THE SABLE SPY | NINETEEN

  MORNING CAME, THE SUN'S soft rays seeping through the curtained windows and creeping into the guest bedroom. Marcus Dalton poked his head in, glancing around. When he realised that Cass was still abed, asleep, he sighed and rapped his knuckles against the wooden desk before pulling the curtains apart, letting the sun's full glory shine into the room. With a grunt, Cass finally snapped awake.

"Have you never heard of knocking?" She snarled, rubbing her arms. She had stopped favouring her non-injured arm a few days ago, so he assumed it had stopped hurting.

Marcus smirked, knowing it would infuriate her. "Rise and shine, milady. Wasn't as if I snuck in here. I made plenty of noise. If you were awake, that would have informed you of my presence already."

"I was asleep."

"In which case me knocking wouldn't have made a difference, as you wouldn't have heard it anyways. Get up. We have important things to discuss."

That snapped her out of it quickly. Cass physically jolted, swore, and scrambled out of her bed. He turned his head around to give her some privacy, before saying, "Meet you downstairs in ten. Don't be late." He didn't trust himself to turn back and check, instead quickly heading out the room and down the stairs. He had woken up merely half an hour before. Yesterday had been a late and tiring night, but he'd gone through worse.

Luke was already waiting downstairs, messily dressed, his shirt halfway buttoned, sipping a cup of coffee Georgie must have given him. From the kitchen, he could hear Georgie and Tyler whispering to each other. Those two were sickeningly sweet. It made his teeth ache. And now Luke apparently had plans to marry his thieving Vayantean viscountess as well. And he still wasn't any closer to convincing Cass to stay.

Though she'd be forced to work with him for a bit more. That was the only good thing out of Laurence and Ciri being kidnapped. Now he felt like a shitty person just for thinking that.

"Where's the old man?" Marcus asked, not seeing Cadieux.

"Told him to send someone to watch the White Mole quickly. He's handling that right now," Luke told him, taking a bite from his toast. "Cass?"

"Upstairs getting ready. She'll be down in ten." He yanked out the seat besides Luke and sat down. Georgie came through a moment later with another plate of toast, which he graciously accepted, muttering his thanks. "I don't suppose Cadieux has miraculously come up with a plan to save our two friend's butts?"

Luke shook his head. "If he did, he chose not to inform me of it. Think he's waiting for all of us before starting a discussion. Benjamin came back at five in the morning, so he's still asleep."

Marcus scowled. "The kid needs a better sleep schedule." Not that his own schedule had been any better during his youth. They often scrambled into bed at the bleary hours of the morning, only catching a few hours of sleep. It came with the job, especially since Benjamin specialised in dealing with the scum and criminals of the world, who generally seemed to prefer working at night.

"Only reason we haven't woken him yet." It was seven. Benjamin would no doubt scowl and complain that they hadn't woken him earlier, but he'd understand. He was an orphan, and the Service was his family. Every agent was his brother and sister, and they'd take turns taking care of him. That was how they worked.

"He needs a couple normal years in his life."

Luke shrugged again. "Think they're considering sending him up to Epimur for university in the next few years. He could learn from our Epimur-based agents and have a few normal years in life. Just have to find a way to stop him from running away with some gang and befriending every criminal in the country instead." Cadieux would be able to arrange that, he thought.

"Why not let him stay in the country?"

"We're meant to be trying to get him to relax," Luke pointed out. "He's not going to relax in Arecia unless you send him off to Dorncliff. And there's nothing but sheep in Dorncliff. No point posting someone like him there."

Cass arrived at that moment, dressed in a white blouse with a black corset over it, and beige breeches underneath, still tying her hair into a loose braid behind her. "Morning."

The two of them murmured their greetings. Cass glanced around. "Cadieux is out," Marcus answered her unspoken question. "He'll be back later. Just have breakfast first."

She glowered. "You woke me up for breakfast? I thought we were going to discuss what we found yesterday."

"Wait for Cadieux for that," Luke said. "And Tyler, who's probably busy kissing his wife in the kitchen." Right on cue, a high-pitched giggle sounded from the kitchen. Three pairs of eyes jumped towards it, and Cass began to snicker.

