Chapter 13

Sean

This time Malvern told me to meet him in the hotel. I would've picked somewhere secluded. Even the tea house would be better. I'd rather feel like death than the trinket Malvern wants me to be. Bay's conversation comes back to me. Much as I might not like to admit, she's right. And so was Holly, that day on the cliffs. Malvern doesn't think much of me and he won't hand me anything with a blessing, much less the thing I want the most. I played my hand but he holds all the aces.

I peer into the hotel lobby through a small door leading to the back staircase, where I huddle in the stairwell, waiting on Malvern. He's late. Again. I withdraw my head quickly. I don't want anyone to see me before I have to. Malvern asked me to the hotel for only one reason. Normally I would say it's because he wants to show me off, but today he wants to show me up. Whatever he's got to say to me, he could say it at the Yard. He wants this conversation to be public. I don't like what that means for me. Frowning, I cross my arms, wishing for my coat.

Why did I take Puck Connolly up on her offer to wash it? Something in me balks at the very idea. Bay certainly didn't seem to like it. And that sets me brooding on other, darker, thoughts. Bay Fisher. My best friend since we were kids. She's pulling away from me. And I don't know why. I know there's a lot going on in her life since she decided to race. I know Malvern wants her capall uisce for reasons I can't explain yet. I know she hasn't had the best relationship with her dad.

But why me? I can't help but ask. Earlier today she came to me at the Yard in hysterics. She barely listened to a word I said and stormed away before I could explain anything to her. Couldn't she tell I felt just as bad as she did about Prince's death? Even more so, because it was Corr who killed him and I was powerless to stop him.

Coward, I curse under my breath. I don't know if I'm referring to myself or Mutt Malvern. This is all Mutt's fault. Corr, Prince, Bay, Puck, everything. I pound my fist into my palm, thinking how good it would feel to pound it into Mutt's face. Bay did it. Why can't I?

You forget who I work for.

Not anymore. I don't owe Malvern my allegiance. It's a strange feeling, being able to give myself to whoever I want, without Malvern standing over my shoulder dictating how I act. It's only been a few days, but already I'm lost. Not that I like Malvern. In fact, just the opposite. But without my job and Corr, I don't know what to do. That was my life. Now it's gone. I told Bay as much. Is that why she got upset?

"You're looking darker than a thundercloud, Mr. Kendrick. What's on your mind?" a voice breaks my thoughts.

I look up to see George Holly descending the stairs toward me, a jovial expression on his face, and something that looks suspiciously like lipstick smeared on his collar. I give him a dubious glance. He smiles broadly.

"What's on your collar?" I ask. I'm not about to spill my life to Holly, much as I like him.

"Oh, that." He pulls his collar away from his neck like he can see it better that way. "Annie," he says conclusively, as if that explains everything. It does.

"Don't tell me you let Dory Maud pass her off on you," I say. Everyone on Thisby knows that Dory Maud has been trying to hand her blind sister off to a handsome, rich, and preferably gullible tourist for years. I thought Holly was smarter than that.

"She's not all bad, Mr. Kendrick. In fact she's quite pretty," a defensive note creeps into his voice. "Besides, I didn't come to Thisby strictly for business. But I don't suppose you're accustomed to pleasure, are you?"

For a moment I stare at Holly, trying to decide if his last statement was barbed or not. But then I decide it doesn't matter either way. He's right. Pleasure's not my forte. I've never had the time. I shrug. It's not my affair. Holly can hang out in hotel bedrooms with anyone he wants.

"Now it's your turn," Holly says after a moment. "What's got you in a knot?"

"Malvern," I say, almost wishing I was hanging out in a hotel bedroom right now. It'd be warmer. The wall I lean against is cold as ice. I shiver.

"Ah. What else," Holly nods knowledgeably. Then he notices my shiver. "Where's your coat, Kendrick?"

"With P—" I cut myself off. I'm not sure why. "Getting washed."

"Don't you have another?" Holly asks mischievously.

I shrug.

"I see. What brings you to the hotel then? Shouldn't you be skulking about the Yards?"

"No."

"He let you go," Holly guesses, crestfallen.

I nod.

"Well." He rubs the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, old boy. I really am. Thought you meant more to him than that."

"So did I," I find myself admitting under my breath.

"Sorry, what was that?" Holly asks.

I shake my head. He lets it go. For all his questions, Holly does possess a measure of tact.

"You still haven't told me why you're here," he presses curiously. Or perhaps not.

"Malvern told me he had an offer to make."

"In the hotel?"

"He wants it public."

"I'd watch my footing then if I were you. He wants something out of you."

I know. I want something out of him, too. I tilt my head just enough to look back into the lobby and see Malvern himself standing at the counter, talking to—Callum Fisher? For a moment, I'm taken aback. Callum Fisher hates only one thing more than the capail uisce and that's Benjamin Malvern. So why would he be seen talking to him in the hotel? Tempest. I fiercely want to know what they're saying, but just as I push myself off the wall, Callum turns and strides out of my sight.

