“Yes?” Fiona countered irritably. “Good to meet you.”
Undeterred, Cat resumed the introductions. “And this is Bruce. Bruce Saber. He is a marvelous attorney–” she paused and tilted her head to one side. “And you must be Fiona Manx. We’ve heard such a lot about you.” Cat took Fiona’s hand and shook it. “How do you do?”
“Where’s Orion?” Fiona asked, turning on her. She extricated her hand from Cat’s grip. “Isn’t he with you? Didn’t you come together?”
“Ah Orion…” Cat rolled her eyes and sighed. “Such an unpredictable young man, as dear Roland so aptly put it. One minute he’s here, and the next–?” She threw her hands in the air. “Who knows where he might have flown off to…”
“He’s on his way,” Shady said matter-of-factly. He smiled. “He contacted me a few minutes before you got here.”
“Must be the sense…” Cat nodded knowingly.
“He should be here in – oh, say half an hour? He said he’s on his way back to headquarters to dress. But he’ll be here, don’t you worry.”
Fiona was a picture of defiance, her lips pursed, and chin jutting forward. You are scared, thought Cat. No, she considered, as a slow, self-satisfied smile settled about her face, you are terrified. Good boy, Orion! Fiona fidgeted in her chair.
“He said he was going to see you tomorrow,” Cat said innocently. “I heard him tell Peter to tell you when we got off the ship earlier this afternoon. I’m sure he will.” She patted Fiona’s hand, which the latter whipped away.
“I need to talk to him,” Fiona said. “I can’t believe you called him here.” She shook her head at Shady. “I just can’t believe it.”
“Oh no, dear,” Cat interrupted. “It was Shadow that called Orion, not Shady. He told us on the ship, you know. Orion told us, that is, not Shady. We only just met Shady earlier this afternoon. And Shadow warned him of the pirates waiting to attack us. None of us believed him at first, of course–” she admitted and gave a deprecating chuckle. “We all thought this sense business was all a load of nonsense – well I don’t want to speak for Roland and Bruce, but I know I was not convinced I’m sorry to say – but then–” she opened her eyes wide and made a whooshing sound, “there we were, past the Light Veil and all these horrid pirate ships waiting to attack us!” She paused dramatically. “Well, they didn’t of course because Patron and Orion were very clever–” She paused again as Fiona subjected her to a withering gaze. “Did I say something wrong, dear?”
“I’m so happy for you,” Fiona said icily. “Personally, I doubt anything and everything that comes out of that man’s mouth.”
“You mean Orion?” Cat asked.
“Orion doesn’t lie,” Shady said simply.
Fiona sniffed. “Well… so he says, of course…” She waved as though to dispel Orion’s unwelcome wrath. “Anyway,” she continued with a brittle smile, “here you are, safe and sound.” Her smile disappeared without a trace. “So where’s he going tonight?”
“Who? Orion?” Shady laughed sardonically. “Don’t ask me. All I know is that he will meet us here shortly. What he wants to do afterwards is anybody’s guess.” He chuckled. “You know Orion. Unpredictable is an understatement!”
“Well, I can’t stay.” Fiona stood up abruptly. “Tell him I want to see him as soon as possible,” she snapped and strode away without a backward glance.
“I assume he really is coming?” Bruce asked, watching Fiona’s retreating back.
Shady leaned back in his chair with a weary sigh. “Yes, he is coming…” He reached into an inner pocket and retrieved a well-worn pipe. Slowly, carefully he filled the pipe and lit it. “Some evenings,” he said between puffs, “a good smoke… is about the only thing one has to look forward to…”
Bruce laughed. “Between a rock and a hard place eh? Is Orion that bad? I thought he was pretty good company on the ship.”
“I did too,” Cat said brightly. “I suppose those two just got off on the wrong foot. It’s a shame really. Such strife among fellow immortals.” She shook her head disapprovingly.
Shady remained noncommittally engaged with his pipe. “I might as well tell you about it,” he said, puffing smoke. “Carl, me and Fiona came from the same LiGa Bridge tournament. I think you might already know that–”
“Yes,” Cat said. “Tell us the rest.”
