Nepheli flashed her a wicked grin.
‘Oh, I can see you and I will have some fun. I’m so glad you have a sense of humour. It will make the meeting with the girls easier. Between us, you need a thick skin. Court can be violent, and those ladies don’t sheath their claws. They can tear people apart.’
‘Sounds wonderful.’
‘But only if you let them, darling. You have a thick skin, I can tell. I’ll be honest with you, you’ve been through too much not to. The kind of life you’ve led so far could have chewed up a lesser woman and spat her out. But that will serve you well here. Didn’t I hear you had a sister?’
‘Correct.’
‘Then that’s where you get it. Sisters make sure sisters have a thick skin. I know mine do. We can be the absolute cruellest to each other, toughen each other up, but you cross me or one of my sisters and you’ll have the other two to deal with. That will not be pretty. What is she like, where is she?’
‘Her name is Cassandra, and she is like you say, my greatest confidante. She made me who I am.’ Aurelia was surprised to hear herself say it, but it was the truth. She missed her sister terribly and resolved to talk to her again shortly. At least they were friends now. ‘She didn’t follow me, but we keep in touch.’
Nepheli appeared at the archway as Aurelia was finishing up. ‘My, you look simply stunning. What a fit! Terietta again, that woman. Come out here, let me fix your hair.’
‘What’s wrong with my hair?’ Aurelia let herself be led back into the main suite and then out on to the terrace. The air was fresh and Aurelia took a deep breath. There were two wooden loungers for sitting and enjoying the day, or taking a nap on a warm evening. Nepheli pulled one across and then stood behind it.
‘Oh nothing, darling.’ Nepheli touched her shoulder and Aurelia sat in the seat. ‘And everything. Did you not look in the mirror?’ Aurelia knew she had to be right; she hadn’t been able to wash, comb, dry or plait her hair in almost two solid weeks. ‘Now just relax, and I’ll have it back to glossy and full in no time.’
She ducked back into the suite and returned a moment later with some kind of soft dry wax and a brush.
‘You asked what I do,’ she said, rubbing the wax together in her hands and then applying it to Aurelia’s clumps. ‘I make things happen around here. The Duke may think he’s in charge, but it’s a sham I tell you. It’s the women who get things done. Don’t let my father know I told you.’ The substance in her hair was scented with honey and something flowery Aurelia didn’t recognise. She could feel herself relaxing. ‘I know everyone in the city, and I mean everyone. The length and breadth. The money makers and the money changers, the bankers and merchants, the gamblers and philanderers. I know the soldiers with their minds on the ladder, I know the doctors who’d rather see what was inside us than sew us back up. I know the Premiers, right from the top to the bottom, I know someone at every rank. I know all the handsome courtiers, I can tell you which ones are on the market. But most of all, darling, I know the women. I know the wives, the mistresses, the nurses, the mothers, daughters, lovers and whores – they like to be referred to as courtesans. I even know a few street urchins. I know the women who actually run this city. You need something done, they are the ones who actually do it. Whispers in the right ears, loose talk, secrets, we know how to make things happen. Men just get in the way if you ask me. Women are the grease that moves the gears.’
‘But men still run Argentor,’ said Aurelia.
Nepheli’s smile was evident in her voice. ‘They think they do. It’s a comfortable fiction.’
‘What about the army? That’s all men, you said so yourself.’
‘Except for our esteemed Lucinda Marchioli, you are correct. But make no mistake, things are changing.’ Nepheli finished with the wax and began to tame Aurelia’s hair with the bone brush. It looked too fragile for the job.
‘So you know people?’ Aurelia prompted.
‘You of all people know the power of information and connections. I am a facilitator, Aurelia. I sit at the centre of an extensive network. You want me at your side. I’ll be honest; I heard about your plight, and I want to help you.’
‘My plight?’
Nepheli didn’t answer for a moment, then said, ‘Okay, so indulge me. Why did you come here? To Argentor?’
