Bloodkin (Jaseth of Jaelshead) (34 page)

he last week of November was a rough one for everyone. The weather remained bitter and wet and was chafing at everyone’s nerves. I had my first fight with Sallagh, well, sort of. I was trying to practise creating a light-proof barrier, and having a miserable time of it. A cold virus had swept through the Hall and my stuffy sinuses were impairing my concentration. Sallagh came in looking for some distraction and I’m afraid I snapped at her. She had retreated, sniffing loudly, and Charlie gave me a look that plainly said I should go make it up to her, but I simply couldn’t be bothered with female histrionics, and I soon gave up my Hầұeӣ practice and went to bed. She was decidedly cool towards me at class and in the Hall the next couple of days, and when I couldn’t stand it any more I went to apologise. Her annoyance had worn off by then, and she welcomed me back with open arms. Luckily, Emma discreetly left us to it and we spent the rest of the evening on her couch, kissing and touching and making up for lost time.

By the weekend the storm had finally broken and the Saturday of the girls’ shopping trip dawned bright and clear, though frost
glittered on every surface. What with my cold, and Sallagh, I had plenty of readings and Hầұeӣ practice to catch up on, and I happily watched them leave to Hall to go find Lux.

Five hours later I was reclined on a couch up in the common room, struggling through a treatise on Human and Nea’thi genetic traits, when the three girls staggered up the stairs, looking exhausted.

“Well, how did it go?”

Sallagh laughed, a little maniacally. “Telgeth was right, Lux is
crazy
. I need a coffee.”

“Or something stronger,” Lolitha muttered.

“Why, what happened?”

Lolitha went to beg a bottle of wine from the Journeymen in the kitchen who were just about to begin the evening meal while Sallagh and Mantilly collapsed onto chairs and told me about their afternoon.

They had turned up at Anna’s apartment – the penthouse suite on the top floor of the building that housed Fiona’s shop – to find Anna in the process of kicking Lux out.

“It was crazy! They were screaming at each other, it was like nothing I have ever seen!”

Luckily, Jeetz was visiting Fiona at her shop and, hearing the commotion, came to the rescue. He told Anna that Lux was going to stay with him and his mother in their mansion on the hill, and she would help with chores around the house in return for food and board. Lux was initially reluctant, but after some persuasion, agreed to move in with him. So Jeetz took the girls shopping, and then they took one of the steam-powered gondolas up the hill and spent the rest of the afternoon getting Lux settled in to her new lodgings.

When they finished their glasses of wine, Mantilly and Sallagh went down to take their baths, meeting Charlie in the common room door. He took one look at their faces and laughed.

“That bad was it?”

“Ugh, don’t even
ask
,” Sallagh told him as they left.

Lolitha poured another glass for herself, then ones for Charlie and me.

“Did you find out what you wanted?” I asked her and she looked at me sharply.

“Actually, no, I didn’t get much of a chance. Charlie, did Anna… Did she ever say why we were attacked on Samhain?”

Lolitha and I had never really talked about that night. The horror of the memory had faded slightly, and I no longer woke up choking in cold sweats after nightmares of knives pressing at my throat. Still, it was uncomfortable to bring it up.

Charlie shook his head. “If she knows, she isn’t saying. She doesn’t usually… participate in a contract, if that’s what it was.”

“But she said she had a personal interest in those two men,” I prompted.

Charlie sighed. “She really doesn’t tell me much.”

We sat in silence for a while, considering our wine.

“Heh, you really bugged her with that Odette thing the other night.” Lolitha broke the silence with her murmured observation.

“What? How do you mean?”

“Oh ho, silly Charlie, I thought you knew everything! She was jealous, couldn’t you tell?”

Charlie was almost speechless. “What? Why would she be jealous of Odette?”

“Oh, you know. Flaunting the younger model right in front of her.”

“But she doesn’t know—”

Lolitha coughed, suddenly embarrassed. “Er, I might have told her some stuff… Hey, I was in shock!”

“What did you tell her?”

“Um, I might have mentioned that you were in love with her…”

“Lolitha!” A silence, then, “What did she say?”

“Um, I don’t really remember. I think I fainted straight after.”

“Oh sweet Lilbecz…” Charlie groaned and hid his face in his hands.

“Er, sorry Charlie. Hey, at least now she knows! And she didn’t seem to mind, you should have seen her on Jaseth’s birthday!”

Charlie made a face, remembering. “That was… Hmm, I thought she was just being friendly. Was she really jealous?”

Lolitha laughed. “You should have seen her face when you introduced Odette. She was furious!”

With all the excitement the followed Lux’ rather spectacular arrival, I had forgotten about Anna’s coldness towards the Journeyman.

“Oh hell, am I an idiot?”

“Yes!” Lolitha and I chorused, then grinned at each other.

“Hey, at least she doesn’t know you’ve got a painting of her!”

“You’ve got a painting of Anna? Where?”

I grinned at Lolitha. “In his room. It’s an Ashlu.”

“An Ashlu!” she squeaked. “Ooh, can I see?”

Charlie protested but Lolitha and I grabbed an arm each and towed him to the door. He muttered furiously the whole way. “Bloodkin interfering in my love life, they don’t teach you about
that
in the Enclaves.” But Lolitha and I could do nothing but giggle as we led him down the stairs.

