A Conspiracy of Alchemists: Book One in the Chronicles of Light and Shadow (22 page)

“The system seems to have worked though. Everyone seems to be living in relative peace nowadays. There is much tolerance.” Elle said.

The baroness narrowed her eyes. “Warlocks are not immortal. Like all who live in Shadow, they have their weaknesses. And there are some that say that the Council grows weaker every day. They say that there are others who would be more suitable to the task of Guardians. Some say that the Shadow should have more power than the Light.”

Elle looked at her cards. “I must confess that I don’t know much about the topic,” she said as tactfully as she could. She put a card down and picked one up from the deck. She smiled. “Gin,” she said, and fanned her cards on the table.

The baroness laughed and clapped her hands.

“Well done. Let’s play again!” She picked up all the cards and in a whirr of movement she started dealing another hand.

“So you were busy telling me something about Hugh,” Elle said, steering the topic away from the political debate.

“Ah yes! Hugh, how could I forget such a delicious boy?”

Elle smiled. “I don’t think he could be called a boy. I mean, how old is he? Or at least, how long do Warlocks live?”

The baroness pouted again and laid down two cards. “To me, he will always be a boy, but I would say that they live about ten times as long as normal humans, maybe more. When Hugh and I met two or three human lifetimes ago, he was barely a man. Oh, you should have seen him then. He was so awkward and gangly, with the floppy dark hair and those long black eyelashes. He was adorable.” The baroness licked her lips. “But the boy grew to be a man with much sadness within him.”

What happened?” Elle found that she had quite forgotten about her cards.

“Hugh had just come into his powers when he met a girl. I don’t know, it must have been about a hundred and fifty years ago now. Time goes so fast, you know. The woman’s name was Rosamund. She was very beautiful. All blonde curls, if you like that kind of thing.”

Elle started. “Did you say ‘Rosamund’?”

“Yes, I know, it is such a frivolous name, but it was fashionable back then, I believe.”

Elle nodded. “Do go on,” she said.

“Well, Rosamund fell madly in love with Hugh. But Hugh was too busy studying and learning about being a Warlock. He was largely oblivious to her until her family started hinting to his about marriage proposals. His family thought it a good match, but Hugh balked at the idea. He refused to propose.” The baroness rolled her eyes. “Rosamund was furious. You see, she had told all her friends that she had bagged herself the handsome son of an earl and so she ended up being utterly humiliated when Hugh didn’t do as she had planned.

“Gin!” The baroness put her cards down on the table.

“Good heavens,” was all that Elle could say. She picked up the cards and dealt another hand.

The baroness leaned forward and said in a low voice, “But that was not the worst of it. In retaliation, Rosamund started spreading scandalous rumors about Hugh. All of which were completely untrue, of course. Hugh would never do such things to anyone.” She placed a card onto the deck. Elle picked it up. It was the Jack of Hearts.

“What happened then?” Elle shifted the card in her hand.

“Ah,” the baroness patted the air with her dainty hand. “There was a huge scandal. Rosamund’s family were saying that Hugh had seduced their daughter against her will and that he had unnatural occult proclivities involving young maidens and rituals. The rumors tore through society. Rosamund’s family wanted to involve a judge. There was a lot of negotiation behind closed doors and the matter was brought to a close quietly, with no charges proven. But in a way this was worse than a public trial. Hugh was ruined.”

“That’s awful.” Elle felt her insides clench with mortification.

“Yes, it was,” the baroness said. “In the end, I heard that Rosamund ran off with a soldier. He was killed in battle and the last I heard was that she had turned her hand to witchcraft to survive. Some say she took to using magic to suck the youth out of young women to feed her own unnatural immortality. No one knows where she is now. But I hear she is still alive.”

“Witchcraft?” Elle thought about the crystal in her luggage.

“Yes, the low-class kind. She showed a lot of promise to begin with, but in the end it turned out she never had any real abilities. The poor thing. Just enough to deceive people. You know, fortune-telling, calling up spirits, potions and such things.” The baroness shuddered. “Peasant tricks. Terribly
voyant.
”

She discarded another card and studied her hand. “All that would have been fine, but Hugh’s reputation was in tatters. No one wanted him anywhere near their daughters after what had happened. He was shunned from social occasions for being licentious and a libertine. Ostracized in a time when being seen in society was everything. And I can tell you that the accusations of such dishonorable deeds broke his young heart. I watched him turn bitter because of it.” She looked up at Elle. “And for what? For the whims of a spoiled girl.?”

