Angel Arias (21 page)

Liam was calm but Jarrold looked deeply shocked.

‘Naif, I’m sorry for my father.’

‘You are not his keeper.’

‘But the things he said . . . I’m ashamed.’

Naif gripped his arm. ‘Then help me undo what they have started.’

He nodded and a look of stubborn determination entered his face. ‘Where is Markes?’

‘He’s gone to find Emilia. Bring her back.’

‘We go too!’ said Liam from where he perched up on the window ledge.

‘Wait. First I want to know . . . The elixir they were talking about – is it to make them live longer?’ asked Jarrold.

‘That what it sounded like.’

‘Naif –’ Liam began.

But Jarrold cut him off. ‘I don’t understand. Why are the Elders pretending they hate Ixion when they are using it? Why do they stop us going, when in fact they want us to go?’

‘If you think about it they don’t really stop us. They want us to think that they do by punishing those that are left behind. They use fear as a control, so we don’t ask questions. They are hiding what they are doing from the rest of Grave. Perhaps it’s even them spreading the confetti.’

‘Fross!’ said Jarrold. His young face showed that he felt as sick about the whole thing as she did.

‘
Naif!
’ Liam grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to the ledge. ‘We go
now
,’ he said with an emphatic punch downwards.

She looked over the edge. Hounds were at one end of the alley, sniffing around the grate.

‘Yes,’ she whispered with a new, growing alarm. ‘Now.’

L
iam was last across the plank. As he crawled in through the window of the decayed building, the hounds were baying beneath him. He loosened the rope and dropped the plank over the edge, sending the hounds running.

The three sped downstairs and out through a door on the other side of the building. They found themselves in a large alley opposite the ruins of two smaller buildings. Rotten wooden beams were balanced against broken stone walls.

‘Naif.’

She looked to where Jarrold was pointing, and glimpsed a sled racing past carrying two of the Elders.

She ran to the end of alley and peered around the corner. Jarrold joined her but when they looked back for Liam he’d disappeared.

‘Where is he?’

Jarrold shrugged. ‘He’s weird.’

Naif looked out onto the street again. Several horses were tethered to the side of the building, and a grumehl blew steam a short distance away. Nearby, a small group of Elders stood talking, surrounded by a semi-circle of wardens who had been guarding the meeting from outside as Naif suspected.

Naif saw Her-Rollonspiel among them. He seemed to be in a heated discussion with the Speaker. As she watched, the Speaker made an angry gesture and then marched over and climbed into the grumehl. Several of the Elders followed him. Some wardens jumped aboard the front and the machine wheezed off in the direction of the city.

That left half as many wardens.

Naif turned back to Jarrold. ‘Will you help me with something dangerous? Something important.’

‘What?’ His eyes lightened.

‘The Elder called Her-Rollonspiel voted against everyone else. I want to speak to him. But I need you to get those wardens away from here.’

Jarrold’s eyes narrowed and he chewed his lip. After a moment he nodded. ‘I’ll call them from somewhere close, and pretend that I’ll show them where you are.’

‘How will you get away from them afterwards?’

He gave her a cocky look.

‘Come back to the jetty on the beach as soon as you can,’ she said.

‘We don’t have long before dark.’ He squinted up at the sky. The sun had set and the clouds had taken on a heavy lead colour.

‘Don’t be late. I won’t be able to make Ruzalia wait,’ she warned. ‘She is her own law.’

‘What pirate worth the name isn’t? Watch out for Markes and Em. Tonight we’ll all be away from here.’

As she watched him run back down the alley and disappear into the building, she prayed he was right.

The long minutes she waited for Jarrold to reappear and catch the wardens’ attention gave her too much time to fret. From the scent of salt and the sound of lapping water, she guessed that the beach must be only a few blocks away, but with hounds loose and wardens patrolling, it might as well have been another world.

Her stomach ached with hunger and her tongue felt dry and swollen in her mouth. How long was it since she’d eaten properly? How long since she’d snatched a mouthful of water at the Deadtaker’s?

