by Gaie Sebold
“I would not be so foolish. I expect I remind you of your visit to the Lower World.”
“Maybe.”
“And it’s not as though you want to know anything of it.”
“No. Why should I? I suppose they’re still alive, if you can call it living.”
“Yes, they are.”
“Don’t be foolish enough to think I can get them anything, jewels aren’t the fashion any more,” she says, “even if I wanted to.”
“They do not want jewels.”
“Well they couldn’t have them anyway.” Charlotte’s eyes flicker towards a patch of green, like a leaf, that has appeared on one of the leafless trees. It is not a leaf. It looks a little like the mating of a mouse and a frog, with a mouse’s large, quivering ears.
“Although the Lower World is so horrid, I expect jewels could hardly make much difference. I can’t imagine anything they’d need that would make things better there. I’m so lucky Aiden took me away.”
“He too, of course, is the Queen’s subject,” Liu says, averting his eyes from the little spy in the tree. “Does he ever come to the Valley?”
“I don’t know,” Charlotte says. “Why?”
“I am merely curious.”
“I can’t see why he would.”
Liu’s frustration increases. How is he to say what he needs to, surrounded, as they are, by eyes and ears? He eyes Charlotte. He believes she is neither as unconcerned or as stupid as she takes care to appear, but if he is too subtle neither she nor the Harp will pick up on what he needs.
“You are his favourite, are you not?” he says.
“Sometimes,” she says, and something underlies the carefully casual tone, something that jabs.
She has learned a great deal, in her time here; in her own way, she may be almost as cunning as Eveline. But not quite. And she is still human. She still feels things, needs things, that the Court can barely recognise.
In time either she will become so much like them as to be indistinguishable, or she will fall. Either will hurt Eveline terribly, and he would do much to prevent it, but he cannot see how.
And what of you, Liu? What will you become – or will you fall?
He will be an honourable son, he will save his father, and he will continue to dance, hopping from one world, one Court, to another – because he is Liu, the Little Fox, and it is the only way he knows.
“Favourite is a most enviable position,” he says.
“He has redecorated his Court,” she says. “Everyone is talking of it. You should come and see.”
Good girl.
“If he will permit.”
“Oh, I think so. I want you to. And as you say, I am his favourite.”
“Goodbye, sir Harp,” he says, and gives Charlotte his arm.
The Harp does not answer, keeping his eyes shut, hoping only for the endless silence of stone, but the breeze, uncaring, continues to tug at his strings like an importunate child.
“CHARLOTTE TOLD ME my lord had refurbished his court,” Liu said, straightening from his bow. “It is most charming.”
“I find it pleasing,” Aiden said. He was in his full growth, now – bearing the form he would wear as long as he lived, tall and lean and pale. His hair, coppery gold, flowed over his shoulders. He was dressed, almost, like a human – close-fitting trousers, gleaming leather boots, a splendidly embroidered waistcoat – though no shirt. Charlotte sat upon cushions at his feet.
Musical instruments were scattered about – a silver flute, a lyre, a fiddle and, in pride of place, much more recent creations. A concertina, a saxophone.
The Queen relied on the Lower World for gifts, and worship, and entertainment. But this... this suggested a fascination of a different nature. The throne on which Aiden lounged was an extraordinary construction of glass and brass, pistons, cogs, and fat buttoned leather. The throne room, a great gleaming hall, roofed with soaring iron and glass, put Liu forcibly in mind of St Pancras station. Well, well.
“Does it move, my Lord? The throne?”
“Oh! No. Why, do you think it should? That might be amusing.”
“I believe motion is generally the function of pistons and cogs.”
“Oh, must things have a function? Then what is mine?” Aiden’s tone was casual.
“Why, my Lord is not a thing!”
“But still?”
“Then surely my Lord’s function is to be adored? And to provide others with a lesson in aesthetics?” Liu gave his smile just the edge of anxiety he thought would be sufficient.
