Authors: L J Leyland
‘No!’ I said, loudly.
Matthias jumped. ‘No what?’
I had startled him by my sudden vehemence. I blushed, embarrassed. ‘No … no, I don’t think it’s a Blueblood coup. It’ll be something else. He’s on our side.’
‘Oh, is he? And you know this, how? How do you know that this isn’t a trap and he’s just using you to help bring down the Mayor until he and the Bluebloods can enslave us like we are now?’
‘
I just know.
’
Matthias smirked. ‘Handsome, is he?’
I adopted a lofty tone and said, ‘Don’t demean me, Matthias,’ but I couldn’t stop a smile from rising to my lips. Matthias saw it and burst into laughter. I laughed too, suddenly feeling full of life and invigorated.
‘I’m coming with you tonight.’
‘Good. I want you there.’
‘Someone will have to make sure that Noah’s sparkling eyes don’t dazzle us into agreeing to our own oppression.’
‘Oi, when have I
ever
let something like that cloud my judgement?’
‘There’s a first time for everything.’
The darkness crept up on us like a thief. Darkness was usually a friend of mine, an ally that concealed and conspired with me but tonight the darkness felt oppressive and hostile. I wished that I could light a fire torch to guide the way but Matthias warned against it. Didn’t want to attract attention. But the light would have been a comfort to me: an expeller of the dark thoughts that occupied my mind. Matthias and I picked our way through the marshes, taking the long route to Nora’s in order not to be seen. The docks backed onto the marshes, with the sprawling undergrowth reaching right down to the shoreline as though it was a stranded sea creature, clawing its way back to the watery haven.
It was sometimes frightening to look into that fringe of trees and see hundreds of luminous, curious eyes peering back – the bright discs of watchful owls, the sly ovals of wild cats or the eerily round orbs of nocturnal rodents. All watching. All waiting.
I could see the oil lamps from Nora’s acting like a guiding light in the otherwise deadened docks. The lamps were like beacons for the scum of the world; guided them to their spiritual home with the temptation of booze, gambling and women.
A drunken man, grubby with sweat, liquor, and the grime of everyday life, was slumped against the old wooden strut holding the roof up. He was a typical victim of Nora’s generous hospitality. He clutched a near-empty bottle of murky liquid – moonshine, Nora’s speciality for those who couldn’t afford alcohol but couldn’t afford to live without it. His blackened grin stretched his skin when I walked by and he reached out to pinch my ankle. I was about to aim a kick at his knobbly wrist, when, in his creaky voice, he started to sing:
‘We’ll walk together, down the line; and see the sun begin to shine;
the past is dead, our joy divine; our dream is won, the future’s mine.’
His cackle was like iron grating on rusting iron. ‘Did you hear me, girl?’
I turned to look at him.
‘The future’s mine!’ He jabbed his thumb at himself and then moved his hand over his heart. He then reached out his hand to me. ‘It’s
ours
, girl.’
I stopped dead in my tracks. ‘Where did you hear that? That song?’ I asked.
The man bared his blackened grin again.
‘I know that song, I know the tune. Where did it come from?’
‘Come on, Maida. You’ve not heard that before, it’s just the ramblings of an old drunk,’ Matthias said.
‘Who are you calling drunk?’ sneered the man and threw his bottle at Matthias. It missed him by three feet; not really the most convincing demonstration that the man was sober. The bottle smashed on the floor and the foggy liquid ran out on the stone.
‘Arg, no! Now look what you’ve done, you giant.’
He peered up at Matthias from a squatting position and then crawled across the floor and lapped up the liquid from the ground like a dog, not wanting to waste a drop.
Matthias sighed. ‘Why do we come here?’
‘Because of the refined ambience and charming clientele?’
‘The people here make even you look refined,’ he said.
I aimed a punch at his arm which glanced off without him even flinching. We skirted around the drunk as quickly as we could, but I felt rattled. I was sure I had heard that song somewhere before. The lyrics sounded strangely familiar, as though they had been buried deep within my memory from an experience that had been repressed. I had
experienced
that song somewhere before.
Our dream is won, the future’s mine.
We approached the bar, my eyes scanning the thick crowd for a shock of black hair and the gleam of blue eyes. The tavern was always full, even this late at night. Well, what did these people have to go home to?
‘What do you want?’ asked Matthias.
‘Want? Need, more like. Gin. Large. Thanks,’ I replied.
‘Two gin and tonics please, Nora, and hold the tonic.’
