Anais and the Broken War (The Blood Mage Chronicles Book 5)

by Wilson, Jamie

  I nodded. It was interesting. If the general populace were unaware of the extent of the problem, they wouldn’t be putting pressure on the lords’ council to remedy the matter.

  “The tailor is supposed to be here soon,” Fynn said. “I wonder how much he’ll charge for a new wardrobe? For that matter, I wonder what fashions prevail in Courtshire? One can hardly judge by the way Patrick and Gertie dress.”

  I sighed as I remembered my trip from Brightshire with Cedric, Clara, and Thomas. They had no need for money, as a league of servants had provided for their every whim while they lived in Brightshire. I remembered feeling bitter when I had to use my hard earned coins to support them. Now I was the one with no funds and dependent on someone else. How the tables had turned.

  “Fynn, I don’t have any money. I’m sorry. Do you think you have enough to buy me some clothes?”

  “Of course.” He laughed. “I suppose sisters of mercy living at the Great House don’t have much need for coins.”

  I coughed, stung by the irony of the situation. “I’ll find a way to pay you back.”

  “I have no doubt of that. I’m going to need connections if I’m going to build up the right clientele list. I don’t want money from you. I want invitations to dinners and parties.”

  “How do you expect me to gain admission to Courtshire social events?”

  “Lady Mediera adores you for some reason. She must be mingling with the most elite fraction of society. She needs a husband after all. She’ll have access to the people I need to meet.”

  “I suppose so.” I frowned.

  “Just remember to include me when you’re gallivanting with the aristocracy. That will be payment enough.” He grinned.

  After emptying his purse onto a small table in the corner of the room, he sorted quickly through the coins. “Eleven gold coins, thirty silver coins, and seven coppers. I sold most of my possessions when it became clear that the fat man was going to send most of the skins to certain death. Sadly this is the sum of my life’s work. It won’t buy me a shop, but it should keep me alive long enough to enable me to drum up a few wealthy patrons.”

  Three short raps struck the outer door to my room.

  “Perhaps that’s the tailor,” Fynn said, and then quickly scooped the coins into his purse.

  I opened the door a crack and peered out. A short man with a wide mustache, scarlet cheeks, and bright eyes swept into the room. He was dressed in a violet silk jacket with an abundance of ruffles puffing out of the collar. After he entered, three little women each overloaded with several large bags trailed into the room.

  “I am here to provide clothing for a young man and woman visiting Rockside,” he said in a clipped accent I didn’t quite recognize. He looked at me and winked. “You have nothing to fear, my dear, I am quite discrete.”

  Fynn dropped his towel, exposing his nakedness. He appeared completely undeterred by my presence or that of the women in the tailor’s retinue.

  “We’ll start with you,” the man said to Fynn as he circled Fynn eyeing him carefully. “Do you have a particular style you favor?”

  “I’m not up to date with the Courtshire fashions. I’m an artisan, with aspirations. I need something that will allow me to run in both the tradesmen circles and with the nobles and elites–something simple and elegant. Do you think you can accommodate me?”

  “My dear sir. I have just the thing. Mary, bring out a pair of the black knit trousers, the ones with the purple velvet piping, I think, and a cream silk shirt. We’ll fit the pants and shirt in the Barrialian fashion. Find the gray wool waistcoat and jacket, too.”

  Mary pulled the clothing out of bags and draped the material over Fynn. While she started measuring and placing pins in various locations, the man turned his attention to me.

  “Now for the lady,” he entreated me. “We’ll start with a day dress with a high neckline and a lace collar. Slim in the front and a wide, ample bustle in the rear, of course. We specialize in very dramatic bustles. You will look like the most elegant of young ladies.” He snapped his fingers. “Voila.”

  “Which one should we start with?” the woman who was not busy with Fynn asked.

  “Ah yes, Grace. We should start with the pale blue don’t you think? Or the green?”

  “The green would look fetching and is closest to her size.”

  “The green it is. The waist on the blue dress is too tiny I fear.”

