A Red-Rose Chain

Leave it to April to get right to the heart of things. “I’ve been sent to the Kingdom of Silences as a diplomat, because Arden wants to skip the whole ‘war’ thing if possible.”


“Oh.” April hesitated before asking, “Are you the most qualified for this assignment?”

“Nope, but neither is anybody else, so we’re faking it,” I said. “Anyway, we’re in the royal knowe of Silences, and we think we may be being listened in on. Any ideas about what we could do about that?”

“Why do you ask me?”

“You live in a magic electrical network. I thought it was worth a try.”

“I see.” There was a pause. Then April said: “Please put your phone down and cover your ears. Do not hang up.”

“Got it.” I dropped the phone on the bed and stood, moving away. “Everybody cover your ears,” I said, following my own instructions. Tybalt glanced at me, looking confused, but clapped his hands over his ears anyway.

Good for him: almost at the same time, my phone began to emit a high-pitched screeching sound that made my teeth hurt as it resonated through my skull. Spike hissed and ran into the wardrobe. Quentin slammed the door to his bedchamber. The door to the master bedroom slammed open as May and Walther piled through, both of them trying to cover their ears and get inside at the same time. I mouthed “sorry” at them, but didn’t try to speak. The noise April was somehow generating would have prevented them from hearing me, anyway.

The sound lasted for no more than thirty seconds before cutting off as abruptly as it had started, leaving the faint smell of ozone hanging in the air. I cautiously uncovered my ears. When the screeching didn’t resume, I leaned over and picked up the phone again. “April?”

“No one is listening to you now,” she said serenely.

“Yeah, because if they were, they’re probably deaf,” I said. “What did you do?”

“Countersurveillance charm. We use them internally to prevent leaks from inside the company to competing firms. Elliot says I am perhaps overly cautious, but I prefer to think of myself as profit-oriented.” April’s County was also a working computer programming company. I wasn’t clear on exactly what they did to make their money, and I didn’t really want to know. “Any charms or spells designed to record or transmit the things said within the room you currently inhabit have been suspended for a period of no more than twenty-four hours. If the charms are self-renewing, they will reassert themselves at sunrise, and you will need to either call me again or find another avenue.”

I paused, trying to work my way through the complicated twists of April’s vocabulary. Then I said, “So no one can hear us in this room?”

“Correct. Please come visit me after you have prevented this war. I have missed your company, and the company of your associates. My remaining mother sends her regards.” April said the last as if by rote, and I had no doubt that Li Qin, January’s widow, had in fact told her daughter that whenever I happened to call, I should be given her regards.

“Tell Li Qin hi,” I said, unable to keep myself from smiling. “Open roads, April.”

“Good-bye,” she said, and hung up.

I lowered the phone, turning to the others. Walther and May were still standing by the door, looking shaken and disheveled. “Okay, first, close that,” I said. They did, although May’s expression turned dangerously mulish. If I didn’t explain myself soon, I was going to be in a world of trouble. “I’m sorry about the loud noise. April didn’t exactly explain what she was going to do.”

“You called April?” asked May, her frown melting first into confusion, and then understanding. “Did she clear up the listening devices in here?”