“Ah, lessons. Yes.” Aiden’s attention, never easy to hold, drifted. He was regarding another new acquisition – a great box of a thing with levers and pedals and pipes, painted with cherubs and flowers and adorned with small figures that stood stiffly in position, ready, it seemed, to dance or to play the tiny instruments they held.
“My Lord, may I ask? What is that?”
“That is the Orchestrion,” Aiden said. “An intriguing device, but dull for all of that. It will only play the same tunes, in the same way, over and over again.” His eyes, as changeful as his mother’s, clouded dark as he looked at it. “They dance, and the music plays, and it shines. But it is all only the same thing again and again.” He whisked around. “I hope you have something new to bring me?”
It was a risk. Liu knew it was a risk – anything that drew attention to Eveline was a risk. And yet, Aiden’s favour might, perhaps, protect her from the Queen. This part of the game was one he did not enjoy.
“My lord, you may... possibly, remember a human you once knew. Her name was Eveline.”
“Oh, my dear Charlotte’s sister, of course I do. How could I forget?” Aiden stroked Charlotte’s hair, and she rubbed her head against his palm, like a cat.
Liu pushed aside his discomfort. Had he not done exactly the same, when the Queen favoured him with her attention?
“She is still alive, is she?” Aiden said.
“Indeed, my lord, but somewhat... melancholy.”
“Oh?”
“She misses her sister.”
“Ah.” Aiden’s gaze sharpened. “I hope you do not intend to try and persuade Charlotte to another visit to the Lower World. I should not permit it. Last time upset her dreadfully, and I do not like my pets upset.”
“I am desolated, my Lord. No, I should not dream of such a thing. But I did wonder if perhaps I might persuade my lord to a little gift, a... memorial, as it were. A small thing, for one of my Lord’s power, but it would mean a great deal to Eveline.”
“What would that be?”
“A manifestation, my Lord. Of Charlotte, as she was, when she was first fortunate enough to take your Lordship’s interest.”
“A changeling?”
“Well, something like, my Lord, except there would be no human in exchange. A memory of her sister, as a small child.”
“I see. You think that would please her?”
“Yes, my Lord.” Charlotte was playing with the spider-web lace on her dress, as though she had not heard.
“What do you think, my pet?” Aiden put one finger under Charlotte’s chin, and lifted her face towards his. “Would this please your sister, do you think?”
Charlotte shrugged. “Perhaps, my Lord. She was always a strange creature. It might.”
“You don’t think so?”
Charlotte glanced at Liu, and back to Aiden. “Perhaps it would cheer her. And of course, it would remind her of you, as much as of me...”
“Yes,” Aiden said. “I suppose it would.” He smiled, and leaned back in his chair, his eyes glittering. “Yes. Very well. But Charlotte as she was, not as she is?”
“If it please my lord,” Liu said, sweating. A facsimile of the grown Charlotte would be no use at all, would ruin Eveline’s plans, probably upset her, and he would have reminded Aiden of her existence to no good purpose at all. Think, idiot! “Although I know it is long ago, and perhaps it is a great deal to ask that my Lord should remember...”
> “Long ago? My dear Little Fox, you talk like one of them. Of course,” Aiden said, still smiling, “you are, at least partly. One forgets.” Be careful of asking favours, Little Fox, his eyes said, not smiling at all. Remember who I am, and what you are.
“Oh, I am too aware, my Lord,” Liu said, “of the gulf that separates us. But, being what I am, I may perhaps claim some little knowledge of humanity. And I think a lasting manifestation is not necessary, and would, perhaps, be unkind. Something that fades, gently, like a flower, leaving only a pleasant memory, like a perfume upon the air... that would give her time to encompass her grief, and yet remember that her sister is not truly lost, but far better off than she would be had she stayed.”
“I appreciate your concern, sir Fox, however, should a more lasting illusion be required, I do not think I would find it too fatiguing a task.” Ice, ice over deep waters. Charlotte drew into herself, her eyes wide and dark, peering at Liu through her hair.
