Iron Kin: A Novel of the Half-Light City (30 page)

And what did it say about me that I still thought of him in the midst of all this chaos? I needed to concentrate on what was important. There would hardly be any opportunity for us to be together, anyway.

Though as I thought about the size of St. Giles and the miles of tunnels and abandoned wards belowground, there were still some possibilities available to us. Lily and Simon regularly spent nights here, and those two, as much as they tried to hide it, could hardly keep their hands off each other at the best of times. Guy and Holly were little better, but Guy at least had an apartment outside the Brother House, one that Mother had procured for him after he’d taken his final vows.

Simon had his house too, of course, but he worked so many nights that St. Giles was like a second home to him.

I hoped it wasn’t about to become mine as well.

An orderly, a slim young man with bright red hair, appeared rapidly in answer to Bryony’s summons.

“So,” Fen said, as I rose, “what happens now?”

Guy stood and stretched. “Personally, I’m going to see if I can sleep for a bit before Father Cho wants me again.” He looked around the room. “The rest of you should get some rest too.”

The last thing I wanted was sleep. I was tired, yes, but I couldn’t imagine actually being able to sleep if I did lie down. I needed to
do
something. Anything. “I’m not tired,” I said. “I’ll look in on Mother and Hannah, but then I can do whatever you need, Simon.”

* * *

We dispersed rapidly. I helped Mother get the rooms we’d been assigned organized to her satisfaction. When Bryony came looking for me an hour or so later, I was glad to escape. Hannah seemed eager to come with me, so I brought her along, hoping to give Mother a chance to rest.

Bryony put us to work helping serve lunch to the patients and making sure that the relatives who were filling the halls and waiting rooms were given tea and other refreshments. It wasn’t difficult work but it was unrelenting. The hours flew by.

The trolley the kitchen had given me to wheel the tea things around on had a slightly crooked wheel that made it apt to steer itself into walls and doorframes. I probably could’ve fixed it, given the right tools, but there wasn’t any time.

I had just barely avoided spilling another pot of tea by bumping the trolley into the doorframe of one of the last wards we’d been asked to take care of when I stopped short. Hannah, bearing a basket of scones, almost ran into me.

“Careful,” she said.

I ignored her, staring at the bed nearest the door. In it, half her head swathed in bandages as well as her arms and whatever else of her I could see, lay Sara Ledbetter. The prentice who’d been given my place in the Guild’s delegation.

That could have been me.

Bile rose in my throat. It
would
have been me. If I’d been sitting with the metalmages.

“Excuse me,” I muttered to Hannah and then bolted from the room. Fortunately there was a bathroom just a few feet down the corridor.

I hung over the washbasin, retching as the images of the explosion and death and body parts welled up before my eyes again. The air seemed to fill with the stink of the smoke and burning flesh. Like the Beast I’d killed yesterday.

I retched again.

Then jumped as someone pressed a cool towel to the back of my neck.

“It’s just me,” Lily said quietly.

The towel, and the faint green scent Lily always brought with her, seemed to help. Still, I hung over the basin for a minute more until I was sure my stomach was under control.

Lily didn’t say anything as I ran the taps to rinse the basin clean and wiped my face with another towel.

“Better?” she asked as I stood, still breathing carefully.

“Mostly,” I said. “Sorry.”

“I’ve seen worse things than you throwing up. What brought it on?”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure. One of the patients—Sara—I know her from the Academy. She’s burned.” I pressed my hands into my eyes as though I could block out the image of Sara and all those bandages. It didn’t work. I opened my eyes again and faced Lily.

“Is she a friend?”

A friend? No. More like a rival. Truth was, I didn’t particularly know her other than where she stood in our classes. “No. But somehow it brought it all back.”

“The explosion at the hall?”

“That, and the Beast we killed.”

“Yes, I thought you were taking that a little too well. I threw up for days the first time I killed somebody.” She smiled an odd smile. “If that makes you feel any better.”

“A little.”

“The memories get a little easier. Over time.”

I shivered. If anyone would know about that, Lily would. I didn’t know exactly how many deaths she’d caused when she was Lucius’ assassin, but the number wasn’t trivial.

“I’ll be all right,” I said.

“I know,” Lily said. “You’re strong. Like your brothers.”

I threw the towels into the tall, narrow basket that stood at the side of the basin. “I’m starting to think they were right. It would be better to stay out of it.”

“No, it wouldn’t. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do.”

