Dark Heart Rising (28 page)

The crowd muttered and cheered, carried away by Lowe’s oratory.

‘The devil save us from the likes of Lowe,’ whispered Vanya. ‘Little ignoramus. Blindly unaware that he is the real liability on Nissilum.’

I nodded. Lowe’s answer to everything was aggression. He was threatened by anything he didn’t understand. As young and stupid as he appeared, though, his venom scared me. I had no idea he hated me that much.

‘How tedious! We now have to stay holed up inside until that wretched boy gets bored and shuffles home for his dinner,’ Vanya said, in a bored tone. She turned to me. ‘On reflection, my dear, aren’t you glad you no longer have to face being part of the wolf-boy’s family? I mean, it’s not just the brother, is it? It’s that carping mother of his too.’ She shuddered. ‘Unbearable.’

‘Luca and Dalya are different,’ I said firmly. ‘Lowe is a nasty piece of work.’

‘You can say that again. What annoys me is that we, the vampires, are always branded as the evil, untrustworthy ones. When we are simply direct.’

I smiled at her. ‘You certainly are.’

‘It’s a virtue, darling, not a vice.’

The sound of the crowd was growing faint and, peeping out, I saw it had drifted away from Lowe – who was still standing, an impassioned look on his face, hands on his hips.

‘Nobody wants to join his revolution after all,’ I said, relieved. ‘But I have a feeling Lowe won’t give up easily.’ I looked at Vanya. ‘What will happen to Soren?’

Vanya barely hid her concern. ‘I’ll make sure nothing does,’ she said firmly. ‘I don’t care who I have to fight to get him released.’

I looked at her curiously. ‘How do you know Soren?’ I asked. ‘I mean, it’s all a bit vague.’

A flicker of something passed over her face. ‘Oh, we just ran in the same circles for a while,’ she said – which was even more vague as far as I was concerned.

‘How?’ I frowned. ‘I mean, he ran away … I don’t—’

‘Don’t pry,’ she said abruptly and a little severely. ‘You might regret it if you do.’

‘OK.’ I carried on looking at her profile. ‘But I won’t judge. I don’t live on Nissilum. I’m used to mortal frailty.’

She turned slowly to face me, and relaxed a little.

‘I can’t go into it … I am not willing to open that particular “can of worms”.’ She annunciated the phrase almost comically – a way of distracting me, I knew.

‘So … how did Raphael seem? Was he angry?’ I said after a pause, changing the subject.

‘See, that’s the rather odd thing.’ Vanya sat down on my bed. ‘Raphael seemed to be almost enjoying the whole thing. I do hope that doesn’t mean he is having another breakdown – that doesn’t bode well for anyone.’

I shuddered. My memory of Raphael in his mortal form – as Evan – was of someone capable of chilling twists of mood. Volatile.

‘He allowed me to see him last night,’ she went on. ‘He was almost charming. It was all very odd. I asked him if I could be allowed to defend Soren – in the spirit of fair justice – and he laughed. He said that there was no such thing on Nissilum, but that Soren could be in a position to redeem himself.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘No idea. Some kind of trade-off perhaps.’ Her face paled a little, but regained its colour almost instantaneously.

‘If Luca brings charges against him, then there has to be some kind of trial.’ I thought of how the justice system worked in the mortal world. But this wasn’t my world. Things worked in a very different way.

‘If Luca was going to do that, he would have done it by now. I wonder if Henora is so embarrassed by the whole thing that she has silenced him.’

‘I doubt that. She thinks Soren and I are co-conspirators. She’ll want us out.’

‘Well. maybe now what Henora wants won’t count for much. She has shown herself to be somewhat unhinged.’ Vanya looked unusually anxious though.

‘Perhaps things are going to change at last.’ I looked at her. ‘Lowe is a hot-headed fool – but in a weird kind of way he is kicking up the dust. Forcing people to notice what is going on.’

‘Pah – he is barking up the wrong tree altogether. That boy has the “constitution” so ingrained in him, he would die defending it. This twisted sense of superior morality!’

