The sound of voices spilled out as she opened the door, but she did not find the owners of the voices until she opened the inner door, and by then she had worked out that she was in a small draconist hall from the symbols painted on the walls of the lobby.
The main room was not full, but there were at least twenty dragons of various ages there. One was dressed in the blue robes of a draconist priest, but the rest were almost certainly Blacks and Krystal felt a little overwhelmed. But Trudy was rushing toward her friend with Michael, Trudy’s younger brother, trailing behind, and Trudy was grinning like a maniac so there was no backing out now.
‘Come on,’ Trudy said. ‘Come in and meet the family.’ Grabbing Krystal’s arm, Trudy turned around and started dragging her friend into the room. ‘She already knows you, Mikey.’
‘Yeah, but–’ Michael began as Trudy swept past him.
‘Hi, Michael,’ Krystal called over her shoulder.
‘You are so lucky you aren’t in another short skirt,’ Trudy said under her breath. ‘Mam says he couldn’t stop talking about you after Midwinter Night.’
‘Your brother has a crush on me?’ Krystal squeaked.
Trudy giggled. ‘What can I say? Taste runs in the family. Now, you don’t have to remember all the names… But knowing you, you will anyway.’
‘Yeah, well…’
‘Okay, you already know Mam and Dad, but this is my elder sister Patricia and her husband Barin Stone. And over here we’ve got my Aunt Chastity and her husband Nasar Shalehide. And then we’ve got…’
There were twenty-one of them, including Trudy. They went back as far as Alison and Sandrina Black, the two eldest sisters. The youngest was Michael and his nearest in age was Kylina, from the other side of the family, at seventeen. So, there were several centuries of dragon lives in the room and, Krystal had to admit, it demonstrated the reason for the Dracorum better than anything: the ceremonies drew families together, certainly in the lower echelons of society.
What Krystal found most surprising was that the priest, Percival Grit, was married to Sandrina Black. Trudy traced her line through Sandrina’s older sister, Alison, but that still meant that Trudy was vaguely related to a draconist priest. More than that, when Krystal was introduced to Percival, the old dragon smiled, reached into his robes, and produced a small notebook.
‘Krystal Ward,’ he said, ‘I have a message for you.’
Krystal blinked. ‘For me?’
Percival found what he was looking for in his notebook and nodded. ‘Well, “A message for the gem with many hidden facets.” One of the family ancestors gave it to me, passed on from another they did not name.’
‘One of your ancestors gave you a message for me?’
Percival looked at Trudy. ‘Does she always ask questions which have already been answered, Trudy?’
‘Only when the answer doesn’t make much sense,’ Trudy replied. ‘Really, Percy, why would one of our ancestors give you a message for Krystal?’
The priest shrugged. ‘The ancestors move in mysterious ways. Now… “What you seek may be found where you came into the world. Speak you unto the witch who dwells in our ancient home. We do not forsake you, daughter.” By which, I assume that the message came from one of your ancestors, Krystal Ward. Not, I might add, one of your parents. Or not certainly one of them. The ancestors don’t tend to care overmuch about generations. We’re all sons and daughters to them.’
‘That makes a certain amount of sense,’ Trudy said.
‘It… does?’ Krystal asked, looking confused.
‘Yeah, you sent your message out on Royalday. For whatever reason, they couldn’t reply at the time, so they got you a message through Percy. I was there, so they’d know to send it through my family. See? Your family does still like you. Or the dead members of it do anyway.’
‘That would probably be nice if I actually knew who they were.’
‘Then,’ Percival said, ‘I suspect you should seek out this witch and the place where you were born.’
‘That’s the problem,’ Krystal said, frowning. ‘I don’t know where I was born, but… Well, I was placed in the orphanage in Appleyard so I guess that’s where I should start looking. Maybe the sisters know something they haven’t told me.’
‘That would seem unlikely,’ Percival said, ‘but I agree that it would be a good place to start.’
Krystal gave a shrug. ‘It’s pretty much all I have to work with and I have to start somewhere.’
13th Day of Springgate.
