The Serpent's Shadow (52 page)

Now the part of the letter I know you want—the wedding. Grandmama, it was a picture. Maya and half the ladies in wedding saris embroidered in gold, she said to tell you that the color is traditional for wedding saris and she'll be sending you a bolt of the silk to thank you. The other half matched Miss Amelia's gown, which I know you've seen since you were the one who organized the making of it. They all carried one of the “pets” instead of bouquets—a quite brave pair had matching hawking gloves for the owl and the falcon. The pets were good as gold—the peacock stood like a statue in front of the altar, behind the bishop, with his tail fanned during the whole ceremony. Every member of the Exeter Club still speaking to us that could toddle helped to fill in the pews, which were liberally larded with some of Amelia's suffragette friends (who thankfully did not wear their banners and badges). Any empty spaces were taken by Norrey and her “mates”—who, to their credit, now that they have the pelf from our raid on the temple in their pockets, do seem to be trying to “go straight.” Twin is helping them there, getting them set up in little businesses that are bound to do well if they are properly managed. Miss Norrey has found an entirely new calling; she's training to be a cook under Gopal, if you can credit it!

Ceremony modern—no “obeying” allowed, thank you, in the presence of so many suffragettes. Bishop beaming, grooms and brides beaming, general company beaming, everyone retired to the Club itself for wedding supper, and pets as good as gold. Much spoiled, too; half expected the little monkey to be sick, he was fed so many sugarplums. Much more admiration of the floral decorations.

We've got them all off on a train an hour ago, for honeymoons all around. Only a fortnight though;
Mrs.
Amelia still has classes and the clinic will be short-handed without
Mrs.
Maya.

Cousin Reuben's eldest son Bertie will make the perfect Earth Master to complete Maya's training; they got along like two old friends at the wedding, and bless you for suggesting him. I'm putting him up at my flat in Piccadilly for the nonce; he can decide later if he wants to make an extended stay and join my bachelor shambles or find some digs of his own. He's going to help Twin out with the shop and import business, as you suggested; I would never have guessed that an offspring of Cousin Reuben would turn out to have such a good head for it.

I consulted with Maya's Peter about the wedding present you suggested, and he agreed that it is the perfect answer, and I really do think I can find everything within a fortnight so we can surprise Maya when the bride and groom return home. Old Gupta is positively ebullient over the idea, which means that there are no objections. So, once I fan my fevered brow and recover from all this, I will be out hunting: one female Hanuman langur, one female saker falcon, one male Eurasian eagle-owl. I know you can persuade old Lord Nettleton to part with one of the female Indian Ring-necks from his aviaries, and would you sort through our livestock at the manor for a particularly nice peahen?

 

All my love
Your grandson, Lord Peter Almsley

Read on for a preview of
Mercedes Lackey's
next
Elemental Masters
novel,

 

new in hardcover
April 2002.

“Oh lovely—you gave me the other kitchen-room!” Elizabeth exclaimed as soon as she recognized what part of the house she was in. She breathed in the scent of baking bread from below appreciatively. “These are the best rooms Blackbird Cottage has in the winter.”

“I think so too,” Marina said, as Elizabeth hung her jacket up in the wardrobe and bent to open one of the three trunks. Then, suddenly shy, she retreated back down to the kitchen to help her aunt.

Elizabeth came down to join them in a much shorter time than Marina would have thought, and the plain woolen skirt and shirtwaist she wore were nothing that would be out of place in the village on a weekday. Marina couldn't help a little pang of disappointment, but she tried not to show it.

Then came a supper that was astonishingly different because of a new face and some new topics of conversation around the table. This time, though, Marina was included in the conversation as a full equal. There was no discussion; it just happened, as naturally as breathing.

And one of the new topics was magic ...

“The Naiads and I had to drive a River-Horse up the Mersey, away from people,” Elizabeth said over the apple pie, as light from the candles on the table made a halo of her hair. “We don't know where it came from, but it seems to have been retreating from the poisoning of its stream. You haven't seen anything of water-poisoning around here, have you, Marina?”

She shook her head. “No—after I cleaned out all of the mess that had been left from before we took the land, I haven't had any trouble.”

“It's probably just some disgusting factory then,” Elizabeth said with a frown. “Honestly! You would think that when fish and animals begin to die, the owners would figure out for themselves that the poison they've dumped in the water is going to spread!” Her eyes flashed with anger. “How can they do this?”

“But it never spreads to where they live,” Sebastian pointed out dryly, though anger smoldered in the back of his eyes as well. “That's the thing. It it was their children that suffered, coughing out their lives in black air, dying from poisoned water, it would be different. It's only the children of the poor, of their workers. And there are always more children of the poor to take their places.”

“It's doing things to the magic.” Elizabeth's frown deepened. “Twisting it. Making it darker. I don't know—if I were able to find a Left Hand Path occultist behind some of this, I wouldn't be in the least surprised. But I haven‘t, and neither has anyone else.”

“Then it has to be just a coincidence,” Thomas said firmly. “Don't look for enemies where there are none. We have enemies enough as it is.”

Elizabeth let our a long breath. “Yes, and I should be concentrating on—and trining our newest Mage to deal with—those existent enemies, shouldn't I? Well said, Thomas.”

“The least of the many things you need to teach her, and I am profoundly grateful that you are here, my dear,” Thomas replied with a smile. “I hope I have given her a thorough grounding, but your teaching will be to mine as university education is to public school.”

It
is?
The thought of enemies evaporated from her mind.

“Which leads to the question—when to you want to start?” Margherita asked.

“Tomorrow,” Elizabeth replied, to Marina's unbounded joy—though for some reason, there seemed to be a shadow over the smile she bestowed on her new protégée. “Definitely tomorrow. No point in wasting time; we have a lot to share, and the sooner we start, the better.”