"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Lonny asked, looking somewhat nervous.
Tessa nodded emphatically, "No, I need to do this myself."
"Alright. We'll see you when you get back." Lonny said, giving Tessa a great big hug. She had already said farewell to Marcus and the others back at the circus, but Lonny and Donny insisted on seeing her to the harbor.
As Lonny pulled away, she looked disapprovingly at the tool belts strapped to Tessa's side, "Are you sure you really need to wear those right now?"
Tessa placed her hand on her head with a dramatic flair, "I do not care for the gawking crowds or what their negative opinions are. I am who I am. No frilly dress will change that." In this instance, Tessa sported a more delicate skirt than she would normally wear, a dark blue dress with black trim and train held in place by a corset. Lonny had insisted that Tessa dress up for the occasion. However, Tessa felt otherwise naked without some form of tools on hand. Thus, the compromise. It certainly garnered a few odd looks from others.
Lonny sighed despairingly as she chewed on her lower lip, "I know. But it ruins the look of the dress."
"Well, you can't fault her for self-confidence," Donny said, elbowing his sister before he too, gave Tessa a hug. "Best of luck with your old stooge of a partner—
"Ex-partner," Tessa said, loading herself onto the carriage.
"Exactly." Lonny smiled as she bopped Tessa on the noise with her pointer finger. The twins waved goodbye as they said their final farewells.
Tessa, both nervous and somehow excited to be underway, trundled her luggage into the harbor. A great stone archway stood at the entrance of north keep harbor; though relatively small in comparison to its counterparts further south, the deepwater port still proved to be a lifeline for the more isolated portion of Kent. Rows of steamers floated along the docks of the large port, some offloading passengers and goods, others waiting to load up or cast off.
All sorts of people of every shape and size littered the docks, sailors, soldiers, merchants, a few physicians, tourists, several monks from the Holy Rim Empire, postmen, aeronauts, waggoneers, and a plethora of shipwrights and dockworkers.
With the help of a friendly fisherman, Tessa was able to find her ship, the Aitolia. Lining up behind several other passengers, she looked over the itinerary posted on a billboard; the ship was to pass around the northern horn, down through the Keamoa straights, to the capital city of Galesong along the Holy Grail Peninsula, and then finally up through the mouth of the Kao waterway and on to Utopia.
For a brief moment, Tessa thought she heard someone call her name from behind among the hubbub of the swirling, crowded line but dismissed it. But then she heard it again, this time accompanied with a familiar voice that made her heart sink.
"I say, Miss Copperfield, is that you?" Turning around slowly, Tessa confirmed her suspicion as she saw Sir Cornwall approaching her through the crowd. Miss Briggs, stern face as ever, hot on his heels with several bags.
Tessa nearly ran for it. Certainly, the pair of them would have heard by now about the theft that occurred at the university. Were they on to her? She glanced past them to make sure there weren't any police following them. To her relief, they appeared alone, but that did not necessarily take away all of her suspicions. Holding her ground, she waited for them to approach her, carefully watching their responses and facial expressions. Sir Cornwall looked cold, top hat tucked tight onto his head and thick mustache blowing back and forth as the wind picked up. Miss Briggs, for her part, was very difficult to read. She did look, however, less pale than the last time she saw her in the laboratory.
"Pardon me, excuse me, sir- Miss Copperfield! It is you!" Sir Cornwall repeated with a bright smile, "My goodness, are you taking the Aitolia as well?" he asked excitedly.
"I would think so, Sir, seeing as she is in the same line as we are to board." Miss Briggs sniffed, holding her travel bags close to herself as she eyed a particularly rough-looking man to her left.
"Splendid!" Sir Cornwell declared, "I'm so excited to get to travel with you, Miss. Copperfield."
"You are?" Tessa asked, a bit put off.
"Obviously," Sir Cornwall chuckled as he tucked his coat tighter against his neck, "you're quite an entertaining young lass, and I dare say I would love to hear more about your stories concerning your inventions and whatnot, especially since we're going down to the same city."
"Oh. Well, I'm glad you're entertained by me." Tessa smiled stiffly. She wondered how she was going to get out of this one.
"Next!" someone shouted.
"Looks like it's our turn," Sir Cornwall pointed for Tessa to move up.
Realizing that the line had mover found without them, Tessa quickly grabbed up her things and bustled up to the gangplank. As the three of them made their way up the gangplank onto the vessel, covered in lamps and flags, all dressed for the festivities, Tessa thought the thing looked like a party bout with its numerous levels stacked upon one another.
A man in coattails stood at the top of the gangway with a couple of sailors in white shirts and caps welcoming the guests as they strode up. At the top, the man was collecting invitations as he allowed them to pass. The sailors would help carry the luggage to the cabins.
"Sir Maxwell Cornelius Cornwall the Third and company, at your service," the large man announced with bravado as he stepped up to the man taking the tickets.
"Welcome, adored sir, but I have here you have only one retainer with you. Who is—"
"I am Tessa Copperfield. I received an invitation from Gray Meriwether." She offered her ticket and the note, hoping that she really was on the list and that this whole thing wasn't a deviant prank.