Ramona was looking a little unsettled when she walked into the room she shared with Xanthe. Her roommate had asked Krystal for some help with a corpus problem she could not seem to grasp, so Krystal and Trudy were there to see the red dragon walk in wearing a frown, and when she jumped on seeing three people in the room instead of one, it became obvious that something was wrong.
‘Your night with your blue friend didn’t go too well?’ Trudy asked.
‘What? Azuria? No, she was great!’ Ramona’s expression shifted almost instantly into what seemed like a genuine smile. She dropped down onto her bed, suddenly gleeful. ‘Did I mention her name? Azuria Bluefeather. Remember that, because she’s going to be a big name in music soon. She’s so talented and she has this amazing voice. She can hit a high C or drop down below middle C.’ Ramona’s cheeks flushed. ‘She’s got this trick where she hums this low note and it makes your entire body vibrate. She’s beautiful, sings like an angel, and she thinks I’m worth her time, which I can’t believe is true. We went to Sirens and sang a duet, and then we went to bed and didn’t get up until midday. It was… wonderful.’
‘So why did you come in looking like your grandmother’s ghost walked through you outside?’ Xanthe asked.
The frown returned. ‘I thought I saw Darawen on the street outside the school.’
‘You see him all the time.’
‘Yes, but… I haven’t seen him since I met Azuria. I definitely didn’t see him last night. A-and usually when I see him, when I look again he’s not there, because he wasn’t the first time. This time I caught a glimpse of him, but when I looked again he was there, right there across the street from me. Then some people walked in front of him and he was gone.’
Krystal pursed her lips. ‘Maybe your subconscious isn’t quite ready to give up being unhappy. You spent a night, and most of a day, with someone who treats you how you should be treated, and now you’re coming down from that high, your brain’s giving you something to worry about out of cosmic spite. It’s very unlikely that Darawen Scarlin is in Concord City. How would he even know to look for you here?’
Ramona nodded. ‘Yeah. I know.’ She grinned. ‘You’re right. I’ve had a really incredible time and I should be happy about that. I am going to be happy about that. Stuff Darawen Scarlin right up the ass! I’m going to be happy, damn it!’
17th Day of Springgate.
Someone who did not look happy walked over to the table where the misfits were gathered for lunch, looking a lot like she either did not want to be doing this or that she did not know how to start. She was a blue dragon: tall, tanned, slim, and attractive. She had dark-blue eyes and dark-blue hair pulled back into a straight ponytail which fell to the hem of her skirt. Her face was sort of rounded but still managed to look quite angular, and she had a fairly small nose which sat over very full lips. Most noticeable, however, was the muscle definition visible thanks to her blouse being open quite low; this was a very fit girl.
And Charlotte seemed to know her. ‘Sapphira Windrider, what can I do for you?’ Charlotte said, not sounding especially pleased to see her fellow blue. ‘I assume it’s me you’re here for?’
Windrider paused, her rather perfect lips pressed together. ‘It is, Charlotte Cloudborn. You, uh, didn’t come to the try-outs last week.’
Charlotte shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t want to join a club that would kick me out because some stuck-up indigos are spreading rumours which anyone with an ounce of brains would realise
were false. Uh, no offence, Flis.’
‘Oh, none taken, darling,’ Felicia replied without rancour.
‘Besides,’ Charlotte went on, ‘it was pretty obvious that the whole thing was set up so that the club committee could get me on the team without losing face. If they want me, they can just invite me, without making me, literally, fly through hoops to do it.’
‘Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?’ Windrider asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘About this, and flying, yes, I am.’
‘Well, you’re right.’ Charlotte almost spat her lunch out over the table at the admission; Windrider went on as though she had not noticed. ‘I know this isn’t going to mean much since I can’t prove it, but I wanted you on the team last term. I saw you in the try-outs and I’ve seen you in the air. You’ve got talent and speed, and you’d be an asset to the team. But I’m just the team captain and the committee overruled me. They threatened to replace me when I nagged them about it, and I’m pretty sure they only came up with the second try-out idea when you got a bit of fame over the Winter Ball thing. So, I wouldn’t blame you if you actually got up and told them where they could stick their club.’
