The Glass Swallow

by Julia Golding

  Rain bit her bottom lip. ‘Yes, I’m afraid it is. He didn’t even make it as far as Rolvint.’

  ‘I’m very sorry about that. Come, let’s go and tell Timber together. He already knows the truth but he should hear it from you in person.’

  Learning that Rain’s family had arrived to reclaim her, Hern insisted on holding a celebratory meal for them all that night. Katia for once was happy to welcome Rain to her table, hoping that this would mean the foreigner would soon be gone and her family return to normal.

  ‘It’s not that I wish her ill—indeed I hope she is happy when she gets home,’ Katia confessed to her husband as they prepared the rabbit stew together. ‘But she’s no good for Peri. I can’t get past the fact that she’s the reason he’s not here tonight.’

  Rain stopped in the doorway, embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping. Katia’s attitude to her was no surprise, but this confirmed what she had feared. She only hoped her father hadn’t overheard.

  ‘Um, Papa, can I introduce you to Hern and Katia Falconer?’ She tugged him into the room, Timber just behind them. Her father was smiling, so she guessed his basic Magharnan learned in Port Bremis and on the road hadn’t been good enough to catch what was said.

  Timber accepted the Falconers’ commiserations on the loss of his brother with suitable gravity. His eyes glistened with tears as he thumped his chest.

  ‘I feel I’ve lost half of myself,’ he said, before tucking heartily into a bowl of stew.

  Rain spent the evening acting as translator between her family and her new friends. Hern and Torrent hit it off from the start, as Rain thought they might. Timber was frustrated by his lack of fluency so spent the evening grilling Bel for new words and phrases. Rain made a mental note to thank her later for putting up with him.

  ‘So, Rain, what will you do now?’ Timber asked her towards the end of the meal.

  ‘She’s coming home with us, of course,’ answered Torrent, holding his daughter’s hand in his lap.

  But what about Peri? thought Rain. Her father had made it clear that he expected her to go back with him immediately. Now he was here, she realized she no longer wanted to leave. There was so much she and Peri still had to settle between them. Would he still want her after she had left him to go to the bandits? At the very least, she had to see him one last time to explain. She had never actually told him that she loved him and now it might be too late.

  ‘We’d be very sad to lose her,’ said Hern. ‘And, seriously, I’m not sure our general will let her go. He seems to think she guarantees the success of our attempt to rebuild our shattered nation. We’re only barely keeping him under control as it is. We need you, Rain.’

  Katia gave a snort.

  ‘Uncle,’ Timber said after Rain translated Hern’s speech for the two visitors, ‘you should bear in mind that my lovely cousin has been put in charge of the glassmaking industry—an amazing opportunity.’ Timber smiled at her, smoothing his moustache, drawing what Rain considered quite unnecessary attention to it.

  Bel giggled.

  ‘The girl needs to be in her own home with her own people, Hern,’ said Katia, pronouncing her sentence on the troublemaker.

  ‘Eventually,’ countered Timber when Rain had translated for him, ‘but such talent as hers should not be squandered. She may be just what your industry needs to get back off the ground.’

  ‘The decision, my dear, is yours,’ said Torrent.

  ‘I think,’ said Rain, ‘I think we should stay—just for a bit, Papa.’ She repeated her decision in Magharnan.

  Hern filled her cup. ‘I’m glad—and I know someone else will be too.’ He gave her a wink.

  Shard 16

  Bright Orange

  Determined that the least she could do for Peri before she had to leave was win an end to his exile, Rain waited by the door to Krital’s office. Inside, he was briefing his men and giving them orders with a characteristic mixture of bribes and threats.

  ‘We’ve only got twenty square miles or so under our control, true? That’s like a clean spot on a cow’s bum; the rest of the beast is a ruddy mess. I want the whole of Magharna sorted by the end of next month.’

  ‘That’s impossible,’ whined one commander. ‘We’ve not got enough men.’

  ‘Then recruit some more. Find out who used to do the local law enforcement and drag their sorry butts back on the case.’

  ‘We’re being turned away by some of the jettan estates,’ added another.

