by Mark Hayden
‘Yes, of course,’ said Karina, jumping to it. Maybe when Mina is in full Rani mode, she sounds like Oma Bridget. I just stood in the open getting wet. One of the few good things about a receding hairline is that you don’t mind the rain so much. At least we didn’t have to wait long for the tram to Victoria station.
We were met by the current president of the Manchester Alchemical Society (Malchs). He stood just back from the queue waiting to get on and stepped forwards as soon as Karina had got the umbrella up again.
‘Welcome to Manchester. We’ve even laid on some of our special weather for you.’ He wasn’t joking. Even on the short tram ride, it seemed to have got heavier.
Our host for the day was Seth Holgate. When Hannah had briefed me, she’d said, ‘With Seth, what you see is pretty much what you get.’ And what we saw was a tall, thick set man in his early sixties with a big, bushy beard, still mostly black and matching his collar length hair.
I shook hands and Mina made namaste. Karina looked too scared to let go of the umbrella and was going to settle for a nod until Seth reached out and pumped vigorously.
He stood back and looked at us. ‘What an assorted bunch you are. One god-favoured Mage, one from the Circles and an officer of the Cloister Court with no magick.’ He laughed and smiled. ‘You’ll fit right in at Malchs. Come on, let’s get out of this rain.’ He turned and set off through the buildings, pointing to an open piece of ground. ‘That’s Cheetham School of Music. We’ve got part of their site, or they’ve got our old gardens, to be accurate. One of my predecessors made some unwise investments.’
The Malchs building was hidden in plain sight. It was set back slightly from the road and protected by tall iron railings with large gates set into them. A notice on the railings said Private Entrance. All enquiries to Cheetham’s Library on Long Millgate. Simple and effective. With a few additional Wards, of course. Seth pushed back the gates and held them open so we could enter without triggering them.
The home of the Manchester Alchemical Society was clearly modelled on the baroque excess of Salomon’s House in London, toned down a little and slightly more regular in its proportions. It was also more decorated, with a golden statue of Athena standing watchfully over the pediment. For added security, she was joined by her owl, perched uncomfortably on her right shoulder. Seth saw me admiring it.
‘Classic bloody compromise,’ he said. ‘The first President wanted the owl, the Council wanted Athena, so they ended up with both. I always wince when I see those claws digging into the poor lass’s shoulder. Allow me.’
He closed his umbrella and used a powerful arm to pull open the doors. Mina dashed in, and through the whole journey I don’t think a single drop of rain had got on to her hair. Karina followed, and the peasant dress Glamour vanished to reveal her Foresters robes. Unlike the Daughters of the Goddess, the Foresters’ woollen habits are edged and embroidered, in Karina’s case she had a small oak tree with buds and yellow Sprites flying around it to show that she had served as a handmaiden.
The entrance looked as if someone had planned something much bigger and been told to cut it in half. It had height and ran the full width of the building, but wasn’t more than twenty feet deep. Half way up the far wall, a gallery landing had a lot of doors leading off it, accessed by matching marble staircases at either end. Underneath the gallery was a single pair of ornate, gilded doors in the original white. Again, unlike Salomon’s House, the decoration was mostly white-painted wood and plaster and not dark oak. It certainly felt more civilised. The same sculptor who had inflicted the owl on Athena had produced bronzes of Hermes and Apollo to stand guard either side of the gilded doors.
‘Excuse me one second,’ said Seth. ‘Put your brolly here, lass.’ He tossed his umbrella in bucket by the entrance doors. A bucket in the shape of a Dragon’s foot. He moved down the windowed outside wall to a marble-topped console table with a gong next to it. ‘Put a Silence on or cover your ears. I mean it – this thing’s amplified.’
I held up my hand to forestall him while I took off my dripping wet Barbour. Then I did something I love doing: gathering Mina into my arms and holding her close while I made one of the few Works of magick I can manage, a Silence. Seth gave the gong three big blows and then stuck his thumb up.