  “Can’t I just have a simple pair of pants and a shirt? I don’t need a fancy dress.”

  His eyes widened. “But, madam. Ladies don’t wear pants. No, no, no, no. It will not do at all.”

  “Ani wants to blend into the background. Tell her, she would be noticed if she were to be seen in the city dressed like a man.”

  “The young man speaks the truth,” the tailor agreed.

  “I used to wear pants in Barriershire. Sometimes.”

  “That was different, Ani,” Fynn said.

  I grit my teeth. “Fine, but something simple please. No boning and no bustle.”

  “Just a little bustle?” The tailor squeezed his thumb to his forefinger. “You understand my reputation is at stake.”

  I groaned and then relented. It seemed I would have to trust this funny little man.

  A knock sounded at the door and a woman in a light brown dress with a full skirt and a fitted high-necked bodice with a tuft of bustle in the back entered the room. “Would you like us to have a midday meal sent up?” she asked. “I would hate for you to miss it.”

  “Gertie, how thoughtful of you,” Fynn said. “Yes indeed, it seems we’re well occupied in our pursuit of suitable wardrobes.”

  At the mention of food, my stomach grumbled loudly. It had been an age since I last had anything to eat.

  “There will be a minstrel after dinner and dancing and drinks. One of our regular customers is an apprentice to Master Ellis, one of the premiere artists in Courtshire. I would be happy to introduce the two of you.”

  Fynn grinned. “I’m certain I would gain much from such an introduction.”

  “Fynn, don’t you think we should try to find Mediera and Cedric instead of socializing tonight?” I asked.

  “We’ll have more than enough time tomorrow to find them. I have no intention of going anywhere today.”

  “I don’t want to wait,” I countered.

  “Madam, my boy can take you anywhere you need to go. He knows every inch of the city.”

  “Thank you. I would prefer to leave as soon as may be possible.”

  After Gertie left the room, the tailor and the ladies continued their work until we were interrupted again when Gertie brought us a platter of stew, cheese, and bread and cups of ale.

  I was in heaven as I gorged on the hearty fare. Riding through the cave on that cart had made me sick to my stomach. I had barely eaten during the journey, and now my appetite was roaring back with a vengeance.

  After we finished eating, the ladies resumed their efforts fitting Fynn and I. The tailor moved back and forth between the two of us, clucking and making suggestions while the ladies trimmed fabric and sewed.

  Fynn’s suit was finished before mine, but he then requested an evening suit, so they had to begin anew.

  Grace tapped the tailor on the shoulder. “She is finished.”

  The tailor left Fynn and walked around me in circles. “Yes, Yes. I think you will do, madam,” the tailor said. “You look quite presentable. Grace will fix your hair as well. And if you would like an evening dress, we have a lovely one in moonlight silver that would be quite fetching.”

  “Thank you, but I have no need of an evening dress. This will do quite nicely. I do appreciate your efforts.”

  “As you wish, madam.”

  Grace cleaned up the stray fabric, thread, scissors, and tape and packed them into her bag. Then brushed my hair and fixed it in braids around the nape of my neck. I barely recognized myself as I stared at my reflection. They had made me into an entirely different person.
/>
  The boy re-entered the room and grabbed the empty platter.

  “Are you Gertie’s son?” I asked before he left the room.

  “Yes madam,” he responded.

  “Your mother said you could guide me through the city today.”

  “Of course, madam. Where is it you would like to go?”

  “Have you heard of Thomas Seve, the Lord of Brightshire? He should have a residence in the city.”

  “Of course, madam.”

  The tailor and the little ladies all stared at me as I mentioned Thomas and I winced. Perhaps I shouldn’t have revealed our connections so easily. There would be gossip. There was always gossip.

  “He has a townhouse in Worthington Square. I can take you there now, if you like,” the boy responded.

  “Fynn, are you certain you won’t come with me?” I asked.

  Fynn shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere until I have an evening suit. I don’t see any reason why we can’t wait until tomorrow to go calling on Cedric and Lady Mediera. And anyway, I want to meet with the apprentice artist that Gertie knows.”

