Lokant

by Charlotte E. English

  Devary said nothing. His gaze had returned to Eva’s face, and he frowned slightly.

  ‘Eva Glostrum,’ she said. ‘From Glour.’ It was probably too dark for him to see her clearly, but he continued to try.

  She, on the other hand, could see him quite well. Her sharp night eyes filled in strongly defined, Nimdren features, a long, thin nose and Darklands-pale skin. Under normal circumstances his hair must be a fairly light shade of brown, though at present it was splayed out on his pillow, dark with the sweat of fever.

  Ynara leaned forward. ‘Dev, it seems you were the last person to see the draykon. Llandry, if it was her. Do you remember where she went?’

  ‘There were two beasts. Two draykons, then. I thought they vanished, but I may have been hallucinating.’

  ‘Probably you were not,’ Eva put in. ‘I have seen them do the same thing. I think they can cross between worlds without needing to open gates.’

  ‘Then my Llandry - if it was my Llandry - could be anywhere. Anywhere in the worlds.’ Ynara fell silent, but Eva could hear her unsettled breathing as she struggled to master her emotion.

  Devary bestirred himself enough to grip Ynara’s hand. ‘When I’m well,’ he said with difficulty, ‘I will find her. I promise it.’

  Ynara gave him a stare of disdain. ‘My husband will bring her home.’

  ‘Aysun has gone after her?’ Eva was surprised at that. She had heard something before of the deep suspicion he held for the Upper Realm.

  Ynara nodded. ‘Nearly two weeks ago. He said he won’t come home until he can bring Llan with him.’

  This was poor news. She had counted on Ynara’s having her husband’s support as she waited for her daughter to come home. Instead, her friend had been alone all this time, and in a state of anxiety about both members of her family.

  ‘I’m sorry, Ynara,’ she said with real regret. ‘I wish I could stay until Llan returns to you, but I can’t.’

  Ynara tried a smile. ‘I know. I understand. Thank you for coming to me now.’

  Eva nodded, unsure of what else to say.

  ‘I’ll be here,’ said Devary.

  ‘You’re the one who lost her!’ The words burst from Ynara as if she couldn’t hold them back anymore. She swept a hand over her face, dashing away the dampness that glittered on her cheeks.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Devary said, watching helplessly as Ynara fought to regain her composure. ‘I’m sorry.’

  Eva stayed as long as she could with Ynara, but she knew it wasn’t enough. It took all of her will to leave her friend alone again after a mere day’s stay, but she knew she had no choice. She began the walk back to the border with grave reluctance.

  Yna’s strong, she told herself. Strong enough for this.

  As long as Llandry comes back.

  Chapter Two

  Mr. Pitren Warvel - Tren, to his many friends - sat alone and disconsolate in the vast library of Glour City. To be precise, he was sitting in a small reading chamber reserved for those with official access to Glour’s hidden store of books: those texts deemed inappropriate for general public borrowing. Fat, musty tomes were stacked in towering piles around his desk, concealing him behind a wall of knowledge. It felt appropriate, for instead of mastering that mountain of academic records and theses, he had been smothered by it.

  Sighing, Tren pushed back his chair and turned his head from side to side, trying to loosen the tension in his neck. Two weeks of work, and he, the experienced scholar and able student, had found virtually nothing about the draykons of the past. So little had he uncovered, in fact, that he would be inclined to categorise them as mere legend - if he had not recently seen two such beasts with his own eyes.

  The whole experience was intensely dispiriting. Lady Glostrum herself had arranged access to this collection; it was not something a young sorcerer like himself could expect to receive without patronage. The fact that she had assigned the research to him was proof of her faith in his ability, and he had failed. If there was any relevant information within this hidden library, he couldn’t find it.

  He plucked absently at the cuffs of his shirt, dissatisfied. His clothes were shabby, his hair unbrushed and he was covered in book dust from head to foot. For two weeks he had barely slept or eaten, aware of the urgency of his task. That dedication having availed him nothing, perhaps it was time to go home and attend to his own comfort. The prospect was a tempting one, but he resisted. He wanted to see Lady Glostrum, and without something to report he felt that he could not impose on her. His pride would not allow it.