The baroness paused to take a last drag form her cigarillo. “Hugh developed a very deep distrust of women after Rosamund. Especially ones who had the power to hurt him. I remember how He became utterly ruthless for a while. Took his pleasure when and where he wished. But in the end, he simply got bored and gave up. He devoted himself to his study of the Craft and the business of the Council. Being a Warlock is everything to him. He believes in no greater cause.”

Elle stared at her cards. It felt like her stomach had fallen out of her body and in its place a big lump of mortification and guilt had formed. Had she really threatened to cry rape if Marsh did not do what she demanded? No wonder he had been so angry. She suddenly felt like weeping.

“So you would imagine my surprise to see him here with you, on this train. Sharing a compartment. It’s all so very
intimate
.” The baroness put her cards down.

Elle cleared her throat. “I can assure you that there is nothing between us. We are merely travelling on business. It was safer to arrange matters in this way.”

The baroness stared at Elle. Her eyes were suddenly serious. “Whatever you are up to, please promise me that you won’t hurt him.? He is a good boy, and anyone who trifles with his affections again will have me to deal with.”

Elle swallowed. She wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn that she had seen the briefest flash of fang when the baroness spoke.

“I won’t do anything to hurt him,” she said solemnly, and not just because of the threat the baroness had made.

She also made a mental note to start carrying some garlic on her person as a precaution. The baroness nodded and a small smile crept onto her lips. “Ah, I can see it now. You love him too. This is so wonderful.”

Elle felt herself grow warm. She smiled at the baroness. “We are just friends. Nothing more. But enough of such serious talk. Shall we order some coffee? You should see the machine they have that makes it. I do hope it’s still running this late.”

“Let’s,” Loisa said slowly as if she was making up her mind about something. She signaled to the waiter. And brandy.” Then she took both of Elle’s hands in hers. “My dear Miss Chance. I think you and I are going to be firm friends.”

They played a few more rounds of cards. Elle felt like she had passed some unspoken test and she found herself relaxing.

Loisa was warm and funny once you got past the fact that she was a deadly Nightwalker. After her second brandy, Elle felt her eyes grow heavy. She was doing her best to keep stay awake, but the cards grew blurry before her eyes. She stifled a big yawn behind her hand.

“Time for bed,” Loisa announced. “Good night, my darling. Tonight was a wonderful evening and we must meet again soon. I am going to sit on the roof to watch the moon for a while.” They kissed one another on the cheeks warmly and bade each other farewell.

CHAPTER 37

Back in their carriage, Elle closed the compartment door firmly behind her. She rested against the door , her mind reeling with snippets of earlier conversation.

She started undressing, and took a few deep, liberating breaths as soon as the laces of her stays gave way. Her new nightdress was made of soft cotton and it was slightly too big for her. The fabric slipped off her shoulders as she pulled it over her head.

She gazed off into the distance as she ran her hairbrush through her hair. She stopped combing and studied the hairbrush. It was fine squirrel with silver on the handle. All of her luggage had been replaced, quickly and discreetly. Her mind was so full of other thoughts that she had hardly noticed it happen. And Marsh had attended to all of it, without mentioning it.

Marsh.

She had the nagging feeling that she had been completely wrong about him. Could he have forsaken his Brotherhood to keep her safe? Was the baroness right? Did Marsh have feelings for her? Did she have feelings for him? She thought about the baroness tickling Hugh’s chin and how annoyed it had made her. Was she jealous?

She slammed her hairbrush down. Damn. She did have feelings for him. How inconvenient.

She slipped into her bunk. Being in love with Hugh Marsh was utter madness. There was no future with him. The image of Rosamund’s wrinkled old face sprang to mind. The same Rosamund? It had to be. She had seen how he’d kissed her hand.

Would Hugh watch her grow old, slowly while he remained the same? Would she also end up a wrinkled, mad old lady in a house while he visited with a new, younger woman? She didn’t think she could stand that. No, it was best that she left the whole matter well alone. As soon as her father was safe, she would go back to her old life. Flying was her passion, but somehow flying freight seemed so dull now, but what were her alternatives? She definitely did not want to belong to the Council of Warlocks, though. She shuddered at the thought.

The door slid open and Marsh entered their compartment. Their eyes met and he looked away. “I’m sorry, I did not know you were in,” he said.

She sat up half way in her bunk. “It’s all right. I’m sorry, I should have closed the screen,” she said.

“I hope Loisa didn’t drive you completely mad with her chattering,” Marsh said.

“The baroness is a very interesting woman. I didn’t realize she was related to such famous Nightwalkers.”