“I know my Lord could do so, if he wished – merely that it is not necessary, and as I am already asking a great favour I have done nothing to deserve, I did not wish to impose even farther. Indeed, I have already troubled my Lord too much with my foolishness. Perhaps the Queen...”
“No. No, I will make it, and you shall take it to Eveline, with my compliments. Yet, still, I feel a doubt, a nagging discomfort. I suspect, for all your courtesies, you doubt my abilities, Sir Fox. Let me see, what could I do to reassure you?”
“Doubt you, my Lord?” Liu’s panic was not, this time, entirely feigned. “How could I be so foolish?”
“Because you are part human, perhaps.”
For the first time Liu wondered what it was like for Charlotte, and the other human pets of the court, to hear their people so roundly and frequently disparaged. For himself, he felt he had the best of both worlds, and perhaps he had been known to despise both human and Folk more than a little. But to hear, every day, what fools and weaklings she was born to... still, it was not, could be, none of his concern. He had other fish to fry... or webs to weave. He bowed deeply. “Yes, indeed. And as such, hardly fit for my Lord’s notice. The fact that the Queen sees fit to welcome me about her is a continual source of astonishment and gratification. I am more fortunate than some in that.”
“Indeed you are. Take care she does not change towards you. I do not think the Valley would suit your constitution.”
“Indeed not. To see one formerly such a favourite there...” Liu shuddered.
“Oh, the Harp! He is a most tedious creature.”
“Yet, I fear your lady mother misses him.”
“She has confided in you?” Aiden laughed, high and clear, the laugh of a child. Liu hid the cold that crawled down his spine at the sound.
“My lord is pleased to jest. Confide in such a lowly member of her court, indeed! Why, I tremble at the mere suggestion!”
“So, Sir Fox, what makes you think she mourns him?”
“Oh, little enough, my Lord, only a certain look, sometimes... her remaining musicians cannot tune themselves to her liking, and the songs that once pleased her she seems to find tedious.”
“Indeed she has been... restive, of late, and hard to please.” Yes, it was there, that note of metal. A little tap in the right place, and it could be bent to Liu’s purpose. “Perhaps she needs some new entertainment. She is not like me. I am more constant in my affections,” Aiden said, twining a lock of Charlotte’s hair around his forefinger.
“Yet of all her courtiers, the Harp has held her favour the longest.”
Aiden’s fingers stilled, and he looked directly at Liu. “More so than me?”
“Forgive me, my Lord, surely you are not one of her courtiers, being master of your own Court?”
“That rather depends on one’s point of view,” Aiden said. His eyes were opaque, like a morning fog.
Liu left a little pause, before saying, “Whatever her feelings, unless the Harp shows proper remorse, her Majesty cannot simply cancel out his punishment – she is the Queen. I do not know what is to be done.”
“If the Valley and his eventual fate there is not enough to make him remorseful, then I doubt there is anything,” Aiden said. His tone had shifted, he was in danger of becoming bored with the subject. Liu leapt.
“I wonder, my Lord... you have given me an idea.”
“Oh?”
“Well, it is probably most foolish, but since your Highness has been pleased to look kindly on making one manifestation... I know of your great fondness and honour for your mother. I wonder if another might perhaps amuse her?”
“Go on,” Aiden said, still playing with Charlotte’s hair. She sat very still.
“Should the Harp, perhaps, see himself, once more playing before the Queen, apparently at the heart of her affections, I wonder if that might shake him from his folly?”
“A manifestation of the Harp?”
“Yes. Oh, truly, it is a foolish notion. I forgot, it would need to play.”
“Yes,” Aiden said. “Yes, it would... it would need to play excellently.”
“And like a human,” Liu said. “It was that sensibility that first drew the Queen’s attention, was it not? Oh, I am a fool. Forgive me, my lord, for wasting your time with my chatter.” Liu bowed very low, and his eyes were on the glittering marble floor when he heard Charlotte gasp.
“There,” Aiden said. “That will do, I think.”
Liu looked up.
A small child sat on the floor at Aiden’s feet, dressed in layers of clothing, its legs straight out before it. On its feet were a pair of cloth shoes, stained with snowmelt. “I... I remember those shoes,” Charlotte said. Her voice was not quite steady.
