sepia tones of the photograph, the gem had a deep, appealing color.

“This ruby is the heirloom of my family, the inheritance from my late mother. Renard can have Amara. The Dragon’s Heart he is not entitled to.”

Nyssa recalled the locked, rattling hatbox.

“If you know she has the gem, why not simply go to security and have them collect it for you?” she asked. “Why all this sneaking around?”

“Well …” He cleared his throat. “There may be some issues with the provenance of this particular gem.”

Nyssa scowled. He might think he could hide behind fancy words, but she’d been a thief. She knew the delicate phrases men used to hide their indiscretions. “So it’s stolen?”

“Not exactly stolen. Let’s just say the ownership is contested between my family and the royal line of a certain duchy, that duchy being the island of San Azula where we are headed. It’s a diplomatic quagmire. If the captain came into possession of it, he might feel obliged to hold it for the rulers of San Azula, or turn it over to a neutral party until the matter could be decided in court. Possession being nine-tenths of the law, I’d just as soon not let go of it.”

“Of course you wouldn’t.” Nyssa let out a long breath. She didn’t trust Blythe any more than she trusted Amara, but it was obvious both parties were hiding something from her. At least Blythe’s story made sense. “Look, I’m not friendly with Amara, but I don’t wish her any ill will. If I get you the jewel, will you let her continue on to San Azula unmolested? And me along with her? I don’t want trouble, only to get safely where I’m going.”

“You may find Amara unwilling to give up the ruby. She’s accustomed to a certain level of luxury, and to my knowledge it is her only method of funding such a lifestyle. Perhaps that is for the best, of course. When she faces poverty with her beloved, she may come sniveling back to me. As her blood, the least I can do is provide for her in such a case.”

“How generous of you.” Nyssa sniffed. “So I can go now?”

“Are you going to get me the gem?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I need time to think it over.”

His hands twitched about his cane’s handle, his knuckles whitening. “Let me help you decide: I can’t risk the gem landing on San Azulan soil while out of my hands. Between the royal family’s claim to it, and their unwillingness to extradite criminals, I’ll never see it again. I need your answer, and the gem, by five p.m.” He leaned forward. His demeanor shifted, his face darkening, his mouth scowling, and his eyes like molten steel. “If not, I’ll have no choice but to go to the captain about your travel arrangements, and everyone in your cabin will end this voyage in the brig.”

A chill shot through Nyssa. She drew back. “I don’t like being threatened.”

“Then you should’ve chosen better company.” His pleasant tone returned. He motioned to the door. “You have work to do. I wouldn’t wish