“I’m surprised they weren’t lurking outside the house,” Frieda said, reading the visiting cards. “They clearly want to talk to you.”
“The sorcerers on the street would have used them for target practice, if they’d stuck around,” Sienna said, briskly. She looked up as her two daughters entered the room. “If you don’t want to keep those letters, drop them into the fire.”
Emily glanced through the remaining letters, one by one. Three of them were just as flattering as the first, while the others talked about opportunities without going into detail. They reminded her of the proposals she’d read at Cockatrice, although she’d made a point of clearly expecting a reasoned argument when the writers finally got to see her or her representative. She wasn’t going to hand out loans as if money grew on trees.
“They’re investment opportunities,” she said. She wondered if Vesperian had considered sending a paper letter too. “And none of them are very detailed.”
“Vesperian merely got his oar in first, then,” Caleb said.
Karan looked up. “Vesperian?”
“He tried to talk Emily into giving him a loan,” Caleb said. “It didn’t work.”
“And a good thing too,” Sienna said, glowering at her daughter. “Vesperian was a schemer before the New Learning, and he’s still a schemer after the New Learning. Nothing has really changed.”
“It’s a great opportunity,” Karan said, wistfully. “I could earn money…”
“No, you couldn’t,” Emily said, sharply. “He’s heading for a fall.”
Sienna gave her a cold look. “And you know this how…?”
“He wouldn’t show me the books,” Emily said. “And that means he has something to hide.”
“Something so big it couldn’t be concealed in the paperwork,” Sienna agreed. She looked approving, just for a second. “Do you have any actual proof?”
Emily shook her head. “I think he’s overextended himself. He’s buying up material, driving prices up…but he has very little to show for it. Taking the railway to Swanhaven alone might be a step too far.”
“And the second set of notes are coming due soon.” Sienna shook her head. “I knew he was trouble.”
Caleb blinked. “You know him?”
“We’ve met,” Sienna said. Her lips thinned. “His father was a fisherman, a very conservative fellow. Vesperian went into business on his own, building newer and better boats. Some worked, some didn’t; he had an eye for opportunity, but no real sense of just how far he could go. He married well, coming into money; his wife’s dower allowed him to purchase more boats, then design a few newer ones. He was one of the first people to see the potential of the New Learning…I’ll give him that much.”
She shrugged. “I remember him arguing that the railway line would bring in a colossal profit. The guilds were reluctant, but they couldn’t stop him once he’d secured the first set of investors. The guildmasters were getting a lot of pressure from their lower ranks, too. So he built the first railway, and then started offering to allow anyone to invest in it.”
“My friends are investors,” Karan said. “They’re proud to invest!”
“They’ll lose their money,” Emily predicted. “You’ll have the last laugh.”
She looked at Sienna. “What should I do with these letters?”
Sienna shrugged, again. “Are you asking a future mother-in-law, or an impartial Mediator?”
Emily had to smile, despite the pang Sienna’s words caused. “Whichever one is more useful.”
“They’d both be useful,” Sienna said. “As your mother-in-law, I would advise you to chuck the whole lot on the fire and go wash your hands afterwards. But as an impartial Mediator, I’d tell you to write each of them a polite refusal, whistle for a lad to deliver them, and then chuck them on the fire.”
“And then go wash your hands,” Marian said.
“But this could get you a lot of money,” Karan protested. “Should you not hear them out, at least?”
Emily looked back at the letters. They didn’t improve on second reading. None were specific, none went into details. She assumed they planned to make their pitches in person, when she would find it harder to refuse. But she had to assume they were talking about the railway. If they were investors, they might be interested in selling her their notes before time ran out.
They must be scenting trouble now, she thought. If the man on the street is aware that something is about to go wrong…
“You’ll have time to go, if you wish, over the next two days,” Sienna said. She shot Caleb a glance. “Did Caleb tell you what is going to happen?”
Emily shook her head. “No.”
Sienna looked irked. “Casper’s coffin has been placed in the Temple of War. It is where all the brave heroes are buried, after their funerals. The funeral itself will be held in two days, during the Fire Festival. There will be a wake and two days of formal mourning after we consign his body to the flames, then we will bid him farewell for the final time.”
“I understand,” Emily said.
She tried, hard, to keep her face completely expressionless. Did Sienna know there was no body? Surely she must know that her son had been disintegrated. General Pollack would have told her. And yet…Sienna was treating the coffin as if it held an intact corpse. Emily didn’t want to ask. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Caleb will be formally confirmed as Heir after the mourning period is over,” Sienna continued. She sounded as if she was chewing on a lemon. “Once the ceremony is over, the three of you--” she glanced at Frieda “--can return to Whitehall and resume your lessons. I’m sure your teachers expect you to do well.”
“I’ll be spending most of the summer catching up,” Emily predicted, gloomily.
“It won’t be the end of the world,” Sienna said. “Having to repeat the entire year would be worse.”