Faculty of Fire (10 page)

“He can,” Romius interrupted. “And you shouldn’t talk to him about it.”

My aunt gaped in amazement as he took me by the shoulder and led me away.

“Take no notice, I’ll have a word with Eliza, you go and enjoy yourself.”

“But why does she …” I began.

“Later, we’ll deal with everything later,” Romius replied and went back to my aunt. I stood there for a while, trying to gather my wits, and went back to Chas. Before I reached the table, I was surprised to see that our places had been taken by someone else. Chas must have gone off somewhere. There was nothing for it but to take a free place by the wall. Once I’d taken it, I realised why it was free. The view was completely blocked by a large green aspidistra. I sighed, leaned back wearily against the wall and closed my eyes, trying to gather my thoughts. The only thing stopping me was the constant drone of voices, but unfortunately there was nothing I could do about that.

Suddenly the drone fell silent. At first I thought my hearing was playing tricks on me, but a fact is a fact: the hall really was deathly quiet.

I peeped out warily from behind the aspidistra and looked around. I couldn’t see all that much from my little refuge, but I didn’t miss the appearance of the slim shapely girl in a white dress. Judging from the way everyone’s eyes were glued to her, this charming creature was the cause of the sudden silence. Of course, I had no idea what was going on, and who this girl was. It didn’t seem appropriate to ask– my question would have thundered like a cannon shot.

The girl in white walked majestically across the hall and, surprisingly, came in my direction. As the girl in white walked across the hall, movement and whispering sprang up behind her back as people began recovering their wits and whispering to each other. The closer the girl came to me, the more distinctly I could make out her charming and seductive figure under the dress, and the louder the whispering became. When she was halfway across the hall, I realised that her figure was simply perfect. The beautiful girl’s face was concealed behind a veil that was light but opaque.

The drone of voices in the hall gradually got louder and louder.

Eventually the girl reached a table only a couple of yards away from me and sat down gracefully on a chair as if it were a genuine throne – every movement she made was so full of grace. The crowd livened up again and conversations were resumed. Sideways glances were cast at the girl. I froze on the spot, trying to make out the stranger’s face through the veil. But I didn’t have to struggle for long, because soon the girl lifted the veil herself, and I saw an incredibly beautiful face. The most beautiful face I had ever seen in my life. The face of the vampire girl who was in my room earlier that day.

Scene 5

I could have admired the vampiress forever, but nothing good in my life ever lasts for more than a few seconds. It was the same this time, the brief moment of happiness was interrupted by the appearance of my red-haired friend. As usual, Chas hadn’t wasted any time, and he was striding along arm-in-arm with Nathalie.

“Why so gloomy?” he asked, positively beaming with delight.

“I’m not sure, really,” I answered. “I came here with a friend, but he’s gone. You haven’t seen him, have you? Brazen face, red hair, a flaky kind of guy …”

Nathalie laughed and looked curiously at Chas. What would he say to that?

But Chas didn’t come up with any caustic reply, he just stood there gaping, open-mouthed. And the reason was that a man wearing the grey livery of a Higher Craftsman had come up to us – my uncle Romius.

“Zachary, I need to have a word with you,” he said in a slightly strained voice, then he nodded to Chas and Nathalie and added: “I’m sorry, young people, but in private.”

Chas was so astounded by the sight of his grey robes that at first he didn’t even realise the Higher Craftsman was talking to him.

“Ah … well, yes,” he muttered, casting another glance of amazement at me as he disappeared into the crowd with Nathalie.

Romius watched the couple walk off and turned to me.

“I have to discuss something with you, it concerns my sister and myself, and now you as well. You probably noticed your aunt isn’t exactly delighted that you got into the Academy. But in fact, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’m going to tell you a little story, but it must remain strictly between the two of us, and if anyone asks, you never heard it.”

I didn’t really understand what an iceberg had to do with me. But my uncle had intrigued me. The question was, how could we possibly discuss some strictly personal matter surrounded by such a massive crowd?

Romius followed my gaze and waved his hand dismissively.

“No one else will overhear our conversation. They won’t hear anything but the usual courtly pleasantries and flattery.” He chuckled. “I am a Craftsman, after all.”

“All right, uncle, but what if someone can lip read?”

That put him off his stride a bit.

“I didn’t think about that. We’ll have to hope that no one but you has that idea. Well then …” Romius frowned slightly, gathering his thoughts. “You are aware, of course, that your family is pretty near the top of the list when it comes to inheriting the throne. To be precise, it is in third place. Of course, our Emperor has no plans to depart from this earthly life for the next hundred years or so, but there are troubled times just ahead …”

“Troubled times?” I exclaimed, confused.

And I thought that the golden age of civilisation had just arrived. There hadn’t been any wars for three hundred years and not much had been heard for a long time from the only real enemy of the Empire of the Elirs, the Tabernacle Caliphate, either. All our other enemies were so far away that they simply couldn’t reach us. There were still the vampires … but they hadn’t caused any trouble since the collapse of the Kingdom of Miir.

Of course our city, like the rest of the Empire, wasn’t an ideally peaceful place, but the idea that anything could threaten the Emperor was simply absurd. Maybe my uncle was a bit touched?

“There’s no way you could know about it,” Romius went on, “but don’t forget that the Craftsmen include some pretty good foretellers. Of course, it would be foolish to put your complete faith in them, but they can’t be dismissed out of hand. Well anyway, for months now we’ve been hearing the same thing from all our foretellers: there going to be a war soon, not just an external war, but an internal one too. That’s what they’ve been saying – ‘internal’. But you don’t need to bother your head about that right now, just understand one thing – the chances are quite good that there will be a new Emperor soon. And if it happens during the next few years, the first person in line for the throne will be you.”

