by Sue Tingey
“Lord Baltheza has agreed to see the Lady Lucinda, the Guardian and Deathbringer,” then he looked Vaybian up and down with a twist to his lips. “He also wishes to speak to you.”
“Mistress?” Kerfuffle and Shenanigans asked.
“It’s all right,” I said, “take Pyrites and we’ll meet you at the Drakon’s Rest.” They both gave me relieved yet worried smiles.
“See you later,” Jinx said to them as we followed the soldiers out of the room.
The surly gorilla-like guard led the way while the other plodded along behind us. I began to wonder if this was how it felt to be under arrest.
I vaguely recognized the way we were going and thought we were being led to Baltheza’s private chambers, which was comforting. Had we been going downward I would have suspected we were being led to the dreaded Chambers of Rectification, and by all accounts that was a trip to be avoided. Even so, the sound of our footsteps echoing throughout the long stone hallways brought morbid thoughts of execution to mind.
We stopped at a huge, ironbound, wooden door I thought I remembered from before and the first guard knocked three times. I heard the word “come” from inside and the guard opened the door, stepping back to let us to enter. I took a deep breath, plastered a smile onto my face and stepped inside.
Lord Baltheza was sitting on a small couch with a naked young woman curled up at his feet. She wasn’t the same girl as the last time I’d visited, though she wore a similar collar attached to a lead looped around Baltheza’s wrist. She was very pretty in a daemonic kind of way. A mane of white hair parted by a long unicorn horn fell to her waist and her skin was so pale I could see veins tracing the skin of her inner arms and wrists. She didn’t look up as we entered, and instead rested her head against her master’s knee. I did wonder how many girls he had as slaves; I now knew he had at least two—unless of course the first one had met with an unfortunate end. The thought made me shiver.
He hadn’t grown any more attractive while I’d been away. Raven black curls framed a face only a mother could love. Two thick ridges of puckered skin ran from the bridge of his nose, forming reptilian eyebrows that continued up into his hairline where they met twisted, lethally pointed cornet horns. His skin was an opalescent white shimmering with green and blue, his jade lips were thin and cruel, and his nose long and narrow. These features made him ugly and scary enough, but it was his almond-shaped eyes that made him truly terrifying, particularly when the vertical slits of black surrounded by a blaze of dark orange were staring directly at me.
“Lucinda, my dear,” he said, with a smile that didn’t reach those awful eyes.
I gave a small bow, but didn’t speak. I wasn’t sure what to say; last time I’d seen him he’d just ordered my heart to be torn out by the court assassin.
He glanced at my men. “Gentlemen.”
“Lord Baltheza,” I heard Jinx and Jamie murmur from behind me.
Baltheza’s eyes alighted on Vaybian. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t call for my guard and have you executed on the spot.”
“He’s with me,” I said before Vaybian had the chance to speak and probably get himself into a whole load of trouble, “and I’d be most upset if you did so without hearing what we have to say.”
“Perhaps you should prepare to be most upset.”
“Fine, if you don’t want to help your daughter—”
“So you finally accept that you are of my blood?”
“I was talking about Kayla.”
His nostrils flared and his face twisted into a sneer of disdain. “She betrayed me.”
“She has been abducted and her guard slaughtered,” I said. “Or didn’t you know?” I heard Jamie take a deep in-breath from beside me. Jinx being Jinx chuckled.
Baltheza’s nonchalant indifference disappeared and a spasm of real, deep emotion briefly contorted his face. A forked tongue flicked from his mouth, licking his lips. “Kayla has been abducted?”
I crossed my arms and stared at him, trying to figure out if he was acting.
He gestured for the girl sitting at his feet to pour him a drink. She raised her ice blue eyes to mine and slowly uncurled her legs from beneath her, then stood, her lips pressed into a line as though she was trying not to laugh. She turned away to get him some wine, leaving me feeling vaguely disconcerted.
