Rook by Sharon Cameron Read Free Book Online Page A

earn their bread. And eventually, as it did with the Ancients, dependence on technology takes away even the most basic of skills, like the ability to find one’s own food. That is not something Premier Allemande can condone.”
    No, he just condones cutting off the heads of those with the money to fund such technology, Sophia thought. Whether they had ever thought of funding it or not. She wondered just how often Premier Allemande found his own food.
    LeBlanc was frowning. “You speak like a technologist, Miss Bellamy, as if you would see the world go back to the weaknesses of the past. Has your father or your brother been teaching you this?”
    Sophia gave him a pretty, false smile. “Oh, no, Monsieur. Technologists are not popular here at all. I think the Commonwealth dislikes proponents of machines even more than the Sunken City does.” She watched LeBlanc’s expression smooth back to tranquility.
    “I am glad to hear you say so. René has gone rather wild of late, as young men often do, and his mother hopes for a marriage that will tame him. Are you … how do you say it here? Are you ‘up for the job’?”
    She laughed again, but did not answer.
    “It is a gamble, is it not?” LeBlanc continued. “We hope that you will teach René his responsibilities and bring strong blood to the family, while you hope the Hasard fortune will save the Bellamys from ruin.”
    Sophia stopped their stroll and turned to face LeBlanc. Behind him, across an overgrown yard, stood a ruined bungalow with half a roof and an empty front door. “Exactly what do you want to say to me, Monsieur?”
    LeBlanc’s smile spread slow across his face. “I would like your help, Miss Bellamy.”
    She waited, the hand that was behind her basket on the filigree belt buckle.
    “I want information on the man known in my city as the Red Rook.”
    Sophia smiled, and then she said, “Are you also looking for landovers that drive by themselves? The Rook is only a story.”
    “The Red Rook is not a myth, Mademoiselle. He is a man, and …” He lowered his oily voice. “… I know he is near.”
    Sophia blinked. “You interest me. Go on.”
    “I know that he has landed two boats within three miles of this estate, boats I believe to have been filled with traitors to Allemande. I know he speaks two languages, for how else can he blend so well into the people of our different cultures? I believe that he is a man of some wealth, or that he is supported by one, so that he can come and go as he pleases. I believe he has a group of men around him that will obey without question. And your father’s estate, Miss Bellamy, must be near where such a man might live on this isolated stretch of coast.”
    A small silence followed this speech, interrupted only by the cawing from the high branches of the oak trees. Sophia smiled.
    “I believe your imagination has run away with you, Monsieur.” She took a step away, but LeBlanc reached out like a striking snake and grabbed her arm.
    “You do not understand me, Miss Bellamy. When I said I wanted information from you, I was not making a request.”
    Sophia pulled her arm away and stepped back, the basket now hiding the small knife that had been secreted in the filigree of her belt buckle. She held it loose in her hand. LeBlanc’s smile spread.
    “Let me explain to you. Your father is in need of the ten thousand quidden your marriage to a Parisian will bring him. But perhaps you do not know that the Hasard fortune is not at all secure? Premier Allemande does not like such inequalities of wealth in his city. The Hasard money has only remained intact because of his … benevolence.”
    Which meant that LeBlanc had made sure it stayed intact. For himself.
    “I can ensure that the goodwill of Allemande continues,” said LeBlanc, “but I will wish to receive something in return. Give me the Red Rook, and you can be certain that René will bring your family a marriage fee, and that your father will not see the inside