26
The two nobles were dressed in black military regalia, complete with matching masks that were no more than a simple white visor across their eyes. Indeed, Isadora was not the only woman to be wearing military dress – in the corner of his eye Fletcher saw that several other recent arrivals had foregone ballgowns for the more clean-cut look: noblewomen who bore high-ranking positions in the military, or their own private armies.
Fletcher’s breathing quickened at the sight of the twins, sweat bursting across his palms. They stalked through the room like a pair of golden-haired lions, completely at ease in the ostentatious gathering of Hominum’s elite.
Ignoring the calls of greeting from the other guests, the pair walked directly towards Seraph. Fletcher felt Sylva snatching at his sleeve, but the shock of seeing the pair had rooted him to the spot. By the time he came to his senses, it was too late, and Tarquin and Isadora stood before them, masked eyes flicking between the three of them.
‘Congratulations, Seraph,’ Tarquin said, his voice flat and unenthusiastic. ‘A noble at last. You have come up in the world.’
‘Thank you,’ Seraph replied stiffly.
Tarquin barely registered the response. His eyes were boring into Fletcher’s own, narrowing beneath his mask. Fletcher remained silent, but inclined his head slightly, as if in greeting.
‘Well, don’t be rude, Seraph darling,’ Isadora said, flicking her mane of hair. ‘Won’t you introduce us to your guests?’
Seraph cleared his throat, buying himself time.
‘James Rotherham,’ Seraph finally said, his voice an octave higher than usual. ‘He’s from Swazulu. Come to oversee our sulphur mines.’
‘James Rotherham,’ Tarquin asked, his brows furrowing. ‘That’s a northern name. And you’re a little pale to be from Swazulu, aren’t you, James?’
‘Uh, he doesn’t speak our language very well,’ Seraph said hastily. ‘His forefathers are originally from Hominum, hence the name and appearance, but he’s as foreign as they come.’
Fletcher bowed his head lower, and clasped his hands together in a gesture of respect. Tarquin grunted, the suspicion plain on his face – even with the eye mask. Still, his main interest was in Sylva, his eyes lingering on her slim frame a touch longer than Fletcher would have liked.
‘Tell me, Seraph, why have you brought an elf to the ball?’ Isadora said, then laughed at Seraph’s sharp intake of breath.
‘Well, don’t act so surprised,’ she giggled, slapping Seraph playfully on the shoulder. ‘Her eyes, they’re far too colourful. Even Mummy’s eyes aren’t that blue. Honestly Seraph, don’t you have any friends from your own nation?’
She pretended to pause and think, then covered her mouth with a gasp of mock mortification. ‘Oh wait, they all died, didn’t they? I’m so sorry.’
Seraph stuttered with anger, and Fletcher had to resist balling his hands into fists. Fortunately, Sylva stepped smoothly forward and curtsied deeply before Seraph could reply.
‘Good evening.’
An elven accent, pure and lilting, lay thick over her words. It was an impressive performance, and Fletcher grinned beneath his mask.
‘I am a representative of the clans, here to negotiate a weapons deal with Lord Pasha.’ She nodded at Seraph. ‘Our troops will be arriving on the front lines soon, and they need arms. We thought it best that I do not make my presence at the ball known, given the current … climate.’
Tarquin set his jaw, and the furrow in his brow deepened.
‘Did you not consider the Triumvirate for your weapons?’ Isadora asked, her voice sickly sweet. ‘Our factories are far closer to your borders than the Pashas’ are.’
‘We choose who we do business with very carefully,’ Sylva stated, crossing her arms. ‘It is a matter of … taste.’
The two stiffened at her words, and Fletcher saw twin spots of red appear on Tarquin’s cheeks.
‘Come on, Isadora,’ Tarquin snapped, taking his sister’s arm. ‘We must pay our respects to Lady Faversham.’
The duo swept off, disappearing into the crowd without a second glance.
‘Swazulu?’ Fletcher hissed. ‘Is that the best you could come up with?’
‘Hey, don’t blame me,’ Seraph muttered under his breath, stepping closer so Fletcher could hear him. ‘You’re the one who didn’t have a story ready, or even a bloody name. You know I only got told about this harebrained scheme of yours a few hours ago, right? I had to leave my two real guests twiddling their thumbs in my hotel room, and you’re lucky their invitations didn’t have names on them. Don’t forget, if this goes wrong, my life is on the line. Aiding and abetting traitors makes me one too.’