“Tell me what has happened to my daughter,” Baltheza said, dragging my attention back to him. Any emotion I’d glimpsed on his face had disappeared to be replaced by a neutral mask. The only tell of his anxiety was in the constant twisting of his slave’s lead between his fingers.
“She has been taken by someone, but we’re unsure who. However, we know the Sicarii are involved; they tried to drug us,” I said.
“Sicarii?” Baltheza asked, as he took a goblet from his slave and gestured that I should sit. And for a second time in as many minutes his mask slipped, revealing a fear for Kayla I wouldn’t have believed possible.
Then I told him everything we knew, with Jamie and Jinx adding the occasional detail. During our explanation, Baltheza’s gaze fell upon Vaybian several times, and by the time we had finished he wasn’t bothering to hide his feelings for Kayla’s lover. So much so, I was beginning to worry for Vaybian’s safety. To Baltheza’s mind, he had failed in his duty to protect Kayla, which put him in a very precarious position.
“So the Sicarii told you they had been instructed by Henri le Dent to abduct Kayla?” Baltheza said at the end of our story.
“That is what they said,” Jinx agreed.
Baltheza handed his empty goblet to the girl to refill. “They lied,” he said.
“You’re sure?” Jamie asked.
Baltheza leaned back his chair and took a sip of his replenished drink. “Henri has not left this castle since his little fight with Lucinda and her drakon,” he said, giving me a benign smile.
“He may have slipped out,” I suggested. “Revenge could possibly be on his mind.”
Baltheza allowed himself a small chuckle. “Impossible.”
I glanced at Jinx and Jamie. Both were looking as puzzled as I felt. “So he is no longer in Lord Daltas’ employ?” Jamie asked.
“Not at the moment,” Baltheza said. “Maybe when he has recovered from his little stay below he might go back to Daltas, though I doubt he will ever be quite the same.”
I frowned, puzzled. Had Baltheza put him in the Chambers of Rectification?
Baltheza noticed my confusion. “It was he who provided Daltas with evidence against you and your sister, which turned out to be false information—in fact, I would go as far as to say it was an outright lie.” He began to stroke his slave’s silky white hair, and she looked up at me with a grin. “One whose lies can slip so convincingly from the tongue should be punished, do you not think? Particularly when those lies could so very nearly have cost me my two most beautiful daughters.”
I glanced at my two men who were both staring at Baltheza with expressions of morbid fascination, which I guessed was a reflection of my own. He really was mad. I didn’t dare look at Vaybian; I suspected his expression would be one of wide-eyed panic as he could well be next. So much for keeping our feelings to ourselves; Jinx and Jamie were no better at it than me.
Jinx pulled himself together first. “Henri languishes in the Chambers of Rectification?”
Baltheza took a sip of his drink. “I hope this meets with your approval, after all, his lies were told against the woman who bears your marks, and to make matters worse, he almost put us at odds with each other and that would never do.”
“So,” I said, “the Sicarii were lying. That means they either still have Kayla, or they’re working for someone else and used Henri’s name to muddy the water.”
“Or to implicate Daltas,” Jamie said.
“We need to find her,” I said. “We need to find them.”
“I’ll send messages to some of my informants,” Baltheza said, “and tomorrow we three will speak again, shall we say at midmorning?�
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We bowed in acknowledgment.
“You will of course stay here in the palace. Your chambers are as you left them.”
“Thank you,” I said—I could hardly say no.
He fixed his gaze on Vaybian. “Now, the question is: do you join Henri in the bowels of the palace, to be placed in the care of my Chief Enforcer?”
“He is Kayla’s chosen companion,” I said. “She would be very unhappy if anything were to happen to him.”
Baltheza regarded me for a moment. “You’re so very much like your mother. I’d forgotten how forceful and reckless she could be. How she would argue for lost causes even at personal risk to herself.” He glanced at my men. “I would suggest you two gentlemen try and cure her of these particular traits. They can be very bad for one’s health.”
