The Glass Swallow

by Julia Golding

  Ret was staring at the blood on the back of his hand in amazement. ‘It’s bleeding.’

  ‘Welcome to life as an ordinary boy.’ Peri held out a hand and shook Ret’s solemnly. ‘Congratulations.’

  A slow smile spread over Ret’s face. ‘Ordinary: I think I like the sound of that.’ Before Peri could intervene, he leapt forward, fist clenched, and swung at Helgis’s nose. The punch missed but caught an ear. Helgis didn’t waste time howling: he retaliated with a blow to the stomach. The two boys went down, rolling on the floor in an attempt to land a good hit on the other. Peri struggled to separate them, Ret’s silken clothes making him as slippery as an eel, Helgis skilled at twisting free. Experienced at handling such scuffles, Katia rushed forward and threw a basin of water over the pair.

  ‘Enough!’ she scolded. ‘Take it outside.’ She grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and hustled them through the door.

  Peri wondered if he should stop them, but if he didn’t let Ret stand on his own two feet, he would never gain the respect of boys his own age. He trusted his brother not to let it get too far out of hand. Following them to the entry, he was relieved to see they were already running off together, united by a desire to escape a tongue lashing.

  ‘Who is that boy exactly?’ Katia asked, her mouth pursed in disapproval.

  ‘I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you,’ Peri said cautiously. ‘The main point is that he was abandoned by his family and we had to take him with us—the looters were all over his home.’

  ‘How could parents abandon a child like that?’

  ‘His father’s dead and he never knew his mother. He was looked after by officials.’

  ‘Strange.’ Katia wiped her hands on her apron but was distracted from further questions by the arrival of Rain in the common room. After changing into dry clothes, she had been shown around the compound by Peri’s oldest sister, Bel, and the two of them were chatting happily, giggling over something. Rosie trailed behind them, an awestruck smile on her face as she gazed in fascination at Rain’s curly hair.

  ‘Ma, you’ll never believe it!’ enthused Bel, rushing across the room to where they were cooking. ‘Rain designs stained-glass windows back home—she’s done some for the queen’s temple, she says, but no one knows about it because the glassmakers are all narrow-minded bigots, don’t like women doing such things. But not her father, he lets her do anything she wants.’

  Rain blushed. ‘Not anything, Bel.’

  Katia brushed off the flour marks on the table. ‘I see. Not a very useful occupation, is it?’

  Startled at the hostility from Peri’s mother, Rain glanced at Peri. She recalled that he held similar opinions. ‘I suppose it might not seem as useful as hunting,’ she conceded.

  ‘Such useless luxuries are what got us in this fix in the first place,’ Katia continued. ‘The rich people spent money on fripperies while others starved; borrowed to buy whatever was in fashion even if it made no sense.’

  ‘Ma, Rain isn’t to blame for what went on here,’ Peri said quietly.

  Rain wished he’d offered a better defence. He was tacitly agreeing that her talents were worthless. ‘I won’t apologize for my craft, Mistress Falconer. I do good work and I’m worth my wage. My windows make buildings beautiful and I’m proud of that.’

  ‘You must be upset at the depths to which you’ve fallen then.’ Katia gestured to the unadorned windows which did not even have plain glass, only shutters to close at nightfall. ‘You’re eating the food provided by people who aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty, who’ve survived without fancy glass or ornaments.’

  ‘You’ve never been in a glass foundry if you don’t think we get our hands dirty too. I don’t regard you or your family as beneath me.’ Rain tried to think what she had done to offend the woman; Katia could not be clearer with her message that she resented Rain’s presence in her household. It pricked her pride. ‘And if you don’t want me to share what you have, then I suppose I’ll have to go elsewhere.’

  ‘You’ll do no such thing.’ Peri stepped between his mother and Rain, alarmed that the argument had escalated so quickly.

  ‘Ma, you’re being mean!’ protested Bel, taking her new friend’s arm in hers, preventing Rain from leaving.

  ‘It’s all right, Bel; I won’t stay where I’m not wanted. I expect the fisherfolk will take me in if I ask.’ Rain disengaged her arm.

  ‘You’re not leaving,’ Peri said firmly. ‘Ma, tell her she’s welcome here.’

