37
They didn’t sleep, not exactly. It was the middle of the day, after all, and one of those secretaries might take it upon themselves to burst in on them at any time. Still, neither of them was in any hurry to move. They curled into each other on the large desk, lightly touching, getting used to the idea of this.
‘You didn’t steal my animor,’ Ashiol observed.
‘No,’ said Velody. ‘You didn’t steal mine, either.’
‘Is this what trust feels like?’
‘Don’t get sentimental.’
‘Hells of a trust exercise.’
‘I have to tell you something.’
‘Is someone else dead? Because I need a nap before any more comforting takes place.’ There was an edge to his voice behind the humour.
‘Thimblehead,’ she said fondly. ‘It’s about Power and Majesty. About it being two people.’
‘You didn’t put on a red veil and wedding bracelets while I was resting my eyes, did you? The wedding doesn’t count unless I slaughter a lamb for the augury …’
She smacked him lightly. ‘I don’t think the sacred marriage involves an actual marriage.’
‘Well, that’s a relief.’
‘Does Bazeppe have one Power and Majesty or two?’
‘One, I think. But they’ve been contaminated by democracy and vote them out if they aren’t happy.’
Velody thought about that. ‘Can I be in the room when you mention that option to Garnet?’
He laughed. ‘Our people are too set in their ways. You know they won’t accept a leader they have to elect.’
‘You thought it would be a hard sell making them accept a woman.’
‘And they were so loyal to you, the second Garnet came back they put a man in charge again.’
She gave him a serious look. ‘I think Garnet has a point. Two leaders, not one. It could be the thing that saves the city.’
Ashiol sighed, sitting up on the desk so that she could see nothing but his bare, muscled back. ‘So marry Garnet. Or whatever it takes. One Power, one Majesty.’
‘Garnet’s crazy.’
He laughed at that. ‘And you think I’m perfectly sane.’
‘Not perfectly …’ Velody leaned against his back, her mouth brushing against his shoulder blade. ‘We’re stronger together than we are apart. You know that.’
‘Did you actually come here plotting to f*ck me, form a partnership and save the Creature Court, possibly not in that order of priority?’
‘My plan was to do it without the f*cking part.’
Ashiol laughed at that for quite a while. ‘Is that how irresistible I am?’
‘Apparently,’ she said dryly.
He turned then, and kissed her. ‘Can we save Garnet?’
‘We have to save Aufleur from Garnet,’ she reminded him.
‘I know. Can we save him anyway?’
‘I’m not sure.’
He frowned at her. ‘Be sure, Velody. There’s Bazeppe, as well. We have to figure out what’s wrong with this place, protect Lysandor and his family.’
‘Fine,’ she said in exasperation. ‘We can save everyone. Why the hells not?’
Ashiol smiled, an odd light in his eyes. ‘How do you do that? You drag hope around with you like a tail.’
‘Anything is possible,’ she said.
Hw leaned in to her, but she pulled away. ‘I thought you needed a nap.’
‘Later. Much later. I want to see if I can resist stealing your animor again.’
As they kissed, the slow heat of their animor building as their bare skin pressed against each other, a voice broke in on them.
‘Velody, the train station. Quickly!’
A mouse sat on the window sill speaking in Kelpie’s voice.
‘I need meat,’ said Ashiol as he and Velody rattled along in the back of one of the Duc-Elected’s blasted mechanical cabriolets.
‘You should have eaten before we left,’ said Velody, sounding like someone’s mother. Possibly his, but that was a thought he must never, ever entertain.
‘I mean it. Those wretched servants at the Palazzo put vegetables into everything. I haven’t felt like myself in days.’
‘You were willing to live forever in a city that doesn’t feed you meat?’
‘I told you, there’s something wrong with this place. It’s like there’s a veil over everything. It’s foggy.’
She coughed on the dark smoke being belched out by the vehicle. ‘I’m not convinced that’s fog.’
There was a train in at the station as they arrived, and steam billowed across the platform. ‘That’s not fog either,’ said Ashiol. ‘Do you see your steam angels? We’re going to need all the help we can get.’
‘I see Kelpie,’ said Velody, quickening her step as she hurried to the sentinel.
Kelpie stood with her arms folded defensively. ‘Coming with us now, are you?’ she asked Ashiol.