  ‘Then beat down their gates. We’re the government now; no one holds out against us. The man who tells me he’s secured the road to the border with Kir gets the next bonus.’

  ‘How much this time, boss … er … general?’

  ‘A mansion on Peacock Street. Roof on, most windows repaired. I’ll bump it to the top of the waiting list with the glassmakers if you get this done. So get out there and do what I’m paying you miserable rascals to do!’

  The bandit officers filed quickly out of the office. They were a motley bunch, the only sign of uniform being the red sash Krital insisted all his men wore.

  ‘Next!’ roared Krital, scaring his secretary, Nighman, into dropping his record of the meeting. ‘Nighman, you’re such a frightened rabbit.’

  ‘Yes, boss,’ agreed the secretary.

  Rain poked her head round the door. ‘Just me.’

  Krital beckoned her in and put his feet up on the table, his hands linked across his chest.

  ‘Do you think I’m getting soft, fey lady?’

  She gulped back her laughter. ‘No.’

  ‘I’m sitting around all day, barking orders. I think I’m becoming one of those bureaucrats I hated.’ Krital looked a little lost, surrounded by paper in the elegant surroundings of his office. With his unshaven jaw and meaty arms, he was as out of place as an oak block in an ice sculpture.

  Rain perched on the chair opposite his. ‘Then why not go out with your men sometimes? Go on patrol. Join in the training. I don’t think you’re made for this.’ She gestured to the files waiting for his attention and the lines of people queuing up to see him outside.

  ‘You’re right.’ He yawned. ‘I thought I’d like running a country, being the power, but to be honest, it’s boring. Only Nighman’s in his element. True, scholar?’

  ‘True, boss,’ replied Nighman, amusing Rain with his lapse into bandit slang.

  ‘Met your father,’ Krital continued. ‘Wants to take you home, doesn’t he?’ He reached up to touch her mobile of the horse, making the glass tinkle.

  ‘Wouldn’t you in his place?’ Rain asked cautiously.

  ‘Probably. So what are you going to do?’

  ‘I was thinking of asking you a favour,’ admitted Rain.

  He laughed. ‘Got someone you want me to get rid of? That idiot of a cousin of yours perhaps?’

  Rain found the suggestion tasteless seeing that he had already caused the death of Shadow. It reminded her that Krital, however much he had changed since leaving banditry behind, still had ugly sides to his character. He needed careful handling at all times.

  ‘No, nothing like that. I want Peri back. I know you sent him away, but I really want him to return to the city.’

  Krital’s face set in harsh lines. ‘Sorry, fey lady, can’t do that. Bird boy and I don’t mix well.’

  Rain stood up. ‘All right.’

  ‘That’s it? You’re not going to argue this any further?’

  ‘No. I’m just going to make arrangements to go home.’

  Krital slashed at the mobile, ripping some of the delicate threads so that glass showered on to his desk. ‘You can’t do that!’

  Nighman ducked behind his writing table.

  ‘Why not?’ Rain held very still, knowing that, when unleashed, Krital’s temper could be dangerous; but she stood her ground.

  ‘Because you bring us good luck,’ Krital blurted out before he could stop himself. He looked embarrassed to admit his superstition.

  ‘I don’t feel very
lucky when one of my best friends is exiled from the city.’

  ‘He hurt you—he deserved it.’ He turned his back to her and stared out of the window.

  ‘But it wasn’t about that, was it?’ Rain approached the desk and began collecting up the pieces. ‘You were annoyed about what happened that first day.’

  ‘He made a mockery of me.’

  ‘No, he didn’t. He gave you a choice and you picked the horse over me.’ She tried to lighten the situation with humour. ‘If you think about it, I’m the one who should be upset, not you.’

  Krital turned around to face her. ‘You’ll stay if I let that bird boy back?’

  ‘Yes, at least for a while, until I’m not needed.’ She rubbed her hands nervously—her father had not given up the idea of leaving as soon as possible.

  He frowned at his mangled mobile. ‘Can you mend it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do so and the bird boy can return.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Rain swept the pieces into her apron pocket.

