Eventually, Sister Mattie merely tried to mollify him with platitudes. “Please, my lord potentate, try to remember that a pumpkin divided against itself cannot gourd!”
Sidheag followed the whole conversation in increasing bemusement, having no idea what was going on. Captain Niall held his tongue, stiff and uncomfortable in a vampire’s carriage. When they arrived back at the airship, the werewolf got out and skulked away into the night. Sophronia had no doubt he would wait for them groundside. He was no fool, Captain Niall.
Back on board, the potentate strode off to visit Professor Braithwope with one last sharp reprimand in Sophronia’s direction.
“You keep your opinions to yourself, little girl!”
Sister Mattie looked at her, face wrinkled with worry. “I’ll endeavor to keep him occupied, dears. But please remember, a lily cannot change its spots.”
As soon as it was safe to speak, Sidheag turned to Sophronia in frustration.
“What on earth is going on?”
“I don’t think much of our school’s patron, I’ll tell you that much,” said Sophronia, glaring at the vampire’s retreating back and sticking her tongue out at it childishly.
“Sophronia!”
“I’ll explain while we change. We have a rescue to mount and a hive house to infiltrate.”
“What?”
“Come on, please!”
“What are we changing into?” Sidheag asked, as they hurried back to their rooms.
Sophronia thought about her encounter with the fashionable blond vampire. “Dandies. We need to look like dandies.”
Sidheag pursed her lips. “I’m not cutting my hair.”
They did their best with the disguises, dressing in a combination of Sidheag’s trousers and their own lace under blouses and velvet vests. Real dandies would have had better-fitting clothing, not to mention superior cravats. The two girls ended up looking like something that came from an underfunded circus.
“We are ridiculous.” Sidheag adjusted her coat in the mirror. “And you don’t have a jacket.”
“Preshea has one of those new little short ones, you know, like the bullfighters of Spain.” Sophronia went off on a raid, returning with a bright red-and-gold bolero of which Preshea was particularly proud. Sophronia put it on.
“God’s teeth,” said Sidheag, succinctly.
They did look preposterous, but Sophronia felt that would throw people off if they were caught. “Here, wrap this blue scarf around your waist, and I’ll do the same with Dimity’s fringed yellow one, and we can say we have been attending a fancy dress ball.”
Sidheag did as she was told. “What will Captain Niall think of us?”
“Does that matter, so long as he gets us there? I do hope we have lessons soon on how to memorize locations. I’m annoyed with myself for not knowing how to get back to the hive.”
“Better to worry about how absurd we look! No one in their right mind would let us into their house. Wait, hive? What hive?”
Sophronia explained about Dimity and Pillover being kidnapped by Lord Ambrose and the Westminster Hive.
“I think the vampires want to force their parents to either stop making the guidance valves altogether or hand control of the technology over to the hive. Dimity’s parents are reportedly working for the Picklemen, and the vampires don’t trust Picklemen. Nor do I. For that matter, I just don’t trust any of them.” While she talked, she stashed anything she could think of that might be useful about her person—smelling salts in the waistcoat pocket, sewing scissors down the front of her corset, ribbon around her wrist, and a perfume-soaked handkerchief up one sleeve.
“I’m confused. Sabotage or not, this is clearly a technology vampires canna utilize.”
“I think that’s why they’re panicking. They’re trying to ensure this mode of travel is under their influence.”
Sidheag understood at that. “Can’t have the prey bouncing about through the aetherosphere all willy-nilly, now can they?”
“Sidheag, you think like a predator.”