Seven Dreams (4 page)

She waited in
breathless anticipation, but to her disappointment, neither party
spoke. The Desperate Character merely glanced about into the
shadows in a disappointingly cursory fashion, and then handed
something to Dame Halavere. What it was Serena could not, in the
darkness, determine, but it seemed to satisfy the lady; she nodded,
tucked the thing into a pocket of her gown without looking at it,
and immediately withdrew. Serena feared for an instant that she
would pass by them on her way back to the house, but she
disappeared into the darkness on the other side of the hedge. The
Desperate Character returned the way he had come, leaving Serena
and Fabian alone.

Fabian stuck his
hands into his pockets and stood for a moment in thought. ‘Worth
pursuing?’ he eventually enquired.

Serena shrugged.
‘Could’ve been anything.’

‘
A
grocery list,’ Fabian agreed.

‘
A
recipe for hair pomade.’

‘
The
name of his tailor.’

‘
A
love note.’

‘
Mm,’
Fabian said appreciatively. ‘Scandalous.’

‘
We
had better find out,’ Serena decided. ‘All that skulking has to
indicate
something
juicy.’

‘
Has
to.’

‘
But
how to retrieve it? The pockets of a lady’s ball gown are closely
guarded.’

‘
Egg
could do it,’ Fabian suggested. ‘Or Jispie.’

‘
True,
but where are they? I don’t want Halavere to have time to use or
destroy whatever it is, before we can get to it.’

A hint of
wariness crept into Fabian’s tone. ‘What exactly do you have in
mind?’

Serena directed
at him her most winning smile. ‘Dearest Fabe, seeing as you are
quite the handsomest of brothers—’

‘
Oh,
no,’ he said firmly, cutting her off. ‘I am not seducing a woman
again just so you can go rummaging in her pockets.’

‘
Actually, I thought that you would do the pocket-rummaging.’
She paused. ‘That came out a little wrong.’

Fabian gave one
of his snorts of laughter, but he still shook his head. ‘Absolutely
not. Besides, if we don’t have time to find Egg, what makes you
think we have time for that?’

‘
All
you have to do is dance with her. Come on!’

Fabian began to
say something else, but Serena had already darted away in the
direction Halavere had taken. She had learned the trick long ago of
moving quickly and quietly on any terrain, gravel included, and she
soon caught up with Halavere. Their hostess appeared to be making
her way back to the ballroom, but slowly, and by a circuitous
route. Serena and Fabian followed a cautious distance behind,
keeping a close eye on her, but she met no one else nor did her
hand ever stray to the pocket in which she’d secreted whatever her
associate had given her. At last she disappeared back into the
swelling music and welcoming lights of the ballroom.

‘
Go!’
Serena hissed.

‘
Egg’s
probably already on it,’ he protested.

‘
Egg
could be doing a million other things right now.’

Fabian thought
about that for a second. ‘I don’t really think that’s possible,
no.’

Serena gave him
an inelegant shove in the direction of the ballroom. He gave a
deep, long-suffering sigh, but he went. Serena trailed inside soon
afterwards and observed, to her satisfaction, that Fabian had
succeeded in securing Dame Halavere for a dance, and was whirling
her around the floor. He was clearly exerting all his considerable
powers to please, and not without success, for the lady’s attention
was fully focused upon him.

Serena drifted
back to the punch bowls. She could rely on Fabe to get the goods;
though he was not nearly so talented a pickpocket as Egg, he was
certainly equal to this challenge. She was soon solicited for a
dance herself, an invitation which she accepted, and a pleasant
half-hour or so passed happily away. Fabian danced all the while
with Halavere.

They met by the
buffet table soon afterwards, and under cover of handing her a
laden plate with all possible brotherly solicitude, Fabian hissed,
‘Piece of paper. Blank.’

Serena almost
dropped the plate. ‘What?’

‘
Nothing on it,’ he clarified.

Serena suppressed
a sigh. ‘I know what blank means. How can it be blank? Surely it is
some kind of invisible message.’