  ‘But, fey lady?’

  ‘Yes, general.’

  ‘Tell him to keep out of my way.’

  Torrent sat beside his daughter as she mended the mobile. She did not break her concentration even after a full day at the forge, painstakingly matching colours and weaving the cotton web. The candle was guttering low in its socket by the time she was near to completion.

  Torrent yawned. ‘Isn’t it well past the hour you should be in bed?’

  ‘No, Papa, I’ve got to finish this. It’s Peri’s ticket back.’

  ‘Shame to see you working with these sharp fragments. I can’t help thinking your talent is going to waste. We need to get you back to the stained-glass windows.’

  ‘Oh, but it hasn’t really been a waste.’ She riffled through the shards, selecting a chocolate-brown piece. ‘I’ve got lots of ideas—I’ve even done a few designs. You know the summer palace I should’ve been working on? Well, I spent a lot of time there and made some sketches. I thought the windows should be gateways to the fey kingdoms the Magharnans talk about in their tales, magical doors for the imagination. There’s a lot of work to do here.’

  Torrent let his daughter rattle on, enjoying the expressions passing across her face even as she peered carefully at her mobile. He then realized what she was really saying.

  ‘You … you want to stay?’ He shook his head. ‘No, no, you can’t. I want you safe. This place is going to be as volatile as a flawed batch in the furnace for a long time to come. I can’t leave you here.’

  Rain bit her bottom lip, turning the shard in her fingers. ‘But it’s complicated, Papa. There’s Peri to think about.’

  ‘You have an understanding?’ Her father did not look pleased at the prospect.

  ‘Not exactly,’ she answered truthfully.

  ‘Then you don’t owe him anything and you are free to go home. He can come with us if he wants. See what develops between you somewhere safe.’

  Rain sighed. It wasn’t just Peri. She felt responsible for what happened in Rolvint.

  After another thirty minutes, her father yawned again. ‘That’s it for me. I’m turning in. Promise you won’t stay up much longer?’

  ‘I’m almost finished.’

  He kissed the top of her head. ‘Good night, Raindrop.’

  ‘Good night.’

  Rain threaded her needle and lit a second candle, dripping the wax on to the window ledge to keep it steady. Mobiles were much easier to make from scratch. This reconstruction was a fiddly matter, but she was determined to get it done. Peri should not have to spend another day out of the city on her account.

  She heard footsteps approaching softly behind her.

  ‘Ret?’ No, it couldn’t be him. He had gone to bed in his little cupboard bedroom some hours ago. ‘Who’s there?’

  ‘Just me, cousin.’ Timber stepped out of the darkness. Rain wondered how long he’d been watching her; she hadn’t heard him climb the stairs.

  ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Come to keep you company. You’re so busy during the day at the forge, and in the evening you’re with the Falconers; I hardly get any time with you on my own.’

  Which was the way she preferred it.

  ‘It’s very late.’

  ‘I know. You’re working too hard.’ He rested his hands on the back of her chair, examining her creation over her shoulder. When Peri had done that in the past, she had felt safely surrounded; with Timber, she thought of nothing but being trapped.

  ‘That’s not really your business.’

  ‘I wish I could make it mine.’ He lightly ran his finger along the chain of her necklace to her pulse. She knew he could feel it spike with alarm. ‘You must stop.’ He shook the last piece of glass out of her fingers and pulled her up from the chair.

  ‘I don’t want to. I think you should leave. And, please, let go of me.’

  He smiled a shade hungrily. ‘Don’t you like me, Rain? I always thought you had a bit of a crush on me as a little girl.’

  ‘Then you thought wrong.’

  ‘Everything points to us getting married, you must see that—my role as sole successor to your father now my brother is lost to us, your new position here, deciding the direction of the Magharnan glass industry. Between us, we could make a fortune for our family.’

  ‘I’m not interested in such things.’ She wondered if she should call Ret. Timber would have to back off if another person was in the room.

  Timber traced his finger down her cheek then tapped the end of her nose. ‘You should be. Sleep on it. Let me know if I feature in your dreams, my love.’ He hovered, making Rain fear that he meant to kiss her, but fortunately he thought better of it. ‘Goodnight, cousin.’

