I had always considered myself reasonably good at understanding people. It was part of the reason I had survived as long as I had, both in my personal affairs and in the work I did. People rarely said exactly what they meant, and the ability to recognise what they were trying to hide was often more useful than listening to their words. Unfortunately, understanding my little sister had never been quite so simple.
Clara had been behaving strangely since we arrived in Haremdale. At first, I thought it was because of everything happening around Father’s position on the council. Whoever was behind the letters and the growing political pressure wanted him removed, and the Thorn Collective’s public activities had only made matters worse. We already knew that someone was using the Vellmore trade initiative to create pressure against council members who opposed it. We also knew that the Collective had been making payments through Sera Voss’s merchant house long before the initiative became a public issue. There was enough evidence to suggest that the attacks, the political manoeuvring and the attempts to weaken Father’s position were connected, but we still lacked the most important piece: the identity of the person pulling the strings.
That was what I should have been thinking about. Instead, I found myself wondering why Clara had suddenly become so uncomfortable whenever Joseph’s name came up.
I had noticed the change during breakfast. We had been discussing the information we had gathered from the merchant quarter when I casually mentioned that Joseph might have found something useful at House Vellmore. Clara’s expression had tightened almost immediately. She told me we should concentrate on our own investigation and leave Joseph to whatever he was doing. It was a reasonable suggestion, but there was something about the way she said it that bothered me. She wasn’t merely dismissing the subject. She seemed determined to keep me from discussing him at all.
I knew my sister wanted Joseph. She had never been particularly good at hiding her feelings from me, even when she thought she was being subtle. I had noticed the way she looked at him long before our journey to Haremdale, and I had already spoken to him about her jealousy. Clara hated sharing. I, on the other hand, had never found the idea particularly troubling. I had even told Joseph as much when we discussed what was happening between us. I didn’t want to hurt my sister, especially after everything that had happened between us over the years, but neither did I want to pretend that my own feelings didn’t exist.
And that was where things had become complicated.
Joseph and I had shared more than a kiss. I still remembered visiting his room after we arrived in Haremdale, how nervous I had been when I knocked on his door and how easily the distance between us had disappeared once he let me inside. I had wanted to be closer to him, to understand the man who had somehow managed to capture my attention despite being so difficult to read. I had told him that I wanted us, and I had meant it. Yet, since that night, I hadn’t known what to make of his behaviour. Sometimes he seemed perfectly comfortable around me, while at other times he acted as though nothing had happened. I had tried not to dwell on it, but that had become increasingly difficult.
Clara’s behaviour only made it worse. I knew she wanted him, and I had already accepted that sharing him might not be as simple as I had once imagined. But something had changed between them. I couldn’t say exactly what it was, only that Clara seemed to be putting a wall between Joseph and me. Perhaps something had happened while I wasn’t paying attention. Perhaps she had finally decided to act on her feelings. Whatever the explanation, I couldn’t help wondering what had taken place between them to make her so determined to keep me away from him.
"You’re doing it again."
I looked up from the papers spread across the table. Clara was standing beside the window, examining a small note one of our contacts had delivered earlier that morning. "Doing what?"
"Thinking about Joseph."
I raised an eyebrow. "I wasn’t aware you could read minds."
"I don’t need to. You’ve been staring at the same page for several minutes."
I glanced down. She was right. I hadn’t turned the page, and I couldn’t even remember what I had been reading. I folded the document and placed it beside the others. "Perhaps the information isn’t particularly interesting."
"Then read something else."
There was no mistaking the impatience in her voice. I leaned back in my chair and studied her for a moment. "You know, you’ve become rather sensitive whenever his name comes up."
Clara’s fingers tightened around the note. "We have more important things to worry about."
"Such as Father’s position on the council?"
"Yes, Maren. Exactly that."
I watched her return her attention to the note. She was trying very hard to make the conversation sound ordinary, but I knew her well enough to recognise when she was avoiding something. "I’m not suggesting we abandon the investigation. I’m simply asking why you seem so determined to keep me from speaking about him."
"Because there’s nothing to discuss."
That answer was too quick.
I considered pressing her, but decided against it. Whatever had happened between them, Clara clearly wasn’t prepared to talk about it. I could ask Joseph myself, although I wasn’t particularly convinced he would give me an honest answer. He had a talent for saying just enough to satisfy a question without actually revealing anything useful. It was one of the things that made him so difficult to understand.
"Fine," I said, returning my attention to the documents. "Let’s talk about the merchant records."
Clara seemed relieved by the change of subject. She placed the note on the table and pointed to a name written near the bottom. It belonged to a merchant who had conducted business with Sera Voss’s establishment on several occasions. According to the information we had received, he had recently begun making enquiries about the Vellmore trade initiative, particularly the council members who opposed it.
"He might know something about the payments," Clara said. "Or at least know who has been asking questions."
"Have we confirmed that he has any connection to the Collective?"
"Not yet. That’s why we need to speak with him."
I examined the note more closely. The merchant had a warehouse near the eastern edge of the merchant quarter, not far from the old counting houses. It was an interesting location, particularly given how much illicit business was rumoured to take place in that part of the city. Still, a location alone proved very little.
"Then we should visit him," I said. "But I don’t want him knowing we’re investigating Sera. If he is connected to her, he’ll have every reason to keep his mouth shut."
Clara nodded. "We can approach him through the trade records. Make it seem as though we’re trying to understand the financial arrangements surrounding the initiative."
"That should work, provided he believes us."
We gathered the documents and prepared to leave. I was relieved to have something concrete to focus on, even if the thought of Joseph continued to linger in the back of my mind. I didn’t particularly enjoy feeling as though I were being pushed away from someone I wanted to know better, especially by my own sister. I also didn’t want to turn this into another argument between us. We had spent too many years apart to allow a man to become another reason for us to fall out.
Still, I couldn’t ignore the possibility that something had happened between them. Clara had always been protective of what mattered to her, and I suspected Joseph had become one of those things. The question was whether he felt the same way, and whether my sister had discovered something about him that I hadn’t.
I picked up my cloak and followed Clara towards the door. Whatever was happening between the two of them could wait. We had a conspiracy to uncover, a father whose position was under threat and a merchant who might finally give us a useful lead. I could deal with my sister’s sudden change of attitude later.
As for Joseph, I wasn’t ready to give up on him simply because Clara had decided she didn’t want to share.