“Now, you’re not going to cry, are you?” Aiden said.
“Of course not,” Charlotte said. “Only it is curious to see oneself so. What a solemn little creature I look!” She smiled, and if she could not bear to look at the changeling for more than a moment before her eyes flickered away to something else, only Liu noticed.
“Why, my Lord,” Liu said, recovering his breath. “How perfect! Eveline will be quite delighted, I’m sure.”
“Yes, yes. Well, you may take it whenever you wish. As to the Harp... I think, perhaps, something can be managed. Yes, indeed. And a surprise would be something new, would it not? She does so adore a surprise.”
He leaned back, and cocked his foot over his knee, steepling his fingers in front of his face. “You know that the facsimile will fade, in time. Unless I should decide to keep it from doing so.”
“My Lord.”
“After all, if it should happen that the real Harp does not make his way back into the Queen’s favour, for... whatever reason. She would be most disappointed, I think.” Aiden’s gaze drifted. “But then, to have a facsimile in her court...”
Liu remained silent. He could only begin the dance, and set the music playing. The steps the dancers took after that were not his to steer.
Aiden laughed. “Very well, I’ll play your game, Little Fox. At least, this part of it. What is the rest, I wonder?” He snapped his fingers, and a harp appeared before him. “A tune from the Lower World. What do you say, Sir Fox, something mournful, perhaps?”
“I bow to my Lord’s superior taste, in this as in all things.”
Aiden began to play a song of lost love and hopeless longing, a song that had not been heard in the Lower World for at least a hundred years. Liu cast one final glance at Charlotte as he picked up the changeling and bowed himself out, and hoped that if Aiden noticed her tears, he would think they were the result of his playing. After all, he did play excellently. Whether he played excellently enough to fool the Queen, that was another matter.
“WHAT ARE YOU really doing?”
Liu turned. Charlotte had followed him out of the hall, and stood twining her finger in her hair and glaring at him. She still avoided looking at the changeling.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Evvie wouldn’t want th
at horrible thing. You may think I don’t remember anything about her, but I do, and she wouldn’t.”
“Charlotte...”
“Oh, you needn’t worry, Aiden doesn’t let any of his Mama’s spies in here, and he doesn’t have many himself. I know them all, they’re not here.” Charlotte flung herself on a couch decorated with green and bronze silk cushions, then immediately jumped to her feet again. “What are you doing? Are you going to get Evvie into trouble?”
“She does not need any assistance from me in that endeavour.”
“Stop being so clever. Just tell me what’s going on, you needn’t talk all around something like you do with...”
“With them?” Liu sighed. “You have obviously learned a great deal, in your time here, Charlotte, but you should still take great care who you confide in.”
“I know that.”
“So what makes you think I am to be trusted?”
“Who says I trust you? But I do think you care about Evvie, or you’d never have taken me to see her that time. So tell me what’s happening.”
“The changeling is for Eveline. She wants it for a scheme she is playing out. I can’t tell you more than that as she has not told me.”
“And why should I believe you?”
“You are correct. I care for her.”
“Are you lovers?”
“No. We are friends.”
“Oh. So what about the Harp?”
“The Harp is nothing to do with Eveline.”
“So what are you doing with him? I don’t believe you want to get him back in the Queen’s favour, and he certainly doesn’t wish to be.”
“Why do you care about the Harp, Charlotte?”
She shrugged, sat down again and began to pick at a corner of one of the cushions. “I don’t.”
Liu sat down next to her. “I think you do. You weren’t in the Valley to see me, were you?”
She hunched her shoulders.
“Charlotte...”
“Can you get him away?”
Liu took a breath. “I mean to try. If anyone knows, though, it will go very badly for me.”
He could not quite bring himself to look at her. This strange, half-grown, half-child creature... Eveline’s sister. And he was as good as lying to her. He knew what she thought. The idea that he might take the Harp anywhere other than the human world would never cross her mind.