He glanced back at Vaybian. “Think yourself very fortunate that one of my daughters has a fancy for you, and the other cares enough for her sister to speak out on your behalf. But listen well: if Kayla isn’t returned to me unharmed I’ll have your head mounted on my wall—after you spend a considerable amount of time in Amaliel Cheriour’s chambers. Are we clear?”
“Yes, My Lord,” Vaybian said with a bow.
We were dismissed, and I for one couldn’t wait to get out of Baltheza’s chamber. The slave raised her eyes to mine as I moved out, still smiling that disconcerting smile. I managed to control the fear until I was safely outside in the hallway and the door had closed.
“That went well,” Jinx said.
“Better than I could have hoped for,” Jamie agreed.
Vaybian was pale and tight lipped and strode away from us without a word. He was as eager to get out of the palace as I. He had very good reason. We found him waiting for us outside in the courtyard.
“Are you all right?” I asked. He nodded, though he didn’t look it. In fact, he looked as though he was about to be sick.
He took a couple of deep breaths. “Thank you,” he said, “once again I probably owe you my life,” and from his open and not-quite-so-arrogant expression, I think it actually came from the heart.
“Kayla would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you,” I said.
All of a sudden, he dropped down to one knee. “Until we find my lady I pledge to serve and protect you with all my heart, my life and my soul.”
“Thank you,” I said, not knowing quite how to respond to this development; it was unexpected and possibly a little awkward. Did this mean he would now pile into bed with the rest of us? He got to his feet and gave a little bow.
“Right,” said Jinx, who was eyeing Vaybian in a way that was not exactly friendly, “let’s get to the Drakon’s Rest. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve a fine thirst that needs quenching.”
The inn was packed as usual, and the hubbub of conversation and laughter coming from within spilled out into the courtyard. As soon as we entered and the first demon glanced over his shoulder to see us walk by, the voices faltered away into silence. I’d have thought they’d be used to us popping in by now. A corridor formed in the crowd of bodies, the demons closest to us flinching away as Jinx passed.
Shenanigans and Kerfuffle had bagged our usual table right in the far corner, and as soon as we dropped down onto our seats the other customers relaxed and the burble of conversation resumed, albeit a little quieter than when we’d first arrived.
“You still here?” Kerfuffle said to Vaybian. “I’d have put money on you spending time in the Chambers of Rectification.”
“It was a close thing,” Vaybian said. “I’ve your lady to thank for keeping me out of there.”
I was finding this change in Vaybian a trifle perturbing, but thought that maybe this was the real Vaybian and the arrogance was a front.
“Do you want something to eat and drink?” Shenanigans asked, raising a hand and gesturing for service.
“I feel too sick to eat,” I said.
“You’ll be fine when it arrives in front of you,” Jinx said, squeezing my knee under the table.
Pyrites appeared by my side and dropped his head onto my thigh with a purr, making me smile. I scratched his chin, earning more purring and a puff of smoke.
“What did Lord Baltheza say?” Kerfuffle asked. “Did he know Lady Kayla had been abducted?”
“Nope,” Jinx said, “it was a complete surprise to him. We’re to meet with him tomorrow morning once he has spoken to his spies.”
“Any word on Daltas or Henri?” Kerfuffle asked.
Jamie was about to speak but was interrupted by Leila—Shenanigans’ ladylove. “What can I get you all?” she asked, leaning in between Jamie and Shenanigans to wipe the table and give us all a good look at her ample bosom.
“Ale all round?” Shenanigans asked, glancing around the table at us. We all nodded, and he turned back to address Leila. “Two jugs of ale and six tankards, please.”
“You eating?”
Shenanigans again looked around the table and upon receiving more nods or yes’s from all of us, ordered enough to feed a small army. Having taken the order, Leila stooped down low to whisper in our large friend’s ear and he gave her a soppy smile. She whispered some more and his expression became more serious. She stood, squeezed his shoulder and then pushed her way through the crowd to get our order.
“Leila said that once we’ve eaten we can go up and see Angela if you want to,” he told me.
“I’d like to make sure she’s all right and still happy here.”