That was the truth. “How did you know where I was?”

“I was coming to find you.” Her clear gray eyes looked sad for a moment.

A chill ran up my spine and my stomach moved uneasily again. “Has something happened?”

“Yes. The Fae have summoned the delegates back. They will be at the hall at sunset.”

F
EN

* * *

The missive from the Fae turned out to be something of an overstatement. When we arrived at the Treaty Hall a few minutes before sunset, having hastily made our way there with the rest of the delegation, everyone rumpled and not looking half as impressive as we had yesterday but still garbed correctly, we weren’t greeted by the sight of the full Fae delegation.

No, instead a lone Fae man waited for us, clothed in black and holding the reins of a black horse whose ornate black tack glittered darkly in the twilight. Standing before the soot-stained white marble of the hall, they made an ominous picture. The golden light from the setting sun glowed behind them, somehow making them even more unsettling.

Hardly a promising sight. The Fae wore black gloves, which hid any Family ring that might give a hint to his identity, but I’d have bet good money he was either from the queen’s Family or the Speaker’s. Someone high up in the court.

I looked at Simon. “Any idea who that is?”

He shook his head.

The Beasts were also arriving in their packs. Once the sun slipped below the horizon, no doubt the Blood would arrive too.

Or would they? Maybe they would be split—some, like Ignatius, wanting to twist this to their own advantage and others, who might want to maintain the treaty, seeking their own path. One thing was certain. The Blood war for power that had been bubbling and simmering since Lord Lucius had died was about to erupt in deadly seriousness. Those who wanted to try for absolute power had to act now or miss their chance.

If my visions were correct, it would be Ignatius who rose. Lady help the rest of them.

Lady help the rest of us as well. Lady grant that my sight wasn’t true in the first place.

We all stayed frozen in place while the light faded, seeming to take an age to finally slink away. True to my hunch, as soon as the sunlight winked out, the Blood began to arrive, not in coaches but coalescing out of the darkness in a way that raised the hairs on the back of the neck and made something very like a Beast Kind growl rumble in the back of my throat.

The Blood are very fast when they want to be. And they could stay hidden in the shadows . . . not truly incorporeal like a wraith but hard to see if they did not want to be seen. I scanned our surrounding quickly. How many of them might be hidden on rooftops or in the alleys and buildings surrounding the square? Ignatius might be planning a massacre.

I forced the thought away. I hadn’t seen such a thing and I had to hope that Ignatius wasn’t bold enough to act just yet, not until the Fae had given some indication that the negotiations might fail. If he acted before that, he would be the one to have broken the treaty, not the Blood. Which would open him up to retribution.

He was too smart for that. He wouldn’t move until he was certain of his advantage. He’d worked hard to manufacture this situation—it had to be him. I knew it in my bones, but of course there was no proof. And never would be unless someone got the opportunity to force the truth from him or the Fae let the human mages into the Treaty Hall to examine the evidence left behind by the explosion.

But the arrival of the Blood seemed to satisfy the waiting Fae representative. He summoned a ball of pale light that hovered over his shoulder, providing more illumination than the gaslights that had survived the explosion.

“Are the delegates all present?” The Fae asked. His voice didn’t sound loud but at the same time managed to seem as though he was speaking right beside my ear. The effect did nothing to ease my disquiet.

This wasn’t going to be a good announcement. My instincts shrieked at me, but I had to follow the lead of the delegation around me. No one was speaking.

“Are the delegates present?” he repeated.

Ignatius stepped forward then. “All the Blood still living are here.”

One by one the delegation leaders from the humans and the Beasts stepped forward to speak as well. Several of the alphas reported deaths but said that their delegates had been replaced, awaiting a renewed naming ceremony. The Templars had a couple of delegates who bore bandages and bruises, but we were all here. The mages also reported replacing delegates where needed. I noticed that Saskia flinched slightly when the Master of the Metalmages spoke several names. Was she regretting her choice now?

Was she wondering if they would take her back when all this was done?

Then Barnabas Stoke, head of the human council, stepped forward. I was expecting him to announce that they were missing a member but instead he too reported a replacement delegate to step into the dead councilor’s shoes.

It didn’t really matter. What mattered was what our Fae friend was about to say.

He began to speak. “I bear a message from my queen, Ruler of the Veiled World, protector of Summerdale, and Keeper of the Peace between the races.”

