The Cerulean (The Cerulean Duology #1) - Amy Ewing Page 0,127

always, Robert Conway).

But it did afford her and Leo time to talk privately without their father becoming suspicious. Agnes realized on the drive to the store that the change was noticeable—the sulking silence that usually hung between them was replaced with muted conversation. She’d caught Eneas watching her in the rearview and quickly turned to stare out the window for the rest of the ride.

Eneas had mailed her essay to the University of Ithilia yesterday. Agnes had felt an exhilarating sense of accomplishment that was fading now in the face of what they were about to attempt. But she had tried, at least. Whether they accepted her or not, she had tried.

Leo leaned forward and lowered his voice. “She is magic, you know,” he said. “Maybe she has some secret glass-breaking power we don’t know about.”

“I don’t think that’s how her magic works.”

“How would you know?”

“I just don’t think it’s aggressive in any way. Otherwise why not break out of the crate? If she had some kind of superstrength, don’t you think she would have used it from the very first, when you trapped her in that net?”

Leo shifted, looking guilty. “I thought we agreed that that was both of our faults.”

“Please.” Agnes rolled her eyes. “You actually caught her. I merely did not act quickly enough to set her free.”

“You always have to be right, don’t you,” he grumbled.

“Miss McLellan, we have some options for you.” The salesgirl in charge of her was a twentysomething blonde named Gertrude who kept giving Leo doe-eyed looks. Agnes felt it was a testament to her brother’s newfound personality change that he didn’t seem to notice.

She had pulled a rack of dresses out, each one pinker and frillier than the last. Agnes folded her arms across her chest. “No,” she said.

Gertrude looked confused. “But you haven’t tried them on yet.”

Agnes met her eyes with a steely gaze. “No,” she said again.

“How about something in blue or green?” Leo suggested. “Pink isn’t really her color.”

“Of course, sir.” The rack was wheeled away.

“Here’s the thing,” Leo said, leaning forward again. He’d been saying that over and over for the past several days. Agnes hadn’t realized that teaming up with her brother would result in a million questions she didn’t have answers to. She hadn’t thought him a curious person, but now she was discovering a whole new side she had never seen before. Maybe it had always been there, hiding beneath the veneer of vanity and excess and self-congratulation, tucked away in the same place he’d hidden his conscience.

Or maybe it was just the release of their father’s grip on him—on both of them. They were a team for the first time in their lives.

As much as she hated to admit it, it was sort of nice.

“What’s the thing?” she said.

“Well, you’ve got the ship all sorted out, and Sera is working on getting out of the theater, but how are we going to get to the Seaport?”

“What do you mean ‘we’?” Agnes asked.

“I’m going to Pelago with you.”

“No, you’re not,” she said.

Leo looked stunned. “Yes, I am.”

“But I haven’t negotiated your berth with Vada.”

“So negotiate.”

“Ugh, Leo.” Despite his sudden change of heart, he still saw things from an infuriatingly male perspective. “I don’t have enough money to buy passage for you.”

The thousand krogers she’d kept would have to go to food and more travel and other, unforeseen expenses.

“Ugh, Agnes.” Leo imitated her tone perfectly. “I don’t need your money. I have my own.”

He was right, and the fact that Leo could walk into the bank and take out however much he wanted without needing a letter or a chaperone stung.

“Fine,” she said. “But I can’t go to the Seaport again. If the papers can be believed, it’s getting dangerous down there, and besides, what if one of Father’s men recognizes me? His ships are leaving for Pelago any day now.”

“I’ll go myself then. I know what she looks like.”

“She won’t deal with you, you’re a man,” Agnes said. “And a Kaolin one at that.”

She felt she was being horribly petty. Her brother was trying to help. In fact, he was the only line of communication between her and Sera at the moment, something she should be grateful for. And she was.

But she couldn’t help being just a little jealous too. She wanted to be the one talking to Sera. This was her plan. She had started it all.

But Leo appeared undaunted. He turned so he was in profile. “I’ve got the face of a