The Scarlet Assassin

Chapter Forty-nine

The fourth day on the ship, I wandered aimlessly, not really searching for anything in particular. I had gotten bored listening to Carter and Ace's chats and watching Sorin, Sophie, and Rafe learn some dice game the crew had made up. So, I decided to walk around for a bit.

Eventually, I climbed the many stairs to the upper deck, stumbling upon Devolan who was standing hunched over a table in the navigation room. She was mumbling something to herself while staring at a letter on heavy cardstock splayed on top of a map. My eyes narrowed. The paper was formal and expensive, and how Devolan got her hands on that was... odd.

"Whatcha up to?" I asked, not bothering to knock as I walked inside. Devolan's face snapped up, surprised. She very carefully folded her letter.

"Oh, just going through some stuff," she sighed, sweeping a few gold trinkets and the letters into a drawer. Then she examined her map again.

"I didn't expect to find you here. Hiding."

She laughed. "I'm not hiding."

"Mmm," I hummed, wiping a finger along one of the few stolen paintings hung up on the walls. "You're hiding. But from what is the question."

She glanced up at me then, intrigued. "Well, you're the one who knows everything. You tell me. Why am I hiding?"

I grinned, finally entertained for the first time in days. "You have charcoal on your sleeve."

Devolan looked down, staring at the black spot on her shirt, then back up. "So?"

"So you always use ink. Never charcoal." I paused. "But I do know that both Ainsley and Carter use charcoal–Carter for his drawings and Ace to sketch inventions. Now, you are not usually careless, so if you had been snooping, you wouldn't have a charcoal mark. But I don't think you were snooping. How am I doing?"

Devolan's face was hard. "My guess is that you and Ace hooked up, and during your... activities, the charcoal from her notebook rubbed off on your sleeve. And you want to know what I think? I think you like her. A lot. I think you're avoiding her because of how much you like her. So I think that's why you're in here. Hiding."

Devolan was quiet for a moment. Then she laughed bitterly. "There's no way you got all of that from a smear on my shirt."

Grinning, I shrugged. "You're right. I didn't. Rafe heard you two last night. He told Sophie which I overheard, and the rest I kind of just went with." I watched Devolan's lips part in shock. "But out of curiosity, how much of that did I get right?"

She scoffed. "You... you are-"

"Right? Hopefully?" I grinned.

"Was all of this just to get me to admit that I like Ainsley?"

"Possibly. Is it working?"

"So what if I do?" Devolan snapped. "She's... she's different once you get to know her. And she's smart and funny."

"You should tell her how you feel." I shrugged.

"You leave in three days. There's no point."

"There's always a point."

"You're not helping."

"Name one time I've been good at relationship advice."

"She may not even like me back."

"At least then you'll know."

Devolan thought for a moment. "I think she may like that girl, uh, Dalia, right?"

"Dalia?" I asked, shocked. My head shook. "No, Ace barely goes near her, and I don't think she's ever talked directly to her."

"I don't know... there's something weird about the way she looks at her."