A welter of worries beset her. Would Ruzalia come as she promised? Had Markes found Emilia? And Lenoir?

Naif? You must leave Grave now. Brand knows that you’re there. She is hunting you.

Lenoir’s thoughts came through in a fierce burst that was followed by silence.

I told you not to speak to me again. Lenoir? LENOIR?

But his presence had gone. Completely. Utterly. As if the mind bond had been broken.

She felt lost without the weight of his presence. Panicky.

The horses tethered to the side of the church began to whinny and shift around. Each had a small lamp hanging from the pommel of their saddles which together cast a pool of light around the remaining Elders.

Jarrold began shouting from a distance away and the wardens left the Elders almost immediately to go to him.

Seeing her opportunity, Naif ran towards the small group of Elders. ‘Her-Rollonspiel,’ she called.

Rollo’s father turned to the sound of her voice and she nearly cried out loud at the familiarity of his round face and wide mouth. It was as if her friend was standing before her. She drew courage from the likeness.

‘I know your son.’

Her-Rollonspiel stepped out of the light towards her and caught her wrist. ‘My son?’ he whispered. ‘Where is he?’

‘On Ixion. They’re killing us all. You must stop the agreement with the Ripers or Rollo will die,’ she whispered back.

‘Tell me your name,’ he said loudly, trying to pull Naif back into the light. But she twisted from his grip and stepped away.

‘You must stop the Ripers. Lenoir will listen to you but Brand is dangerous. Please, Her-Rollonspiel . . . please . . .’

‘Are you Retra Romero?’

Naif turned and fled without answering.

As she hid among the dark, ruined buildings she heard the Elders out in the alley.

‘She’s gone,’ said one.

‘We’ll send the hounds after her when the wardens return,’ suggested another.

‘Why waste our time on the waif?’ Her-Rollonspiel replied. ‘I’m sick of the stench of this disgusting place, and I’m hungry. Stay if you wish, but I’m pining for some bitters and meat.’

One of the others grunted. ‘It’s been a long session. Perhaps you’re right.’

‘I know I am.’ Quick decisive steps echoed down the alley.

‘Come on, Jorge. She’s gone for now. The wardens can worry about her. Let them earn their
mena
.’

Their footsteps faded and Naif was left alone.

She waited, still, in case others came. But in the distance horses whinnied and hooves clattered away.

Making her way cautiously, she sneaked back through the building next to the church, along the narrow alley and towards the grate. As she stood deciding the direction she needed to go, a noise at one end of the alley sent her creeping back into the building to hide.

She tried to calm her breathing, wondering where to go next. Upstairs? But what if they found her? She’d be trapped with no way out.

Whispers echoed down the alley; one higher pitched than the other.

Peering around the edge of the doorframe, Naif saw Markes holding a lamp. Emilia was next to him dressed in formal clothes, her hair piled high and fixed behind gauze netting.

‘Markes!’ Naif called softly.

Both he and Emilia jumped.

Naif stepped out from where she hid. ‘In here.’

They left the grate and joined her inside the doorway.

‘Put the light out, the wardens are still about.’

Markes snuffed the light.

‘You were much quicker than I thought,’ Naif added.

‘Emilia found me. She was at the Raspart chamber as I left the Old Harbour,’ said Markes.

‘What were you doing there?’ demanded Naif.

Emilia hesitated as if uncomfortable, before explaining. ‘When you left I realised that Jarrold wasn’t going to come back. He took his compass. It’s his favourite thing in the world. I knew when I saw it gone . . . and . . . I didn’t want to be left behind alone. So I came to find you,’ Emilia explained. ‘Gurney helped me.’

‘Gurney?’

‘I knew Jarrold would go there. So I slipped away from Mother at the markets. You’d left in the dead cart just before I arrived. Gurney took me to the chamber in the family charabanc.’

For some reason the girl’s story made Naif uneasy. ‘Ruzalia will be here soon,’ she said, to disguise her doubt.