  She, of course, seemed to have no particular desire to see him. A few weeks had passed since their excursion to the Lowers; three weeks since the draykons had risen and subsequently vanished. He had assisted her in making her reports to Glour’s government - she felt that she needed his corroboration in order to be believed, though he doubted it - and that was the last time he had seen her. Since then he had been locked in here moonrise to moonset and he had neither seen nor heard from her. The reflection hurt. Did she remember to think of him, wherever she was? Doubtful. She was a peer of the realm and a member of the government; she had many more important things to think about.

  ‘That’s enough,’ he muttered, dismissing the negative reflections from his thoughts. He bent his head once more over the book that lay before him, but as he readied his pen for the note-taking he heard the scrape of a key in the door and somebody’s footsteps rang on the stone floor. Somebody female, he concluded, and felt a surge of hope.

  ‘Tren?’ Eva’s voice. He felt a momentary wild happiness which quickly deteriorated into dismay. He had nothing to give her, nothing to show for his efforts. She must undoubtedly conclude that he was useless for the task at hand, just as he had been useless in the Lowers. For an instant he entertained absurd notions of concealing himself from her and somehow making his escape. Shaking his head at his own folly, he stood up, looking over the towers of books behind which he had been sitting.

  ‘Here,’ he said, putting on a smile. She crossed quickly to him, offering a warm smile in return which gave him an odd flutter. Belatedly he realised he ought to have addressed her in some more appropriate manner, but it was too late now.

  ‘I admire your dedication,’ she offered, stopping in front of his desk. Her gaze flicked quickly over him, no doubt taking in the deplorable state of his appearance. Uncomfortable, he tried to brush down his clothes but only succeeded in spreading more dust over them.

  ‘A perfectly pointless dedication, unfortunately,’ he said, trying to speak lightly. ‘If draykons were ever a common sight in any of our worlds, there’s no real record of it that I can find.’

  Her brows lifted. ‘Nothing at all?’

  ‘A few children’s tales. They lived (always in the past tense) far in the depths of the Off-Worlds, collecting hordes of treasure and sort of randomly breathing fire at things. None of it is particularly credible.’

  Eva stood in thought for a moment. ‘How curious,’ she finally said.

  He hesitated, then spoke again. ‘Of course, that doesn’t mean the information isn’t there. I’m sure there must be something. I’ve probably missed it.’

  She shook her head. ‘I doubt that. You’ve been far too thorough.’ She smiled at his expression of surprise. ‘I’ve been checking the visitor books whenever I pass through. You’ve been here for an average of fourteen hours a day, every day, for the last two weeks. Were you aware of that?’

  ‘I’ve been here for eternity, as far as I can judge,’ he said wryly. He couldn’t help but be pleased that she had noticed. They had travelled together on the hunt for his friend, Edwae Geslin, and after that she had insisted on accompanying him further - all the way into the Lower Realms in a search for Edwae’s killer and erstwhile employer. Had she done it because she cared about him, or because she knew he could not accomplish the task on his own? If the latter (and he suspected it was so), she had been right. Inexperienced as he was, he would have floundered hopelessly in
the Lowers without her aid. He might even have perished. The whole endeavour had been directed and largely accomplished by her; his own contribution, he felt, had been minimal. Now he was anxious to make amends.

  ‘I’m sorry to have abandoned you to the job,’ she said. ‘I might have come in sooner, only I was expecting a visit from you.’ Her gaze grew questioning and he coughed, uncomfortable. He had asked her permission to visit her at home, and she had granted it, but her obvious surprise at the request had dismayed him. In the end, he had not had the courage to go.

  ‘I was - well, busy. I wanted to be able to bring you a stack of information to peruse.’

  ‘Admirable focus, but you ought to eat once in a while as well. Somebody once told me that’s a good idea.’ She smiled and he smiled back, remembering how he’d had to encourage her to eat at the end of their adventures. ‘Why don’t you dine with me today?’ she continued.

  ‘Oh... that’s kind of you, but I really couldn’t.’

  ‘Please,’ she interrupted. ‘Don’t think I’m taking pity on you. Vale is out of the city this week and I’m terribly lonely.’