  Katia puffed a strand of her hair out of the way that had fallen across her eyes. ‘She can stay. But I don’t want her causing any more trouble.’

  Rain folded her arms defensively, hugging her sides. Rosie tugged at her skirt, wanting to be lifted up but Rain shook her head.

  ‘That’s hardly going to make her feel like we want her here.’ Peri scooped Rosie from the floor. He was disappointed in his mother; she was normally so fair but today she demonstrated a prejudiced side that he had not suspected her of having. She was doing untold damage to Rain’s view of them. ‘I invited her here. She’s my guest, my responsibility.’

  ‘My guest!’ agreed Rosie, stretching her arms out to Rain.

  But their visitor was already beating a retreat. ‘Thanks for coming to find me, Peri. I’ll just go and tell Mikel that I’m off. You’re not to feel responsible for me.’ Rain slipped past Bel and was out of the door before Peri could stop her.

  ‘Ma!’ exclaimed Peri and Bel together. Rosie began to cry.

  ‘I can’t believe you said those things to her,’ continued Bel. ‘She’s nice. You’ve not even tried to get to know her.’

  Katia began kneading the dough. ‘She’s a threat to your brother. I look after mine first.’

  Peri gave a frustrated sound. He gave Rosie a hug before passing her over to Bel, then hurried after Rain.

  ‘Wait!’ he called, catching her outside the mews.

  Rain slowed.

  ‘You mustn’t listen to my mother. She’s got it into her head that you’re a bad influence on me.’

  Rain gave a shrug, pretending not to care. She was sick of being made so unwelcome in Magharna. ‘Perhaps she’s right.’

  ‘No, Rain, she’s wrong.’ Peri caught her arm and pulled her into the mews where they could be alone. The birds on their perches were quiet, sleeping the afternoon away. The smell was unpleasantly strong to Rain’s nose, unused to the odour of droppings and feathers that never quite left the place no matter how clean the falcon handlers kept it.

  Peri ran his hand down her hair and drew her close, soothing her as he would one of his charges. Her stance was stiff, braced for rejection.

  ‘Listen, sweetheart, I’m not letting you go anywhere. We had a deal: I took you to the palace and then you came here.’

  ‘I didn’t promise to stay.’ Her voice sounded muffled against his chest.

  ‘That was understood as part of the agreement.’ Rubbing up and down her spine, he coaxed her to relax against him.

  ‘But your mother’s made it clear I’m not wanted here.’

  ‘My mother is a muttonhead.’

  Rain smiled. ‘You shouldn’t say things like that.’

  ‘Only when she deserves it.’

  Rain did not pull away when he circled her loosely with his arms. Instead, she looped hers around his waist. She didn’t understand what it was about Peri: he was either driving her to distraction or making her want to get as close to him as she could. She felt his lips brush across the crown of her head.

  ‘I think I want to kiss you again,’ he whispered.

  ‘Is that a good idea?’ Rain shivered.

  He pulled her snugly against him. ‘It’s the best idea I’ve had all day.’ He leant over and gently kissed her, lingering to enjoy her taste.

  ‘Aw, yuck!’ Helgis emerged from the shadows further down the mews, dragging Ret after him. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

  Ret didn’t seem as disgusted as Helgis; he was rather
intrigued by all that kissing, but he followed his companion’s lead and pretended to gag as he ran by.

  ‘So much for my romantic timing,’ Peri said, watching the boys disappear out of sight. He held on to Rain, not ready to release her yet.

  ‘The choice of place leaves something to be desired too.’ Rain wrinkled her nose at the smell.

  ‘I’ll take you out into the fresh air if you promise there’ll be no more talk of you leaving.’

  Rain sighed. ‘I promise I won’t let your mother scare me off.’

  It wasn’t a perfect agreement, but Peri decided it had to be enough for now. ‘Let’s go find out how Mikel is settling in with Pa.’

