Willard narrowed his eyes, setting down his pen and giving her his full attention. That was better.
“I should hope you’re not suggesting theft, miss…”
Arthie replied with the truth this time. “Casimir.”
His eyes flared in recognition, but she wasn’t worried. He was about to be a part of the job.Herjob.
“And no, not theft,” she said. “I’ll only borrow it for a short time.”
He sat back with an uneasy laugh, chair creaking. He couldn’t decide if she was being serious; though she did nothing to suggest otherwise.
“The ship belongs to the EJC,” she added, and his graying eyebrows shot up.
“I’m having a troubling time understanding how casually you’re speaking of treason, young miss. You are aware I can have you arrested by the Horned Guard, are you not?” he asked, trying to assess her.
I’ve killed a Horned Guard, she thought.
And kissed one.
Yet when she thought of the wordkiss, her mind conjured another face. More aristocratic and cocky, more apt to laugh at the law with a paintbrush in hand than enforce it. And far less likely to point a gun at her.
“I am,” Arthie replied.
And now that he’d threatened her, it was time to lay out her cards.
“But did you summon the Horned Guard when your son decided to steal money from the academy where he taught?” she asked. “Where he verbally abused several children and used that very same money to keep their parents quiet?”
Willard Otis knew, then, how to look at her. To call her a reaper wasn’t too far a stretch.
“You do not understand the trials a father must endure for his children,” Willard said.
Arthie shrugged. “Maybe I do, and that’s why I don’t have parents.”
A notch appeared between Willard’s brows. “I would like you to take this matter seriously.”
“Seriously?” Arthie repeated, her voice dropping to a deathly note. “In that case, let’s discusschildren. They are easily impressionable, gullible, guileless. What we learn as children remains with us forever. Every last coin out of Ettenia’s coffers couldn’t salvage the damage your son has done to those children. So don’t talk to me about what you’ve endured to protect him when he deserves none.”
To his credit, Willard did not appear proud.
“And I hear he’s now headmaster of the academy,” Arthie added. “He works fast.”
Willard released a careful breath, and Arthie took that as permission to present her plan. “Pull one of the ships in for inspection, give me time to use it for my needs, and then you can return it back to the EJC.”
Willard looked as if he were in pain. “I don’t know why you believe I can procure what you need. Iaman inspector, but the EJC works with the monarchy. Their ships have always passed inspections. Hard not to when they come with documents already signed by the crown allowing them through. We have no reason to inspect them, and withsuch scrutiny, I can’t pull one in for you simply because you’re blackmailing me.”
Arthie wasn’t surprised. The EJC didn’t only work with the monarchy, itwasthe monarchy. If Lady Linden could pass as the Ram, two powerful people in their own right, everything else she did was likely a walk through her gardens.
“Follow my lead, and you can. I’ll only need you to sign a few documents and cordon off the pier,” Arthie said. “I’ll handle everything else.”
“My job—”
“Won’t be at risk, unlike your son’s until this is over,” Arthie assured. “Though if I were you, I’d ask him to quit the position myself.”
But Arthie wasn’t here to meddle.
“Have we a deal?” she asked.
Willard sputtered a shaky laugh at her use of the worddeal, but he nodded. Good man.