The man looked through the list with a furrowed brow before he exclaimed, "Here you are. Welcome, Miss Copperfield." He withdrew a key from the box he held, giving it to Tessa. "And your room keys, Sir Cornwall. We will set sail shortly. The sailors will show you to your rooms. Feel free to enjoy yourself." With that, the ticket master addressed the next guest waiting on the gangplank.
Tessa could not help but notice that most of the other guests boarding the Aitolia were just as well-dressed and respectable as Sir Cornwall and Miss Briggs. Tessa felt very self-conscious about her current attire, being in the presence of such august people. Normally, she would scoff at such a show of wealth. But being in a position where she felt she needed to impress, she made it a priority to try to find better clothing when she could.
"May I see your key, ma'am?" the sailor asked Tessa.
She handed it to him.
"Ah, one of the top deck suites. Right, this way." He took Tessa's bags and marched down the deck of the ship for a set of stairs further toward the bow.
"Miss Copperfield, a moment," Sir Cornwall said as he checked the time by way of a gold pocket watch that Tessa had not noticed before, "I would imagine that the kitchens will open soon?" he asked the sailor that was attending to their baggage.
"Yessir, that be opinin' bout the time we cast off."
"Wonderful," Sir Cornwall said, closing the rather expensive-looking timepiece before looking back up at Tessa, "Shall we perhaps meet up for dinner once the ship is underway?"
Tessa contemplated the proposal only a moment, suppressing the butterflies in her stomach before agreeing. "Certainly. I would love to attend."
"Say five o'clock?" Miss Briggs suggested.
"Until then." Tessa nodded, shaking Sir Cornwall's hand, before they were led off in the other direction. With a sigh, Tessa followed the sailor who waited for her at the bottom of the stairs.
"Here we are." The sailor opened the whitewashed wooden door for Tessa's cabin. "We should arrive sometime tomorrow evening. If you need anything, ask one of the crew or me," he said, setting down Tessa's luggage before holding out his hand expectantly.
"Oh...ah, here." Tessa pulled out a few coins from one of the pilfered pocketbooks she had, giving them to the sailor.
He smiled with a tip of his cap. "Ma'am." before leaving.
Tessa looked around at the good-sized cabin with a four-poster bed, a changing room, and a small sitting area that overlooked the front of the ship. It was far more prominent than the train car she shared with the Marlow twins when they were on the rail or the loft that they stayed at during the off-season back in the city of Grace.
Sitting down on the bed, Tessa let out a long breath. She pulled the gold pocket watch that she had lifted from Sir Cornwall out of her blouse. The timepiece twirled on the end of the chain as it lightly swayed back and forth, ticking away. She internally berated herself for being so foolish. Taking it from the man who she had already stolen from once seemed like a fine way to get herself caught, all because she could not keep her chronic stealing under check for more than five minutes.
Tessa plotted on how to find an unobtrusive way to return it to him. Tossing it aside on the bed, she laid back, wondering what Donny and Lonny would think. They probably would tie her up and ship her to the slammer themselves for being so foolish.
Closing her sea-green eyes, Tessa listened to the rhythmic ticking of the timepiece that lay next to her head, partly covered up with her auburn curls. The sound was soothing to her otherwise high-strung nerves.
A foghorn startled Tessa awake. She opened her eyes, finding herself on the bed still aboard the Aitolia. The sun had begun to set. She could hear music somewhere below. Checking the watch, the young woman was alarmed that she had less than ten minutes to clean herself up to make it to dinner with Sir Cornwall and Miss Briggs.
The source of the music she heard was a performance being carried out in the dining hall on an elevated stage at the front of the ship. The band played a medley of local music with an Avalonia flare thrown in by the use of otherwise unorthodox instruments.
She spotted the delegates off in the corner of the large, crammed room a chair reserved beside them as they watched the show. Tessa navigated through the clusters of chairs and their occupants to the table, resting a hand on Sir Cornwall's shoulder momentarily as she sat down, covertly slipping his gold watch that she had stolen back into his pocket, using an old sleight of hand trick that Lonny had taught her.
"Why, good evening, Miss Copperfield. Glad that you could attend," Sir Cornwall said with a broad smile.
"Good evening, Sir Cornwall. Miss Briggs." Tessa nodded politely to the regal woman.
"Sir Cornwell and I were just discussing the merits of technological advances." Miss Briggs said as Tessa sat down and joined them at the table. Tessa noted that she was far livelier than she had been when she last met her. Perhaps it was the bottle that was half empty in the center of the table on ice. Still, she rolled her wrist as she explained, "I am of the mind that technology is irrelevant to the progress of a state, but he seems to think that advancements are a necessity."
Sir Cornwall merrily chuckled, "But it is! You see, our nation ruled the world in the last era because it grasped and developed the cutting-edge technology of steam. Now, we find ourselves in the woeful position of being outdone by our old Colony of Kent and her neighbors. In technological superiority, that is."