"Is he out there?" Holly asks, eyebrow raised quizzically.

"Yeah," I say casually as if I don't have more questions than answers right now.

"Well, good luck, Mr. Kendrick. I'll leave you with one less audience member for your conversation as long as you promise to tell me what he says later."

I mumble something vaguely affirmative.

"Well, then I'm off to see a man about a horse," he winks and slips away with a wave. I watch him go then turn back toward the hotel lobby and walk through the door.

When I walk into the lobby, Bay's dad is nowhere to be seen. For a moment, neither is Malvern, but then I spot him talking with a race official near the center of the lobby. He sees me at about the same time.

"Ah, Mr. Kendrick," Malvern says as if the two of us have just bumped into each other by happenstance. "I hear you're having some girl trouble," he says with a smile, but his eyes are hard as flint.

I'm caught off guard by his introduction. "Girl trouble?" I ask. With who? And how would Malvern know anyway?

"Mutt tells me you and Bay had a little spat earlier today."

"What's it to you if we did?" I ask, eyes narrowed.

"Nothing, nothing," Malvern brushes it off with a wave of his hand. "I just want to make sure you've got your priorities in order, that's all."

"I'm sure you don't need to put them in order for me, Mr. Malvern," I say.

"I'm sure I don't," he agrees, but there's a dark edge to his tone I don't like. Malvern's never pried into my personal affairs before and I don't like the sudden attention he's giving Bay. Why would he care if we argued? He wants something, but I don't know what.

"Well," Malvern claps his hands together. "On to business, then, right, Mr. Kendrick? That's why you're here, isn't it?"

I don't answer. My presence is answer enough. Malvern called me here. He knows exactly why I'm here.

He looks put out when I don't speak, like I'm a character in a play who forgot his scripted line. Perhaps Malvern should make sure all his players are willing before he puts them on stage. He can force me into the spotlight, but he can't force me to act for him.

"No reason to beat about the bush, then," he says. "You want that stallion."

I nod.

"I'll cut you a deal," his voice is laced with steel. "You win this race, I'll sell him to you. You lose, and you never ask about him again."

"How much?" I ask. I know there must be a catch to Malvern's offer.

"Three hundred."

"No," I reply simply. Malvern knows as well as I do I can't pay that much. Not for years. Maybe that's his hope. He'll keep me hanging around because I can't pay for Corr all at once.

"No?" Malvern seems amused. "Two-ninety."

"Let's not beat around the bush, Mr. Malvern," I parrot him. "Two hundred." Then I add, as if an afterthought, "George Holly offered me a job." And I keep my face straight because Malvern doesn't have to know that last statement has been my mind's way of providing myself an out for this whole situation - I've just never said it out loud before. Holly already told me he'd take me in a minute. All I have to do is ask. I'm not going to, but I'll let Malvern know that Holly's been generous with me. Malvern can take it or leave it. He can take or leave me.

Malvern looks at me sharply. "Still think you know how to play, Sean Kendrick? Very well, then. Two hundred. May the sea hold you to it."

That's it. The conversation's over. Malvern leaves the hotel to hushed murmurs of admiration, his name whispered on almost every tongue in the room.

My name floats through the air as well, but for different reasons. I leave as the man who dared defy Benjamin Malvern.

Thisby is judge. The stakes are high. The race means more to me now than it ever has before. This year, the race is my future.

This note got a little long for the beginning of the chapter, so I put it here instead, as it's more of a ramble than a true author's note:

I've always felt that the book was a bit vague about what sort of currency exists on Thisby. Assuming that Thisby is a European island (at least that's the feel I get), then their currency would arguably be something like a pound or euro. I'm an American and familiar with US dollars, but the exchange rate between a dollar and a euro or pound aren't too different, so I figure their buying power is similar. Malvern offers Sean "three hundred" for Corr. But three hundred dollars/pounds/euros seems too low for a capaill uisce. The other option here would be $300,000, but that doesn't make sense to me either. Sean says he makes "one hundred fifty" in a year, but $150 is too low for a yearly salary and $150,000 is too high. Besides, if a capaill uisce sold for $300,000, then I feel like very few people would be able to buy them, mainlander or not. There is also a scene in the book where Puck debates buying better feed for Dove with coins out of a jar, but in all the currencies mentioned, coins compose the lower denominations of money. So either the food Puck's buying is very cheap, or money works a bit different on Thisby. That, or we're farther back in the past than I assumed and things are significantly cheaper than I'm thinking (because I haven't exactly been able to put a satisfactory date on the story either). So, again, that leads me to wonder what sort of currency they use (if it's even supposed to mimic a real currency at all) and exactly how valuable the water horses are...I can't say I've ever really answered the question (which is why, in the initial writing of this story, I refrained from putting a value on Malvern's offer to Bay's dad for Tempest). So, if you have thoughts, feel free to weigh in. Perhaps we'll clear up my confusion.

-Luck (2019)