‘She would too,’ Trudy said. ‘Charley isn’t noted for pulling her punches.’
‘Though she hasn’t actually hit me with anything yet,’ Felicia added.
‘My aim’ll get better,’ Charlotte said, grinning.
‘Thing is,’ Windrider said, ‘the intake this year has been kind of… pitiful. I need any good flyers I can get, whatever the ancestors-damned committee says. Will you reconsider? I can bring you in on your first try-out score and my own observations. Just, please, think about it.’
Charlotte opened her mouth to say no, and then she saw Krystal raising an eyebrow at her. Frowning, Charlotte closed her mouth, finished chewing, swallowed, and tried again. ‘Okay, I’ll think about it. It’s not as simple as what I want to do or what I’d like to do. I also know that if I join, I’m going to let it interfere with my work, and I don’t want to do that. So, I’ll think about it, okay?’
‘That’s all I can ask,’ Windrider said. ‘I’ll leave you to your lunch.’
‘Give it some real thought,’ Krystal said as Windrider walked away. ‘You love flying and that team was one of the main reasons you wanted to come here. Plus, I’m sure we can keep you on track with your studies.’
‘Whips,’ Trudy said.
Xanthe shook her head. ‘Cattle prods.’
‘I can do without either,’ Charlotte replied. ‘I’ll think on it. Honest. Even if the temptation is to tell them to take a club and use it to pleasure themselves.’
‘Don’t you mean “their club,” darling?’ Felicia asked.
‘I know exactly what I meant. A club. Sideways!’
~~~
‘Now, what was so urgent, darling?’ Felicia asked as she stepped in through the door past Trudy. ‘Your invitation at dinner sounded as though the very foundations of the world would crumble if I did not come to see you tonight.’ Trudy closed and locked the door behind her, and Felicia raised her eyebrows. ‘You do know I’m seeing Jesse at the moment, don’t you?’
‘Of course,’ Trudy replied, smirking. ‘Why do you think I locked the door? Don’t want her walking in on us, do we?’
‘Uh, Trudy…’
Trudy grinned. ‘Don’t be daft, girl. I want your help with Krystal.’
‘That doesn’t actually sound much better.’
‘With figuring out who she is, cloud brain. Ramona doesn’t know about her scales, so I couldn’t get everyone involved.’
Felicia relaxed and smiled. ‘Oh, thank goodness for that. You had me worried. Of course I’ll help.’
‘Good. Now take your clothes off and lie on the bed.’ Felicia gave Trudy a withering look. ‘Just kidding. Sit down. I figured we could start with what makes Krystal special.’
‘Yes…’ Sitting down on Krystal’s bed, Felicia turned to the subject of enquiry. ‘So, what does make Krystal special?’
‘I’m… not special,’ Krystal replied. She was not entirely comfortable with the course of the conversation, but Trudy did have a point: Felicia had suggested that Krystal should figure out who her parents might be, and they had done nothing since.
‘You are, darling. We can start with your talent for magic. You’ve as good an understanding of magical theory as anyone else in the student body. I’d say you’re a match for some of the fourth-year students. You had some tuition prior to coming to the school, but let’s not forget that much of your skill is self-taught or natural.’
‘She’s a magical prodigy,’ Trudy said. ‘Doesn’t that suggest the Nightskys?’
‘Perhaps, but I’ve never heard of even a Nightsky with quite the level of talent Krys has. Now, Krys, what else do you have about you that you don’t see in other dragons?’
‘Uh, well,’ Krystal frowned. ‘I’ve always seen well in the dark. Not absolute darkness, obviously, but I could see better in dim light than the other orphans.’
‘Interesting.’
‘I have to actually be in scales to be able to see in total darkness.’
Trudy blinked. ‘You can see in total darkness?’
‘In colour?’ Felicia asked.
‘Uh, yes. In colour,’ Krystal replied.
‘Now that is definitely a Nightsky trait.’
Krystal frowned. ‘I’m a Nightsky? I… guess that would be kind of okay. Oh! There’s that thing about sensing magic. Remember? The night of the Winter Ball was the first time I found out that it was something other dragons couldn’t do.’
