Thaumatology 04 - Dragon's Blood

by Teasdale, Niall

  Laughing, Ceri slapped him on the arm. ‘I’m a sorceress, a really powerful magician, and power corrupts. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of. I’ve always had good reasons, but that’s how it always starts.’

  Michael looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. ‘Well, I know I’d trust you with my soul,’ he said, ‘and I’m sure Lily would too.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ceri said, but then Lily already had.

  ~~~

  ‘We have a visitor,’ Twill said from the study doorway. ‘A human, no magic. She’s standing on the path outside the front door.’

  Ceri looked up and frowned. ‘I’m not expecting anyone. What time is it?’ She glanced at the clock on her desk. ‘Three o’clock. Wow! Faran’s making it a long one.’ Faran and Lily used the dungeon for training, out of sight and secure, and they had been down there for five hours.

  ‘You are going to see who it is?’ Twill asked.

  Climbing to her feet, Ceri started for the door. ‘Of course I am.’

  Stood on the thin gravel path from the front gate to the portico was a girl with oriental features and straight, black hair falling down past her shoulders. She was dressed in a skirt suit which did not look all that comfortable, and she was looking up at the house with a fond smile on her face. Ceri recognised her, but was surprised to see her standing there. ‘Jenny? Jenny Li?’

  The girl’s gaze fell to where Ceri was standing in the doorway. ‘Hi Ceri. Sorry, I haven’t been here since…’

  ‘My tenth birthday party,’ Ceri supplied. ‘You moved a bit further away, didn’t you? Went to a different school for a year or two?’

  ‘Uh-huh. I used to love the parties here.’

  ‘You want to come in?’

  Jenny grinned and walked quickly down the rest of the path. ‘Yeah,’ she said, ‘I got sent over to talk to you.’

  ‘Sent?’ Ceri stepped aside to let her through the door. There was no reaction from any of the wards as the half-Chinese girl walked in; even a normal with ill intent would have set off alarms.

  ‘I work at the Chinese Embassy,’ Jenny explained.

  Ceri raised an eyebrow and waved her toward the stairs. ‘Do you remember where the study is?’

  ‘Uh, yeah. We weren’t allowed in it. Anyway, I do translation work, Chinese, English, French, and werewolf.’

  ‘You speak wolf?’

  ‘I understand them. Human vocal apparatus isn’t up to speaking like that.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Uh-huh. If you’d come by this morning you’d have met my… boyfriend.’

  Jenny stopped in the doorway of the study, turning with an expression of surprised interest. ‘You’re dating a werewolf?’

  Ceri giggled. ‘Uh, it’s complicated. Technically he’s my mate. There’s this whole thing with joining the Battersea pack. I take my research projects very seriously.’

  ‘Not only does she bring her work home with her,’ Twill said from just over their heads, ‘but she likes to take it to bed so she can sleep on it.’

  ‘Twill!’ Ceri squeaked.

  The fairy sparkled and a sound like wind chimes floated through the air. ‘Lily isn’t here to make the risqué jokes. I’m just filling in. Would you like a drink?’

  ‘Sure, coffee please,’ Ceri said. ‘Uh, oh yes, Twill, this is Jenny. We went to a couple of the same schools.’

  ‘Coffee would be great,’ Jenny said. ‘Pleased to meet you, Twill.’ Twill bobbed in the air and flitted off toward the kitchen. ‘You live with a fairy?’ Jenny asked.

  ‘And a half-succubus,’ Ceri replied, nodding. ‘Lily’s downstairs in… she’s downstairs, busy.’ There were perfectly innocent reasons why there was a dungeon in the cellar, and Ceri was not even going to explain those to Jenny.

  Jenny gave a little quizzical frown and headed into the study to perch on the chaise longe. ‘You live with a half-succubus and a fairy, and your boyfriend is a werewolf?’

  Ceri pulled her desk chair over and sat down. ‘That about covers it. What did you want to talk about, aside from old times and my odd lifestyle?’