  In the days that followed, everyone but Rain found their niche in the scavenger compound. Despite the rocky start, Ret and Helgis forged a friendship united against adults and Rain often spotted them around the mews where Helgis initiated the guest into the mysteries of looking after a sparrowhawk. Mikel had been easily accepted by not just Peri’s family but all of those in the compound. He made himself useful doing odd jobs, but spent most of his time sharing his vividly expressed opinions with anyone who would stop to listen. Rain wanted to work too, but every time she offered, Katia would say she wasn’t needed and send her away. Bel told her she was lucky; that her mother never passed over a chance to send her on chores; but Rain knew it was not kindness that kept her idle. Katia didn’t want her to wheedle her way any further into the family than she had already.

  To Rain’s disappointment, she did not spend as much time with Peri as she would have liked as he was kept busy with the hunting parties. They went out in large groups for mutual protection so even when he wasn’t flying one of his birds he was needed to make up the guard. Conal and Sniff were almost always with him and Sly was busy with his butchery, so that left Rain with large stretches of empty time on her hands. Not feeling welcome at the falconers’ end of the common room, she took to staying in the little chamber she shared with Rosie and Bel, laying out the shards of glass she had collected in the summer palace. First she formed them into geometric patterns, then the shapes of trees like those on the Master’s palace fence. Her choices were limited by the colours she had available. She’d gathered many shades of brown, dark blue, and a few precious pieces of yellow, but she had no golds, pinks, or light greens. Still, it was exciting to form the pictures she had in her mind, even if she had to break them up every night.

  Bel caught her at it one day. ‘That’s amazing—it’s a willow, right?’

  Rain nodded. ‘There are lots of them down by the river. I saw them when we landed the barge; they’re just coming into leaf.’

  ‘Can you make this into something?’ Bel looked longingly at her empty window.

  ‘Sorry, but I’d need lead and a proper frame to set the glass. This is just playing.’

  ‘That’s a shame. I’d love something really pretty in my bedroom.’

  Rain curled her knees up to her chest and leaned back against the wall. ‘My papa made me a rainbow.’

  Bel sat next to her, mimicking her position. ‘How?’

  ‘He blew lots and lots of glass droplets and hung them from the ceiling. When the sun shines in, the light splits in many colours.’

  ‘I’d love to see it.’

  Rain closed her eyes, recalling every detail of her room back in Tigral. Homesickness washed over her like a breaker knocking a swimmer off her feet. Though she sometimes wondered what her future might be like if she stayed here with Peri, mostly she dreamt of going home, but that chance seemed as fragile as a glass teardrop. She pictured the droplets dangling, spinning, recalling that they weren’t held in a frame but suspended on thread.

  ‘Bel, you’ve given me an idea!’ Rain jumped up. ‘Can you get me some fine cotton?’ She began gathering the shards carefully together, packing them back in the cloth she used to protect them.

  ‘Yes, of course, but what idea?’

  Rain laughed happily. ‘It’s a surprise—something for you and your family.’ She really meant it as a gift for Peri and hoped he would realize it. How else could she hint that her feelings for him had deepened? She wasn’t the sort to blurt out a confession, particularly when she was unsure if he wanted anything from her beyond a playful flirtation. ‘I need to go to the mews.’ She grabbed a stick of charcoal and one of her pieces of paper. ‘I won’t be long.’

  For the next week, Rain worked hard on her project. She had chosen Rogue as her subject because he had helped save her from the bandit leader, Krital. She carefully studied his sleek flint-blue coat and creamy stomach, his ebony eyes set in citrus yellow rims. Borrowing a chopping board from Sly, she laid out the pieces of glass, choosing the shapes that looked most like feathers. Her design suited the small fragments, allowing them to overlap as she netted them to a smooth twig Helgis and Ret had found her. Bel had sworn she wouldn’t sneak a look at the mobile until it was finished, though Rain had caught her glancing at the space under the bed where she hid it each night.

  ‘When will it be ready?’ asked Bel.

  ‘Not long now. I’m having problems finding enough cream-coloured bits.’

  ‘I could go and drop one of the milk pitchers if you like.’

  Rain swatted Bel playfully. ‘Don’t you dare! Your mother already thinks I’m single-handedly responsible for every foolish thing your older brother does; I don’t want her to start blaming me for what you get up to.’

  The final touch were the eyes. Using a whetstone, she ground two pieces of yellow glass into circles and stuck tiny black pebbles in their centre with glue begged from the compound’s carpenter. She called Bel in when she had finished, keeping the present concealed under a blanket.