Between puffs of smoke, Shady told them about Fiona…
“Six months after the tournament we were all invited, the way you were, to spend some time in Pera. It was to be a holiday, and we were introduced to Patron and Orion, of course. I suspect you did not see him during the tournament either. I understand he rarely makes himself visible. I think that’s a good idea…
“Anyway, we set out on the Flying Fish one freezing winter’s day. It seemed like the beginning of a grand adventure, and don’t get me wrong, it was. Carl, in particular, was a sailor and spent hours talking to Patron. And Orion did his rounds.” Shady chuckled at the recollection. “You don’t even realize he’s doing it, but he’s gathering information about you the whole time. He gets into your head; he gets to know you. All those lessons of his, were of course useful for us too – yes, I would say, all of us.
“You see, I think he always suspected Fiona. He never liked her. I could tell – at least, I thought I could. Maybe my own feelings made me project. Maybe it was because I did not like her. I did not trust her…
“One gets to know one’s opponents pretty well during the tournament.
“I’d rather you formed your own opinion, of course. I don’t want to prejudice you against Fiona.”
“Don’t worry, darling. She did that all by herself,” Cat said. “Do go on…”
Shady paused to refill his pipe and enjoy a sip of cognac. “Where was I? Ah yes… I was telling you about our voyage on the Flying Fish. We were not attacked by pirates, of course! We had no need of such external dramatics…
“It started innocuously enough: Fiona kept asking Orion questions. Throughout the lessons, she would be quizzing him on how the sense worked. Honestly, I was getting a bit irritated because most of her questions appeared pretty stupid. I thought it was her idea of flirting, to be honest with you. Not much patience for that sort of thing. Silly, it has always seemed to me, and I was embarrassed for her. But it didn’t look as though Orion minded. He even encouraged her as a matter of fact. As I said, it was mildly irritating, but there didn’t appear to be any harm in it…
“Then one day I was talking to Carl at breakfast before Fiona came down, and he made an observation that had not occurred to me until that point, and it put everything in a new light. I remember how he shook his head sadly and said, ‘I don’t think she has the sense’. He was quite sure, you see. He thought all of her seemingly silly questions were simply the result of complete ignorance. She just didn’t get it. But that made me wonder about Orion’s behavior towards her. He had been entirely charming and helpful, you understand,” Shady added quickly. “There was absolutely nothing in his speech or actions that would suggest that he was anything other than a well-meaning tutor, but that’s what the sense is; you feel the essence of a person. Some are better than others. Orion is the best I have ever come across. He knows with absolute accuracy and certainty the thoughts and feelings of those around him.
“So… even then, at the very beginning, I knew – and I believe Carl must have known, for he was a more sensitive soul than I will ever be – that there was more to Orion, and much of it quite dangerous.
“I forgot to tell you: Blanca accompanied us on this voyage. She was organizing a LiGa Chess tournament in Pera and decided to hitch a ride, I suppose. Well, one morning we – me, Carl and Blanca – were having breakfast when Orion and Fiona showed up together. Orion was his normal self, but Fiona was acting particularly clingy, and I had a suspicion that something had happened between them…”
Cat laughed. “I bet!”
Shady looked at her uncertainly. “After breakfast, we prepared t
o resume our lessons when, to everyone’s surprise, Orion announced that Fiona would not be taking part in the classes anymore. I had no idea what had happened, and Fiona started to sob. It was Carl who asked Orion to tell us why.”
“What did he say?”
“He looked at us, and as a cool as anything, he said, ‘She is completely senseless. It would be a waste of time’.”
“What did Fiona do?”
“She was mortified and upset, of course. I actually felt sorry for her.”
“So? What happened between her and Orion?”
Shady shook his head slowly. “Nothing, of course. Orion had no interest in her as such; he wanted to see if she had any ability. Once he was sure she did not, she–”
“Was not of interest to him anymore,” Father Griffith supplied the end of the sentence. “That was cruel.”
