CHAPTER THREE
It was raining back in London as well. Water cascaded down the brickwork of the lodgings that Irene shared with Kai, slicking the pavement outside. The heavy clouds and driving rain laid an overcast shroud across London, and it was already dark enough that lights showed in the upper windows along the street.
There were no signs of forced entry on the door, and Irene turned the key with a feeling of reasonable security. She stepped inside, hauled in her suitcase and began shedding rain-sodden outer garments as soon as the door was closed. Kai wouldn’t be back yet, so her next step had to be contacting the Library—
Footsteps came from the upper floor. She froze, then relaxed as she saw Kai step into the halo of lamplight at the head of the stairs. He was in formal clothing for their current world and period, his coat unrumpled and his shoes so newly-polished that they gleamed.
‘Irene . . .’ He hesitated, then his voice grew firmer. ‘I think we need to talk.’
‘Absolutely we do,’ Irene said. ‘Though I have something to say too, unless you already know more than I do. I don’t suppose there are any hot drinks up there?’
‘Because if you insist on – oh, yes, I just made some tea.’ He frowned down at her. ‘Are you trying to distract me?’
‘Kai.’ Irene unpinned her hat and veil and draped them on the hat stand. ‘In case you haven’t noticed, it’s raining outside, and there was a very long queue for cabs at the zeppelin port. I am soaked through. Please get me some hot tea before I catch a cold. And then we’ll talk. Incidentally, what are you doing here? I thought you were away for at least another three days.’
‘I came back early,’ Kai said with a shrug. ‘And it’s the best weather we’ve had in weeks.’ He retreated towards the lounge and Irene followed, thinking uncharitable thoughts about dragons and their love of rainy weather.
A few minutes later she was sitting in one of the armchairs in their scruffy, book-crowded lounge, with a cup of tea warming her hands. Kai was still on his feet, and was drifting round the room in short undirected tangents. He had every sign of a man choosing his words carefully before an argument got into full swing.
He was every bit as handsome as Jin Zhi had been beautiful. All dragons were gifted in this way. The harsh white ether-light brought out the dark blue tinge to his black hair, giving it the shine of a raven’s wing, and turned the lines of his face into an ink drawing, all perfect cheekbones and pale skin. His eyes were a shade of blue that was almost too dark to define as standard ‘blue’, and he moved with the effortless grace of someone who’d been born with it and then trained for years on top of that. Next to him, Irene always felt as if she should be fading into the background rather than spoil his artistic perfection. Fortunately she liked fading into the background, for it suited her work, but it could occasionally be demoralizing.
All right, often demoralizing. She tried not to brood about it.
He stopped pacing and glared at her. ‘We agreed you weren’t going to go on solo missions.’
‘It wasn’t intended as such,’ Irene said defensively. ‘It was supposed to be a straightforward book exchange. And why are you assuming that I’ve been on a mission – and ran into trouble – anyhow?’
‘I don’t know,’ Kai admitted. ‘I just suspect. Mostly because you came back early, by zeppelin rather than by train. And because you aren’t denying it . . .’
‘I left you a note,’ Irene said. ‘And you’ve been away for days. I can’t simply let everything else slide while you’re not here, Kai. I’m the full Librarian, and you’re the apprentice.’ And as a Librarian, she needed to investigate Jin Zhi’s claims as soon as possible. The fact that it would distract Kai was a convenient bonus. ‘Please sit down and stop looming. We have a serious problem and I need your advice.’
That caught his attention. He flung himself down into the chair opposite. ‘So ask. You know I’m at your service.’
‘What can you tell me about the court of the Queen of the Southern Lands?’
‘Well, it’s . . .’ he began, then paused. ‘Irene, why do you want to know?’
‘Tell me what you know first, then I’ll tell you. I don’t want to bias your opinion until I have the information.’
‘You can’t expect me just to sit back and give you information, after a lead-in like that,’ Kai complained. ‘Can’t you at least tell me why?’
‘Kai,’ Irene said firmly, and sipped her tea. ‘Talk.’
Kai sighed. ‘Oh, very well. Her majesty’s personal name is Ya Yu, but neither of us is ever likely to have the opportunity to use it. The Queen of the Southern Lands has an excellent reputation for fairness and for a sympathetic attitude towards her subordinates. In practice, I think that means that she gives them plenty of rope if anything goes wrong, before expecting them to hang themselves with it. She’s only ever had to move against the Fae herself twice, and each time she was very decisive.’
‘As in there was nothing left of those Fae?’ Irene said, hoping against hope that this dragon queen wasn’t as ruthless as some.
Kai avoided her eyes. ‘As in there was nothing left of those worlds afterwards. It was very conducive to peace and good order.’
They make a wilderness and call it peace. Irene nodded, not wanting to get into a discussion of ends, means, omelettes and broken eggs. ‘Go on.’
‘Her attitude mostly carries over to her court,’ Kai continued. ‘That is, the senior members of the court are quite lenient about original behaviour by their juniors, just so long as the job actually gets done, and done well. She tolerates members of both the war and the peace factions, though I think that herself she’s more inclined to peace. She is on good terms with my uncle Ao Shun, the King of the Northern Ocean, and my father too. And she has companied with both of them in the past to bear children.’ He paused for a moment, hearing his own words. ‘At separate times, of course,’ he added hastily.
‘Is she actually on bad terms with anyone?’ Irene asked.
‘Not as such,’ Kai said, considering the question. ‘But she gets on less well than most with my uncle Ao Ji – you haven’t met him, he’s the Dragon King of the Western Ocean. He is rigid in his opinions.’
Irene could live without meeting any more Dragon Kings. One had been quite enough. ‘And are there any significant troubles in her court?’
Kai began to speak, then stopped. For half a minute he was silent. Finally he said, ‘Irene, we’ve always been good at navigating conversations that might compromise my family’s interests. But that involves me not disclosing this sort of information. It helps us deal with . . .’ He gestured vaguely.
‘With the fact that I’m a Librarian and you’re a dragon. And, ultimately, neither of us wants to compromise our family or our occupation?’ Irene suggested.