Aurelia also didn’t answer immediately, weighing instead how much she wanted to tell this woman. She had only just met her, and though she seemed genuine and likeable, Aurelia had already demonstrated how lacking her current knowledge was. For all she knew, Nepheli was a spy, working for a rival House, that would ruin her chances of gaining further time with the Duke. Her story about the betrothal to the Duke’s son might be a lie, and instead, by associating herself with her, Aurelia might be stunting her own aims. Nepheli made friends quickly, maybe too quickly, lulled them into a false sense of security and then reported back every piece of information she heard.
She wasn’t sure who too though, the Order wasn’t really much of a factor here and she certainly wasn’t thralled. Some rival House, someone wanting to undermine the Duke? She might be a social pariah instead of a popular socialite.
Aurelia needed to be wary, but at the same time she had to be willing to let down her defences to gain a genuine friend at a foreign court. The woman could shift in a moment and become her worst enemy. Overlords knew Aurelia wasn’t doing well guessing Chrysaora’s mind. But she had also never had a true female friend bar her telepathic sister, and that was no kind of experience.
At some point, you just had to trust someone.
‘I need an army to take back Theris,’ she said. ‘I have spoken to the Duke and got little for my trouble, but I also want to speak to the Premiers. They have a militia, well-trained and honed for centuries who are ready to fight exactly who I need them to. The Order.’ The Theris part seemed to be exactly what Nepheli had expected, but she frowned when the Order was mentioned. ‘What?’ said Aurelia.
‘The Order of the Medousa? I’ve heard of them but aren’t they just some backwater cult from Terracon. Why do you want to fight them?’
‘They are the ones behind the invasion of my city. They manipulated King Stauros and the Duke’s father Gerodin into rebellion almost forty years ago.’
‘I’m sorry, Aurelia. I didn’t know. We have very few thralls here and I have no personal animosity toward them. What about Chrysaora?’
‘Not all thralls are part of the Order. But Crescen was.’
‘Crescen? The Duke’s son?’
‘Yes, he was feeding secrets back to the Order. Some of which I intercepted and used to great effect during the siege of Theris. The Order is led by the Medousa. She is a sorceress with powerful magic like in the legends of the Overlords. And she has an army of Medusi at her beck and call, thralls by the thousand, wild Medusi by the tens of thousands. I have to find an army to fight them, Nepheli. Before they thrall the world.’ She mentally scolded herself. She’d gone too far, explained too much in her excitement. The first time she’d been able to broach the subject apart from vaguely with the Duke, she’d blurted it all out without consideration for how insane it sounded.
And now she’d alienated herself from this sincere young woman, who only seemed to want to help. Even if, as Aurelia suspected, Nepheli simply wanted to be next to the next big thing, and to bask in the rise or fall of the exiled and imprisoned Empress, she’d managed to ruin it now.
‘Oh, I don’t know about all that,’ said Nepheli. ‘The army, that's what I heard. That is what I thought you wanted. And taking back your city, but I thought from King Stauros?’
‘Stauros is dead. Killed by a sixteen-year-old boy.’
‘Really? Now that’s gossip no one else will have.’ She dropped the brush on the seat behind Aurelia and took her hand, leading her back to the mirror. Maybe I haven’t messed this up completely, thought Aurelia.
When she caught sight of herself she gasped. Her hair was tamed; the wax seemed to give it volume and air,
the brush had removed every bump in the road from Theris to Argentor. She looked ready for court.
Nepheli was beaming beside her. She plucked a flower from a vase outside and tucked it in at Aurelia’s temple.
‘I don’t pretend to understand everything you explained, but whatever the reasons,’ she said, ‘I will help you get that army. The people here want Theris too, even if it is for a completely different reason. But listen, you don’t want the Premiers. Bunch of crusty old men, and rules, so many rules. They’ll tie you down with bureaucracy for ten years just to disagree. What you want are the ladies of the Argentori court.’
‘I don’t understand-’ Aurelia started.
‘You will.’
*
Chrysaora insisted on chaperoning. She wasn’t strictly needed – Nepheli was the one causing Terietta to back off – but Aurelia found her bodyguard a welcome presence during a morning of foreign customs and novelties. It was comforting to see a familiar face somewhere in the sea of exotic new ones.