"Guess I'm not getting my food for a while." Cass's eyes wandered around the table, before landing on Marcus's toast. She reached out, tore it into two, and shoved her half in her mouth.

Marcus's mouth dropped open. "Rude!" She glared at him, and he glowered. Luke snorted.

"I am a thousand times more mature than you!" He mocked, echoing her words from the night before. She turned her furious eyes to him as well, and he flashed a vulgar expression at her.

"My other option was starving. I think Dalton is enough of a gentleman to give me half of his bread." She gave them both a tight smile before finishing the toast in a few big bites. "Now what?"

"Now we wait for Cadieux to come back. Dalton, should you send another missive back home just in case?"

"Already done," Marcus said. "My parents know."

"How are we covering Laurence vanishing, exactly?" Cass frowned, tugging at her braid. "Won't his servants talk?"

"They're all discreet. We informed the butler what happened, and he'll know what to do. Laurence has given him instructions in situations like these. He knew the risks of the game."

"This isn't the game," she pointed out to Luke. "This technically was just me being a meddling bitch and biting off more than I could chew."

"You uncovered an undercover plot that involved politics and countries. It's the bloody game, Diao."

Cass didn't answer, just picked at her blouse, not meeting anyone's eye. "Have the Kuroki girls discovered anything?"

"Not much they can discover," Marcus pointed out. "Hua Jueying hasn't gone into society. They don't have our contacts either. Pretty sure they have their own agenda for coming here besides the obvious. They're still Saian agents, at the end of the day. No offence, Cass."

"None taken." They had settled into an uneasy truce ever since Laurence was captured. Perhaps both of them had finally realised that their bickering was getting nowhere and chose to focus on retrieving their friends first. Or perhaps he was just too afraid to push her in fear that she'd shut him out again. Usually, he was a man who knew his own mind. Around her, he wasn't sure. And whether or not she'd admit it, it went the same for her. Perhaps that was why she was so anxious to avoid him. Fools. Fools for each other. He supposed there was always that one person in the world you acted like that around, who you couldn't cut out no matter how bad you knew they were for your system. Saccharine-laced poison, addicting drugs covered in sweets and coated with sugar.

But they didn't have to be that to each other. That was, perhaps, why he kept going. His parents had always told him he was a dogged little thing. It was what made him a good agent.

They sat without speaking for a few minutes, eating their breakfast, deep in thought.

It was during this period Cadieux returned, seemingly nonplussed by the silence that greeted him though the only sign that gave it away was a twitch of his eyebrow. "I've sent Jackson and Sterling to watch your damned tavern. Are you going to tell me your plan for it?"

"That," Cass said, sounding amused, "was exactly what we were hoping to consult you for."

Cadieux stared at them and sighed. "Trained you all for a bloody decade and you still have to come back to me for the simplest plans. At least tell me you have ideas."

"We could go quiet, sneak in, sneak out. But we're not sure what's inside. If Ciri and Laurence are in there at all, or what state they're in. We could go loud, do an entire raid, but if it's the wrong location, or someone gets to them first..."

"Both plans have merit, Cadieux, but both have their risks." Marcus shrugged.

"Like every other plan ever made." Cadieux grunted, yanked out his chair and sat down. "How sure are you that these two are down there?"

"Eighty percent?" Luke replied. "We'd most likely have to wait for Jackson and Sterling to report first. We'll look out for guards. And god forbid, the man himself. Hell, I might head out to join them later. I've seen Hua before."

"Not sure enough." Cadieux looked thoughtful. "Nothing to do there, then. I'd suggest you people act as placid as possible. Peaceful as bloody sheep. Especially you, Cass, since we most probably have eyes on this house. You're the one he'll be watching out for, if he has half a brain on him. Let him neglect us."

"I am on permanent display, then?" Cass asked, her tone humourous. "Like a piece of delicious cake."

"They don't display the delicious cake, just the pretty ones."

Cass turned her eyes to him. "So now I'm a pretty cake."

Well, she was pretty, though he wasn't completely sure about cake. A scone, more likely. His reply must have shown in his eyes, because she suddenly frowned before turning back to face Cadieux, who was staring down at the table.

He looked up and said, "The girl."

Luke looked confused. "What girl?"