  I frowned. “Well, I’m going now. I don’t want to wait.”

  “Suit yourself.” He shrugged.

  “Worthington Square is in the wealthy section of Courtshire, madam. We’ll have to take a carriage.”

  I bit my lip, hating to have to beg for funds. “Fynn, could you give me a few coppers for a carriage?”

  “Sure, sure,” he said as he handed me a five coppers. “You owe me though.”

  “I know,” I replied. “I won’t forget.”

  CHAPTER 13

  THE CARRIAGE BROUGHT the boy and me to the entrance of a large garden courtyard. After we stepped down, I tipped the driver with two coppers and hoped it was the proper amount. The driver looked neither happy nor upset, so I figured it was at least not an entirely inappropriate sum.

  “We have to go through the courtyard,” the boy said. “There are guards at the other entrance to the townhouses where the carriages go in and out. They only let residents through that way, and there’s no way to pass them.”

  Two men dressed in full livery guarded the gate to the courtyard. It didn’t seem likely that they would let us pass.

  “This side looks guarded too,” I said.

  “Ah. But there’s a hole in the gate a little ways down the road. It’s the only way through.”

  “You’re the expert,” I said, deferring to his understanding of the city.

  After ducking through a generous sized hole that was hidden by a large bush, we entered a maze of hedges, and the boy guided me through the green passages. Although it was starting to get dark, the garden was still in use. Ladies carrying lace-trimmed umbrellas and wearing gowns with elaborate rear bustles walked on the arms of men in dark suits and top hats. The little tailor had been correct about the current fashions. Fynn and I would be able to blend easily into the background in our new clothes. The green hedges fell away, revealing terraced houses built of golden colored stone arranged in a sweeping crescent. We had to pass through a large covered gazebo before we were close enough to the building to see the individual doors. “That’s it,” he said, pointing to a door trimmed in pink stone. “Belongs to Lord Seve. He placed his hands on his hips. “I told you, I know everything there is to know about Courtshire. But are you sure you belong here? If you go troubling the gentry, there will be repercussions.”

  “I’ll take my chances.”

  The boy shrugged. “It’s your backside, not mine.”

  “How will you get back to Rockside?” I asked him, suddenly worried that I had dragged him far from his home. He was young, and I didn’t like the idea of him trying to walk back to Rockside at night.

  He shrugged. “I’m not going home tonight. I’ll stay with my aunt and uncle. They live near the north market, which isn’t so far from here.”

  “Thank you,” I said to him. “Do you need some money?”

  He grinned. “That would be much appreciated, madam.”

  I handed him two coppers, leaving me with only one. I would be in trouble if I couldn’t gain refuge here.

  After I rang the bell at the front door of number 9, a man with white hair and a finely trimmed mustache and beard answered the door. He was expensively dressed, but he had the stance of a servant.

  “I would like to see Lord Thomas Seve. Is he in?” I asked.

  “Perhaps if you leave your card, I will provide it to him in the morning. The hour is too late to call without an invitation.”

  “He has to see me,” I insisted while I pressed forward. I put my foot in the crack of the door, trying to ensure that he would not be able to get rid of me.

  “Madam, this is quite inappropriate,” he spouted as he attempted to squeeze the door shut.

  We were at an impasse. I couldn’t just let him prevent me from gaining entrance. I had no money. Therefore I wouldn’t be able to buy myself a room in this part of the city, and it would be impossible for me to find my way back to Rockside on my own.

  His face was growing red as he pushed. There were other ways, I decided. As soon as I removed my foot from the door, the man slammed the door in my face. I flinched at the noise of it snapping shut.

  I took a seat on one of the benches in the gazebo and waited for the sun to set and for the gazebo to empty of people. The large crescent shaped building was a monstrosity. It was larger even than the Great House, with dozens of separate residences, connected by interior walls. There seemed to be little privacy offered by such an arrangement, and I wondered why Thomas would choose to live here.