Fletcher sighed and took a sip of his wine. It was bitter in his mouth, and he swallowed it with a grimace. He instantly regretted it, feeling the acid liquid trickle down and sit in the pit of his stomach.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘But we seem to have got away with it, so no harm done.’
‘Well, Sylva did no better. Did you have to antagonise them?’ Seraph moaned.
‘I couldn’t help myself,’ Sylva said, with a hint of regret in her voice.
‘Just move away from me, before someone else we know comes to say hello.’
As if on cue, the announcer called Didric’s name, reducing the hubbub of noise to hushed whispering. Fletcher caught a glimpse of his nemesis, dressed in the bee-striped dress uniform of his private army: an elegantly tailored two-piece with the chevrons of a captain emblazoned across the shoulders. He wore a silver, crescent-shaped mask that perfectly covered the burned half of his face. Instantly, he was surrounded by fawning lesser nobles, desperate to become acquainted with the new lord.
But there was no need to hurry away, for the announcer called out to the guests. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please proceed to the banquet hall.’
Fletcher needed no further coaxing, and Sylva hooked her arm through his and joined the chattering crowds up the stairs. She struggled somewhat with every step, for the dress was long and caught under her heels. Fletcher realised that these dainty, high-heeled slippers were a poor choice of footwear for their night’s work, and pointless because they could barely be seen beneath the trailing skirts.
By the time they reached the doors, Fletcher was sweating under the heat from the bright torches that lit the way, leaving the black curls of his hair soaked with perspiration. They stumbled through into the new light of the banquet hall, only to gape in wonder.
Three long tables stood side by side, in a room lit with so many chandeliers that it was as if the very ceiling was ablaze. The floor was the warm umber of polished mahogany, and marble busts that depicted generations of the royal family lined the walls, glowering at the assembled guests as if disapproving of the extravagant display.
Foppish footmen bowed and scraped as they walked in, before leading the guests to their places. Fletcher found himself sitting with Seraph and Sylva, opposite a heavyset nobleman, whose face was already red from drink. The man was seated between two young women who were clearly his guests, for they fawned over his every word. Both were heavily made-up, with their hair piled high and matching golden masks across their eyes.
‘Of course, it’s a damned shame,’ the man was saying as Sylva and Seraph sat down on either side of Fletcher. ‘I mean, King Harold’s a good sort, heart in the right place and all that, but he’s gone too far this time.’
‘You’re so right, Bertie dearest, far too far,’ one of the women gushed, leaning closer so that Fletcher could see a large black beauty spot on her left cheek.
‘Far too far,’ the other repeated, nodding along. She had an unusually long neck, her head bobbing like that of a stork.
‘Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile, that’s what I always say,’ Bertie continued, his jowls wobbling as he rapped the table with his knuckle for emphasis. ‘Dwarves need to know their place. Now look what’s happened. A few hundred of the buggers marching down here, armed to the teeth, and all the while their bombs going off left and right.’
‘It’s positively ghastly,’ Beauty Spot said. ‘We aren’t safe in our beds at night.’
‘Now old King Alfric, he’s got the right idea,’ Bertie mumbled. He held up a finger, then lifted a fluted glass of sparkling wine and quaffed it in a single gulp, spilling half of the pale liquid down his lacy white shirt.
Then he leaned in and beckoned Fletcher, Seraph and Sylva closer. Reluctantly the three bent their necks, if only not to appear rude and attract attention.
‘I have it on good authority that the old king has ordered the Pinkertons to seize the dwarven workshops tomorrow night,’ he whispered, looking over his shoulder in case a dwarven servant girl was nearby. ‘Because, of course, that’s where the bombs are being made. I’m old chums with Alfric and, of course, he confided in me.’
‘You’re so in the know,’ Long Neck said, covering her mouth with a hand.
‘Of course, Alfric comes to me for advice all the time,’ Bertie continued bombastically. ‘Can’t make a decision without me.’
‘That’s very interesting,’ Seraph said, humouring the loudmouthed man. ‘He must trust your opinion a great deal.’
Fletcher very much doubted that the cold, calculating Alfric would be friendly with the drunken braggart before him. Most likely the man had heard it through the rumour mill, and was simply boasting to the impressionable young ladies.