He winked at her and the old crone blushed crimson like a schoolgirl. It was slightly creepy. I raised a sceptical eyebrow at Matthias and he mouthed ‘What?!’ back. ‘Might be worth a free drink later …’
Taking the two cracked glasses of vinegary liquor, we weaved through the throngs, working our way to a vantage spot – a quiet table, set back in a slightly raised alcove which was always free as it was farthest from the bar. Inconspicuous but elevated so we had a view of the tavern and of the entrance. I cast my eyes around. He wasn’t there. I grabbed Matthias’s wrist and peered at his cracked watch face. Ten past midnight. Had he already left when we didn’t appear dead on midnight? Or had he not arrived yet? Matthias gently took my hand that was cutting off the circulation to his wrist and prised my fingers from him. ‘He’ll be here. Stop worrying.’
‘Lateness is a pet hate of mine,’ said a soft voice just to the right of me.
Matthias and I both jumped, surprised by the closeness of the voice. Our time spent in the marshes had made us very aware of all sounds, no matter how small, so it was a rare thing for us both to be caught off-guard. It was him. Standing there. Unharmed. Smiling.
‘I was prepared to wait though. I didn’t think you’d want to miss this.’
‘Well, that depends what information you’ve got, then we’ll be the judge of whether it was worth turning up for or not,’ replied Matthias.
Squaring up and butting heads already. I rolled my eyes and gave Matthias a hard pinch under the table.
‘Fair enough.’ Noah shrugged, not rising to the bait. ‘May I?’ He indicated towards the table and I nodded. He quietly slipped onto a bar stool facing us both.
His accent was unlike ours. Ours was homely, rounded and thick, with letters that were dropped as unnecessary, whereas his was clear, sharp and clipped. Every letter was pronounced, which made me feel lazy about dispensing with my ‘h’s’ and ‘g’s’. I wondered where on earth he got that accent from. Everyone I knew spoke like me or Matthias. When I was younger, I used to spy on the school in town, curious about the other children who had parents and didn’t live on a houseboat, who went to school and led a normal life. For quite a long time, I wished I was one of them. But even all of them spoke like me. Perhaps Blueblood children didn’t go to the same school as town children. But then again, there were so few Blueblood families left that I doubted they had their own school. Perhaps he had been educated at home, in his mansion. Perhaps the Metropole provided private education for Blueblood children, where they had developed their own accent, isolated from the coarse drawl of the townsfolk. How nice for them.
It had gone very silent with Matthias scowling at Noah and Noah politely looking the other way. I needed to fill the void. So I said the first thing that came into my head.
‘You’re not dead,’ I blurted out suddenly.
Idiot
.
Noah stared at me.
‘No, I’m not,’ he said slowly, as though he was speaking to someone who was not fully competent.
‘Great use of detective work there, Maida,’ sniggered Matthias. God, I wanted to punch him.
‘I just meant … I thought you wouldn’t survive the night, what with the Mayor being a madman and all.’
‘I told you he couldn’t touch me. You didn’t believe me though, did you?’ His eyes penetrated into mine and I had to look away.
‘Not really. I’m sorry. I’ve just never heard of anyone coming out better off against the Mayor. So tell me then, how
did
you and Flora get off the hook last night?’
His eyes cast downwards suddenly and when he looked up at me, they were shining and sad. He shook his head. I understood immediately.
‘No,’ I breathed. ‘She can’t be. How? His own daughter?! How could he?’
I realised Noah was shaking with suppressed rage. He said, in a very measured voice, as though struggling to contain his anger, ‘He’s evil.’
I saw Matthias eyebrows shoot up mockingly, obviously thinking Noah’s statement dramatic. We both hated the gossipy way that the townsfolk talked, exaggerating every detail so that peoples’ lives started sounding like melodramas. But something within me made me think that Noah wasn’t the melodramatic type. He seemed to use words sparingly and intellectually; he didn’t seem the type to exaggerate in order to win gasps.
‘Evil?’ asked Matthias. ‘Isn’t that a bit strong?’
‘Wouldn’t you class carrying out your own daughter’s execution evil?’ Noah retorted.
I choked. ‘He did it himself?’
‘A shotgun. After he realised you had escaped. I’ve seen him angry before but this was indescribable. I think he was barely human.’
‘Bloody hell.’
I was too shocked to cry. Just numb. Just empty and hollow. I hardly knew the girl but in the short time that we were acquainted, I could tell there was an air of tragedy that pursued her, hunted her, eventually found her, took her. It didn’t surprise me that she had been killed. She didn’t seem like one of life’s survivors. But I still couldn’t help feeling sad about her death. And perhaps there was a twinge of guilt in there, too. Maybe I could have done more to help her.
‘Why did he kill Flora and spare you?’