  One of the second-floor windows, wider than the others, opened onto a small balcony. From my position, it looked to be a bedroom, and I guessed that it was the one Thomas occupied. Eying the stones that made up the wall, I located a path that should provide adequate footholds.

  Once it was dark, I made my way to the wall beneath the balcony, and I grasped a stone that jutted out above my head with one hand and started moving upwards–one foot and then another. When I reached the ledge of the balcony, I pulled myself up and over. I tried the knob of the balcony door, but it was firmly locked. I closed my eyes and tinkered with the mechanism with threads of light I pulled out of my fingers. I didn’t bother with blood or black rock for such a simple task. Locks were easy. I twisted the knob and let myself into a richly appointed bedchamber. A thin man with translucent skin and blond hair that was thinning a bit on top was sitting in the bed grasping a blanket to his chest.

  “Hello Thomas,” I said.

  “This is a tad unexpected. Should I scream?” he asked.

  “I’d rather you didn’t, for I’ve come a long way.”

  “My purse is on the table. You’re more than welcome to it.” Clearly, he didn’t recognize me.

  “I didn’t come here to rob you. Your doorman turned me away, and I figured you owed me a bed for the night at the very least.”

  “I can’t think of anyone I owe…” He trailed off. “Sweet sisters of mercy, is that you Anais?”

  Slowly, I nodded. It had been a very long time since we had seen each other in the flesh. When he had left Barriershire, and I had been initiated into the skins, I had just been a little girl. It wasn’t surprising that he didn’t recognize me at first.

  He jumped from his bed and wrapped me in a hug. “Thank the sisters. I feared we would never see you again. I heard that furies invaded Barriershire, and I thought…well, we all thought that you were lost.”

  Safe for the moment, I deflated and let all of my stiffness ebb away. “I didn’t see the end. I left during the battle. But I think your news is right. Barriershire must have fallen.”

  “I’m glad you made it out. Losing Barriershire is an unfortunate turn. It leaves us with no stronghold in the east. I don’t know what it will mean. We’ve fought so hard to secure an army and now…” He snorted. “I don’t know what happens now.”

  “So you have an army then?”

  “Yes–a co
mbination of drafted Seven Shires men and a paid Candelan militia. We have ten thousand men in total. Understand, it was no small challenge to secure them. They currently occupy a base south of the city. Now, it’s just a matter of deciding what to do with them. We may keep them here to defend Courtshire or send them across the mountains to try to drive the furies out of Barriershire.”

  “Do the lords fear that the furies will invade Courtshire?”

  “It’s a risk. With Barriershire no longer guarding the pass, it’s almost certain that they will eventually come here.”

  “What do you think should be done?”

  “I don’t know. The pass across the mountains is narrow. We’d have an advantage if we could fight the furies as they descend from the mountains. Therefore it might be better if we wait. However, I worry that we may not manage to keep the men. It’s hard for them to stay idle. After every visit I make to the camp, I become more concerned that the men are growing restless.” Thomas sighed. “We’ll talk about it on the morrow. It’s late. You probably should have waited until morning to visit. Where are you staying while you’re here?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied, considering the tavern in Rockside. I could try to return, but it was indeed late.

  “Of course. I’m so sorry. I’m not thinking. You’ll stay here.” Thomas pulled a small chain on a wall near his bed and in short order the man who had answered the door let himself into Thomas’s bedchamber.

  “What are you doing in here?” the man gasped when he saw me. “I told you it was too late to call on Lord Seve. This intrusion is entirely inappropriate.”

  “Let’s not bother about that, Erlich. Sister Anais is a family friend. She’ll be staying with us in the blue room. I realize it’s too late to prepare it properly, but I’m sure it will do in its present state for tonight.”

  Sun filtered in through a small square window. From the sill, I had a view of the courtyard, and I could see the bench I had occupied last evening as I waited for the sun to set. The blue room was on the third floor. It was small and needed a thorough dusting, but otherwise it was more than adequate. While I stood, a girl of perhaps eleven years of age entered the room. After seeing me, she started to back away.