Bloodkin (Jaseth of Jaelshead) (13 page)

Charlie nodded and Fiona used a tiny pair of tongs to measure out moss from the two baskets she indicated into a small metal container. It had sharp teeth on the bottom and inside the lid. She screwed the two parts together to grind up the moss, and when it had been mixed to her satisfaction she poured the fluffy granules into Charlie’s white leather pouch that he held ready. She repeated the process with the Red and Gold, explaining to Charlie about the different varietals she had in stock and mixing them expertly. The mosses themselves all looked pretty much the same – a dry greeny-brown, though some were a paler mint colour, some almost orange – but without the colour-coded baskets there would have been no telling them apart. When she had finished filling Charlie’s bags she took them back to the counter and weighed them carefully, quoting him a price. Charlie counted out coins from his purse and laughed when he saw my questioning face.

“Can’t really charge this to the Hall account, it’s purely recreational!” He grinned at me.

Fiona flapped her hands at him. “Jaseth will be able to, later on, when it’s time for my classes.”

Wow. “You’re teaching us?”

“Oh yes,” she said seriously, blinking at me. “A study of the use of moss is very important to the education of Nea’thi-Bloods. I mean, Human children get taught about alcohol, don’t they?”

I laughed. “Hardly!”

“Hmph, well they should. Anyway, moss is terribly important, especially the use of the Black.”

I realised, looking over at the baskets again, that there were no black ones there.

“Oh, I keep it out the back, locked up safely. I deemed it prudent after the, er, incident.” Charlie coughed and Fiona didn’t elaborate, it seemed like an uncomfortable topic of conversation
for both of them. “Now, Jimmy, have you chosen one yet?” Fiona asked, changing the subject again.

“Sure have!” Jimmy pointed to a substantial hardwood pipe, blocky in design with a long, straight stem. Fiona pulled it out of the display and wrapped it for him. When he had paid, Fiona craned her neck round us to look down to the front of the shop.

“I’d better go see if that lot are ready to buy what they’ve been trying. Thank you for stopping in, was lovely to see you again Ϛaioћ, and to meet you charming Bloodkin.” She beamed at Lolitha and me, ushering us down to the front of the shop. Jimmy, Lolitha and I made for the door, but Charlie lingered, falling in step with Fiona.

“How is she, really?” I overheard him ask quietly.

Fiona sighed. “She’s fine. Her… employment is taking its toll. Come to the Thistle tonight, you can see for yourself.”

“I… Yeah, maybe.”

At the front of the shop Fiona waved farewell before going to talk to the group on the couches. We waved back then pushed through the door, to make our way back to the Hall in the late afternoon glow.

harlie showed me how to run the bath with the red and blue enamelled taps and left me to soak while he fiddled with the fire and finished unpacking his boxes. I lay in the huge bath for a good half hour with my eyes closed, enjoying the luxury of the hot water and letting my mind run over the events of the day. Admittedly, I had never travelled much, but the Nea’thi Quarter was by far the weirdest place I had ever been. The mass of people, the strange things you could buy,
Fiona.
This place was to be my home for the next two years, but it was totally overwhelming. I doubted I could even leave from the front door of the Hall without getting lost, so how the hell was I going to survive here? My own home, and Jaelshead, I knew like the back of my hand. At home I had been the Lord’s heir! Here, I was just another kid and completely out of my depths. Even Lolitha, shy, quiet Lolitha, seemed to be more comfortable.

Charlie yelled through the door. “You alright in there, Jas? You haven’t fallen asleep and drowned, have you?”

“No no, I’m just getting out now.” With much splashing I roused myself and got out of the bath, drained it, and ran another
for Charlie. When I had dried myself I left the bathroom to him and went to go change.

“Are you going to wear your other new robe tonight?” he asked before heading in.

“What, are we dressing up?”

“Well, yeah, sort of. We’re going out tonight!”

When Charlie closed the bathroom door behind him I went and stood by the fire, enjoying the warmth for a bit. Charlie had put the shopping bag on one of the chairs and I fished out my wool robe and went to put it on in my bedroom. The dying sun was shining directly in from the west window, illuminating the city and the lake below and reluctantly I drew the curtain to change, wrapping the towel around my still-damp hair. Out in our living room I pulled out my journals and writing equipment and arranged them on one of the desks. Charlie had finished unpacking his books, and I noticed a new box by the door, addressed to me and stamped with the seal of the Lille booksellers. That was quick, I thought, pulling it open. Inside were all my textbooks, neatly packed. Charlie had left me plenty of space on one of the bookcases and I arranged my new texts there. There were books on Human and Nea’thi history, including one wholly dedicated to the events of the Leaving. There was a brief treatise on Nea’thi culture in the Enclaves, as well as a number of books about Hầұeӣ. More surprisingly there were scientific texts, introductions to physics, chemistry and biology. There was even a small tome about the history and cultivation of moss, written by one Фyѫeaжa Odờлoρenấ – Fiona, of all people!

I had just finished stacking them away when Charlie finished in the bathroom.

“Ooh, JJ, you look fancy! Hang on, I’ll go get changed.” When he emerged from his bedroom he was wearing not his usual plain black robes, but a much dressier one in a dark wine red. He had pulled his long white hair back with a black velvet ribbon and he had applied his kohl with much more care than usual.

“Ha Charlie, you scrub up alright! Trying to impress someone eh?” He ducked his head, embarrassed, but I could see his cheeks crease as he grinned.

“Oh, hardly. Just haven’t had a chance to wear this old thing much.”

“Sure!” I dried my hair and hung my towel up, dragging my fingers through to get out the worst of the knots. We could hear a commotion in the hallway and Jimmy poked his head in.

