The Masked City (15 page)

‘And what does Lady Guantes do?’ Irene prompted.

‘Very little that I have been able to discover.’ Vale stared into his drink. ‘This disturbs me. And now Lord Guantes has vanished, and Lady Guantes is apparently preparing to depart herself.’

‘A connection, then.’ Irene pondered. ‘And Lord Silver gave Kai and me a warning that we were under threat. And the Library data suggests a prior history. If they are enemies—’

‘Given Fae dynamics, if Silver had wind of something, then naturally he’d want to foil their plans,’ Vale cut in, continuing her thought. ‘But in that case, why target Strongrock? I think we can reasonably assume they are indeed responsible for his disappearance.’

‘The nature of his family,’ Irene said. Her throat was dry at the thought of Kai at the mercy of creatures who detested him as much as he detested them. She choked down another sip of the tea.

‘Is that so important to the Fae?’ Vale asked, his dark eyes sharp. ‘This whole thing seems a somewhat excessive sequence of events.’

Irene spread her hands. ‘Dragons and Fae are ancient enemies. Their feuds go back for generations - their generations, not just human ones. They come from opposite ends of reality. They don’t think like humans, Vale. You know Silver and Kai - well, they’re comparatively weak. The powerful dragons or Fae are as far beyond them as Kai and Silver are different from us.’

‘Us,’ Vale noted. ‘You speak of yourself as if you were as human as I am.’

‘Don’t you think of me that way?’ Irene was stung by his remark. ‘I assure you, I was born human, I am human.’

‘Winters,’ Vale said patiently, ‘you do very well most of the time, but every once in a while, when you’re discussing your Library business, you refer to “ordinary humans”. I dare say you don’t even notice it yourself.’

‘Well.’ Irene felt a bit ashamed. It wasn’t a good idea for a Librarian to start thinking of herself as
special
, however important her job was, and however strange the worlds she travelled to might be. It led to delusions of godhood and other dangerous things.
Like Alberich.
‘Well,’ she repeated, ‘whatever you may think of me, to
them
I’m just a human. If I’d done something wrong, it would be simply a matter of swatting me down. But if Kai was abducted by the Fae, then to the dragons it’s practically an act of war.’

The word hung in the air between them. ‘You think it would be that important?’ Vale finally said.

‘Yes.’ She remembered Kai’s own strength - that of even a young dragon - and the power and majesty of his uncle. ‘I don’t know what the consequences might be. We have to stop this, fast. For Kai’s own sake. But also because this could destabilize whole worlds. Including yours. When I told you what his uncle had said to me, when he warned me he’d make an example of this world, I wasn’t being figurative. They could destroy this alternate, if Kai isn’t returned. Or if the Fae choose to make a fight of it.’ She had to make Vale understand just how real the threat to his world was.

She remembered, a little guiltily, that she’d skipped over the details of her own precise position and the trouble she might be in. Well, that wasn’t so important at the moment.

‘You seem extremely concerned for the safety of my “alternate”,’ Vale said drily. ‘I suppose, now that you occupy yourself here, it seems more important to you.’

Irene felt a flare of anger at his flippancy in view of what now faced them both. ‘I see no reason not to head off a possible war before it can even become a skirmish. Do you think so little of me that you think I’d just stand by?’

‘I think you overrate these … people,’ Vale said. ‘I have encountered enough Fae in my time, and while they are certainly hazardous, you seem to feel they are world-shakingly dangerous. Strongrock himself may have some unusual powers, but in the end he has his limits, as do we all. And as for Silver …’ He shrugged.

She took a deep breath. ‘Dangerous enough to shake worlds,’ she said as calmly as she could. Facts would be more use than losing her temper. ‘That’s an extremely good way of putting it. Although I have never encountered any of the truly powerful ones myself. That is because they usually inhabit the ends of reality, where chaos is the deepest. There, the Fae take over whole worlds and bind their power to the very fabric of these worlds. In your world we are in the shallow end, Vale, somewhere between the deeps on the one side and the heights on the other. I have never encountered any of the great powers of chaos, and I hope I never do. Librarians are taught very early that one does not go swimming in the deep waters with the sharks, because we’d be eaten alive!’

Vale nodded slowly. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘I accept your judgement on the dangers, Winters. And please keep your voice down. Someone might hear you.’

Irene wasn’t entirely sure he did believe her. But if he was exposed to that level of power in person, they’d be in so much trouble anyhow that apologies would be pointless. ‘Ao Shun confirmed that Kai is somewhere in the chaos worlds,’ she said, ‘and your witnesses’ testimony from the kidnapping suggests that Lord Guantes took him. But I can’t track him unless we’re already in the same world. Unless you have any other Fae who owe you a favour, then I think our only source of guidance is …’

‘Indeed. Lord Silver.’ Vale pursed his thin lips in an expression of profound dislike. ‘Like you, I see no other alternative.’

‘Lord Silver did say I could visit any time, when we last met,’ she went on. ‘But the visiting card he gave me is at my lodgings, and you’ve confirmed they’re being watched. And in any case, if Lady Guantes is also at the Embassy, we can’t simply walk in through the front door.’

‘Certainly not looking as we do,’ Vale agreed. ‘Besides, there is currently a demonstration in front of the Embassy, so it will have to be the servants’ entrance. And if I am correct, he will be willing to see us with or without a card. Was his manservant with you, when you spoke to him?’

Irene thought back, and nodded. ‘Johnson. A thin man in grey.’

