Llandry
Page 31
Serena did not entirely trust her sources. If Halavere had concealed her talents in this area, it was better by far that she should never have reason to distrust Serena and Fabian.
Hence the masquerade. Serena gathered the silly, self-important and vivacious persona of Lady Fenella Chartre around herself, drew herself up to her full (albeit not especially impressive) height and stepped forward in her turn.
‘Dame Halavere! Such a delightful ball! I am enjoying myself immensely and I have but just stepped through your doorway.’ Serena curtseyed and simpered, as Fabian made his bow.
‘Ah, the sumptuous siblings,’ said Halavere, with an arch look at Fabian. He did make a very handsome lord, Serena had to admit, especially with that gorgeous blond wig. Ever quick to use every possible advantage, Fabian bestowed upon his hostess a silky smile in response, and held her hand just a little too long.
‘You are most welcome, and I hope you will enjoy yourselves,’ continued Halavere. With that they were dismissed; Halavere turned to greet the next guests in the line, and Serena and Fabian were free to wander into the rest of the house.
The ballroom was gloriously lit up with floating lanterns, and decked with wondrous flowers in hues of indigo, cream and gold. Strains of beautiful music drifted forth, and the air was filled with the delicious fragrances of flowers and edible delicacies. Serena could not repress her delighted smile as they entered, her gaze wandering from the many guests whirling about the floor, to the stunningly decorated walls and the vast bowls full of colourful punch standing on tables along one side of the room.
‘Remember, we are not here to dance,’ whispered Fabian, her delight evincing only a disapproving frown in response.
‘But we must dance a little!’ she whispered back. ‘How very odd it will appear for us to attend a ball without dancing! We do have parts to play.’
‘One dance, and you may dance with me,’ Fabian conceded, and immediately led her onto the floor. The orchestra was playing a mellifluous waltz at that moment, which suited Serena perfectly. Her natural tastes for music, light, colour and liveliness led her to exult in all events of this kind, and ensured that Lady Fenella Chartre was one of her favourites of all the roles she played in the course of her duties.
She was, in truth, an agent of an investigative bureau in Irbel. Their organisation bore strong links to the government of her home realm, but was largely independent and funded by private individuals. Their acknowledged purpose was to oppose crime in all its forms, but its focus was upon organised crime, and upon one group in particular: the largest, most extensive and most ruthless of all the criminal organisations of the Seven.
They called themselves the Yllandu, which meant “Unspoken” in Ullarni. Serena supposed it was intended as a reference to the extreme secrecy of the organisation itself, and all of its activities. The name sounded absurd to her; she and her band tended to call them the Unspeakables instead, which amused them all greatly. But the Yllandu were no laughing matter. The organisation was vast, spanning all of the Realms except for desolate Orlind, and there was no low to which they would not stoop.
More worryingly, they had adopted the new Lokant and draykoni descendants with enthusiasm and had been attempting to recruit all of those who showed even the least skill in any related area. It had been whispered that they had even attempted to sway the founder of the LHB, Lady Evastany Glostrum herself, though of course her ladyship had proved impervious.
Dame Halavere probably had not. Her name had come up repeatedly in connection with several recent crimes, and though they were but rumours, Serena’s superiors had judged it best to investigate. Word had reached them of a meeting that was to take place tonight, under cover of Halavere’s grand ball. The topic under discussion was to be a new job — and not just any job. This job was extremely important, enormously lucrative, and to be entrusted only to the most talented, most loyal, and most reliable of the Unspeakables.
Unfortunately, nobody had any idea what the job was. It fell to Serena and Fabian to keep Halavere under close observation tonight, and attempt to overhear whatever was said at that meeting. There were only a few obstacles in their way: namely the presence of approximately two hundred other guests, the necessity of concealing themselves and their true purpose from their hostess, and the minor complication that they had no idea who Halavere might be meeting. Or whether she would even risk attending that meeting in person.
Fortunately, the Carteretts had one or two other colleagues stationed around the house tonight.
Seven Dreams is available now.
Find me online:
Website: www.charlotteenglish.com
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Also by Charlotte E. English:
The Draykon Series: Epic fantasy
Draykon
Lokant
Orlind
Llandry
Evastany (Coming January 2017)
The Lokant Libraries:
Seven Dreams
The Malykant Mysteries: Dark fantasy murder mysteries
The Rostikov Legacy
The Ivanov Diamond
Myrrolen's Ghost Circus
Ghostspeaker
The Drifting Isle Chronicles: Steampunk fantasy
Black Mercury
Tales of Aylfenhame: Regency fairytale fantasy
Miss Landon and Aubranael
Miss Ellerby and the Ferryman
Bessie Bell and the Goblin King