“You guys ready to go up? It’s almost dinner time!” We waved at him and went to follow up to the common room. Charlie touched my arm as we were about to step into the hall.

“Jas, if anyone says anything about Лấ Ұaßaлioӣ or Lya Myn, don’t say anything, okay?”

What I possibly could have said about the assassin’s guild, real or not, I didn’t know, so I just nodded at Charlie and we followed Jimmy and Lolitha up the stairs.

In the common room both the fires were blazing. Three tables had been pushed together down the side near the kitchen into one long trestle, and the chairs and couches had been grouped around the fire closest to the stairs. We appeared to be the last to arrive – everyone else all had glasses of wine in their hands and were seated comfortably. Along with us eight Bloodkin and our Mentors, Eve was relaxing with a wizened old Nea’thi gentleman, and two Journeymen hovered nervously – one I recognised as Steven, the other was a baby-faced youth who fiddled with his shoulder-length white hair.

Eve noticed us enter and waved for us to join her, motioning for Steven to pour wine for us. The ancient Nea’thi stood to greet us, his well-lined face belying a bearing that was still tall and upright.

“Myr Roderick, you might remember Ϛaioћ from his time as a Journeyman. Jyѫ of course you know.” The old man nodded gravely and accepted Charlie’s respectful handshake, but made a show of mock exasperation as Jimmy hugged him around the shoulders. “And these are their Bloodkin, Jaseth of Jaelshead and Lolitha of Lallisol. This is Myr Roderick, Dean of the Academy.” So he was important then. I shook his hand as Charlie had done and Lolitha wobbled a curtsey.

Myr Roderick peered at us closely. “Ahh, Jaelshead, excellent wines, yes? And Lallisol? That’s that pretty little village up on the
Lallice, am I right?” Lolitha and I nodded agreement. “Wonderful, wonderful, welcome to Lille. I hope your time at the Academy will prove fruitful. Please, let us sit and be comfortable, we have no need for formalities here, and my old bones are creaking.” He grinned self-deprecatingly and lowered himself gracefully back into his armchair with an apparent lack of creaking. He was certainly the oldest Nea’thi I had ever come across, his face was lined like a road map and a smattering of white whiskers spiked his cheeks. On his nose he wore a curious pair of spectacles, the glass tinted dark amber to protect his aging eyes from the light. Steven poured our wine and the other Journeyman, who Eve introduced as Alan, appeared with a platter of tiny crackers topped with cheese and smoked fish.

I looked around at the others as Alan carefully did his rounds with the nibbles. Everyone except Sallagh was wearing new, Nea’thi-style robes. Dunkerle, Sammoch and Donnick had gone for masculine blues, and Dunkerle sported a new pair of spectacles, similar to Myr Roderick’s but of clear glass, the slight magnification making his eyes goggle a bit. Telgeth on the other hand was outrageous in lime green, which clashed spectacularly with his orange hair. He caught my eye and gave me the thumbs up before raising his glass and draining it. Mantilly was demure in pale lilac, while Lolitha was still wearing her mint-green robe from that afternoon. Everyone paled, however, in comparison to Sallagh, who shone in sapphire blue silk. Her Human-style dress had full skirts that accentuated her tiny waist, and a necklace of blue jewels hung becomingly around her long, graceful neck, drawing the eye to her creamy cleavage, at which I was trying very hard not to stare.

When Alan had taken the empty platter back to the kitchen Eve stood and motioned that we move to be seated at the table. She guided Myr Roderick to the seat of honour at the head of the table, then moved to the other end, leaving the rest of us to manoeuvre for our seats. I ended up somewhere in the middle, sandwiched between Lolitha and Telgeth, while Charlie sat opposite and somehow Sallagh was beside him.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked him, gesturing at the chair and fluttering her long eyelashes.

“Oh, please do.” He pulled the seat out for her and she smiled at him, pulling out her skirts before settling daintily. To the obvious disappointment of Sammoch and Donnick, Emma took the other seat beside her, and the rest of the party found places around us.

Conversation at first was a bit stilted, and everyone concentrated on their wine and the first course of seafood chowder and breads that Steven and Alan served for us before they hurried down to sit with Eve. Charlie broke the ice by inquiring as to where everyone was from. Even with the length of the table, everyone could hear the conversation – it appeared that the rest of the Bloodkin were blessed with the same sensitive hearing as me.

Telgeth I knew was from Jaelshead as well, and Sallagh was a Lille native. Lallisol, Lolitha’s village, was tucked away in the mountains to the north, by the head of the Lallice river. Sammoch and Donnick were both from Rhyeholm, a medium-sized town in the foot of the mountains to the east, and had been friends since boyhood. Dunkerle was from the small riverside village of Talesse, which was just on the other side of the bridge where we had encountered the guards, and Mantilly had grown up in the settlement of Nallow on the other side of the lake, a short ferry-ride away.

I was surprised that everyone had come from places not far from Lille, but when I mentioned this Sallagh snorted derisively and rolled her eyes.

Charlie looked at her curiously, then explained it to me. “There are Academies like this in all the four Capitols. Nea’thi-Bloods are educated in the one closest to their homes, to make it easier to visit families and stuff during the holidays.”

“Oh yes, yes,” agreed Myr Roderick from the head of the table. “Retaining ties with family is
most
important.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lolitha pull a face, but I didn’t say anything, not wanting to draw any more attention to my ignorance in front of Sallagh. Stephen and Alan collected
our soup plates for us and replaced them with our main course, roasted meats and vegetables with plenty of gravy.