‘But something is going on now, isn’t it?’ I looked at her. ‘Raphael is ascending as ruler of Nissilum. The establishment is changing.’

But what would this mean for Luca? Would it bring us together at last? Or would it wrench us finally apart?

After Vanya had left me alone, I sat staring out through the window at the perfect blue sky, and in the distance – treetops, harking back to another time and place for me and for Luca. Nothing stays the some. But sometimes change is a good thing. It was time to move on.

N
ight was coming again. Raphael lay in his darkened bedroom, where he had been for many hours, unable to do anything but stare at the shapes caused by the dim light in the room. Down below, deep underneath the palace, Soren was still incarcerated and Raphael was not ready to speak to him again, or let him go.

He was still going over the words, trying to focus on what it was about him that seemed familiar.

Soren had risked severe punishment to speak out to Luca. He didn’t want sympathy … But he did want something. He was searching for something.

Noises were coming from downstairs, the servants going about their business. Celeste had not come to him – not even to find out what he had done with Soren. Perhaps she sensed that the net was closing in on her and she was ashamed of her own dishonesty – she couldn’t face him.

At this last thought Raphael sat up abruptly. The mirror opposite the bed showed him to be unkempt – his curls in disarray, his clothes creased and dirty from the night before. He stood quickly, removing his shirt and trousers. He would bathe and then start preparations. What had been a seed of a revolution in his head was now about to become a reality. But he needed to create some fervour, even if it meant lying about his intent.

It was late, but the palace horses were always ready for a bit of exercise. Approaching the stables, he heard them moving about restlessly inside. Saddling up his own, he rode as quietly as he could, past the bemused-looking guards and then more quickly across the fields, heading for Henora and Ulfred’s home on the outskirts of the Celestial Quarter.

Lila and Dalya were together in Dalya’s bedroom. Luca was not one for eavesdropping, but he couldn’t help himself from lingering at the sound of their voices; Lila’s high and still a little hysterical, Dalya’s calm, but serious.

‘I’m frightened,’ said Lila, ‘and confused … I do remember my brother, but Henora says I don’t … She said that what Saul— what Soren did was try and confuse me. Maybe she’s right? Maybe I just wanted to …’

‘But why would you?’ Dalya sighed. ‘Why would you think you remembered something as big as that? It doesn’t make sense.’

Luca heard her lower her voice then and he strained to listen.

‘Mother is terrified of anything getting in the way of your marriage to Luca,’ she said. ‘It has made her a little intense. Not herself.’

‘What do you think, Dalya?’ Lila asked. ‘Is it just a wicked story?’

There was a silence and Luca found he was holding his breath.

‘No. I know it to be true. I have no proof. But I have the word of someone I trust.’ She gave a small laugh. ‘Who is like a sister to me … But who I am sure I will never see again.’

‘That pale girl with the grey eyes?’ Lila said. ‘Who is she?’

‘Oh. Just … someone.’

Luca shut his eyes.
Just someone
.

‘Are we still holding the engagement ball?’ Lila asked innocently. ‘I have had my dress especially made.’

‘I don’t know, Lila,’ Dalya said kindly. ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen now.’

Luca moved away from the bedroom door, treading backwards, away from them. His sister meant the world to him and he knew she wasn’t fanciful by nature. If Dalya truly believed Soren had been telling the truth, then he owed it to her and to Lila to find out for himself.

He could hear Lila talking again, light-hearted this time, playful, Dalya gently humouring her, and he smiled sadly.

He couldn’t just leave Lila. Promises had been made. Albeit to Lila’s parents from Henora and Ulfred. But his family’s duty was his duty. Nothing had been instilled in him more. And Lila was vulnerable. He couldn’t let her down – could he?

Jane didn’t need him. She had her family, her strength, her courage. And she would soon find a replacement. He hoped for her sake it would be a mortal boy, who could offer her straightforward love.

He reached the top of the stairs and began climbing down. Lowe was at the base, struggling into a coat, one foot inside a riding boot.