I cancelled the Silence and Karina edged into our personal space to whisper, ‘He called me a lass. Is he allowed to do that?’
‘Have you never seen Coronation Street?’ said Mina.
Karina shrugged. ‘I’ve heard of it. I don’t watch television.’
‘Give it a try. They have quaint customs up here, and one of them is that older people are allowed to call all women lass. It’s up to you whether to correct him.’
Mina and I had eaten out last night, so Mina hadn’t spent much time with Karina yet, and Karina didn’t look happy. Then again, she rarely does.
The interior doors opened with a flourish and a large group of Mages came out, all smartly dressed in normal clothes with not a cloak, cape or gown to be seen. I got a tang of something, something non-human, but there were too many to narrow it down.
Around two-thirds of the company were female and the average age was well over thirty. Two women led the group, one about ten years older than Seth and one around ten years younger. The younger woman went and took the place nearest to Seth, not so close as to be standing next to him, but close enough to detach herself from the rest of the Malchs.
Seth waved us over and dumped his waterproof under the console table. On top of the table was an ornate book, open about two thirds through, and with an old-fashioned ink stand next to it. With suitable ceremony, Seth cleared his throat.
‘As President of the Alchemical Society, it gives me great pleasure to welcome the new Deputy Constable, and to extend that welcome to the Peculier Auditor and Watch Officer Kent. On behalf of the Society, can I say how pleased we are that the Constable has finally seen fit to fill the vacancy, and more than that, she has done the Palatinate the honour of appointing Albion’s first Dragonslayer in hundreds of years. You are most welcome here.’
He bowed, and started a round of applause that was supported enthusiastically by all the Mages. If they had any reservations about me, or my insistence on a short term of office, they hid it well. I bowed to the crowd and shook Seth’s hand again.
‘Thank you, Mr President. I look forward to getting to know as many of you as possible and I shall do my best to live up to your welcome.’
‘You can call me Seth, now,’ he said. ‘And there’s one more thing. The Deputy Constable is always made an honorary member of the Society, and the Council have decided to extend the offer to the Peculier Auditor. And before you say anything, Watch Officer Kent can enrol as a Visiting Member, subject to the President’s approval, and I do approve. Please, sign the book. You only need to do it once. From then on, it will know when you’re in the building. Clever book, that.’
The book had already been filled in with our names, titles and status within the Society. I picked up one of the three pens in the tray and dipped it into the ink. A tingle of Lux flowed up my arm, and the wooden body of the pen got very hot. I quickly signed my name, and the pen flashed white with magick.
‘Will that work for me?’ whispered Mina.
Seth overheard her, and said, ‘’Course it will.’ And it did.
Seth reached into his pocket. ‘And finally, your membership badges and Key to the Wards. The Deputy President will take a picture, if that’s okay?’ One by one, Seth handed the enamel badges to us, posing for a handshake while the older of the leading women used Seth’s iPhone to capture the moment. ‘Right,’ said Seth when it was done. ‘A bit of business first, then lunch. I’m starving.’
I’d noticed that the younger leading lady wasn’t entirely happy with Seth’s posing for the pictures and I wondered whether she was one of the Mages thinking about standing as Warden of Salomon’s House.
Seth led us through the group of Mages and down a corridor with p
ortraits and ornate doorways. At the end was another pair of doors, and beyond them grey daylight. ‘Welcome to the Agora. As you may have noticed, our founders had a thing for ancient Greece. They designed this space to be bigger than anywhere in Salomon’s House, which is why they have their public meetings on the staircase or off site.’
Why had he immediately compared the Society building to Salomon’s House? Was it politeness, given that it was a point of reference for me? Or was it an inferiority complex?
‘This is a lovely room,’ I said. I meant it, too.
‘It’s a lovely room if you have a thing for naked men,’ said Mina. ‘Personally, I can take them or leave them.’
‘There were naked women, too,’ said Seth. ‘They got taken down by the Victorians and put in a secret room. Now we’re in the absurd position of having no majority to put the women back and no majority to take the men down.’