He didn’t have an answer for her yet.
The train pulled out with a shriek and whistle. When the smoke and steam cleared, they saw Priest sitting on a bench, his back straight, hands placed carefully on his knees. He was alone, neither of his remaining courtesi in sight, and there was something very wrong about the expression on his face.
Velody went to him, sat beside him. Ashiol stood over them, with Kelpie hanging back just a little.
A faint flicker of a smile passed over Priest’s face as he recognised them. ‘We meet again, my Kings. Quite like old times.’
‘Hello, Priest,’ Velody said, her voice calm and measured. ‘Did you find what you were looking for here in Bazeppe?’
‘I did not,’ he said after a long pause. ‘But I still trust that I will. You came a long way to bring our cat home to Aufleur, my King. Was the journey worth it?’
‘Entirely,’ said Velody without a blush. Priest was drawn, his skin without its usual rosiness. ‘Are you unwell?’
He let out a deep sigh. ‘The word, my dear Power, is “doomed”. There is nothing to be done for me.’
Kelpie made to say something, but Velody shushed her. ‘Is there anything I can do?’
Priest did not turn to her. His fingers beat out a slow rhythm against the edge of the bench. ‘Ashiol here was my courteso once, did you know that? He and Lysandor both. They traded loyalty with me to save their friend’s life. To save Garnet. But it was a mere excuse.’ Ashiol hadn’t thought about that time in years. Tasha’s shade … it had been an excuse, of course. To take a new Lord, any Lord, who was not Garnet.
‘I didn’t know the details,’ said Velody.
‘Lysandor did the one thing that none of us had the strength for. He left. Began a family of all things. A true family, here in Bazeppe.’
‘He always was the creative one,’ said Ashiol.
‘Indeed.’ Priest’s voice was sluggish, like he was drunk. He didn’t smell of alcohol, just a sort of stale perfume and cigar smoke. ‘Lysandor will not leave with you,’ he added conversationally. ‘Nor Celeste. Too noble by half, those two, and their contentment in this city has made them soft. Though, if you can, you should save the child. She is unique.’
Saints, not that. Not Lysandor and Celeste, after being safe for so long. ‘Save her from what?’ Velody asked.
Kelpie let out a cry and drew her sword. Ashiol grabbed at Velody, pulling her off the bench and away from Priest. His skin was grey and his expression terrible. The wrongness was evident now. There was a grainy texture to him, as if he were made of sand. He exhaled, and part of his face fell away into dust. How had Ashiol not seen this before?
‘They never let you go,’ Velody whispered. ‘The dust devils, the things beyond the sky …’
‘Sadly, they did not,’ said Priest, and there was a hint of the old timbre in his voice momentarily. ‘I tried to run, but no train is fast enough for such a venture. I could travel no further, and now … I am sorry for what I have wrought.’
‘Not your fault,’ said Velody, though she choked on the words.
‘You are too kind,’ said Priest, and the rest of him fell fast, too fast. Even his clothes crumbled like dry leaves and blew along the platform with the dust that remained of him.
As he fell to nothingness, Priest’s voice left one last message hanging in the air. Ask Garnet about his choice.
‘Saints,’ said Kelpie. ‘I’ve never seen anything like that.’
‘Did you hear that, at the end?’ Velody asked Ashiol. ‘What does it mean?’
Ashiol didn’t have time to think about Garnet. ‘You said that Rhian predicted that Bazeppe would fall, before Aufleur?’
‘Yes.’
‘I have to warn them.’
‘And when you say warn them, you mean fight at their side to stop it happening,’ Kelpie said, sounding weary.
Yes. Of course that was what he meant. Velody reached out and touched Ashiol’s hand. Her skin sparked against his, and for a moment he could think about nothing but their bodies, back in his office, the heat of her.
‘Did you expect us to wait here at the station like proper demoiselles,’ she said, ‘while you fight and die for a city that isn’t even ours?’
‘Screw that,’ Kelpie added, in case he didn’t get the message.
Ashiol wanted to bundle them both onto the nearest train. Unfortunately, there wasn’t one. ‘Fine, then. Let’s go.’
It took too long for Ashiol to find the warehouse where the Clockwork Court made their home. It annoyed him that it was Kelpie who pointed out he should stop trying to use his human brain about it. As soon as he went into cat form, he could feel the skysilver-reinforced roof shining out like a beacon.