‘Lowe?’ Luca reached him. ‘Where are you going in such a hurry? It’s late. You were up half the night …’

Lowe pulled his other boot on. ‘I am not sleepy, I’m going for a ride.’

‘Now?’ Luca’s eyes darted to the living room, where Henora and Ulfred were. ‘Seems a bit odd.’

‘Lowe shrugged. ‘You’re a fine one to speak of odd.’

Luca eyed his brother suspiciously. ‘You are up to something … sneaking about. You were up at the crack of dawn this morning too. You, who never rise until midday.’

‘Somebody needs to do something,’ said Lowe darkly. ‘Stop this.’

‘Stop what?’ Luca stepped closer to him, anxiously.

But Lowe was not forthcoming. He secured his coat, slapping his chest in a gesture of machismo. It would have been amusing in other circumstances. But not tonight.

‘If I were you, I would concentrate on comforting your fiancée,’ Lowe told him condescendingly. ‘From what I gather you were hardly the hero last night. Mother said you stood like a meek little lamb, and it was left to her to deal with the situation.’

Luca sighed, shaking his head. ‘One day you will learn that rushing recklessly into matters that you don’t fully understand is not the adult thing to do.’

‘So I should just stand about mewling, allowing all manner of low-life and mortal interlopers into my life?’ Lowe pulled on his coat, buttoning it up to his neck. ‘I don’t think so. Unlike you, brother. I will not allow myself to be disrespected. I have pride. Raphael has asked me to help him, and I have a feeling that the vampire-boy will be receiving his due punishment tonight.’

Luca opened his mouth, trying to find the real meaning in Lowe’s little speech, but he couldn’t find the words to respond. He stood back, even opening the door for Lowe.

‘Just be careful,’ he said. ‘Sometimes your trust is misplaced.’

With a derisive snort, Lowe pushed past him out into the night, heading for the stables.

As he shut the door after him, Luca leaned back against it, an uneasy feeling creeping over him. He glanced upstairs where the girls were, and then at the door to the room where his parents were talking.

His brother was right. He was too passive. Minutes passed as Luca turned ideas over in his head. Then moving quietly, he gathered his boots and a jacket, and an old deer-stalker style hat of his father’s, then, deftly opening the door so that it made no sound, he crept silently out the door.

A
s Raphael knew he would, Lowe cantered eagerly towards him, his hair swept back by the wind.

‘Is there trouble with Soren?’ asked Lowe, panting a little from some hard riding.

‘Soren is locked up in his cell,’ said Raphael. ‘I need you to round up the stable boys, have them ready for my instruction.’

Lowe’s eyes widened. His excitement was visible. ‘Is it the vampires? Have they staged some sort of revolt on his behalf? We will be glad to put them in their place. It’s about time.’

Raphael nodded. He didn’t contradict the boy. He needed him to cause trouble, to create unrest.

‘Fetch the stable boys, then meet me at the palace cellars. We need to raid the armoury.’

‘You mean to fight?’ A shadow of doubt crossed Lowe’s face. ‘This is serious.’

Again Raphael nodded. ‘Just meet me there in an hour,’ he told him.

Lowe looked slightly hesitant for a second, but he pulled on his horse’s reins. ‘Of course. I won’t let you down.’

Of course you won’t
, thought Raphael. And as Lowe rode away, he kicked his heels into his mare and began the journey back to the palace.

Loosely tying his horse, Raphael ran through the palace kitchens. It was late and all the staff were in bed. The stable boys would be grumpy and reluctant to get up, he thought. But they all shared Lowe’s ridiculous vigilante spirit. At the hint of a threat to the palace, they would come out in arms to defend it. To defend the Celestial family.

But Raphael wasn’t interested in the Celestial family – only that as a member of it, he had power.

To expose a palace secret in the midst of chaos.

He found some paper without the palace emblem on it, and hurried up the great staircase to his room. There he took out the sheaf of documents relating to his father’s disappearance, together with another set of documents relating to the infamous wolf cub killer, and tucked them both deep into his pockets.