  He knew that was nonsense. A woman of her popularity could have any number of companions at her disposal whenever she chose. But it was a kindness, and with those beautiful dark blue eyes fixed on him he couldn’t possibly refuse.

  ‘Magnificent,’ she enthused. ‘I’ll send the carriage for you. Shall we say an hour before moonset?’

  ‘No!’ he said, horrified. ‘I mean, thank you but that won’t be necessary. I am quite capable of walking.’

  She waved a hand dismissively. ‘As you wish. But don’t be late! I’ve much to discuss with you.’ He watched as she walked to the door and left, taking her perfect figure and her distressingly beautiful face with her. He let out a slow breath, then set about returning all the books to their shelves. If he was to have time to clean himself up properly, he had to hurry.

  Tren arrived at Lady Glostrum’s mansion promptly an hour before moonset. In fact he had been at least half an hour early, but he’d walked twice around Fifth Circle before presenting himself at his hostess’s door. He wouldn’t wish to appear too eager.

  He was thoroughly groomed and dressed in his best coat, a dark blue garment that had attracted the praise of more than one of his female acquaintances. Having warred with himself for some time over whether or not to take flowers, he had at length settled on taking a modest bunch of elegant white dusk lilies. He did his best to stifle a flutter of nerves as he rang the bell of the extremely handsome, four-storey house.

  He waited, trying to suppress a feeling of inadequacy. He had no business appearing at houses like this; his mother was a shop keeper and his father had been only a minor sorcerer who had worked as a lamp-lighter for most of his life, maintaining the light-globes that lit the streets of their home town of Glaynasser. Tren’s powerful talent for sorcery had been a surprise, and they had worked tirelessly to finance his training. Now he was among Glour City’s strongest sorcerers, with a well-paid job as an aide to Lord Angstrun, the Chief Sorcerer. But in terms of lineage he was nothing; he had very little real status. And now he was mixing with Glour’s highest and finest citizens, a fact which delighted his mother but which troubled him. He was finding it increasingly hard to determine where he belonged.

  It certainly wasn’t here. He might have left, save that Eva’s face rose in his mind, wearing an expression of welcome, and his resolution dissolved. Before he had time to consider the idea further, the door finally opened and Lady Glostrum herself appeared.

  ‘I’m so terribly sorry,’ she said, ushering him inside. ‘Most of my servants have a few hours off today, but I thought Miriom was in this part of the house. Never mind. Will you have tea?’ Her face softened into a surprised smile as he awkwardly presented her with the lilies.

  ‘How kind,’ she murmured, putting them up to her nose. ‘I wasn’t expecting gifts.’

  Moments later he found himself seated in a handsome drawing room, sipping tea out of an expensive porcelain cup and trying not to stare at his hostess. He couldn’t go so far as to conclude that she had dressed up for his benefit, but she had changed out of her earlier, most practical attire and her gown was now decidedly finer. Her shoulders were largely bare and she appeared to be wearing some kind of waist-defining corset. Her unusual snow-white hair was, as ever, perfectly arranged and her slightly slanted eyes were animated as she talked. In this grand attire she was more alluring than ever.

  He began to feel that his coming might have been a mistake.

  She was speaking of Lord Vale, Glour’s Chief Investigator and her fiance. With an effort of will, he smiled and asked, ‘So, when is the wedding to be?’

  Her smile faded immediately. ‘It has not been possible to set a date. I am too much engaged with business and Eyde also is busy. At present he is following up some leads that have emerged about the istore thefts that occurred last moon. We are hoping he may uncover something to lead us back to Ana and Griel.’

  The subject change was so smoothly done it was impossible to track backwards from it. Tren resigned himself to a great deal of talk about business and very little conversation about her.

  They were halfway through the second course of a magnificent dinner when Eva began to speak of Glinnery. What she said electrified him.

  ‘How can you possibly have been in Glinnery for a few days?’ He stopped eating to stare at her.