Noah gave his head a small shake, as though waking himself up from a dream. His eyes refocused and he came back into the present. ‘She was too much of a liability. Her mind broke a while back, if it was ever there at all after her mother was banished. She couldn’t act sane, he knew she couldn’t keep his secrets anymore. Whereas I can. I’m a brilliant actor,’ he said.
I exchanged a look with Matthias. I knew we were both thinking the same thing. ‘Actor’ isn’t too far a leap from ‘liar’.
I just couldn’t figure him out. Everything I assumed I knew about Bluebloods and assistants had been blown to pieces by him, by his kindness. I’d never heard of them defying the Mayor or helping townsfolk. Surely that meant he was essentially on our side? Or at least, that he was essentially a good person? But somehow, I still wasn’t quite sure of him. Although he sat there quietly, controlled, exuding a calmness and a trustworthiness that was reassuring, there was a frisson of dangerous intellect about him.
I couldn’t place my finger on it but it was slightly unsettling. His knowing eyes had a false depth, sparkly blue, like the surface of a calm lake but one that plunges fathoms into a dark, mysterious waterworld. He was as unreadable as an ancient, forgotten language seen on tombs – cryptic, mystic, and slightly unnerving, as though the strange symbols, if spoken out loud, would summon spirits from the underworld. He was completely unfamiliar. Unlike Matthias who was as comfy as an old boot and as predictable as the sunrise.
‘What secrets did she know? What secrets do you know?’ asked Matthias, beginning to get intrigued.
Noah smiled ruefully. ‘I wonder …’ he mused. ‘Are you ready to know the truth? Are you ready to know everything? I warn you now, you might not believe me. You might even end up hating me and my family. But I think you deserve to know. Besides, I need your help.’
So mysterious yet so compelling. All I could do was nod. Matthias’s hands were gripped on the table in tight, white knuckled fists, ‘I’m ready to know,’ he said.
‘There’s madness in my family,’ Noah began. His voice was soft yet there was an ominous edge to it. ‘Always has been. Sometimes it manifests itself as eccentricity, harmless but strange. It’s generally considered the charming oddities of an ancient family. All of us ancient families have a streak of madness. What is it you townsfolk call us? Bluebloods? I think the madness stems from the fact that we all share the same blood. Noble blood but blood that has concentrated certain qualities over time. Pride. Stubbornness. And madness. Eccentricity is usually the extent of it. But sometimes, just sometimes, one of us is born with their mind not quite connected to their body, so to speak. You hear of them in old fairy stories. Demented woman, dressed in dusty lace rags, hidden in attics, creeping about the manors at night, committing murders and other sins. Families trying to pretend they don’t exist for the sake of their pride.’
This was horribly close to the bone – it was so reminiscent of Flora, hidden away in the meat-hanging room, erased from history by her only family member. I wondered where Noah could be going with this.
‘In my family, it was my aunt. My mother’s sister. This was before the Flood, when there was no Metropole; just us nobles who ruled Britannia, while we were still joined as one country.
‘My family couldn’t understand how someone so beautiful could be so deranged. Her name was Iris. By the age of sixteen, Iris had the body of a woman but the mind of a child. A very, very strange child. She claimed she could see into the future, see destruction, the fall of civilisation, demise, death. It occupied all her waking thoughts and all her night time terrors.’
Matthias gasped. ‘She saw the Flood?’
‘No. Of course not,’ replied Noah. ‘It was just nonsense; ramblings of a desperately unstable young woman. Iris was very unwell, mentally, but she couldn’t tell the future, not really. Her illness made her very agitated in normal circumstances but occasionally, it made her extremely violent. My grandfather lost an eye. She said she didn’t want him to see what was coming. She was imprisoned in their manor’s cellar for her own safety and that of her family, especially her younger sister, my mother, who she had taken a particular interest in.
‘Of course, there was no way my parents could marry her off to another noble. If word got out that there was madness in our family, my mother’s chances of marriage would be forever quashed and she would die alone and childless. My mother was beginning to look like a promising young woman with good prospects. It wouldn’t be fair to taint her with the suspicion of illness that haunted her sister. Therefore, they had to get rid of my aunt, and quickly, before she ruined the prospects for the family.’
I couldn’t stop myself from butting in at this point. ‘Of course, we couldn’t have the mad sister ruining the fun for the rest of the family, could we? I mean, that just wouldn’t be fair at all, how selfish of her.’
‘Maida,’ Matthias warned, ‘let him finish.’
Noah looked at me, somewhat abashed. ‘I know you think us cruel, but those are the rules we must abide by in our world. Appearances, pride, keeping face. You’ve no idea how free you are. You’ve no idea how constrained I … we are. Don’t judge us too harshly.’