"but they hardly have overtaken us in terms of scale and production." Miss Briggs pointed out, "certainly, they have a few fancy toys but nothing like what we have."
"Yes, you're correct, but those few fancy toys outpaced and outperformed the imperial alliance's forces on a scale of three to one during the liberation wars." he poured himself another drink.
"There is a reason the alliance forces were overthrown," Miss Briggs countered, "but it was not because of antiquated technology. Their leadership was abysmal. All the empire had at this disposal was sheer numbers."
"But that proves my point! The empire's forces should have crushed the rebellious colonies. Instead, with what few resources they had, they were able to fight back and win. As such, we must understand all that we can about this Utopia and how its fledgling technology operates."
"Well, you are certainly heading for the right place." Tessa said with a sardonic ire to her voice, "Though if you plan on dealing with Higgins and Merriweather, expect to pay a steep price for it."
But Sir Cornwall either did not notice or did not care as he stated with bravado, "Certainly. That is why it is so serendipitous that we should meet you, Miss Copperfield, a chief designer as it were of this new industry and science. A type of manifest destiny," The man said, clasping his hands together. "So, what would you say then to joining us on our return trip to the Kingdom of Avalon?"
"I beg your pardon?" Tessa asked, a bit confused.
"Indeed." Miss Briggs raised a discouraging brow. "What are you playing at?"
"It is quite simple, really. I think that Miss Copperfield should come and help bring Avalon, nay, all of her majesty's Empire, into the next century with her grandiose ideas." the gentleman said, sitting upright, slipping his stubby hands into his waistcoat, "The School of Research and Development could use someone like you to help pave the way."
"Me? Go to Avalon?"
"Yes." He withdrew a pen and a pocketbook. "In return for your assistance, you would be granted citizenship, among other things, given a position as an adviser and engineer on my staff for the Infrastructure Research and Development departments. We have substantial resources at our disposal, giving you all that you would need to further your research and ideas. If we plan accordingly, we could have all the capital city of Britannia running off your power grids within the decade."
"You cannot be serious," Miss Briggs said, flustered at the notion.
Offering a slip of paper, Sir Cornwall said, "I am quite sure that this would be a great deal for both of us. This would be the amount I would be willing to pay you as a forward. Consider it an incentive, Miss Copperfield."
Tessa took the slip of paper and counted the number of zeros. It was a strong incentive, one that made her seriously consider the notion. Clutching the paper, she couldn't help but to start to laugh.
"Is everything alright?" Sir Cornwell asked, a bit befuddled by the response.
"No, it's nothing. Well, that's not true. It's just; I was offered a very similar deal by someone else very recently."
"You were?" Sir Cornwall looked surprised. "Who? What did they offer? Certainly, we can double—
"No, no. I turned them down," Tessa shook her head, still smiling, "It is just funny. After five years of nothing, of living as a sideshow, to have two very powerful people offer me this kind of position in the span of just as many days, I find it oddly amusing."
"You turned someone else down already?" Miss Briggs asked, her brows furrowed, "Might I ask why?"
"I was reminded of another time that such an amount had been offered for my ideas." She sighed, looking at the amount on the piece of paper again, "I wonder how different my life would have been had I stopped and considered the implications of the contract I signed...."
Tessa thought back to when she first met Charles Higgins and the offer he gave her. The irony for the older and wiser Tessa was almost too much. After a moment more consideration, Tessa handed the slip of paper back to Sir Cornwall, saying slowly, "I am genuinely flattered at the offer, sir, but I must decline. I...I have been burned by such an offer before, and I do not wish to go through that again."
Mr. Cornwall looked momentarily deflated as Miss Briggs subtly looked relieved. But he nodded, all the same, stating, "I understand, Miss Copperfield, truly. But you cannot deny that you are meant to make great things for the betterment of mankind."
Tessa suppressed a smile at that, thinking of Marcus, "You are not the first to say that recently, either."
Cornwall rubbed his chin in thought before suggesting, "How about this? Let us all go to this exhibit at the Grand Spire. Miss Briggs and I will look around the facilities and do what we set out to do while you go and see what this Gray fellow has to say. But then consider after going with us back to Avalon as our guest. Come and see what we can provide, and then if you like, if it feels like you could work with us, then make a contract that you would be comfortable with. We could discuss your future at the Royal Academy of Research and Development."
Tessa studied the older man and his secretary. They were serious. She considered their proposal and what it could mean for her future. That was what she secretly wanted after all, wasn't it? A chance to start over? And here, these two people, seemingly out of nowhere, were offering her that chance. Why did she feel like she needed to wait? What could possibly hold her back? And yet, the thought of her friends, Marcus, Lonny, and Donny, flashed through her mind. They—and the others back at the circus troop—were like family to her. She knew Marcus's wanted her to move on, but what would the others say? Was it really the right thing after all to accept the offer?
"I will consider it, Sir Cornwall. It is very tempting. But as you say, I would like the time to consider it in full."
"Certainly. Just let us know. Miss Briggs, if you can see to it that we acquire an extra ticket for the return trip."
"Yes, sir," she said with an undertone of trepidation.