Marsh nodded., “Ah, yes, her uncle, the count. Terrible business that was back in its day.”

Elle laughed. “Why, were you there?”

He looked at her with slight surprise. “Actually, I was,” he said.

“Tell me, Hugh. How old are you?”

His eyebrows arched up at the question. “Loisa has been busy, I see.” He started removing his waistcoat. He stopped at the second button.

Elle realized that she was staring at him.

“I’ll close the screen, if you don’t mind.”

“Yes, I think that might be best.” She swallowed.

He drew the divider across and she lay in the half -dark listening to him shuffle about.

The train thump-di-thumped along on the tracks below her.

“If I were an ordinarily mortal, I suppose I would be about thirty right now. In real time, I am two hundred and eleven,” he said.

“So you are a real Warlock then?” she said.

“Yes, I suppose you could say so, depending on what you mean by real Warlock.” She heard fabric rustle as he undressed.

There was a soft thump. He growled.

She got out of bed and stood by the screen to see what the cause of the noise was. She was about to peer through the gap in the panel when Hugh yanked the barrier aside. They stood in front of one another, swaying gently in time to the moving train. “This cravat,” he mumbled.

Her hands went gently to the offending necktie. “Let me help.” Deftly, she lifted the fine silk fabric and started working at the knot he had drawn tight. As she worked, she inhaled his sandalwood smell. It was mixed with tobacco and there was a slight hint of brandy on his breath. It was strange how she could discern such fine details, . It was as if she had known him for all her life.

The knot gave way under her fingers and, transfixed, she found herself caressing the top button that held his collar until it came free.

His breath quickened at her touch and his hands held hers, his elegant fingers caressing hers.

Her fingers stilled at the square of skin at the base of his neck.

“Elle, I …” His eyes were luminous as he looked at her.

“Shh …” In an act of utter bravery or madness, she stood on her toes and kissed him.

Their mouths met. The touch of his lips sparked an energy that plunged to the very depths of her. In that moment, she knew that this was the one kiss of her life. It was the touch of him she would remember forever. The kiss she would dream of when she was lonely. It was the kiss she would relive when she was alone. It would transcend the physical, the realms of Shadow and Light. All other kisses that followed, if there ever were to be any, would not compare.

He groaned and pulled her tightly against him, his lips claiming hers. She felt his body against hers, hard and powerful, aroused. His hands slid down the length of her with an intensity of desire she did not anticipate. She gave herself over to it and arched herself into him, willing him to feel her passion.

Light started flickering behind her eyelids. She fought it, for she wanted to stay in the here and now, holding on to his shirt, urging him closer in the moment, but the pull of the Shadow was too strong and she was hurled violently into the vortex.

It was summer
 … 
The golden evening sun caressed the garden like a lover with perfume of freesias and lilacs
 … 
Hugh stood on the terrace. His hair was graying slightly at the temples
 … 
He held out his hand
 … 
A woman in a strange dress walked up to him, her hair and face obscured by a wide-brimmed hat. Children ran and played on the grass, their tinkling laughter around them.

She opened her eyes with a start. Marsh had pulled away from her. There was a look of utter confusion in his eyes.

“You saw something. I felt it. I mean, I think I saw it too.” He frowned and touched his forehead. He was breathing heavily.

She swallowed. There was too much to say. She couldn’t even begin to find the words.

“It can’t. You are the Oracle. You … this is interfering with everything.” He turned away from her, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. “Touching you is like drinking from a cool clean fountain after suffering from a great thirst. It is … perfection.” She saw the tension in his shoulders. “But I know what that will do in time. We cannot.
Must
not.”

“Um … I … ” she said.

He turned and put his hand on the screen and his eyes filled with sadness. “Elle, I think I had better close this screen. Best if you went to bed now.” He could not look at her.

She closed her eyes and looked away. He did not want her, and there was nothing she could say to change that. Like an obedient child, she stumbled into her bunk. The light on his side of the compartment went out. She could hear him shifting about in the dark and eventually it went quiet. In the darkness, she swallowed down the burning lump of disappointment and rejection that had lodged in her throat. How could she have been so stupid to let down her guard like that?

The train thump-da-thumped in sympathy, jiggling them a in their bunks, as if it wanted them to get up and do something, but there was nothing either of them could say.

As usual he was right; she had seen what was to be. Perhaps it was for the best. Somewhere in the future there would be a happy Viscount and Viscountess Greychester. They would live with their children in a house filled with sunshine and laugher. What hurt the most was the fact that she was almost certain that she would not be that woman.