  ‘Yes, right, down to business.’ She paused as Twill flitted in followed by a tray with two mugs of coffee. Jenny obviously had not met a fairy before; she looked on, fascinated, as the tray floated to her and then Ceri. Then she watched as Twill floated out of the room again before shaking her head. ‘Business. Mei Long, Ambassador for the Chinese Empire cordially invites you to a meeting at the Embassy tomorrow at two pm. Cordially, not formally. If it was formal she’d have to inform the government and there would be all sorts of paperwork. That’s why I’m here instead of a Chinese official or some guy from the Home Office.’

  Ceri blinked. ‘The Chinese Ambassador wants to see me? Why?’

  ‘She didn’t exactly say. Just that it was to do with various aspects of your research.’ Jenny smiled. ‘She’s really pretty nice. I’m only half-Chinese and native Chinese can be a bit, well bigoted about that, but she’s always been really good with me.’

  ‘Okay,’ Ceri said. ‘I’ll go. You can tell her I cordially accept her invitation.’

  Jenny giggled. ‘Good. Thank you. I’m not exactly sure how she knew that we knew each other, but I got the feeling it was major kudos to me that I did. She was really keen to meet you.’

  ‘Really? This could be… interesting.’

  ‘Not as interesting as the stuff you seem to have been getting up to,’ Jenny said. She leant forward; business was done and she had gone into “catching up” mode. ‘You joined a werewolf pack? How?’

  ‘Magic,’ Ceri replied, grinning. ‘I studied the transformation of were-creatures for my PhD and I learned how to turn into a werewolf. I’m now one of the pack guards, would you believe, though I’m only a part time wolf. Wednesday and Thursday nights, other times on occasion.’

  ‘Oh wow,’ Jenny said, sounding a little awed. ‘So you know the Battersea Alpha? My teacher was a ronin the embassy employed. They wanted someone who could understand the wolves, just in case, so I got the training with a couple of the other translators. I’ve never really used it in anger. I’d love to meet some real pack werewolves.’ There was an eager little edge to her voice.

  ‘The Battersea wolves are pretty private,’ Ceri said, ‘but… Are you still living in Clapham?’ Jenny nodded. ‘Okay, can you come out to Battersea Park tonight, about eleven?’

  ‘Uh, sure.’

  ‘Okay. Go to the boating lake and meet me beside the boat house. I might have to say it’s a no go, but I’ll ask if they’ll meet you.’

  Jenny practically bounced with glee. ‘Oh God, Ceri, that’d be so great if I could.’

  Battersea

  Jenny looked a lot less excited as she stood beside the boathouse in Battersea Park with five werewolves crouched around her. One of them was black and wearing a collar, but Jenny either did not understand how odd that was, or was too nervous to figure it out.

  ‘Uh, hi,’ she said. ‘Ceri Brent said I could come. Uh, I hope I’m not… uh… I haven’t got her in trouble or anything have I?’

  By agreement, no one made a sound. Ceri had a lot of trouble doing that. The urge to roll on the grass and giggle, no matter how undignified that actually became when done by a werewolf, was strong. Instead she waited and watched.

  ‘I speak some wolf,’ Jenny tried.

  ‘That won’t be necessary, Miss Li.’ The voice made the girl jump and she almost fell over turning around. Standing on the jetty beside a rowing boat was the tall, amazon-like form of Anita. She was in human form, but you could tell she was a wolf because she was quite calmly standing there in the nude. ‘If you’d like to come with me, Alexandra is waiting for you.’

  Looking even more nervous next to the confident, powerful form of Anita, Jenny sat in the row boat and allowed herself to be rowed across the lake. Ceri and the other wolves slipped into the water and swam alongside the little craft. Arriving at the shore, Anita jump
ed out without a thought and pulled the boat up allowing Jenny to climb out without getting wet. She was still looking nervous as she was led through the trees to Alexandra’s clearing, and she looked even more unhappy as she found herself surrounded by wolves and faced by their Alpha.

  Alexandra was in human form, but she had pulled herself up to her full height and her hair shone in the moonlight. If you knew that it was relatively rare for a female to run a pack on her own, Alexandra looked amazing. Even if you did not, she looked every inch the regal, powerful Alpha. Her expression was slightly disapproving; Jenny started wishing she had worn her suit instead of a T-shirt and jeans.