“I was not going to say that, Father,” Shady retorted mildly. “I was going to say– ah, here are our desserts!” he announced triumphantly as the waiter reappeared bearing a silver tray.
Shady explained that a plate of Nightingale’s nest is neither a nest, nor has it ever held anything resembling a nightingale or any other bird within it. Nor does it sing. It is, however, shaped like a small bird’s nest resting upon a sky blue platter. The plate must be sky blue. It is part of the recipe, and whenever it is served – whether on fine china or cheap earthenware – if the platter is not sky blue, then it cannot be called a Nightingale’s nest. It is so. It has always been so.
It is Lola’s signature dessert.
The platter upon which it is placed is as large as a dinner plate and as thin as parchment.
“It looks so fragile!” Cat cried. “I don’t want to break it.”
It is as opaque as the sky.
“It’s alright,” Shady reassured her. “It won’t break. It’s a lot stronger than it looks. Go on, taste your dessert…”
What are those thin luminous strands that have intertwined themselves? There are thousands of them, it seems. Did a bird painstakingly take each strand and create its nest?
“I don’t want to spoil it,” Cat said. “It looks so lovely.”
“It’s made to be eaten,” Shady urged her. “Don’t worry. They make these every day…”
And in the middle of those thin translucent strands is a pool of pure nectar. They say it is the gift of the Sun. She gave it to the Nightingale for his beautiful song…
The silence around the table was broken only by appreciative murmurs and the clatter of cutlery.
“That was … positively divine,” Father Griffith sighed, pushing away the empty plate. “I must bother you again, Professor, but I need to know: you were about to tell us what Orion thought of Fiona before we were interrupted by the sumptuous dessert!”
“Well, if you must know–”
“Yes, I think we must,” Father Griffith said sternly.
“Orion did not trust her. He never had. I don’t know what he saw in her–” Shady looked at his plate in embarrassment. “I don’t know exactly what he felt or found out about her…”
“So it was not just a matter of a conquest?”
“No. It never is with Orion. He doesn’t have… how do I put it? He doesn’t have a personal angle, if you see what I mean. If he led her on, and, in some sense, took advantage of her, it would not have been for self-centered reasons.
“Orion does what he thinks is needed, but not gratuitously. I – I don’t exactly excuse or condone his actions, but I don’t … I can’t condemn him for them either…”
“One must always consider the feelings of those around us,” Father Griffith said. “Even if he did not hurt her knowingly, willingly, or for his own amusement, he was still acting callously and disrespectfully by disregarding her feelings in such a manner.”
“Possibly,” Shady conceded. “I can see your point of view. But you see I’ve known him for three years… I’ve known them both for almost the same amount of time, and given the choice, for all his eccentricities and the sense of impromptu danger that he trails around with him, I would prefer Orion’s company to Fiona’s. Any day of the week.
“I would trust Orion with my life. I would not trust Fiona even with a cup of coffee.”
And then there was something in the air… something electric… a difference she could not pinpoint that made Cat look up, her delicate liqueur glass paused partway to her lips…
“Ah, Orion,” she smiled. “You’ve changed.”
Orion approached the table with a lazy, deliberate gait.
Shady cast a glance at him and looked away quickly. “You’re wearing midnight red,” he muttered, not quite under his breath.
Cat looked up sharply. “What’s that? What did you say Shady, darling?”
“He said I’m wearing ‘midnight red’,” Orion explained to the table at large. “It is the special color associated with Twilight. It is said that the Dark One’s eyes are black, with the hint of blood at the very back. Like the Night, they say. People don’t wear midnight red as a rule,” he added, with a sly, knowing smile.
“No,” Shady agreed. “That color is rarely, if ever, used in Pera– except to make a particular statement perhaps,” he added, looking uncomfortable.
“Perhaps it is a sign of respect,” Orion suggested. “Respect for Twilight.”
Shady shook his head. “I doubt it. After all the color gold is used copiously and without reservation, although it is the favored color of the Sun. I suspect it has more to do with fear than respect,” he added guardedly.