  ‘I’m done. Do you want to see it or are you going to wait until I give it to your family tonight?’

  Bel knew Rain had been looking forward to unveiling it for everyone, hoping to change their views about the value of her craft. ‘I’ll be good: I’ll wait.’

  Rain squeezed her hand. ‘Thank you.’

  The two girls were giggling like conspirators as they carried the board into the common room. The rest of the family were already there: Katia and Hern were cooking while Peri told Rosie a story. Helgis and Ret sat nearby, pretending not to listen.

  ‘And then,’ said Peri in a dramatic whisper, ‘the fey lady disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the poor falconer all alone with no merlin, no meat, and no horse to carry him home.’

  Rosie’s eyes were wide. She took her thumb out of her mouth. ‘What did he do then?’

  Peri’s gaze slid to Rain and smiled. ‘What could he do but set off for home a wiser man, walking all the way?’

  ‘What a nasty fey lady,’ Rosie decided.

  ‘No, she wasn’t nasty: she was fey, obeying her own rules. I expect the horse and the merlin had a splendid life in her kingdom.’

  Bel and Rain put the board down on the table, pushing the bowls aside to create a space.

  ‘Get that thing out of the way!’ snapped Katia. ‘Fey ladies may have their own rules, but here we have one which says that we clear the table for supper.’

  ‘Ma!’ protested Bel. ‘Rain’s got a present for us. She’s worked really hard on it all week.’

  ‘And your father and I have worked hard on this meal.’

  Rain swallowed her disappointment, touching for comfort the necklace of tears she had rethreaded. This was hardly an auspicious beginning for her presentation.

  Mikel came up behind her and put an arm round her shoulders. ‘Rain, where have you been for the past few days? I’ve missed seeing you around the place.’

  Peri lifted a corner of the blanket. ‘Bel says she’s been making something for us.’

  ‘No peeking!’ warned Bel, slapping his wrist. ‘And, Ma, I’m sure it won’t take long. Let her show us before supper.’

  Hern stirred the pot. ‘We’ve a few minutes before it’ll be ready. What have you got for us, Rain? You know you needn’t give us presents. We’re please
d to have you with us.’

  You may be but your wife isn’t, thought Rain. ‘It’s just something I made with some odds and ends I gathered.’ She threw back the blanket, revealing the jumble of glass shards on the board.

  Peri tried not to show his disappointment: it looked a mess. ‘Um, what is it?’

  ‘Watch.’ Rain kept her eyes on him as she picked up the twig, lifting the mobile clear so that the pieces hung free. It was like seeing a spell conjure a peregrine falcon out of thin air; what had been a bundle of rubbish transformed into the beautiful shape of Peri’s favourite bird.

  ‘It’s Rogue!’ he exclaimed in delight.

  ‘Yes.’ Rain held it up to the fire so that the light could glitter through the glass, enjoying his reaction. Could he not tell she’d made it from her heart? ‘It’ll look better in daylight; the colours aren’t quite true in here.’

  ‘Fabulous!’ said Bel.

  Rosie clapped her hands and reached up to touch it.

  ‘Best not: it’s delicate,’ Rain told her.

  Peri lifted his sister up so she could see the glass miracle from a safe distance.

  ‘What do you think, Ret?’ Rain asked the Master, knowing that he was used to the best craftsmanship.

  ‘I like it; I’ve never seen anything like it before. Will you make me one?’ He glanced at his new friend. ‘And one for Helgis too?’

  She laughed. ‘If I can find enough pieces of glass. I’ve run out of most useable bits.’

  ‘Plenty of broken glass in the city, lovey,’ said Mikel, glowing with pride at her achievement.

  Finally, Rain turned to Katia and Hern, almost afraid to see their reactions.

  Hern rubbed his chin. ‘Rogue’s breast feathers are a bit whiter than that.’

  ‘Pa!’ Peri exclaimed.

  Rain tried to hide her chagrin. ‘Well, I only had a few colours to choose from.’

  Hern’s face broke into a smile. ‘But all the same, it’s the cleverest thing I’ve ever seen. You’re sure you’re not related to the fey people?’

  Rain realized he had been teasing her. ‘No, I’m not sure. I’m keeping an open mind on the subject.’