章 29: Do you know what I know?

Anaisa watched her husband out of the corner of her eye as she continued to serve herself breakfast. Trace was frozen for a moment before sighing deeply and taking the paper out of the pocket he'd slipped it into.

Placing it on the table between them, but not removing his hand, he looked at her evenly.

"I have not read it yet."

Anaisa took a bite and then gestured that he should read it now. Did Trace roll his eyes at her??

She pressed her lips together into a pout as he lifted the envelope from the table and opened it. His eyes subtly widened and narrowed as he read the words on the page for a full minute and a half. Anaisa took several bites of food in the interim to keep herself from interrupting.

The sooner he read it, the more quickly he could decide whether he was going to share the information with her or not. She chewed and swallowed, suppressing a sigh of impatience.

His eyes finally found hers again, and she raised one eyebrow in silent question.

"We will continue to the city. There is an inn there for us to reside." He said simply as he folded the paper and put it back in his pocket.

Her shoulders drooped. That was all? She opened her mouth to pelt him with more questions when he sent a significant look around the room.

Anaisa clenched her jaw. He was right, there were ears in here. Too many ears, and obviously if he was being blackmailed, he didn't want this entire town to know it.

She nodded, once, and continued with breakfast.

"How far will we go today?" She asked as he ate.

"As far as we can make it. The rest of the way has towns and inns. Depending on how quickly we ride, it will take a few days to reach the city." He responded.

"We will stay at inns the entire way? The bridal caravan made us sleep in the wilderness on the ground, saying it was too expensive to get rooms for all of us." She frowned.

"I imagine it would be expensive for that many women, if you could find an inn to take you all," He smiled slightly. "And of course, it would probably be harder to keep eyes on all of you if you were all split up. I'm sure they wanted to keep you all safe."

Anaisa grimaced. Safety did not seem the priority. They probably didn't want to give any of the girls the slightest opportunity to escape. Separate rooms would have given an excellent chance to do so.

"I'm sure." She smiled a little sarcastically, and Trace eyed her. Sometimes he seemed to understand her sarcasm, and other times he clearly didn't. She wondered how long it would be before he fully grasped her wry sense of humor.

"You always eat slowly," He observed as he looked down at her plate. "Does it bother you that I don't?"

"Not at all," She lied a little. The manners of orderly eating had been drilled into her since earliest childhood. Trace could eat at any pace he wanted, which spoke of a freedom she'd never had.

There was still food left. Anaisa looked around furtively before taking a kerchief from her dress pocket and stuffing the remaining breakfast cakes into it. She was determined to cost Trace as little as possible on this journey, and little ways of saving food might help.

"You don't waste anything," Trace noted. "That's a good quality on a farm."

Anaisa smiled slightly, glad he wasn't embarrassed by her display. She doubted she would ever be back on the farm to know whether it was a good quality there or not. Her stomach churned with the deception.

The couple took their bags and headed towards the door. Anaisa resisted the urge to rub her backside, which was still sore from a full day in the saddle.

On her way out, a gleaming grin from the corner caught her eye.

It was that terrible man!

Reaching forward, she caught the edge of Trace's sleeve and tugged. He turned with surprise, and she cut her eyes over to the darkened area of the room. Trace shook his head slightly, once, and continued out the door.

Of course. The letter had come from somewhere. That awful Conlan must have delivered it himself, again. Everywhere she'd ever seen him, there was wrongdoing.

Outside, Trace's shoulders relaxed slightly, and a stable boy brought out their prepared horses.

"You don't seem afraid of him," Anaisa noted quietly.

"He's just a messenger," Her husband replied, but the firm set of his jaw belied his careless words.

"He's dangerous," She insisted in a whisper. Being around her father's political connections growing up had taught her how to read men and their intentions well.

"I'll protect you," Trace promised, "You don't need to worry about him."

The words comforted her more than she expected them to. Katia and she had been a team, but Anaisa had never had a protector since her guards had thrown the sisters into the street without remorse. Trace's declaration, born of something other than the promise of payment, provoked an unusual sensation, almost as frightening as it was calming.

There were steps to Anaisa to mount her horse more easily, which she was grateful for. A whole day in the saddle before had left her a bit sore. Once atop their mounts, the couple left the town with Trace setting the speed.

She tried to wait patiently for him to share anything more, but he stared stoically forward for a time. Trying not to fidget in the saddle, Anaisa's eagerness finally overcame the etiquette lessons of childhood.

"Well?" She blurted when they were far away from every possible ear in a wide radius. The town was barely visible behind them.

Trace sighed, not even pretending to be confused by what she meant.

"The 'not prying' promise is completely out the window now, isn't it?" He looked at her plainly.

"... yes." She admitted. For one thing, Katia was now involved. For another, she was now absolutely certain that Conlan was the man she'd seen with her father's treacherous cousin. Trace's letters, and the man that delivered them, might be the key to information that would bring Barnabas down and help restore her to her rightful place.

Trace reached into his pocket and drew out the envelope, holding it gently and extending it towards her.

Her eyes flickered to his. He trusted her enough to let her read the communication, or there was so little information in it that it didn't matter whether she read it at all?

There was only one way to find out. He nodded once, in encouragement, and she took the paper from him, unfolding it and scanning the contents with eager eyes.

'Faithful Trace,

I knew you would consent to help me! Your wife and her sister are effective incentives, are they not? I'm delighted that they were enough to motivate your cooperation.

Once you receive this letter, please continue to the city with all due haste. Your assignment is a sensitive one, and I have done you the service of securing you a room at the Violent Lion inn. It is ideally located for you to complete your next assignment for me, which shall be revealed upon your arrival there.

Your kingdom needs you, and it is a great relief we have men such as you willing to work for the good of us all."

The letter ended without a signature, as the last one had. Anaisa scanned the words again, looking for more meaning than she'd found the first time. She could feel Trace's eyes observing her as she read, but that didn't concern her.

"Ideally located," She murmured, turning the phrase over in her mind as she pondered what it could mean. "Ideally located to do some kind of work for the good of the kingdom…"

The handwriting was the same as all nobles', and the script was rather masculine to her eyes. She could not say whether it was Barnabas's or someone else's. He certainly wouldn't want anything that would be for the good of the kingdom. He had always been only out for himself. She began to doubt her suspicion of his connection to this matter, but there was a lot of information she still lacked.

"I'm sure I'll find out more when we arrive in the city and ask where the inn is," Trace shrugged, holding out his hand to take the letter back from her.

She surrendered it quickly, but was deep in thought. She knew of the inn; all rich visitors to the city who did not merit rooms in the palace or other fine houses stayed at it. It was expensive, but located in the perfect place for anyone who wanted to be seen by important people. When she and Katia had asked for work there, the door had been slammed in their faces.

"The Violet Lion is next to the palace," Anaisa informed him.