Masquerade
Page 29
A few people gave us lingering looks, wondering who we were underneath our disguises. I was so glad that the Steward had decided to let us keep our anonymity. Had he not, then we would have been announced with the greatest fanfare, and no one would have left us alone.
Cyril broke away from us, spying some of his friends. One of them was Rojer Cyprus, a boy I used to know. He looked at me curiously, so I reached towards him with my thoughts, for the first time since the Observatory. But the Elixir was out of my system and I couldn’t sense anything from him now.
Cyan recognized my fumblings. ‘That boy Rojer thinks he recognizes you. He’s not sure, though, because of the mask.’
The thought of him recognizing me didn’t frighten me as much as it would have, once.
Cyan rested her hand on my arm, offering wordless comfort. I gave her a smile and sat down at one of the tables at the side. Drystan came with me, while the others were content to mingle.
Drystan was not in a speaking mood either. He went to fetch us drinks and a plate of food neither of us touched. He held my hand under the table, and we watched the people twirl about in their dresses and suits, masks sparkling with jewels or metal scales. Drystan’s eyes lingered on his father, and then his mother and his siblings, but he made no move to go to them.
‘Have people outside of your family recognized you?’ I asked him.
‘I’m sure they have, but they’ve all been far too polite to mention it, since we’re so favoured by the Crown just now.’ His sarcasm was biting.
I sipped the wine Drystan had brought me before making a face and setting it aside. I still didn’t care for the taste. But it reminded me of seeing Cyan and Maske connect and learn how they were related at the party after the magicians’ duel. My smile faded as I remembered the wine I’d tasted that night had been poisoned by Pozzi, so he could trick me into receiving his treatments.
I went back to the food table and found a glass of sparkling strawberry juice, which tasted much better.
Frey sat in his wheelchair, speaking to the Princess. The Princess still wore her Glamour, but I wondered when she would throw it off. She did not strike me as a person who would willingly stay hidden for long.
It was not only nobility here tonight. Over the last six months, Ellada had changed significantly. A parliament was being finalized, and after the first election, Lorna Elderberry was the first Prime Minister of Ellada, working with the Steward to make sure the will of the people was heard. Taxes had been reformed, with nobility giving higher yields and those funds being used directly to help the poor. It was slow, and there was still much to be done, but the people, on the whole, were much happier with the new arrangement. I wasn’t sure if the Steward was as keen to give any of his power to Elderberry and the new Parliament, but he recognized that, long-term, it was the best way to retain his crown. At least until the Princess was of age.
Elderberry wore a dress of green linen, simple and understated compared to the silken finery of much of the nobility. The members of Parliament likewise wore simple dresses and suits, their only ornaments flowers in their hair or buttonholes. For along with the Twelve Trees of nobility was the Garden of the People, each member wearing a different flower. A member wearing a rose in his lapel leaned over and spoke to Lord Hawthorne, and they both burst into good-natured laughter.
The lights overhead dimmed. The promised court masque was about to begin. I sat there on my own, waiting for the spectacle. The glass globes over the tables dimmed, while the ones up on the stage brightened. Horns blared. Most of the inner court participated in the affair, and the poor palace seamstresses must have been run ragged, preparing all of the costumes.
Once I realized the story they told, I couldn’t help but laugh aloud, to the mystified looks of those around me. They had chosen none other than the romance of Leander and Iona, by the playwright Godric Ash-Oak. We’d performed a version of it at R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic, which felt like a lifetime ago. Yet it was a strange tale to pick. Leander and Iona fell in love. Iona’s overbearing father, King Zimri, forbade it, locking her away in a Penglass prison, far too much like the true Princess had been locked up. I overheard a noblewoman whisper to her friend that the Princess had asked for this tale. That I understood: it was a way for her to tell the story of what had happened to her, even if it was warped by the fairy tale. She had escaped the prison. We had all defeated the monsters. She had found a happy ending.
And so I sat there, holding my glass of sparkling strawberry juice, surrounded by strangers, yet with the people I loved most in the world not far from me. I watched the masque of Leander and Iona, clad in their fantastic costumes, the stage set with glowing glass globes. After the tale was told, I would find my strange, wonderful family, and we would return home to the Kymri Theatre.
I smiled.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I first dreamt up Pantomime while filing at my first job back in December 2009. I’d already started another manuscript that took a different direction with an older Micah as a detective solving crimes, but I thought I’d try writing from the point of view of Micah as a teenager joining the circus. I thought it’d be a short story. Seven-ish years later and there are 300,000 words of the trilogy and around 80,000 words of the tie-in Vestigial Tales (available on e-readers!). There are so, so many people to thank who helped me along this sometimes bumpy road.