  ‘Miss Li,’ Alexandra said. ‘Sit down.’ She pointed to a spot near the fire and Jenny hurried over to sit there. ‘Ceridwyn told us you wished to find out more about us.’

  Ceri and Michael moved to kneel just behind Jenny, and she glanced at the two wolves and swallowed. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ she said.

  ‘Very well,’ Alexandra said. ‘I’m going to ask you a question, Miss Li. A very important question, one which will decide how your night goes from here.’ A clawed hand landed on each of Jenny’s shoulders and she let out a little squeak. Her eyes were as wide as they could get as she looked up at Alexandra. ‘Would you like some tea?’ the Alpha said sweetly.

  Jenny blinked. ‘I’m sorry?’

  ‘Tea? It’s fresh. I just made a pot.’

  ‘Uh… sure?’ Jenny looked at the wolves on either side of her, one of which was making strangled noises. ‘Am I missing something, ma’am?’

  Alexandra smiled and settled down to pour the tea. ‘I’m sorry, dear. It’s still a rather full moon and werewolves tend to be more… boisterous around that time. When Ceri said you wanted to meet us, we couldn’t resist a little joke.’

  Jenny sagged from her nervous posture, relief showing on her face. ‘I’m sure this is because I pulled her hair once in P.E. Where is she?’

  Alexandra chuckled softly. ‘She’s holding your right shoulder.’

  Twisting around to look closely at her black furred guard. ‘Ceri?’ She got an affirmative yip in reply. ‘That was mean.’ She grinned and slapped Ceri’s furry leg.

  ‘The young man on the other side is Michael,’ Alexandra added. ‘Ceri is his mate. Originally it was a temporary arrangement, but I think now it’s just complicated.’ Ceri could tell that the old wolf was amused. ‘I understand you learned to understand us from a ronin?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. It was arranged by the embassy.’

  Alexandra nodded and handed over a mug of tea. The mug had “Werewolves Do It in the Woods” printed on it. ‘You understand that werewolves, like real wolves, are naturally pack animals. Ronin are more common than lone real wolves, and may even be solo by choice, but pack wolves are the more natural form. We’re fairly intimate creatures. Ceri has said that we don’t have a human’s idea of personal space. That does affect our speech, though perhaps if you’re translating in more formal environments that may not be a factor.’

  ‘I’m not sure myself, ma’am,’ Jenny replied. ‘I’ve not needed to use it for work yet, but I was always fascinated by languages. Anything I can do to improve my understanding would be great.’

  Alexandra regarded Jenny shrewdly for a second. ‘Two questions then. First, since Ceri is considered one of my pack, and a very good friend of my pack, I need to ask you whether you believe this ambassador’s intentions are honourable.’

  ‘I think so,’ Jenny replied without hesitating.

  Alexandra nodded. ‘Good enough. Do you think your ambassador is interested in some form of more formal relations with this country’s werewolves?’

  ‘Honestly? I’m not sure, but I figure they’d have trained some of the, uh, other staff in the language if all they were doing was spying.’ Jenny smiled wryly. ‘I’m not an idiot, I know some of the staff at the embassy are intelligence people. I’m pretty sure I know who some of them are, but I figure we must have people in China too so it’s only fair.’

  ‘Quite, and not my concern.’ Alexandra nodded, appearing to come to a decision. ‘Very well. I suggest you talk to your ambassador. If she’s willing we will arrange for you to spend a few hours with us so that you can have a better understanding of our culture and language. If Ceri’s willing, you could even spend a little time as a wolf.’ She suppressed a smirk badly. ‘Though you’d best discuss that with her. There are a few… small rituals which not all humans would find… comfortable.’

  Ceri was making choking sounds again; laughing just did not work with a werewolf’s vocal equipment.

  Marylebone, June 17th

  It seemed that Ceri was expected. As she walked through the door of the embassy building on Portland Place a thin Chinese man in a suit picked up a telephone and spoke into it in rapid Mandarin. Well, Ceri guessed it was Mandarin since that was supposed to be the most common of the Chinese languages. She had done a little research online before making the trip out via Regent’s Park tube station. Before she could actually walk up to the man behind the ornate desk, Jenny emerged through a security door behind him, grinning brightly.