She perched between an archway and the buffet table like a predatory hawk, out of the way, but within easy reach of appetizers and with a good vantage point on the rest of the large open ball room. Her Medusi hung above her, drawing the stares of the entire court. The ceiling soared high overhead, an incredible latticework of glass and thin stone carved to a dome; sunlight streamed in through the stained glass, bathing everyone below in flattering hues of rich burnt umber and violet. Aurelia was sure she couldn’t possibly look as radiant as the five women congregated near the centre of the marble floor.
Nepheli took her by the hand and dragged her over. She cleared her throat theatrically. Everything she does is theatrical, thought Aurelia. It’s part of her charm.
The small group parted.
‘Nepheli, darling, what have you brought us?’ Drawled the first woman, a severe lady with distain in her thin lips and cold stare.
‘Allow me to introduce,’ she said with a flourish of her hands, ‘Aurelia of House Nectris. Once Empress of Theris, now esteemed guest of his highness the Duke.’
‘She should have been considerate enough to die with her city,’ said the first woman.
Nepheli winced at Aurelia. ‘Don’t mind Meredith. I’d wager she’s not yet eaten any new born babes this morning. She can be so testy before she’s sated her thirsts.’
Meredith smiled an amused but pursed smile. If Aurelia were any judge, she was indulging Nepheli.
Nepheli continued. ‘Let me introduce you to the ladies. Meredith Larkisron, debauched as it’s possible to get, she thrives on conflict and put downs, but she respects anyone who can put her in her place. Married to Count Larkisron, the chancellor.’
‘Charming,’ said Meredith. ‘Are you going to announce everyone like that?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh good.’ She drained her wine flute.
‘Next we have Evangeline Sepolis.’ She indicated a waif-like woman with large eyes, pale skin and dark red hair. ‘Evangeline is a harlot at heart. She has ruined marriages with her incorrigible flirting and has a string of spent lovers that would make a macabre necklace. Her father is the minister for trade, Baron Sepolis. Who are you currently dating, Evangeline?’
‘Faibryn Argentor,’ said the woman, without missing a beat.
‘How dare you?’ said Nepheli, completely nonplussed by a barb at her fiancé. Aurelia didn’t know what to make of this show so far. ‘Actually we can share him.’
‘Do me, do me,’ said a girl with dark curls closer to Nepheli’s age.
Nepheli grinned. ‘This is Hyacinth Fenilein. Do not be fooled by her cute exterior, inside is the mind of a cunning fox with a taste for flesh. Hyacinth is newly wed to the city’s most esteemed young lawyer, Niles Fenilein.’
‘Oh, I know his father,’ Aurelia said too quickly. ‘Well, knew, your father-in-law,’ she corrected herself. ‘Late father-in-law.’ The man had died in Theris. She wished she hadn’t bothered.
Nepheli wasn’t finished. ‘Niles may be a celebrity, but Hyacinth is the brains behind his silver tongue, and she is racking up quite the body count at court.’
Twisting deftly so that she faced the final two, Nepheli gestured to a tall woman with full red lips and a beautiful crushed velvet gown. ‘If Felicity Tavular doesn’t know something, it isn’t worth knowing. A fountain of rumours and secrets, she has destroyed careers, and shed light on scandals. She is the queen of honey-traps. Don’t tell her anything she can and will use against you.’
Felicity sucked her teeth. ‘Mine was relatively tame,’ she said looking at Meredith, who just raised a sardonic eyebrow in reply.
‘She is married to the acting Grand Premier, Dante Tavular.’
Aurelia was sensing a pattern here.
As Nepheli glanced at the fifth and final member of the group, Aurelia recognised Lucinda Marchioli. She was transformed with her hair up in a tumble, and a figure hugging black dress, so far removed from the travel-stained officer’s uniform she had worn during the journey from Theris.
‘Lucinda, I’ve met,’ Aurelia said, recovering herself a little.
‘Oh, please don’t leave me out,’ said Lucinda.
‘I wouldn’t dream of it, darling,’ said Nepheli. ‘Lucinda isn’t married, but she has become a part of this group for other reasons. She gives new meaning to feisty and opinionated. There isn’t a man in the city who does not know the name Marchioli and fear it; Lucinda is the one and only woman in the Argentori army. She is fiercely loyal, never takes no for an answer and never backs down from a fight no matter how wrong she might be.’
