Page 109 of Waking Roslyn

“What is it?” I asked.

“John, you and I have spoken a lot about protocol and following the rules.”

“Yes, of course.”

“I have a feeling that your interest in Lady Roslyn is more than professional.”

I didn’t bother denying it.

He narrowed his eyes and bit his lips together. “How would you feel about breaking the rules if it meant protecting her?”

I couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at my lips. I’d become a thief last year in order to save fellow villagers and restore order to Murrwood. “To be honest, Captain, I’ve found that justice sometimes requires breaking the rules.”

He nodded, even though I could tell he was deep in thought. “Good,” he finally said. “Come with me.”

He set a brisk pace, and I was anxious to keep up. Something was about to happen. He was going to put me to work. I could feel it.

24

John

“This is Thomas,” Captain Sterling said, gesturing to the boy, who I guessed was thirteen.

We were not in the war room. We were out in the garden, away from everyone else. Something really was happening, and anticipation buzzed in my bones.

“Tell him what you told me, Thomas.”

The young man gave a stiff nod. He was working hard to appear unfazed, but being put on the spot by a captain of the duke’s guard was intimidating, no matter your state or standing in the world. “My parents sell flowers. I deliver them. I brought one here the other day. Daffodils and bluebells.”

So, not the bouquet in question.

“As I was leaving, another chap came to the door. He weren’t the usual delivery boy. Most of us are boys, not full-grown men.”

He was right, of course, but still, it was not so rare to have a man make his own deliveries. But I kept quiet, determined to hear the whole of his story and trusting that the captain knew what he was about.

“He was a big bloke. Bigger than you, even. Looked like a soldier, not a flower seller. And it was a big bouquet, full of roses.”

My heart beat faster. Roses. The out-of-place flower-delivery man had brought roses.

“Most people who send romantic roses choose the red or white ones, but that bunch was pink.”

My jaw dropped and my face went numb as I slowly looked to the captain. He nodded. We’d found a real clue. This boy had seen the man who had delivered the poisoned flowers.

“He doesn’t know who they were from,” the captain said, “but he remembers the man’s face.”

I nodded, trying to tell myself that was a good thing. Yet, I couldn’t see the next step. If we couldn’t connect this man with anyone else, then how could we proceed? How could we find him?

“John.”

I pulled myself from my swirling thoughts and looked back at the captain. “Sir?”

“He doesn’t know who sent them. But we have our own suspicions.”

Of course. The earls. If we could match that man with someone who worked for the earls…but how?

“Now,” Captain Sterling said with a firm look in his eyes. “As the captain of Duke Weltshire’s guard, I cannot go snooping around the estate of a respected nobleman. I have no cause for such a search. Spying is not acceptable.” His words were slow and deliberate. “I, myself, cannot ask this boy to accompany me to see if he could identify the man because I must stay within the bounds of the law.”

My thoughts thunked into place, and suddenly I could breathe more easily. “Understood, captain,” I said with a firm nod. “I’m certain you have more interrogations to conduct. I’d be happy to escort this young man off the property and see that he gets on his way.”