‘Where’s Jarrold?’ asked Markes. ‘And Liam? What happened at the meeting?’

Naif wanted to tell him everything that had happened but Emilia’s presence made her cautious. ‘Jarrold will meet us at the beach soon. I expected you to go there too.’

‘That’s where we were going.’

Naif stared up at the dark sky. How long before the moon rose? ‘We should go down there now. We can hide under the jetty.’

Markes nodded.

‘Ewan?’ said Emilia. ‘Hold my hand.’

Naif had never heard Markes’s true name before and it sounded strange. Something was wrong, she could feel it. She wanted to wrench the girl’s hand from his.

Instead, she turned her back on them and walked out into the alley, concentrating on the direction they needed to take. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark well enough for her to see outlines.

The hounds were baying again. ‘What’s that?’ asked Emilia.

‘That’s Jarrold. He drew the wardens away,’ said Naif.

‘But that noise,’ said Emilia. ‘Have they found him?’

‘Jarrold is smart. He’ll be all right,’ said Markes.

His gentle tone towards the girl unsettled Naif further. ‘Come. Before they realise it’s a diversion.’

The three crept towards the jetty. Though only a few streets away, every step held fear of capture. They hugged the edge of buildings where they could but were forced onto the street where collapses made it too dangerous to do anything else.

When they reached the last line of cover before the water, Emilia began to panic.

‘The hounds are closer. I can hear it,’ she whispered.

‘It’s just the echo,’ said Markes soothingly.

‘But what if they catch Jarrold?’

‘They won’t.’

‘Then what if the pirate doesn’t come for you?’

‘Ruzalia will come,’ said Naif. Emilia’s panic was infectious and she felt her breathing tighten. She wanted to shout at the girl and tell her to stay quiet. ‘We just need to cross the street and hide under the pier.’

They were so close now that the smell of the oily salt water was overpowering.

Naif scanned the sky for sign of the airship.

‘There!’ said Markes, pointing south.

She saw it then, a white speck of light in a pitch-black sky, growing larger as she watched.

Emilia’s voice was filled with disbelief. ‘It’s true. A flying ship is coming for you.’

‘For us,’ said Markes. ‘So you don’t have to live here . . . with him . . . anymore.’

‘Oh Ewan, I missed you.’

Naif moved away, embarrassed by the emotion between them. On impulse, she ran across the street to the sea wall and climbed down onto the sand. Only a handful of steps along the beach brought her to the edge of the pier. She climbed underneath and waited.

Markes and Emilia joined her a few moments later.

‘Why did you go without us?’ said Markes, with an edge in his voice.

Naif ignored him and looked south.

The airship approached quickly now, only minutes away. Where was Jarrold?

‘Found you!’ said a voice from behind her, and two arms seized her in a hug.

Naif’s heart pounded so hard with fright that she felt dizzy.

‘Fero!’
cried Markes.

Jarrold let go of Naif to embrace Markes and his sister.

‘We should get onto the jetty so Ruzalia can see us. Markes, can you relight your lamp?’ said Naif abruptly.

While he fumbled with the flint, Naif climbed the stairs at the side. As she stood alone on the top, she knew what was troubling her. The hounds had stopped. There was no noise in the Old Harbour, save for the lapping of the water and the hum from Ruzalia’s approaching airship.

She scanned the dark waterfront.

Jarrold came to stand next to her. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’

‘I . . .’ She didn’t know what to say. It was just the dread. And dread seemed to have been with her for so long she couldn’t remember being without it.

‘Nothing,’ she said finally.

The airship was silent now too, its engines cut and lights dimmed as it began to sink. Markes and Emilia joined them and Markes swung the lamp above his head. Next to him, Emilia was trembling and Markes kept a comforting arm around her shoulders.

The four watched the gantry lowering from the airship’s belly.

‘Do we have to get on that?’ Emilia whispered.

‘I’ll help you,’ said Markes.