I was stunned. “Me, the Emperor? But that’s crazy! Our family is only third on the list, what have they done with the first two?”

“The explanation’s pretty simple,” Romius chuckled. “If you had devoted even a little time to the study of heraldry, you would know that the Emperor has to be an adult male who is not bound by any ties of marriage. And it’s not you who come third on the list, but your family. It just happens that at the moment the first two families don’t have anyone who matches these requirements, and our family only has two – you and I. But, I am delighted to say, there is also another requirement: the ruler cannot be a Craftsman. First of all because that would give him too much power … and for many other reasons, including moral ones. You won’t be able to understand those until you become a Craftsman yourself.”

It suddenly hit me that by enrolling in the Academy, I had renounced all claims to the throne. That immediately made me feel better. Me on the throne? The entire country could go to the dogs before I would sign my first decree. What a shame that Liz wasn’t as knowledgeable about politics as my uncle, she would have been kicking herself for the rest of her life. Fancy swapping the Emperor for an ordinary Craftsman!

“Now you ought to understand why your aunt Eliza is, let us say, slightly displeased at your joining the Academy,” Romius went on. “She’s a good woman, but too ambitious and determined to demonstrate her superiority. It’s the result of her education, I’m afraid … That’s why she and I haven’t been getting along recently, although I respect and love her …”

But it had seemed to me that my aunt wasn’t simply annoyed because I’d got into the Academy. She didn’t believe me …

“And now I’ve ruined all my aunt’s plans,” I murmured. “I’m sorry, but I would never have made a decent Emperor anyway – no matter how much my aunt, or even I, might have wanted it.”

“You’re wrong to think so. In fact, you have been taught everything an Emperor needs to know since you were a child. Economics, politics, history, even your study of the Art – it was all an educational program subtly planned by your aunt. Don’t be so surprised, she foresaw just about everything.”

“Apart from me getting into the Academy,” I chuckled.

“You got into the Academy entirely by accident. Your abilities are too weak. If not for that strange incident, and my patronage, you could never have got in at all. No offence intended, of course, but facts are facts.”

“Why should I take offence? I knew all that already,” I said with a rather strained smile. “So it turns out my aunt has been using me all my life? Trying to mould me into the ideal monarch?”

Romius was slightly embarrassed.

“Not entirely … She thinks she’s doing all this for you. It’s just that everyone has his own idea of what happiness is …”

“And what about the idea that you can’t force a man to be happy? Neither by physical coercion nor by moral constraint?” I fumed.

“There’s nothing I can do to help you there. That’s a matter for you aunt’s conscience. But I can say one thing for certain – she loves you and she does all this only for your sake. Even her desire to be superior is no more than a means to make you happy.”

I calmed down a bit. Of course, my aunt was far from perfect, but she did love me.

“All right, I’ve got all that sorted out, but that isn’t all you wanted to say to me, is it?”

A hint of approval glimmered momentarily in his eyes.

“No, it isn’t. I have to give you the chance to choose – you’re not formally enrolled in the Academy yet and, if you like, at the end of the evening you can quite easily leave the hall with all the guests. Apart from the Higher Craftsmen and a few pupils, no one knows that you’ve been accepted, and no one will say anything if you go. Perhaps some day you will be our Emperor, or perhaps you’ll manage to become a Craftsman. But I have to warn you that neither of these things is very likely. The predictions are very vague, and many things in the political situation can change. And as for the Academy … will we be able to work out why you suffered sensitivity shock, and will you be forced to leave after a while because you can’t master the discipline at a higher level?”

Romius said nothing for a while, gazing at me and waiting for an answer. No doubt my face betrayed my inner struggle and uncertainty. No, it wasn’t a matter of not knowing which of the two options to choose. What was bothering me was that there was no way I could reject both of them.

“I’m not used to backing down, and if there’s any chance at all that I could become Emperor …” I said, looking my uncle in the eye, “… I have to get out while the going’s good. I’d rather try to become a Craftsman.”

My uncle smiled and suddenly put his arms round me.

“I’m glad that’s your decision. I think we’ll be able to get to the bottom of this phenomenon of yours.”

I didn’t even bother to ask what the “phenomenon” was. He wouldn’t tell me anyway.

“I hope so,” I said with a smile.

“I have to have a word with Eliza and enter you in the register, so in the meantime enjoy yourself and don’t forget that when all the outsiders leave, you’ll stay here with the new adepts.”

I nodded happily and suddenly remembered the question I wanted to ask before I was distracted by the sudden news of my “good fortune”.

“Er … Romius, just one question …”

“Yes?”

“Who is that girl in white? When she came in, everyone stopped talking, as if she was a leper.”

“You’re almost right. She’s a vampire!”

“I noticed that, I’m not blind,”

“Don’t interrupt!” Romius snapped, wagging his finger at me to let know that he wasn’t just my uncle, but a Higher Craftsmen as well. “She is the only vampire in the entire history of the Academy who has passed all the tests. Or, to be more precise, she is the only vampire who has ever taken those damned tests.”

I’d pretty well guessed that much from what I heard people saying.

“Aha,” I drawled slowly. “Then why does everyone ‘like’ her so much?”

“ ‘Like’ her? That’s putting it too mildly. They simply adore her. There have already been three attempts to kill the girl. You’re the only who hasn’t heard.”

“Poor girl,” I said, horrified.

“Not so very poor. All those who tried to attack her were found dead. I ought to know, I found them, and it was me who sent them.” When he saw how startled I was, he added: “I’m joking, I’m joking. All right, I’ll be off, I’ve been talking to you for too long anyway, and your friends are probably missing you already.”