‘
It’s
blank,’ Fabian repeated.

Serena drooped
over her plate of sweets, disappointed and puzzled. Had Halavere’s
contact deceived her somehow? Or did she know, or suspect, that she
was under observation and had acted out the whole charade in order
to deceive? Perhaps the real meeting was taking place somewhere
else, or perhaps it was already over. What if she knew
who
was here to watch her? Serena thought not, but couldn’t be
sure.

‘
I
think we’d better behave ourselves for the next while,’ Serena said
sadly.

Fabian sighed.
‘How boring.’

On the other side
of the garden, Teyo and Egg were particularly well-concealed.
Teyo’s draykon heritage granted him more than passable skill at
sorcery, arts which had long been familiar and widely practiced
across the Seven — even if their source had only recently come to
be understood. He had cloaked them both in a patch of shadow,
making them indistinguishable from the darkness around them. As
such, it had been possible for them to creep up very close to
Halavere and her contact without being seen.

They watched the
exchange in silence, and a touch of disappointment. Halavere didn’t
even look at the piece of paper; she merely stuffed it into her
pocket and walked off. Teyo had been hoping to see some kind of
altercation, which might have revealed more about the purpose of
the meeting and the extent of Halavere’s involvement in Unspeakable
business. He was obliged to content himself with the knowledge that
her evening would grow somewhat complicated as soon as she realised
the paper was blank.

‘
I’m
going to follow him,’ Teyo whispered to Egg, who agreed with a
silent nod. They tailed the Unspeakable Gentleman all the way
around the edges of the extensive gardens and up to the edge of the
wide lawn that surrounded the house. It would be much harder to
follow him across all that, and he suspected there would be little
point; the man’s purpose had apparently been fulfilled, he had no
one further to meet and no other tasks to accomplish, and he was
leaving. Teyo thought he could be left to return to whichever
rat-hole he was crouching in tonight, and turned back to
Egg.

‘
Thoughts?’ she said.

‘
Think
anything else is likely to happen tonight?’

‘
Her
Dameship is due to throw a fit at some point, but I’m not sure
we’ll be able to catch that show.’ This last was spoken with some
regret.

Teyo nodded.
‘We’ve got what we came for. Let’s find Rena and Fabe and get out
of here.’

Their associates
were summoned by the simple means of sending Jisp into the ball
room and up the legs of either Serena or Fabian, whichever she
encountered first. This errand complete, Teyo and Egg retired to
the gates to await the arrival of the stupendous Chartre/Bastavere
carriage, which soon drew up. They piled inside, and Teyo sank
gratefully down onto the seat opposite Serena.

‘
I had
no idea the life of a footman was so exhausting,’ he muttered,
sagging. ‘Two hundred cloaks later, and my arms hurt
like—’

‘
Whiner,’ muttered Egg.

‘
Only
tell me you have something fabulous to report, and it will all be
worth it,’ Serena said. ‘Fabe and I failed. We saw Halavere meet
someone, but he apparently gave her a blank piece of paper. Maybe a
decoy?’

Egg rolled her
eyes and groaned. ‘We’ve been working together how long? Four
years, isn’t it?’

Serena turned a
hopeful gaze upon Egg. ‘You found something?’

Egg gave a snort.
‘What do you think I was doing while you were tearing up the
ballroom? Knitting?’

Teyo gave her a
reproachful glance, and she patted his knee in brief apology.
‘Sorry, Teyo. I don’t mean to imply that knitting isn’t an
exceptionally worthy pastime.’

Teyo nodded cool
acceptance of this concession.

‘
You
switched the paper!’ Serena guessed.

‘
Of
course
I switched the paper,’ Egg uttered with infinite
weariness. She took the real paper out of her pocket and thrust it
at Fabian, who was sitting opposite. Serena immediately craned her
neck to look at it too.

‘
I
caught Halavere’s contact before the meeting ever took place,’ Egg
continued. ‘He stuck out like a sore thumb, did you notice? Anyway,
I got the paper off him after I tied him up and chucked him over a
brandy barrel.’

