KChan

Good, they were getting right down to business. This Lady Axelle was still polite, but she wasn't wasting time talking herself in circles with frivolous formalities. Eliza liked that; perhaps they'd get along after all. It was good to have an instructor whose priorities lay where they were supposed to.

"On a horse under my own power, yes," she answered back in the same businesslike manner. "I've ridden once in front of a more experienced rider, but only for a short distance, and when I was little I used to sneak into the stables to try and pet the draft horses. So while I'm entirely inexperienced, horses aren't a completely foreign concept to me. I'm honestly more used to the motion of a boat underneath me, though."

She approached the horses as she spoke, until she was standing right next to Kylie, the horse she was intended to ride. She seemed as gentle as Lady Axelle had indicated, and Eliza couldn't help but smile when she rested a gentle hand on the horse's warm neck.

"Good morning, Kylie," she said softly. "It's nice to meet you. I promise I'll do my best not to fall off your back like an idiot."

The night stretched on, and still there were no signs of Jasun anywhere. What was that buffoon doing? Had he decided to go on a celebratory jaunt with Lysette before reporting back to her? Or had he simply gotten scared and backed out? A shame, if that were the case; she'd given him one simple job and he couldn't even do that. Well, it just went to show how useless a tool he really would have been.

Eventually, finally, she heard them. Footsteps, echoing purposefully down the hallway, coming toward her. That would be one of her men, come to let her know that Jasun was--

"Lord Caden!"

What.

An empty pit formed in Colette's stomach, as if she'd missed a stair and was now falling. She clutched her shawl tightly around her and tried to school her face to an appropriately relieved and concerned expression, but even she couldn't stop the blood from draining from it. She turned, slower than she would have liked, just in time to come face to face with Caden, the crumpled figure of her watchman barely visible on the floor where he'd been dropped.

"Good evening, cousin."

He knew.

He wouldn't have worn that suit to the ball; he hadn't even been wearing it when he left earlier. It was freshly pressed, and his hair was damp, as if he'd just straightened it. But aside the efforts he'd gone to to make this a deliberate conversation, as soon as she met his eyes, she knew. He knew what she'd done, what she'd tried to do, and now--

No. No, it might not be over yet. She didn't know that for sure, and she couldn't give herself away now. So she let that mask of relief and concern wash over her, burned zinc, and stepped forward with outstretched arms. She reached for his emotions at the same time, looking to Pull on any loose threads of doubt, uncertainty, or insecurity that could possibly make him doubt himself, or even open up any holes in his defenses that she could worm through.

"Oh, Caden! Thank the Lord Ruler you're finally home! I've been waiting up all night for you!"

Nessa's head was still spinning from last night. She'd finally found Perrin, Nate had proven himself to be a better friend than she'd ever hoped, and apparently there weren't many other people in the crew she could trust, if everyone was under direct orders to keep her and Perrin apart. For some reason Datura's betrayal, even though it wasn't actually a betrayal in the first place, stung the most. When Nessa had first laid eyes on the Crewleader, it was like she'd seen everything she herself could become put on glorious display in front of her. A woman, a Pewterarm, powerful and respected and in complete control of her own life. Datura never had to worry about men crawling into her bunk at night, or grabbing her in a dark alley. Datura could do whatever she wanted, with her pewter and her money and her crew behind her.

And what did she do with all those seemingly infinite resources and potential? She threw her lot in with bloody Ignas of all people. And if there was one sure sign of a lack of judgment in a person, in Nessa's mind, it was willingly putting one's trust and allegiance in Ignas. He'd see them all burn for his own ends, and gladly, and Nessa was beginning to feel like she, Perrin, and Nate were the only ones who saw it. And hopefully Maks too. She'd never really talked about Ignas with him before, but he seemed to have his head on straight. Surely he saw through this madness too. Hopefully.

And now here she was, hauled out of bed what felt like not nearly long enough after getting into it, sent on some ridiculous errand that anyone could have gone on. Not that she was particularly upset about finally being let out of the crewhouse, but it was a little irritating listening to Kess being lectured over and over again not to lose her, as if she were some kind of precious cargo to be delivered.

On one hand, she supposed she kind of deserved it. On the other, she was able to see Perrin, and would be able to again. As long as the agreement held, there was no reason for her to go running off now. Not that anyone other than Nate knew that, of course. So she would be a good little parcel, and shuffle along behind Kess for this errand, and maybe if she was asked nicely, try not to be completely useless.

"We'll take two," Kess suddenly said, and Nessa was jolted out of her own thoughts. There was a delightful smell in the air, and just as suddenly as before, Nessa suddenly had a baywrap in her hands. And then in her mouth, almost as soon as she touched the thing.

Of course, that didn't leave much of an ability to thank Kess for the food, but she did shoot her an appreciative look.

Maybe this errand wouldn't be so bad after all.

Eliza was surprised by Nadia's sudden if welcome hug, and returned it tightly. She was just about to explain why she was here when Nadia went and did it. She said The Word, and Eliza sighed in disappointment. She already knew that Nadia didn't approve of Caden, but somehow she hadn't expected her friend to sink to society's level when labeling him.

"He has been and is continuing to be perfectly wonderful to me," she said firmly, leveling a sharp look at Nadia that she hoped would get the message across that she wasn't interested in hearing arguments about it right now. "He's supportive and respectful and honest, whatever you may think about society types. And we're a couple now, so I sincerely hope I never have to hear that word spoken about him from my best friend's mouth ever again. And if you must know, he gave me his coat because it's bloody freezing out here at night. But that's neither here nor there.

"The important thing is, someone tried to kill us just now. We're both fine, and I'll tell you all about it when we have more time, but poor Dennison - oh, he's the driver - took a nasty blow to the head, and he's still unconscious. Neither of us knows how to drive a carriage, there's no conveniently placed boats for me to row us home, and riding about on draft horses with an unconscious driver strapped to one of them is a great way to make a bigger spectacle of the whole thing than either of us would like at the moment. Can you help us? Please?"

I love Jasper's tragic story. It'll be great to see what becomes of him! Approved!