Orion smiled.
“My goodness, darling…” Cat began. “That color certainly suits you.” She looked him up and down unhurriedly. “It is not quite black, am I right? With sort of the tiniest hint of red! It’s gorgeous. What did you call it, again?”
“It’s called ‘midnight red’,” Shady explained without looking up. “By the way, Fiona wants to see you,” he added, pausing to puff on his pipe.
“May I?” Orion whispered politely and settled himself between Cat and Shady. “How are you enjoying yourselves?” he inquired of the table at large. “Very nice, a bit of nightingale’s nest. Just what the doctor ordered!” He signaled unobtrusively to the waiter.
“So, where are we going tonight, darling?” Cat turned to Orion with a bewitching smile. “I do hope we don’t have to go and visit that rather dreary creature – your friend Fiona.”
Orion shook his head. “Fiona… can wait,” he said pleasantly. “I will see to her in due course. We have other places to be tonight.”
“Where?” they asked in chorus.
“No, no. Be patient. I haven’t even had my dessert yet…”
Once again they were interrupted. The new arrival was a tall woman in a dark coat. Her amber eyes shone like a cat’s. She greeted Shady and Orion with easy familiarity.
“Orion! It’s wonderful to see you,” grinned Selcan. Orion rose and gave her a peck on the cheek.
“Yes. Finally! You’re on duty tonight,” he added, noticing the dark band around her upper left sleeve. “Alone?”
“Yes and no,” Selcan laughed. “I am on duty. My partner’s at the dark hall down the street. We split up for a bit. Hello–” she added, waving towards Cat, Father Griffith and Bruce.
“This is Selcan,” Orion said, introducing them. “She is on blinder’s duty tonight. Notice the armband?”
Selcan lifted her left arm obediently. “See?” She pointed. “I’m glad you made it through that pirate attack all in one piece. Had no doubt you would, of course,” she added with a sly glance at Orion.
“Sit with us?” Orion pulled a chair for her next to him.
Selcan declined the offer. “No, I’m afraid I don’t have time. I heard you were here, Orion, and I wanted to say hello. And to thank you,” she added in a more guarded tone.
“I haven’t done anything yet,” Orion said.
“But you will. So it’s a ‘thank you’ in advance. I know you’ll fix it, won’t you?”
<
br /> “I will.” Orion said under his breath as Selcan strode out of Lola’s into the night. Cat shivered.
“LiGa Chess,” Shady explained as they watched Selcan leave. “She’s from Pera. Decided to stay here. She’s a mathematician. In fact, you’ll have a chance to observe one of her most famous accomplishments tonight.” Orion smiled.
Shady gave him a sideways glance.
“Really? What?” Cat pounced.
“Be patient,” Orion told her.
36
The hall was dark. There were no windows in this space, and the door was closed. Natural light would not intrude unbidden. Jaluban had arrived in a fishing boat he had rented under the cover of Night. Jaluban was not supposed to be here, according to the first set of instructions, which if he had had any say, he would have agreed with. I shouldn’t be here, he thought. This is wrong.
“I am reminded of the Ceremony of the Silent Dark…” said the Elder somewhere in the darkness.
Jaluban said nothing. He had never been permitted to witness the Ceremony of the Silent Dark, and would not comment on something so sacred of which his knowledge was grounded in myth.
“You destroyed the bird?” the Elder asked.
Jaluban did not ask, ‘which one’? The one that brought me the note telling me to get out of Pera, or the other one… the one that came when I was already on my way? “Yes,” he lied. Easily, under the cover of darkness.
“And the note?”
“Yes.” This time Jaluban did not need to lie. He had indeed burnt all instructions, including the scrawled note attached to the leg of the light bird bringing news of the Elder.
“Good,” said the Elder. “I am ready. Where will we go?”
“The Dark One’s will is our guide,” Jaluban said, and was much pleased for the inspiration. It was suitably deep, and revealed nothing. The truth was, they might as well trust the Dark One to find their way, for he, Jaluban had little guidance to offer.
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