We were well into the room by now, a circular space with windows above and alternating doors and pedestals below it. Half of the pedestals had vases of flowers on them and the other half had the naked men. I looked up to the domed ceiling expecting more extravagant art. No. Plain white. Seth saw me looking.
‘They couldn’t agree on a subject for the ceiling and the moment passed. Probably for the best. I’ve saved you seats at the front. Now, if you’ll excuse me.’
The floor of the Agora had a plain table at one end, with three plain chairs behind it. Very democratic. A few dozen more chairs had been placed in a fan before the table, and three of them had white notices on them. They would be ours. In the empty space behind the chairs, a group of Mages were putting the finishing touches to a buffet. Suddenly, I was hungry, too. Just before we sat down, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that one food table had a sign saying Natural Eating. Good.
Seth took the central chair, with his deputy to his right and a much younger woman holding a minute book to his left. The other leading lady from the reception committee chose a seat towards the back. When everyone was seated, Seth opened a box on the table and took out a chain of office made up of interlocking shields and badges. He stood up and placed it around his neck.
I felt the magick straight away, and Mina flinched when her arm started to throb; Karina remained impassive. I suddenly felt more private, that the walls were thicker and that the roof lower. Before I could try to work it out, Seth started speaking.
‘I declare this extraordinary meeting of the Society open. We have three short items on the agenda today…’
I won’t bore you with the details, though Seth did indeed keep it very brief. In short order, the Society voted to:
1. Acknowledge the Occult Council’s ruling on joint polling for the Warden election and give the President powers to host the poll and to organise a preliminary hustings.
2. Accept Seth’s resignation as President.
3. Elect his Deputy, Meredith Telford as President.
Seth removed the chain from his shoulders and stood back. The new President moved to her left and Seth lifted the chain over her head. ‘It still fits, Merry,’ he said.
‘But it’s no lighter, Seth,’ she replied.
He bowed to her and left the top table, striding to the nearest empty seat and sitting down. The new President turned to face the Society.
‘Just so you know, I’m doing this for six months only. When I stepped down three years ago, I was ready to put my feet up. I still am.’ She lifted a finger and pointed first to Seth and then to the other leading lady. ‘I wish both of you the best, and I hope one of you becomes the new Warden. Before then, I expect you to behave in a manner becoming of the Society. Both of you, alright? Good. I declare the meeting closed and the bar open.’
The Mages stood up, and two of them bore down on us like heat-seeking missiles: the new President and the other leading lady; the President won by a short head and shook my hand.
‘Meredith Telford. Pleased to meet you, and can I introduce Doctor Lois Reynolds.’
When Meredith shook my hand, she could barely open her fingers, so bad was her arthritis; it’s sometimes known as the Mage’s Curse and is one of the few conditions more common in the world of magick than in the mundane population.
She looked in otherwise good health and had that unflappable spirit that can control mutinous committees with humour. I bet she’d been a good President in her day and would keep a steady ship during the coming ructions.
The other candidate for Warden was in her early fifties, shorter than average and wore black trousers under a cream blouse. She had pale blue eyes, a small mouth and the most noticeable feature about her was her long auburn hair in a meticulous Goddess braid. There was a round of handshakes, namastes and greetings, and when Lois met Karina, she added, ‘In Her name, welcome,’ to the standard, ‘Pleased to meet you.’
‘Let’s get a drink,’ said Meredith. She started walking towards a drinks table and continued, ‘How are you settling into Middlebarrow Haven? Are the Masons looking after you? I hope we’ll see Saskia here again soon.’
We joined the queue for drinks, and I heard Meredith talking to Mina about the embroidery on her saree, and where she got her fabrics from, and had she ever been to Manchester before? Karina was giving Lois monosyllabic answers about the Arden Foresters, and I wondered how long it would be before Lois gave up on her and turned to me. Across the room, Seth was waiting for us to get to the front of the queue, and when I picked up a glass of Merlot, he plotted a course for the empty space where he’d guessed that Meredith would lead us. He was spot on.