The atmosphere thickened as he paused and looked around the square. Bloody Fae. Always putting on a show. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one longing to shout “Just get on with it” as his silence stretched longer still.

“Her Majesty has declared that she will not return to these negotiations until the killer of her most honored and beloved Speaker is brought to justice.”

Another long pause, this one broken by the soft hum of whispered comments. Was he about to announce that the Fae knew who that killer was? Was someone about to be dragged from out of our midst and carried off to Summerdale for retribution?

Lady, let it be Ignatius if that is so. I could think of nothing better. But common sense told me that if the queen knew who the killer was, he would likely already be dead and we would be seeing some Fae-conjured images of exactly how painfully he had died. And the queen would be meting out punishments on the killer’s race that would probably mostly obliterate their privileges under the treaties. If they had any sense they wouldn’t argue with her. The Fae queen would hardly have to lift a finger to annihilate them. She had the whole power of the Veiled Court to draw on, after all.

For not the first time, I was very glad that I’d stayed clear of the Veiled World. As uncertain as things were in the City right now, being in Summerdale had to be like trying to walk on a spiderweb suspended over a deep abyss lined with poisoned razor blades. Anyone with any sense would be laying very low.

The whole square was silent as everyone stared at the man in black. Unsurprisingly, no one stepped forward to claim responsibility for the destruction at the hall.

“Very well,” the Fae said after an almost unbearable length of time. “If no one will confess to this crime, then it is up to all of you to bring the guilty party to light. You have one week.”

Chap
ter Eighteen

S
ASKIA

The
uproar as the Fae stopped talking was nearly deafening.

Finally Guy stepped forward and bellowed for silence. It didn’t work. But Liam’s moving up beside him, raising his sword, and setting it alight did. Uneasy silence rippled over the square like a fog.

Liam nodded once, then let the flames go out.

The leader of the human council, Barnabas Stoke, stepped forward. “This is not acceptable.”

The Fae didn’t blink. “There will be no debate. The queen has spoken.”

“The humans have done nothing to act against the queen or the Fae.”

There was no more expression on the Fae’s face than there would have been on a statue. He was as shuttered and remote as a glacier. “My queen has yet to determine the guilty party.”

“Has she found anything?” Bryony’s voice cut across the square.

The Fae man cocked his head at her, as if surprised by her presence. “My queen did not ask me to impart any information about her investigations.”

“Well, that’s convenient,” Fen muttered under his breath.

Bryony looked equally unimpressed as she stepped forward. “If the other races are to clear their names, they will need access to the hall.”

He shook his head. “No. Access will not be granted. Until the queen knows who is guilty there is too great a risk that the evidence would be tampered with or destroyed.”

“Guilty until proven guilty?” Bryony said. “That is not our way.”

“The queen makes the rules, not you, Bryony sa’Eleniel.” He seized the reins dangling from his horse’s bridle. “I have spoken. That is all.”

Before he could mount, Ignatius moved into the patch of light.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with my human colleagues,” he said. “This is not acceptable.”

The Fae stared down his nose like he was looking at an insect. “You’re in my way.”

Ignatius stiffened. “You tell your queen that if the negotiations are not resumed and completed by the appointed time, the Blood will judge the treaty to be dissolved.”

A babble of outrage and horror rippled through the crowd.

Ignatius nodded up at the Fae. “She should think on that.”

I saw Guy’s hand close over his sword. Beside him, Liam nudged his side, frowning.

Sainted earth
. Was this the beginning of what Fen had seen? The visions he had been tormented by had shown Ignatius victorious. Was this how it was going to come about? My stomach heaved, but this time I managed not to throw up. Barely. I gritted my teeth, willed the shaky chill to leave my body, trying to draw warmth from the metal around me.

It helped a little. As I watched the Fae man ride slowly out of the square, I could think of only one thing. We had to stop Ignatius.

* * *

“So what now?” Fen was the one who first spoke the words when we were safely back at the Brother House. Guy looked like he wanted to answer, but he deferred to Father Cho. Around us the other members of the human council and the representatives of the metalmages and the sunmages were seated around the Brothers’ long council table. I avoided meeting Master Aquinas’ eyes as I settled into my chair.

Father Cho paused a moment, as if considering his words. “Without access to the hall, we have no hope of determining who committed this atrocity. I believe our only real option is to convince the queen to reconsider.”

“How do you propose that we do that?” Barnabas Stoke asked. He was an older man, balding and well fed, his weathered skin pink around the nose and cheeks, speaking of a fondness for good wine. A gray velvet jacket strained over the swell of his stomach.