The first person I told about the book was Craig, my husband. He’s read almost every draft, listened to me talk through plot problems, held me as I laugh-cried through the good times and sobbed through the bad bits. Thank you and sorry for salt-staining your shirts. Thank you to my mom, (the ever-stalwart cheerleader) Sally Baxter, and to Erica Bretall, Shawn DeMille, Wesley Chu, Lorna McKay, and Mike Kalar, who have consistently been early readers on all three books. Cheers to Joseph Morton, J. B. Rockwell, Corinne Duyvis, and Josh Vogt for their time and excellent comments. Thanks to Katharine Stubbs and Kale Levin, readers of Pantomime who ended up being beta readers for Masquerade and giving very insightful notes. More appreciation to Laya for all your awesome fan art – it never fails to brighten my day when a new one pops up. I really hope I haven’t forgotten anyone!
On the publishing side, huge, huge gratitude to my agent, Juliet the Leopard Lady, for selling this series twice and being consistently amazing. Thank you to Julie Crisp, Bella Pagan, Phoebe Taylor, and everyone at Tor UK. They’ve been such a delight to work with the past few years and I’m very grateful. Merci to Amanda Rutter for seeing the early promise in Pantomime, way back when. It might have just stayed on a hard drive otherwise, my confidence was so low.
Last and not least, endless thanks (I feel like I say thanks a million time in all the acknowledgements, but there aren’t that many synonyms!) to everyone who has taken the time to read and review these books. Thank you especially to Gay YA and Bisexual Books for consistently signal boosting on social media. The series continued because of my readers’ love for these books – you helped me keep writing when times were tough. That’s why this book is for you. Thanks for meeting Micah Grey and his friends and finishing his tale. His story is over for now, but I hope he stays with you.
Praise for the Micah Grey trilogy
‘Pantomime by Laura Lam took me to an exotic and detailed world, peopled by characters that I’d love to be friends with . . . and some I’d never want to cross paths with’
Robin Hobb
‘Pantomime is a fantastical, richly drawn, poignant take on a classic coming-of-age story . . . a vibrant tale told with surety and grace’
Leigh Bardugo
‘A lyrical, stunningly written debut novel, which set my heart racing with every lift of the trapeze. In Micah we have one of the most original – and likeable – protagonists I’ve read in a long time. An author to watch, without a doubt’
Amy Alward
‘Welcome to a world of shills and showmen, fading tech and circus freaks, where nothing and no-one is what it appears. An absorbing, accompl
ished debut’
Elspeth Cooper
‘Set in a vividly imagined world . . . Pantomime is a fable-like story as beautifully unique as its main character’
Malinda Lo
‘Pantomime is a remarkable debut novel, one of the best I have read, and one that I hope leaves its mark on the fantasy genre as a whole’
Fantasy Book Review
‘Who hasn’t dreamed off running off and joining the circus? Laura Lam’s Micah does just that, discovering a world of clowns and acrobats, con men and tricksters, corruption and incompetent doctors . . . I look forward to more from this author’
Brian Katcher
‘Pantomime is almost certainly the best fantasy of the year . . . a phenomenal book’
The Book Bag
‘Well written and intelligent fantasy with characters I loved and a wonderful protagonist, in a fascinating world. I really enjoyed Pantomime and I can’t wait to re-enter Ellada and continue to unravel its secrets’
Fantasy Faction
‘Absolutely amazing! It’s a fantastic character-driven fantasy that will draw you in from the very first page . . . A completely eye-opening, enthralling debut, and I can’t thank Lam enough for writing it. Another book to add to the favourites list’
Once Upon A Bookcase
Masquerade
Laura Lam was raised near San Francisco, California by two former Haight-Ashbury hippies. Both of them encouraged her to finger-paint to her heart’s desire, colour outside the lines, and consider the library a second home. This led to an overabundance of daydreams. She relocated to Scotland in 2009 to be with her husband, whom she met on the internet when he insulted her taste in books. She almost blocked him but is glad she didn’t. At times she misses the sunshine.
www.lauralam.co.uk
twitter.com/LR_Lam
By Laura Lam
THE MICAH GREY TRILOGY
Pantomime
Shadowplay
Masquerade
False Hearts
First published 2017 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2017 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-0779-6
Copyright © Laura Lam, 2017
Cover Images © Shutterstock.
The right of Laura Lam to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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