‘Are you done?’ asked Evangeline.
‘I think so.’
‘Then it’s only fair we do you. Meredith, would you do the honours.’
Meredith downed another glass and absently dropped it on the tray of a passing server. ‘Nepheli Opetreia,’ she said, rolling the words, making them wait. ‘She’s a cliché. Old money, expensive education, but no brains, no occupation.’ There was a collective gasp. Aurelia looked at Nepheli, but she was smiling. She was enjoying it. ‘Spoiled and petulant, she dates the most eligible bachelor in the city, but he is nothing but an accessory to her. She calls herself a facilitator, but Argentori society calls her a nuisance and a troublemaker.’ She paused, then tittering to herself as she spoke, added. ‘Clearly thinks everyone hangs on her every word, when we are all just waiting for her to shut up.’
Nepheli slapped at her playfully, and they all fell about laughing. Aurelia had never seen such a display, even among the career court gossips of Theris. They were fast friends, and instead of being insulted, took great pleasuring in roasting each other.
As Nepheli had been at pains to point out earlier, these were women in positions of influence, in a world run by men. It wasn’t lost on Aurelia.
Quickly, before they could roast her in turn, Aurelia asked Meredith about her husband. ‘You’re married to the Chancellor?’
‘He’s a frightful bore, and not worthy of conversation,’ she said, cutting off the topic.
Aurelia turned to Hyacinth, ‘And you’re newly wed to a high-flying lawyer?’
‘The law guild is the newest in the city.’
‘It was in mine too.’
‘But everyone is getting into the new legislature. Insurance, for example.’
Nepheli groaned in mockery. ‘Not insurance, somebody stop her.’
‘And a Premier?’ Aurelia said to Felicity.
‘Well, he’s the acting Grand Premier. So quite a big deal.’
Aurelia nodded, thinking he was only Acting Grand Premier because Verismuss was in Theris, missing, presumed dead.
She was impressed once again with Lucinda, who was by far the most reserved of the group. A woman who had made it as an officer in a male dominated service on her skills alone was one to be encouraged. She resolved to speak to her at length another time.
These women were her door into Argentor politics. She had to convince them to persuade the people
they had influence over. Nepheli had been right, she was a facilitator, she knew everyone, and these women were the hub at the centre of the city. They would return home, speak to their husbands and by careful osmosis, change the opinion of the court.
Felicity asked her a question, and Aurelia was glad of the distraction. ‘So what do you think of our fair city?’
‘Lucinda was kind enough to show me the city in all its glory, but from some way off. I haven’t been able to leave the civic buildings and see it for myself.’
‘Aurelia is a guest of the Duke,’ said Nepheli. They all knew her status, but Aurelia was aware that Nepheli was saving her from discussing why she wasn’t able to leave the palace grounds.
‘Who’s still in bed,’ said Felicity demonstrating her gossip skills. ‘We were talking about this before you arrived. Only his nurse is allowed to attend him, by order of his son.’ She left that hanging knowing how it affected Nepheli.
‘Faibryn said that?’ asked Nepheli frowning.
‘Seems he enjoyed being in charge while his father was away,’ remarked Hyacinth. ‘It can go to a boy’s head.’
‘I’ll talk to him.’
Lucinda tried to draw Aurelia into the conversation more. ‘The Duke was able to have visitors during the march, wasn’t he, Aurelia?’
She nodded. ‘When I was discovered, Nepheli’s father delivered me to the Duke’s tent.’
‘With good intentions I hope.’ Evangeline winked.
‘How was he then?’ asked Felicity. ‘No one has seen him yet.’
‘Not even Terietta?’
Felicity shook her head.
‘He was injured, but his nurse said he would make a full recovery. He sat up and spoke to me at length.’
‘And what were you talking about?’ asked Meredith.
Aurelia was wary of Meredith after her vicious character assassination of Nepheli, but it all seemed to have been in jest. She still couldn’t quite believe the venom of them, as potent as a snake’s. She was one to watch.
She didn’t get chance to answer.
Embrace of the Medusi (The Overlords Trilogy Book 2) Page 15