But the news was troubling. The dwarven foundries were located in the basements of the dwarven homes, built into the bedrock and secured by metal doors. Alfric would be hard-pressed to break into them, which meant that the Pinkertons would have to invade the dwarven homes themselves. On top of it all they would be trying to enter the most secret sanctums of the dwarves. If this was true, there would be riots that night, one way or another. All part of Alfric’s grand plan to instigate a revolt.
‘The best part of it all is that we’ll finally get a look at how they’re making their damned guns,’ Bertie continued. ‘I told him, I said, “Alfric, you’ve got to see about the guns.” Once we have that, we’ll have no need for the sneaky little buggers. We can arrest the lot of them and throw away the key.’
The noble tossed the dregs at the bottom of his glass into his mouth, then smacked his lips and sighed contentedly.
‘Well, that seems jolly harsh, Bertie,’ Beauty Spot said, fanning herself. ‘Couldn’t we just … send them on their way? Maybe put them on a ship or something?’
‘Far too dangerous,’ Bertie said, glancing around the room for a servant girl to refill his glass. ‘They started it, after all. The bombing was all their doing, and then one of them killed that brave boy on that mission, right in front of our eyes. That proves it – they’d come back and wipe us off the face of the earth if they could. No, Gertrude, it’s them or us.’
‘But why?’
It took Fletcher a moment to realise it was he who had spoken.
‘I’m sorry?’ Bertie said, the sweaty forehead above his mask wrinkling into a frown.
‘Why did she kill Rufus Cavendish?’ Fletcher faltered, unsure if he should continue.
‘Who knows why these creatures do such things?’ Bertie said, waving away the question as if it were an annoying fly. ‘Probably to send a message to all of Hominum, tell us all exactly how dwarven bread is buttered, so to speak. The point is, she did it.’
The wrinkles of the nobleman’s frown deepened and his eyes narrowed behind his mask. Clearly the man was not used to being questioned in this manner.
‘I say, who the devil are you, anyway?’ he said. ‘I don’t recognise your uniform.’
‘My guest,’ Seraph said smoothly, while laying a calming hand on Fletcher’s thigh. ‘And I am Lord Pasha.’
Even beneath the mask, Fletcher saw Bertie blanch. After all, Seraph’s affiliation with the dwarves was no secret.
‘I … that is …’ The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. ‘I know you have a certain … sympathy for the dwarves. I didn’t mean to cause offence.’
‘None taken,’ Seraph said, tightening his grip on Fletcher’s knee, as if to warn him not to take it further. He needn’t have bothered – Fletcher was already regretting his outburst.
Further awkwardness was avoided by the gentle dingle of bells, announcing that food was ready. Soon servants were sweeping between the tables, balancing enormous platters, complete with gleaming covers to keep the food warm. Within minutes the centre of the table was filled with the steaming silverware, and the waiting stewards removed the covers with a simultaneous flourish.
Fletcher’s stomach clenched with hunger at the sight of it. The delicious scent that wafted beneath his nose filled his mouth with saliva.
The largest offering was the quarter of a stag, its rump slow-roasted overnight to leave the flesh succulent and soft. A swan stuffed with mushrooms and oysters sat beside it, the crispy skin basted in a pulped sauce of figs and saffron, glistening beneath the flickering flames of the chandeliers above. Further down the table was a whole roast boar, a crisp red apple held in its mouth.
Even with these enormous dishes, yet more meat lined the tables; skillets of hare with tangerine jelly, fritters of river pike, poached sturgeon with a garnish of its own caviar and even a gooducken, the extravagant portmanteau of a chicken stuffed within a duck, stuffed within a goose.
Surrounding the meats were more delicacies: garlicky winter greens, plums stewed in rose water, candied chestnuts and bowls of red berries in clotted cream. Fletcher could only see the food on his own table, but he found even this too much to take in. He tried to resist reaching out a hand to taste the nearest dish. Instead, he worked at unclipping the lower segment of his mask, so as to allow himself to eat.
‘Cress says to stick with water,’ Seraph whispered, as a pink-clad dwarf swept away from him.
Then the announcer’s voice cut through the gasps of wonder and clinking cutlery.
‘Lords, ladies and honourable gentlemen. Let the banquet commence!’