Serena and Fabian
were too busy consulting over the contents of the note to pay any
heed to Egg’s announcement, and she turned a piteous stare upon
Teyo.

‘
There, there,’ he said soothingly. ‘
I
know you were
brilliant.’

‘
I
need a pay rise,’ Egg muttered.

‘
So,
this place,’ Serena said. ‘You two know who it belongs to, right?’
She displayed the note, upon which was written the name Bellaster
Park.

Teyo and Egg both
shook their heads. ‘High society is your field,’ Egg said
tartly.

‘
It
belongs,’ said Serena with a great sigh, ‘to Baron
Anserval.’

‘
Who?’
said Teyo.

‘
Baron
Farran Anserval!’ Serena elaborated in a grand voice. ‘The King of
Pomposity! He’s fabulously wealthy. He purchased his barony a few
years ago and settled down in southern Irbel, at the incredibly
ostentatious Bellaster Park. Since then he’s devoted himself to
buying basically everything of any value that comes in his way. The
house is stuffed with rubbish by now.’

‘
What
does Halavere want with any of that?’ Teyo enquired.

‘
I
don’t know,’ Serena said with a small frown. ‘I might guess that he
is an associate of the Unspeakables as well, but probably not? It
looks more like he’s a target. In which case, perhaps he’s acquired
something that Halavere wants — and, perhaps, that the Unspeakables
want too.’

‘
A
robbery!’ said Egg in delight.

‘
Maybe.’

Teyo frowned.
‘Private houses are difficult to infiltrate, especially these grand
places. Any chance he’ll be giving a ball soon?’

Serena said
nothing, only sighed. Fabian answered instead, with a particularly
fiendish grin.

‘
That
won’t be a problem,’ he said.

Egg kicked him in
the shins. ‘Don’t be mysterious. Tell us why it won’t be a
problem.’

‘
Because,’ he said with relish, ‘The good Baron Anserval
happens to be horribly in love with Serena.’

‘
He is
not
,’ protested Serena, sitting abruptly upright with
bristling indignation. ‘He is in love with Lady
Fenella.’

‘
You’re right,’ Fabian apologised. ‘A most vital
distinction.’

Serena nodded
gravely. ‘I can’t deny that it is a useful happenstance, but it is
most
tiresome. He really is the most dreadful
bore.’

Fabian made a
soothing noise. ‘Perhaps Oliver won’t wish us to pursue
it.’

Teyo raised his
brows. Oliver Tullen, their boss, was typically in favour of their
pursuing everything that came up in connection with the
Unspeakables; he would certainly send them after this little
mystery. Serena knew it, too, for she turned upon Fabian a
withering look and made no reply.

‘
Yes,
I suppose you’re right,’ Fabian said, nodding wisely. ‘You’ll just
have to steel yourself, sis, and put up with an hour or two of
fervent admiration.’

‘
Which
hour or two?’ Egg demanded. ‘We have only a
place. No date or time, or anything to tell us what’s happening
there or when. And we haven’t got much time to figure it out.
Switching the paper won’t slow Halavere down for long. She’ll wring
the information out of somebody soon enough.’

‘
Stake-out,’ said Teyo.

Egg sighed. ‘I
suppose.’

‘
No
matter,’ said Serena with a brilliant smile. ‘There are more of us,
now, after all! Many hands make light work, and all
that.’

Teyo blinked.
‘What?’

Serena beamed at
him. ‘It’s time to go and pick up our new recruit.’

When the carriage
arrived at the site of the ill-fated holdup, Wendle slowed it to a
near-crawl, as per Serena’s instructions. She waited expectantly,
but nobody hailed the carriage, and it did not stop to collect
anybody. She unfastened the window and stuck out her head, hoping
to catch sight of a dark figure lurking in the
moonlight.

The road was
empty.

‘
Has
he fled?’ said Fabian, with too evident satisfaction.