‘There’s someone else you should meet, Conrad,’ he said.
I’d guessed that his companion was a Gnome before a new smell hit my enhanced nostrils. Not all short, dark haired, broad shouldered men in magickal circles are Gnomes, but I haven’t met one who isn’t. Even so, it was good to know that the tang of a Gnome is distinctly metallic, with a hint of game. You should know that my sense of smell is otherwise no different from what it was, and I still can’t tell Merlot from Pinot Noir by smell alone.
I shook hands with the Gnome, and Seth said, ‘This is Lachlan Mace of the fifth house, Clan Blackrod. Unlike Salomon’s House, we allow anyone with magick to apply for full membership here.’ He laughed. ‘But I think we’d draw the line at Dragons. You must tell me about that sometime soon. Preferably over a pint.’
‘How d’you do?’ said Lachlan with the sort of patience that any friend of Seth’s would need – the human Mage really does like the sound of his own voice; in other words, a natural politician. Lachlan continued, ‘I must confess that I’m more interested in how you became Swordbearer to Clan Flint.’
Lloyd had told me that being their Swordbearer shouldn’t be a problem so long as I didn’t actually take the sword to another clan’s First Mine, and that reminded me: I hadn’t heard from Lloyd since Mina saw his wife yesterday. Anna had promised to get straight on to it, but so far nothing.
Lachlan took out a card and I followed suit. We’d just exchanged them when my phone went off with the spectacular Yee Hah! of an electric cowboy. Or sheriff, in this case. Seth and Lachlan gave me a strange look (as you’d expect), and I said, ‘Excuse me. This may be important,’ before stepping aside and beckoning Karina over.
I could hear outside noises when Morton spoke to me. ‘Conrad, I’ve got something you should take a look at. Where are you?’
‘Central Manchester. What is it?’
‘Good. You’re not far away then. I’m in some woods between Kearsley and Farnworth, looking at the body of an unusually short, stocky man wearing a ski mask.’
‘Murdered?’
‘Don’t know, yet, but it’s certainly a suspicious death. Are you interested?’
‘Very interested. It could be important for us to see the body in situ and run a few tests. Could you help me out, Tom, and ask them not to move it.’
‘I don’t need to ask. At the moment, I’m the ranking officer.’
‘Thanks. I’ve heard of Farnw
orth, but…’
‘If you’re anywhere near Victoria Station, the quickest way to get here is one of the many trains. It’s only fifteen minutes. Text me your arrival time at Kearsley and I’ll have uniforms pick you up.’
‘Thanks, Tom. This really is one of those situations where I hope that it has nothing to do with me.’
‘So do I, believe me.’
I disconnected and looked up. Shit. I keep forgetting that most Mages have much better hearing than I do (but worse eyesight). Half the room had probably heard me asking someone not to move a body. Karina’s hearing is so good that when she came over, she caught most of Morton’s side of the conversation as well. Mina was standing back with her eyebrows gracefully arched in query and her head tilted to show off the ruby necklace. She’s so gorgeous I could stand and watch her all day sometimes. Aah well, you can’t have all you want all of the time.
I went over and kissed her, whispering that there might be a dead Gnome in the woods, and would she be all right on her own?’
She opened her mouth to say of course, and then closed it when she realised that she would have to cross a strange city in her finery. ‘Yes. I’ll be fine.’
I made my apologies to Meredith and grabbed my coat on the way out. Karina was hot on my heels and nearly bumped into me when I stopped to check the weather: it had actually stopped raining. Small mercies and all that.
‘What is it, sir?’ she asked.
I opened the iron gates and felt a pulse of magick from the key they’d given me to the Wards. When we stepped into the mundane world, Karina put her Glamour back in place. I closed the gates but didn’t move.
‘There’s been a suspicious death,’ I said. ‘Tom thinks it might be one of the Calabrese, as it were. A Gnome in our language. We’re heading to Victoria Station, but you’ll have to lose the disguise.’
She flinched. ‘What for? Why? I can’t walk around Manchester dressed like their idea of a Druid.’