“She seems contented enough,” Shenanigans said. “She and Petunia are best of friends and Leila thinks Odin has a bit of a crush on her.”
“Really?”
Shenanigans chuckled. “He carries the girls’ books to school. He never carried Petunia’s before Angela arrived.”
“How does she like school?”
“Leila says she’s doing well.”
I really couldn’t imagine what it must be like for a young, human girl to go to demon school, but as long as Angela was happy I knew that what I thought didn’t matter.
“You were going to tell us if there was any word on Daltas and Henri,” Kerfuffle reminded us.
“Ah, now there’s a story,” Jinx said with a grin, and gestured for Jamie to tell it.
“How the mighty have fallen,” Kerfuffle said with a smirk once Jamie had finished speaking.
“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy having spent a few hours down there myself,” Shenanigans said, “but Henri—if ever there was a deserving case, it’s him.”
Leila returned with a tray of drinks and started handing out the tankards; the one she plunked down in front of Shenanigans was half the size again of all of the others. I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“You’re obviously in the luscious Leila’s very good books,” Jinx remarked.
Shenanigans gave a toothy grin and Kerfuffle giggled. “You wait and see how much dinner she serves him.”
“The way to a man’s heart, so they say,” Jinx said, squeezing my knee again. “Though I can think of better ways.”
“So can Leila,” Kerfuffle said, nudging Shenanigans in the side and causing the demon to splutter his beer.
When the food arrived it was no surprise to any of us that Shenanigans’ extra-large plate was filled to overflowing. He beamed at Leila and she fluttered her eyelashes. “To keep your strength up, my lover,” she said, before sauntering away with a provocative swing of the hips and a glance back over her shoulder to make sure he was watching.
Jinx was right: once the food was in front of me my appetite did return, though I had to feed Pyrites surreptitious chunks to finish it all. Despite the name of the inn, feeding drakons inside was no longer allowed after a rather nasty incident when one had nearly burned the place down.
When Leila came to collect the plates with another serving girl, she gestured for us to follow her. Kerfuffle stayed behind, his marshmallow cheeks glowing.
“That’s Sybil,” Shenanigans whispered to me and gestu
red with his head toward the girl clearing the plates, “she and Kerfuffle are courting.”
I glanced back to take a better look at the young woman. She was about the same height as Leila, but that was where the similarity ended. Whereas Leila was a buxom five feet in height, Sybil had a shapely hourglass figure and knew exactly how to show it off to her best advantage. Leila had porcelain-white skin, with long lilac curls, purple lashes and violet lips; Sybil was a rather fetching shade of baby blue, with long straight copper hair and eyes of the same shade. I had to admit I looked rather boring in comparison. But this is not your true self, a little voice whispered in my head. Despite not wanting to believe it, the image of my daemonic self I had seen in the mirror had been beautiful, if alien.
The stairs up to the children’s room hadn’t improved any. They creaked and cracked as we climbed the narrow staircase, and a couple of times they moved rather alarmingly beneath my feet.
Leila led us past the playroom and to a room at the end of the corridor. She rapped her knuckles against the door and called, “Can we come in?” then pushed the door open and leaned inside. “Go in,” she said to me, stepping to one side and gesturing for us to enter.
Angela and Leila’s sister, Petunia, were sitting huddled together on one of the two beds. Angela had a book on her lap, which she closed as we walked in and passed to her friend. The two girls were as unalike to look at as they could possibly be. Angela was a human, fair-haired child who would grow up to be a heartbreaker, I was sure; she was already very pretty. Petunia, on the other hand, could be nothing other than demon, and I had a feeling she would also have her fair share of suitors when she grew up. Her almond-shaped eyes were a beautiful liquid grass green; her skin a luminous moonstone white and her lips a pale lilac. Her hair was long and straight and the color of heather, and hung in a thick braid that fell to her ankles.
“Hello Angela, hello Petunia. How are you both?”
They both stood and Petunia dropped a small curtsey. “Very good, thank you,” Angela said.
“I hear you’re doing well at school.” Angela’s cheeks flushed pink.