  ‘There are some new technologies emerging from Irbel,’ she replied. ‘Unfortunately I have already sent the spectacles back to Ynara; I would have liked to show them to you. However, more importantly I learned some few interesting things.’ He didn’t interrupt as she related her conversations with Ynara and the Elder’s guest, Devary Kant.

  ‘I’ve a new task for you, if you’ll accept it,’ she said when she’d finished.

  ‘Anything.’

  ‘The books we took from Griel’s hall. I had hoped to have time to study them thoroughly myself, but so far that hasn’t been the case. I’d like you to take over.’

  That caught his attention. When they had searched the hall that had held the draykon skeleton, they had discovered some unusual books that neither had ever heard of before. Tren had carried them away, but it was Eva who had taken them home. He hadn’t seen them since. ‘With the greatest pleasure,’ he said, then winced inwardly. He was instinctively mimicking Eva’s smooth, high class speech, which was intolerable. Talking like her would not make him part of her set. ‘I’d love to,’ he added. ‘I’ve been dying to find out what’s in them.’

  ‘Excellent! I’ve put them in the study. We’ll look at them after dinner.’

  He nodded, wishing dinner was already over. He felt uncomfortable in this large, grand dining room, and it was hard to enjoy the meal when he was far too reprehensibly preoccupied with watching her eat. She did so with great delicacy and correctness, as if he was somebody of rank, worth impressing. But what really absorbed his attention was the way her full lips closed around the silver fork as she took each piece of food. She caught him watching and he cursed his face as it immediately flushed with embarrassment.

  ‘Are you not hungry?’ She gestured at his virtually untouched plate.

  ‘No,’ he admitted. ‘What I need, I think, is sleep.’ Eva immediately rang a bell, and when a neatly-dressed servant appeared she whispered a few words in the girl’s ear. The food was swiftly cleared away and Eva rose from the table.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he started. ‘I didn’t mean you should -’

  ‘I know,’ she said briskly. ‘I should have realised you’d be tired. Follow me, please. I shan’t keep you long.’

  She took him into a high-ceilinged room lined with bookshelves. A large desk dominated the centre of the study, its surface strewn with paperwork.

  ‘They’re keeping you busy,’ he murmured, indicating the papers.

  ‘Horribly,’ she said, rolling her eyes. ‘The onslaught of rogue gates is slowing at last, but we’r
e still dealing with the volume of beasts that have already come through from the Lowers. Merely cataloguing them is a large task in itself. Already we’ve found eight previously extinct species wandering the woods of Glour.’

  ‘You have sufficient help, I suppose?’ He took a seat on a brown leather sofa that lived on one side of the room, while Eva went to a locked cupboard opposite. A moment later he jumped up again, yelping at a sudden pain in his fingers.

  Eva looked up. ‘What? Oh. I’m sorry. Rikbeek has adopted the sofa as his own; I should have remembered to warn you.’ She bent over the sofa in question and removed a dark bundle of fur and wings. Tren grimaced. The gwaystrel was a useful beast - it had helped them to find Edwae, though sadly not soon enough to save his friend’s life. But the creature was antisocial, to say the least, and its teeth were horribly sharp. He sucked away the blood that leaked out of the small but painful wound on his hand.

  Eva threw the gwaystrel into the air, watching with some severity as it flew up and settled near the ceiling. Only after Rikbeek was securely out of the way did she turn back to her cabinet.

  ‘We were talking of help, I think? I’ve many summoners working at the task, indeed,’ she resumed as she searched through a bunch of keys. ‘It’s not enough, though. It’s frustrating to be tied down with these essentially mundane duties when there are more pressing matters to be dealt with. Like the draykons.’ She fitted a key into the lock and swung open the doors. ‘I’m wondering if I ought to hand the post on to someone else, and concentrate on unravelling our mystery instead.’

  Tren blinked. Evastany Glostrum had been High Summoner since he was a child. It was virtually impossible to imagine the city government without her.

  Then again, if she were to concentrate on their shared endeavour full time, it could mean he would see her more often.

  She began pulling books out of her cupboard and piling them up. Remembering how heavy they were, he went to assist. His fingers brushed the bare skin of her arms as he took the books from her, and he quickly turned back to the sofa. The books made a satisfying pile on the cushions.