"Send the girl out. The Mi chit. No one bats an eye at a little girl running through the slums. She can protect herself, I think. Sterling's half-Cheonuang as well, if you want, they can play siblings. No one would question it if she was overly curious or clumsy."

Cass exchanged a look with Marcus, which for some reason made him feel a great deal of joy. "Do we send for Lady Kuroki, then?"

Cadieux, instead of answering, released another loud grunt, standing up and heading upstairs. That was a "yes, you idiots".

Luke watched him vanish before saying, "He's in a bad mood. Lady Janae, do you think?" They hadn't been the only ones out late last night.

Cass let a small twitch of her mouth betray her amusement. "Who are we to speculate? They'll end this idiotic business and put a ring on it, whether or not Cadieux continues to play the game, sooner or later. I give it a year. Perhaps I'll stay around just for the wedding." Marcus knew she was joking, but he couldn't help but feel a bit of joy at the suggestion. She snapped her finger. "I'll compose a message and send someone out with it, yes?"

Luke stood up. "I want to stretch my legs. I'll do it."

✴

"OF COURSE, A MISSION involving me requires me to be dressed in rags and covered in dirt and shit." Iolanthe— who had instructed them all to call her Io, grumbled as Cass strategically smeared ash on her cheeks. Luke had summoned Sterling back, and the boy was now watching them from a distance. They looked similar enough, she supposed. "The sacrifices I make for Ciri," the girl continued, sighing dramatically while shaking her head. "She owes me for this."

"She owes all of us for this," Cass muttered, mussing up her hair. "Stay still," she said when the girl kept fidgeting. "Making you look dishevelled is an art, girl."

"It's a dumb art," Io shot back. "I'm tired."

"If you're to be a spy, you'd like much more patience than that," she murmured in return, before giving the girl a one-over. "You're ready. Sterling?"

Sterling was eighteen, tall and lean. He had ink black hair and raven black eyes that glowed like hot coal. In a few years, he'd have left legions of broken heart at his feet. He tilted his head in response. "Always." A bit too confident to be super reliable on a job, but the Service didn't recruit fools. His father was gentry, his mother an heiress, but you'd only see a young rogue if you saw him then.

Io stepped away from Cass to stand besides her "brother". Cass inspected the two of them with narrowed eyes. "You two look fine. I suggest you discuss how you wish to proceed. Consider this training, coming up with a cover story on the spot." Somewhere down the makeover, she had transformed into the stern teacher. "Io, what are you and your brother's names?"

"My name is Kim Kyung-hu. He's Kim Chunghee."

"Chunghee, where do you come from?"

"My family migrated here from Cheonuang when I was a baby. Kyung-hu was born here."

"Why are you living in the slums?"

"Our family lost all our money after our father became a gambler. In an attempt to escape the debtors, we moved here. It didn't work, so our father was dragged off to jail. Our mother found work to support us here and the two of us have been running around, picking up whatever job we can."

"Why are you looking at the trapdoor?"

Io didn't miss a beat. "My brother has been telling me stories of the Blarkens' period. He was educated, you see, before our family's fall. I was curious about the trapdoor since he was telling me of a passageway that led a noble family to safety."

"At this point, I'd whisk her away, muttering apologies for my incessantly curious sister who enjoys making a nuisance of herself." Sterling finished with a grin. "Is that enough for you, shifu?"

Master. Cass fought back a snort. "Go, little proteges. Make us proud."

They gave her an identical smile, so perfectly innocent. She knew better. Neither could fully hide the mischievous glint in their eyes. Trouble-makers, both of them. They'd mature in time, probably. But neither of them had their childhood bliss and innocence beaten out of them yet.

(It was only a matter of time, though.)

They left the room and Marcus walked in. She turned her back to him, making it seem natural, cleaning up the dresser she had been using as a table for all her things.

"They'll be fine."

She did not want or need his reassurance, so she simply responded with a one-shoulder shrug. Not another word passed between them, but she felt him settle down on the chair in the corner of the bedroom. She could not tell if it was being a spy or simply her personal awareness of him that she always knew where he was and what he was doing. Either way, it annoyed her greatly.

Subconsciously, she tightened her grip.

Marcus noticed, naturally. "You're angry. Why?" That was curiosity in his voice, and curiosity only. No judgement, no conclusion reached. It made her angrier.