‘He’s our key, then,’ Vale said with satisfaction. ‘Let us prepare.’

And so, later that evening, Irene and Vale were waiting in a line behind the Liechtenstein Embassy. They were swathed in heavy hooded cloaks, which would have been more conspicuous if the half-dozen ahead of them weren’t also heavily cloaked and hooded. Two men were leading sets of dogs - a pair of poodles, a pair of Borzoi, a pair of terriers and a pair of Afghan hounds - all of which played merrily around their legs and caused them to curse frequently and with heavy Russian accents. The Afghan hounds had been bleached white, but the ambient grime of London already lay on their pelts in thick dark smuts. Another man frantically studied a musical score, pausing from time to time to blow a few notes on his long-tarnished flute. And two women - at least, Irene thought they were women - tucked up their cloaks to practise a dance, baring stockinged calves and high-heeled shoes. Behind Irene and Vale, the line stretched further back along the wall of the Embassy. A savvy street-vendor had set up his stall and was selling oranges.

‘Have you done this before?’ Irene asked quietly. The dogs, flautist and tap-dancers made enough noise to cover anything less than shouting on her part.

‘On several occasions,’ Vale said shortly. ‘But please remember your part, Winters. You are—’

‘Your hypnotic medium,’ Irene said obediently. ‘Through whom you can summon up the ancient spirits of the departed Pharaohs.’

‘You are rather glib about this. Have you done anything of this nature yourself?’

Irene wondered if he’d forgotten she was a Librarian by trade, and so usually wore a false identity, but he did have a point. This was more than usually exotic. ‘Not since I was at school,’ she admitted.

‘School?’ Vale queried.

‘Ah. There was one minor incident. An international criminal gang were hiding out in the nearby chalets, and then there was this flood—’

‘Later,’ Vale instructed. The queue had begun to move forward.

However, they had to endure a brief episode when the dogs suddenly refused to enter the Embassy. They had to be lured in by their handlers brandishing beef jerky, prompting several stray dogs to make a determined bid for it. The Embassy staff ended up throwing buckets of water over the lot of them. The two handlers were screaming in Russian, and the flautist was yelling that his sheet music was soaked. But Vale and Irene finally made it through the door and into the Embassy, brushing wet dog hair off their cloaks.

The small receiving room they were shown into was a disappointment. Irene had been expecting something rather more dramatic from the Fae’s inner quarters, but instead the room looked like any shabby below-stairs lounge in London.

Vale leaned forward to speak to the bored-looking maid who’d brought them in, and there was the clink of coins changing hands. ‘We need to speak to Mr Johnson,’ he murmured. The maid bobbed her head and left the room in a rustle of wide skirts.

A long five minutes later, Johnson stepped into the room. ‘You have a private message for me?’ he enquired curtly, his usual civility absent.

Vale nodded to Irene. She took a deep breath and pushed her hood back to show her face. ‘We need to speak to Lord Silver urgently,’ she said.

‘Ah.’ Johnson drew a thoughtful breath through his teeth. ‘Yes. Please raise your hood again. Nobody in the Embassy must know you are here. If you and your friend will follow me, Miss Winters, we will take the back stairs. Lord Silver will see you at once.’

CHAPTER TEN

Silver’s private study surprised Irene. It actually looked like a place where a human being might live and work, rather than an overdone stage set. The divan, although it was upholstered in red velvet, showed the scuffs and traces of regular use, and the tooth marks of something small and gnawy marred one of its legs. The large mahogany desk had stacks of paper on it, rather than being dramatically bare, although the manacles at its corners were a little worrying. The ether-lights in the corners had been turned down, bathing the whole velvet-curtained room in a rich amber gloom. A bookcase in the far corner made Irene itch to wander over and examine its crowded shelves, but she controlled the impulse, looking instead at their owner.

Silver himself was sprawled coatless in a wide chair behind the desk, his cravat hanging loose at his throat. He looked the very model of raffish disreputability, turning a glass of brandy in his hand. He glanced up languidly as Johnson led Irene and Vale into the room, remarking, ‘I must say that you have cut it rather fine. I was expecting you and Miss Winters earlier, Mr Vale.’

Vale pushed back his hood to show his face, and Irene followed suit. She had agreed with Vale that he should take the lead in the interrogation. He had known Silver for longer, and might be able to prod him into a useful revelation. ‘I would hesitate before coming to any appointment with you, sir. You should not be surprised that I am late - you should be surprised that I have arrived at all.’

‘But you received the note, then.’ Silver sipped his brandy.

‘I received it,’ Vale agreed.

‘And you believe I sent it.’

‘I
know
that you sent it.’

‘And your suspicions as to my motivations?’

‘Hardly suspicions. Certainties.’

‘Entertain me by explaining them, then. I am surprised by so few things these days.’

‘Very well.’ Vale strolled a few steps further into the room. ‘Your dispute with the Guantes is well known. You will not argue that point, I imagine.’

‘My dear Vale, I take pains to cultivate it. You may go on.’

Irene noticed the twitch that passed across Vale’s face at being addressed as an intimate. She drew her cloak closer around her, so as not to show off her ankles, and stepped back, fading into the shadows as she watched the men. Silver might be a master of glamour, but while he was focused on Vale, he wasn’t watching her. And observing from the shadows was her area of expertise.

‘You were aware that Mr Strongrock might be abducted,’ Vale said. ‘And you attempted to give him something that might be charitably described as a warning, when you met him and Miss Winters a few days ago. Possibly you were hindered by observers from telling them more.’