  Rain shuddered as he walked away. That had been a near thing. She would have to make sure she wasn’t cornered by him again.

  Rain used some of Mikel’s favourite curses as she realized this batch of glass was flawed. Something must have gone wrong in the mixture—it was too brittle and cloudy.

  ‘Tobart!’ she called, summoning her head apprentice.

  He ran into the office, tugging his cap off his head as a sign of respect. ‘Mistress Rain?’

  ‘Look!’

  ‘By the Master, I’ve not seen that before. What’s wrong with it?’ The young man appeared genuinely peeved.

  ‘I imagine someone got the measurements wrong when they weighed out the sand—or the sample was impure. Who was in charge this morning?’

  He flushed. ‘That would be me. But I swear that I didn’t mess up. I was really careful, like you trained us to be.’

  Rain sighed, wondering if her father had this trouble telling off his apprentices. Tobart must’ve made a mistake, but he was so sincere she couldn’t find it in her heart to give him a proper scolding.

  ‘Check the scales and make sure everyone is clear about the procedure. We’ll have to discard today’s gather and begin again tomorrow.’

  ‘Yes, Mistress Rain. Sorry, Mistress Rain.’

  She folded her arms. ‘We all make mistakes. My father always says it is how we learn. He’ll be about somewhere. Why don’t you ask him to help you set this right?’

  Tobart’s glum face brightened. ‘I’ll do that. Thank you.’ He rushed out to get to work.

  A round of applause broke out behind her. Rain turned to the window and found Peri at the open casement, looking tanned by the sun and fitter than ever. Her face lit up with pleasure—he was back!

  ‘Masterfully done,’ he congratulated her.

  ‘Peri! Come in!’

  He didn’t wait for a second invitation but took the most direct route, vaulting through the window.

  ‘I understand you earned my reprieve for me.’ He didn’t touch her, not being sure of his welcome. ‘I’m very grateful.’

  She beamed at him. But why didn’t he greet her properly? ‘You should never have been sent away in the first place, but that’s Krital for you.’

  �
��I hear you’ve got him wrapped around your little finger.’ Peri studied the glass samples on her desk, avoiding her eye. He couldn’t help feeling jealous of everyone she had charmed. She looked beautiful, dressed in a bright orange tunic and loose trousers with her long hair fastened back in a matching ribbon, like a flame from one of her furnaces.

  Rain shook her head. ‘Hardly.’

  ‘I deserved my banishment. If I hadn’t been so quick to take things into my own hands, thinking you needed rescuing, I wouldn’t have hurt you.’

  She closed the distance between them and touched his cheek with her palm. ‘Peri, it was an accident. I don’t blame you—you thought I was in danger.’

  ‘You could’ve died.’

  ‘I didn’t.’ She let her hand drop to reach for his fingers. She laced them together with hers. ‘I’m sorry I hurt you when I left.’

  He rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn’t deny she had crushed his feelings like a glass bead trodden underfoot.

  ‘I let you think I didn’t … well … care enough to do what you asked.’

  ‘You care?’ He risked a smile.

  ‘It seems that I do. And it didn’t work—you still came after me, revealing what I had always suspected.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘That under that calm exterior of yours, you are as reckless as me.’

  He laughed and pulled her to his chest. ‘I sent your father to you. Did he tell you?’

  ‘He wasn’t sure if you were my Peri or not, seeing that you failed to mention that you’d put an arrow in me.’

  He groaned. ‘Don’t remind me.’ Though he liked the sound of ‘my Peri’.

  ‘He wants to take me home soon.’

  ‘But your home’s here now.’

  But she needed more than that to stay. If he didn’t propose to her soon, she would be on a ship to Tigral. ‘My father would like a word with you.’

  Peri ran his fingers through her curls. ‘I’m trembling in my shoes already.’ He gave a shudder that was only half an act.

  ‘You should be. Oh, and Mikel wants a word.’

  ‘No, he doesn’t. He just wants to thump me.’