"You're angry because you can't hate me, is that it?"

"You know I do not hate you. I have told you that many times. Stop rubbing it in my face. If you are proud because I do not hate you, you must have a hard existence. A pitiful one."

He had the nerves to grin. She shut her eyes and mustered her courage before turning to face him. "Can I help you, or are you just going to sit there?"

"I'm starting to realise a pattern," he said instead of answering. "You come to me and shut yourself off. You refuse to look me in the eye, and you turn away from me instead of facing me head-on. I start to push you, and slowly, you grow more comfortable around me. You start forgetting yourself. You grin and laugh with and at me. You fall back into our old habits. But then I'm too scared to push you further, to finally push you past that line you've drawn, and you remember yourself. Rinse and repeat."

She wanted to say that he was wrong, but she could not. There were many things she liked to lie about. Her job had made her a skilled liar, who could spin falsehoods and stories out of thin air within the blink of an eye. She did not like to lie about this.

"I will break the cycle soon."

Marcus watched her, quietly. "Not in the way I wish to, I suppose?" Still, there is no judgment in his voice. He might have been talking about something that wholly uninterested him. She hated him for that, how considerate he was, even when everything would be easier if he wasn't so patient.

She did hate him. Just not for the right reasons.

"You already know the answer to that." Her voice was a little stronger now, as she set the comb she had used on Io's hair aside. "Do not ask stupid questions."

"It's not stupid to me."

"I will not stay and become a perfect wife. I am a vagabond. I cannot be tied down to one spot forever. I will be miserable, and that will make you miserable."

"I've already told you many times I'd never try to tie you down. I have no interest in settling down either. I'm just as much an agent as you. My father has many years ahead of him. It might be twenty, thirty, forty years before I have to become the Marquess of Rochesdale. I have that long to continue being an agent with no responsibility to care for here. Hell, you don't even have to marry me. Just come to Arecia once in a while and visit. The last six years have been hell."

"I know."

"You know, sometimes, your sheer cold-bloodedness frightens me. You're so bloody practical. Do you ever let your emotions control you?"

"When I was younger," she replied.

Marcus shook his head. "Even then, you were mostly like this. Everything you did was looked at from so many angles and calculated so carefully before you even started the first move. Laurence has always been more impulsive. I think my actions through too, but compared to you, I'm just as bad as he is. I have to tell you, though, that this is a one-way trip to misery and loneliness."

"And you would know because?"

"Look around us."

"I am not Cadieux."

"No." A small smile. "You're even worse than him. At least he entertains the idea of settling down someday. What was it you said earlier? That he'd finally come to his senses soon and put a ring on Lady Janae's finger? It's true. He left the house earlier, dressed in his aristocrat clothing. Hired a hackney to the fashion district."

"Good for him."

"Will you stay until the wedding?"

"I do not have much of a choice."

"Even after we rescue Laurence and Ciri, by the way, which we will, since luck always seems to be on our side." She did not know how he sounded so certain. But then again, she had not realised that she felt uncertain. Today was a day of revelations, it seemed. She was learning much about herself. She did not think that was possible, having spent so many nights on ships or hiding in a tiny room with only her own head as company. Once, she'd have forced herself to dig through every nook and cranny of her mind just for fun. She was not that girl now. She now bore the weight of burden. It was not a nice feeling. She hated it greatly, but it was something that came naturally with age. Nothing she could truly do about it.

"I will stay until the wedding." She forced herself to sound firm. She did not allow herself to think of the alternative. She would be strong, like her sister needed her to be. Like she needed herself to be. This was one of the reasons she avoided this place. Here, she returned to that little girl six years ago, who was willing to depend on other people. She had been one of the wolf pack then, but she was a lone, hungry, rogue wolf now. She would not go back to that life, no matter how alluring it was.

She would not give him any victory, big or small, whether he wanted it or not. But when he smiled and said, "Good," it was only then she realised that was exactly what she had done.

Marcus was always intelligent, and she knew he had a manipulative streak in him just like everyone else. But back then he had tried to hide it, been ashamed of it. This Marcus had a cynical, cold understanding of the rest of humankind, and she had just fallen directly into his trap. Because he knew she didn't break promises, and she knew he was right.