“That’s what we’re here to discuss,” Father Cho said.

“I think we need to act to make sure the Blood have no chance to plan anything,” Guy said.

“What do you suggest?” Father Cho said. His tones sounded as frustrated as Guy’s. “We can’t attack them. Not while there’s still a chance the Fae will return to the negotiations.”

“We can find out what they’re planning.” Guy gestured at Lily. “We have the perfect spy at our disposal.”

Simon’s face turned thunderous, but Lily laid her hand over his. “No, he’s right, Simon. I have to act now. No one else can do this.”

“And if you’re caught—captured?”

“The Blood aren’t overly fond of sunlight,” Lily said with a smile. “They can’t stop me any other way.”

“What if they—” Simon caught himself, cutting off whatever it was he’d been about to say with a snap of his teeth. Lily’s eyes widened slightly and she pressed her lips together before looking away. I wondered what the hell he’d almost given away. Something to do with the secret of the blood-locked?

“Even that might stretch the terms of the treaty,” another of the human councilors said thoughtfully.

“Everybody has spies,” another countered. “The Blood, the Beasts. Us. Even the Fae do. No one is going to be able to point an accusing finger at us over this.”

“We should pull in Henri Favreau and his cronies. They know who amongst the Fae is disgruntled with the queen,” Guy said.

I blinked. Henri Favreau? I knew he’d been mixed up in what had happened with Holly’s father—along with a number of other younger male Beasts who were estranged from their packs—but I didn’t know exactly how. From Guy’s words, mixed up was perhaps too gentle a term.

“Which would also be a treaty violation,” Liam said. “We don’t have enough proof.”

“Who knows what anyone is going to use as an excuse in this situation,” Father Cho said. “We need to make the queen see reason. Send a delegation to speak to her.”

“She’ll just turn us away at the border.”

“Not necessarily,” Bryony said. “Lukar didn’t say we were forbidden the Veiled Court. The queen presumably won’t deny any Fae who want to return. She has to let them rejoin their families. I could go.”

Lukar? Was that the Fae man’s name? I wished Bryony had used his full name. His family name would give me more of an idea where he fit into the Fae courts.

“We need you here at St. Giles,” Simon said.

“We have enough healers for now and you can keep St. Giles running.”

“You can’t go alone,” Barnabas interjected. “How do we know what you’ll say?”

Bryony gave him a long, cool look and he had the grace to look a little ashamed. But he didn’t back down.

“I daresay I can take a few people with me,” Bryony said. “They’ll have a better chance of getting in if they accompany me than if they go alone.”

“Who then?”

“I’ll go,” said Guy.

“No,” Father Cho said emphatically. “You’re needed here, Guy. We’re going to need all our able-bodied men. If we need to send a Templar representative then we’ll send Brother Liam. He’s a mage and he’s well versed in treaty law.”

Guy scowled, but Father Cho made a curt gesture at him and he stayed silent.

Fen rose then. “I’ll go.” He looked across at me, eyes questioning.

“If he goes, I need to go too.”

Most of the delegates looked confused, Master Aquinas amongst them.

Damn, I’d forgotten that my peculiar ability in relation to Fen’s talent wasn’t common knowledge. “I mean . . .” I tried to think of a plausible cover story. “I volunteer to go. I’m a mage too and I can be useful.” For one thing I could help with weapons suitable for the Veiled Court where iron and steel weren’t tolerated.

Barnabas made a humphing sound of dissatisfaction. “She’s a prentice. Someone from the council should go. And a Guild representative.”

“I can’t take a cast of thousands,” Bryony objected. “Fen is all right. He’s
hai’salai
, and he can claim he wants to find his Family anyway. I can take Saskia and Liam as my retainers. I’m High Family. If I make enough of a fuss, I should be able to take them through. They can represent the Guild and Templar interests too. Three should be sufficient.”

This started a round of arguments that went in circles for an age as I bit my lip and tried not to wonder what I’d gotten myself into.

The argument was still going on when there was a knock at the door and one of the gray-clad Templar novices walked in and handed Father Cho a note.

He opened it, eyebrows shooting up. “Truly?” he asked.

The novice, who looked somewhat wild around the eyes, nodded.

Father Cho held up a hand and the room fell silent. “We will have to continue this discussion a little later,” he said. “Lady Bryony and I are required at the gates.”