Felicia sighed. ‘And that is not a Nightsky trait. I’m not aware of any family with that talent.’
‘So… Could we be talking two families?’ Trudy asked. ‘Mixing two has been known to give some odd results, right? And an illicit relationship could explain the orphanage. If one or both families didn’t condone it, Krys’s parents might have wanted to keep the evidence hidden.’
‘A Nightsky and a member of another family…’ Felicia frowned. ‘We could try the newspaper archives for a scandal around the right time.’
Krystal grinned. ‘A research project? I can get behind that idea.’
‘Yes, though I’m not hopeful. I believe that your birth was successfully covered up. It’s quite possible that no one ever found out about it, or your parents’ relationship.’
‘Oh. So I’m probably back to being a cast-aside love child.’
‘I’m sorry, darling, but I’d say that’s the most likely possibility. On the bright side, it’s possibly the safest option. No one out there is looking for you with intent to do harm.’
Krystal nodded. ‘That’s one way to look at it. And I guess it’s an optimistic one. I’ll check the archives when I get a chance. Maybe I’ll find something more definite there.’
19th Day of Springgate.
Trudy turned onto Silverlight Street and then had to come to a stop as Ramona paused in front of a window. ‘Do you think Azuria would like me in that?’ the red asked, pointing at one of the mannequins in a lingerie shop window.
The lingerie in the shops on Silverlight Street tended toward the lacy and flimsy. Trudy took a quick glance to be sure of her answer and said, ‘I expect she would. I also think that you’re at the point in your relationship where you don’t need extras to heat things up.’
Ramona’s cheeks flushed. ‘Oh, uh, yeah.’ She looked away from the window, back toward the street they had come from. ‘You’re probably right about–’ Her voice cut off suddenly and, when Trudy looked up to see what was wrong, the flush had been replaced by white.
‘Mona? You okay?’
‘He’s there,’ Ramona hissed. ‘He’s right there.’ Trudy looked out across the street, searching for whoever Ramona had seen. ‘Ancestors damn him! He’s gone.’ Ramona turned quickly to Trudy. ‘Did you see him?’
‘Sorry, Mona. There are plenty of people over there, but none of them seemed to be watching us. Let
’s get to Cragscales’. If there is anyone there, he won’t come into the shop.’
‘Why wouldn’t he?!’
‘Because he’ll be too easy to spot. We’ll go up to the top floor and see Krys. There’s only one route through the shelves. If he goes up there, he’ll be cornered.’
Ramona nodded. ‘Right.’ She set off at a fast walk. ‘Right,’ she repeated as if to assure herself. ‘That’s where we were going anyway. I may be just being paranoid. No one else has seen him. You didn’t see him.’
‘That’s true,’ Trudy said, looking back over her shoulder, ‘but we’ll talk to Krys about it. Krys will know what to do.’
~~~
Krystal pursed her lips and tapped at them with an index finger. ‘Honestly? This isn’t exactly my area of expertise.’
Trudy pouted. ‘But you know everything.’
‘No one knows everything, Trudy, and I’m only nineteen. Give me another couple of centuries at least.’ Krystal looked around at Ramona who was watching the stairs up onto the book floor. ‘You’re sure you saw him, Mona?’
‘Yes,’ Ramona said. ‘Well, no. I think I saw him, but he can’t be here, can he?’ She looked around at Krystal with pleading eyes.
‘It would seem unlikely, but we can’t prove that you didn’t see him… I don’t think you’ll be at ease until we know one way or another.’ Krystal pursed her lips in thought again. ‘Come into the stacks with me. There are some books on musical magic I think you might find interesting and Trudy’s right: even if he is out there, he won’t risk following you in here. Tonight, we’ll get the gang together and try to figure out some way to find out whether he’s really in the city or not.’
‘That sounds like a plan,’ Trudy said. ‘And when we want to leave, I’ll ask Cragscales if we can go out through his apartment.’
‘His apartment?’ Ramona asked.
Misfit Witchcraft (Misfits Book 2) Page 7