During December there was a palpable excitement in the air as the city readied itself for the arrival of the Royal Party. The rains had dissipated, leaving the days clear, but cold and frosty. In the mornings when we walked to the Academy the sun had barely risen, and it was almost dark by the time we made our way home in the evenings.

Small groups of staff began arriving in the city from Fortesta, to ready the castle for occupation by the Queen and her Advisor and the rest of the government. From my room in the Hall I could see them, tiny figures crossing the bridge. After three years of only minimal upkeep, the royal staff had less than a month to restore the castle to a habitable condition suitable for the elected leader of our country. The Queen was due to arrive just after Yule, on the last day of the year.

Out in the streets, the city guards were making their presence felt, even in the Quarter, which was wholly unusual. Anna, too,
was busier than normal, and the private lounge was off-limits to the rest of us most nights we went down to the Shivering Thistle. Though whatever extra security she was organising I could only guess at.

There were a few incidents that marred the festive atmosphere. A woman’s body was found in a back street down in the Docks, her throat slit, her male companion vanished. It was assumed in the papers that he was the one who had murdered her, and had gone into hiding. But the details of the attack were uncomfortably familiar.

Then Odette went missing.

Ever since Lolitha had revealed the reason for Anna’s dislike of the younger woman, Charlie had been polite, friendly even, but had kept her at arm’s length.

On a free day she had gone shopping with an old friend of hers from the Enclave – a Mingle who had been a student at the Academy a few classes ago and who was finishing up her Solastry study at the Temple. They had been seen together in the Quarter shopping for new, festive robes at Myn Tardiallah’s, and had popped in to Fiona’s to stock up on White, but no matter who the city guards questioned, no one knew where they had gone after that.

Myn Eve was concerned when Odette didn’t return for dinner that night, but decided that she must have gone to eat and maybe stay the night with her friend. But when she didn’t return the next day, Eve went to the guards.

Charlie, naturally, was frantic as the days passed and there was still no sign of Odette. He went to see Anna at her apartment to beg for her assistance, which had been promised readily, but she didn’t seem to hold out much hope. He even took me with him to see Jeetz at his home on the hill.

In my months in Lille I had never been up to where the rich and powerful elite of the city made their homes. A small diversion of the Jael River had been dug around the base of the hills, where they rose up from the flat ground that housed most of the city,
and this canal fed the steam engines, powered by Journeymen, that ran the gondolas. We took a cable car up to one of the levels. Here, narrow streets clung to the side of the hills, providing access to each tier of mansions. Graceful stone bridges arched over the gullies and we crossed two of them before Charlie led me through a gate and into a courtyard framed by bare winter trees. Jeetz’ house was enormous, a great, three-level mansion with arched windows and stone columns. We knocked on the door and to my surprise it was Lux who opened it. She had bound her hair in a tight bun and a thick headband swept her fringe off her face. She was wearing a stained old apron over her robe, and we had apparently interrupted her in the middle of the task of polishing the floor.

“Oh, it’s you two. What a pleasant surprise!” Though the sharp-toothed grin she gave us was anything but pleasant. “Jeetz! You’ve got visitors!” she yelled over her shoulder, and let us follow her inside.

Inside was a vast reception area, tiled in gleaming white marble. Jeetz’ mother had certainly built herself something of an empire from the start the people of Жanờ had given her. Jeetz appeared at the top of a grand staircase, wearing a dapper, navy blue robe with matching paisley kerchief, his long hair flowing behind him as he walked down to meet us.

“Lux, is that any way to greet visitors?” he growled at her, mock-serious. “Honestly, I thought us Mingles should stick together, but this one will put me in the grave, I’m sure of it.” He was rewarded by Lux poking her tongue out at him. “Off you go, girly. Go see if mother needs anything.”

“Aye, aye sir!” Lux scuttled away, through a door to the side of the stairs.

“Please, come sit with me in the library, it’s much more comfortable.” Jeetz led us upstairs and down a corridor to his library. The walls were lined with bookcases, each stuffed to maximum capacity with a vast number of books. A fire burned in the grate and above it hung a large portrait. It was of an older woman, picked out in exquisite detail, her hair bright white and her skin creased, but tanned. She had a sharp, hawk-like nose
and a fierce expression. I noted the signature – Ashlu, of course it had to be, but a commission of this size would have cost so much money it made my head swim.

Jeetz bade us sit in upright armchairs around a small table, and he poured three glasses of wine from a delicate crystal carafe.

“Now, by the look on your face, Ϛaioћ, I gather you are not here to talk about the weather, hmm?”

Charlie nodded and filled Jeetz in on the details surrounding Odette’s disappearance.

“So she was with a Mingle girl, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Ahh.”

“Ahh?”

Jeetz scratched his head for a second and took a sip of his wine. “I have heard… rumours.”

“Rumours?” Charlie was almost bursting with impatience.

“Yes. Rumours of young Mingles, male and female, going missing unexpectedly. Most have been put down to the flightiness of the young, and Mingle youths tend to be… wilful.” He grimaced. “And due to the nature of our birth, many don’t seem to care much about us.” This he said with a trace of bitterness. “Oh, it was alright for me, being first generation I had to be brought up in an Enclave, but second and third generation Mingles – those with less than one quarter Nea’thi blood – can survive childhood Outside. I understand that they can suffer some mistreatment in some areas.”

“But shouldn’t they be going to the Academies?” I broke in.

Jeetz frowned. “Well, they should be, but as I said, young Mingles can and do refuse to go. It’s illegal, of course, but what can you do?”