Bryony lifted her head. “Why?”

“It seems there is a group of the Blood waiting to talk to us. It also seems they wish to claim Haven.”

* * *

The only way Father Cho and Bryony could have stopped the rest of us following them would have been to set his knights on us. But they were the first two who approached the gates of the Brother House.

Through the metal bars, the white skin and hair of the group of Blood waiting for them seemed very bright in the moonlight. Tempting targets. They were heavily armed. As were the white-dressed humans who surrounded them. There were almost as many of them as there were Blood. Trusted, I presumed.

The only one who wasn’t glowing like phosphorous was the woman standing at the very front of the group. She wore a dark cloak with a hood drawn up over her hair. The fabric shadowed her face, hiding her identity.

Guy and several of the other Templars weren’t far behind the Abbott General, swords and guns at the ready.

“What is your business here?” Father Cho asked.

“We seek Haven,” the woman said.

“It’s a ploy,” someone in the crowd behind me muttered. I didn’t recognize the voice.

“Why?” The Abbott General’s tone was blunt. I managed to bite back my murmur of surprise. Technically, if you asked for Haven, it had to be granted.

“Because if we stay in the Night World, I doubt we will live to see the end of the negotiations or even this night,” the woman replied. “Ignatius Grey is making a play for power. He has already killed about twenty of our number tonight.”

“Why should we believe you?” Bryony asked.

“Can you not tell if I am lying, Lady?” The woman’s voice sounded amused, if steely with it. “Are you gainsaying the laws of Haven?”

“You can understand our position,” Father Cho said. “This is not an easy time.”

“It will not get any easier if you allow Ignatius to kill all of us who oppose him,” came the reply. “We are willing to give up our weapons and provide surety for our behavior.”

Giving up their weapons was small comfort. A vampire didn’t really need weapons to wreak a lot of havoc amongst a community of humans.

“If that is not enough, perhaps there are those amongst you who can vouch for me.” She drew back her hood, revealing a starkly beautiful face. It would have been more beautiful without the jagged gash that bit through her cheek.

“That’s Adeline,” Holly said softly.

As she spoke I saw Guy move up to Father Cho, bend down, and whisper something in his ear.

Father Cho turned. “Holly, would you come here, please? Lily, you too, if you would be so kind.”

Fen growled softly as Holly joined the group near the gates, Lily a few steps behind her. I moved a little closer to him. “Can you see anything?” I asked softly.

“Violence,” he said, his voice rough. “Death. But I think she’s telling the truth.”

“Holly, do you know this woman?” Father Cho asked.

“Yes, Father. Her name is Adeline Louis.”

“And?”

“And my belief is that she is no friend to Ignatius Grey. She has never played me false, sir.”

Father Cho nodded and turned to Lily. “And you?”

“She was not one of Lucius’ inner circle. From what I know of her, she is . . . moderate.” Lily’s voice was cool in the darkness.

Father Cho met this with another short nod. He looked at Bryony, head tilted, as though inviting her views.

“They cannot come to St. Giles,” Bryony said. “There is too much temptation. And it would cause too much fear amongst my patients. That will hinder their healing.”

“There are tunnels below your hospital, are there not?” Adeline said. “Disused wards. Closed-up rooms. Those will suit us. We have resources to compensate you.”

Bryony stiffened. “It is not a question of money.”

Father Cho pressed his hands together. “But it is a question of finding somewhere safe for them to be. They need to be protected from the sun. Though . . .” He turned and looked back at Guy. “What of the storage cellars? Some of those are empty, are they not?”

“Yes.” Guy’s voice was grudging.

“Very well.” Father Cho sounded resigned. “I will grant you temporary Haven in the Brother House. You will surrender your weapons, you will submit to guards, and you will abide by all the conditions we set. If there are any infractions, you will be ejected.”

“Thank you, Father,” Adeline said. “We accept.”

* * *

As Guy began to unlock the gates, Simon moved up behind me. “You should go back to Mother and Hannah,” he said.

I stiffened. “Why?”

He made an exasperated noise. “We’re about to let thirty-odd vampires through those gates. It’s dangerous.”

“Then you should leave too.”

“I’m a sunmage, I’m safe enough.”

I swiveled around, tried not to raise my voice too high. “And, as you so frequently seem to forget, Simon, I am a metalmage. I’m not unprotected. I can call fire just as you can call sunlight. Besides, I’d imagine the delegation will want to discuss this.”