Velody fell into her creature form, as well, and they ran together. He could still feel the spark of her animor, though at least in this form he could be clear-headed without wanting to touch her all the time.
At the warehouse, Kelpie shoved at the door, which was wedged shut. She threw clothes impatiently at the two Kings and concentrated her energies on trying to get them inside.
Ashiol dressed himself quickly and joined her at the door, shoving animor as well as human strength into it. There was a creaking sound, and they were able to push it open just enough for Kelpie to slip through the gap. Ashiol heard a crash and then the door opened properly.
‘One of those creepy clockwork soldiers,’ she said, and Ashiol saw the stiffened body of one of Lysandor’s saints. Its eyes were empty and there was no sign it had ever been able to move. Dust poured out of its articulated joints.
‘Priest got here before us,’ said Ashiol. ‘Or whatever he brought here with him.’
He led the way past the teetering walls of packing cases to the main space, where the Court made their refuge. There were only a few of them clustered around the boiler, many looking half-asleep or distinctly unwell. Lucia was there, her bright gold curls standing out in the dim light, being looked after by one of the demmes. Lysandor and Celeste were nowhere in sight.
‘What happened here?’ Ashiol demanded.
‘And where were you?’ replied a strident voice. It was Peg, the Wolf Lord of Bazeppe. Her clothes were charred and she smelled like power and death. ‘Or aren’t you one of us now? That would explain a lot.’
‘We were dealing with Priest.’
She gave him an unfriendly look. ‘A little late for that, don’t you think? He’s responsible for all this. That damned dust of his is getting everywhere.’
‘It wasn’t his fault,’ said Velody.
Peg rolled her eyes. ‘As if that makes a difference, pet. The clockwork’s gone — every piece of it stopped working. That makes us sitting cubs. Lambs to be eaten.’ She looked speculatively at Velody. ‘You’re a King, aren’t you? They breed mice fierce in Aufleur.’
‘Apparently so.’
‘Well? Get in the frigging sky. We need you. And the pretty boy.’
‘What can I do to help?’ Kelpie asked, stepping between Peg and Ashiol.
‘A sentinel,’ Peg said appreciatively, looking Kelpie over. ‘Well, well. We could do with more like you, I can tell you that much. No dust in your joints. We need someone to help our silversmith mend the corner of the roof. This place is our only shelter.’
‘If the city goes, it won’t be shelter enough,’ Ashiol warned.
‘Aren’t you a little ball of sunshine?’ snapped Peg. ‘We’re not stupid. If the sky falls, we’re all screwed. Mind if we labour under what little hope we have left?’ She called another trousered demme over. ‘This is Bett, she’s in charge of work patrol this nox.’
‘Hello,’ Bett said to Kelpie. ‘Come to join the workers, have you? No animor to be bothered about?’
‘Not me,’ said Kelpie.
‘Good.’ Bett took her arm and grinned. ‘Stick with us. We’re the ones who get things done around here.’
Velody took to the sky, not bothering to wait for Ashiol to finish arguing with the Wolf Lord. Everything smelled of dust and smoke. She stretched her animor, trying to see the battle clearly, but it was like being in a fog.
There were skybolts and thin streaks of scratchlight, crackling bloodstars and other familiar threats, yet none of them behaved as Velody was used to. As she dodged and weaved her way through the sky, blasting a path with her animor, it was as if she was doing it for the first time. Bazeppe was getting into her head, or wasn’t enough inside her head. Nothing felt right.
A warm glow swept over her and, for a moment, the fog lifted. Celeste was there, blazing brightly as she fought a pulsing mass of gleamspray. Her proximity made Velody feel more clear-headed and she swept in to help the Owl Lord. Power and Majesty, she had to remind herself.
‘Glad you’re here,’ Celeste said with a nod. ‘Haven’t seen it this bad for a while — and we’re not used to managing without the clockwork saints.’
She ducked as a whistling shadowstreak flew over her head, then blasted it before it could get away.
‘Anytime,’ Velody said breathlessly. At least here she could be useful.
Though she could not escape the thought that all this was a distraction. While she and Ashiol dallied here, anything could be happening at home in Aufleur.