  ‘You’re lucky,’ Jenny said when she had closed the distance between them. ‘If this were an official visit you’d have a half-dozen functionaries and security people around you by now.’ She turned to the man at the desk. ‘Do you have Miss Brent’s badge ready?’

  The man nodded and produced a clip on badge from a desk drawer, handing it over along with a burst of staccato Chinese. Jenny took the badge with a slight bow and handed it to Ceri. ‘Clip that on and don’t take it off,’ she said. Ceri noticed that she was wearing something similar, but more permanent, and with a bad photograph printed onto it. ‘The embassy wards are keyed to the badges and you don’t want to set them off,’ Jenny added. She nodded to the receptionist and he buzzed them through the security door into the main building.

  The decoration was ornate, oriental, and heavy on the dragon motifs. There were golden dragon statuettes, dragons woven into the design of the red and gold wallpaper, dragons in the mouldings along the ceiling. ‘That’s a lot of dragons,’ Ceri commented. They seemed to be walking a fair way into the structure, up two floors and into areas which appeared more private than the hallways below.

  Jenny giggled. ‘Well, yes, they don’t call it the Dragon Empire for nothing.’

  ‘How did you land the job here?’ Ceri asked. ‘I’d have thought they would use a native.’

  ‘They have an affirmative employment programme. Ambassador Long in particular has made sure the embassy employs staff from the local area.’ She grinned slightly. ‘Mostly that’s cleaners and technicians, but there are a few people in more important jobs like me. My family was really proud of me getting this job.’ She stopped in front of a fairly plain, red painted door. ‘Here we are. I’ll leave you here, the Ambassador speaks excellent English so you don’t need me.’

  ‘What if I need the moral support? You don’t think this dress is, um, too short?’ Ceri had decided to wear her one and only formal outfit, the dress she had bought for interviews. It was a little short, and a little deep in the cleavage department, but Lily had convinced her that most of her employers would be men so that was a good thing.

  ‘You look great,’ Jenny said, ‘and I said she was nice. You’ve nothing to worry about.’

  Ceri gave her a nervous grin as Jenny opened the door and let her through. Beyond it was what appeared to be a reception room with a pair of ornate, but comfortable looking couches facing each other across a low table. There was no one in the room, so Ceri closed the door and moved forward, looking around. The furniture looked old, Georgian or Victorian; Ceri was no expert on that kind of thing. One thing on a side table caught her eye, though actually it was more that it made the skin on the back of her head tighten. It was a statuette of a Chinese dragon sitting up on short back legs and balanced on a long, curled tail. From the look of it, it had rubies for eyes, and the gems seemed to glow as she approached the table.<
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  ‘He likes you.’ The voice was soft and friendly, and had a moderately strong Chinese accent. Ceri turned to see a stunningly attractive woman perhaps in her early thirties, but without a single line on her small, heart-shaped face. Her slim body was clad in an ankle length, Chinese-style dress; deep blue with stylised golden dragons printed on the silk. As she moved toward Ceri her hair flicked slightly. Jet black, it fell in one straight column to her bottom. She nodded to the dragon statue. ‘He has been in my family for centuries. It’s said that he brings luck and protects us from harm.’

  ‘He’s certainly magical,’ Ceri replied.

  ‘Indeed he is.’ The woman held out her hand. ‘Mei Long, I’m the Chinese Ambassador to Great Britain.’

  Ceri smiled and took the offered hand. ‘Ceridwyn Brent, I’m… a research assistant.’

  ‘Rather more than that. Please, sit down.’ She moved to sit in the furthest of the two seats, giving Ceri the shortest walk. Mei sat very upright, her knees together and her palms on her knees. She waited for Ceri to sit opposite her before going on. ‘I asked you to come so that we could talk about some of your research.’

  ‘Yes, Jenny said that,’ Ceri replied. ‘I was wondering why me rather than Doctor Tennant? She’s the head researcher.’

  ‘Indeed. A good and fair question. I am confident that you understand the matters I am interested in as well or better than Doctor Tennant, and I wished to meet you.’

  That was not in the least bit ominous. ‘Okay, what did you want to know?’

  ‘My government would like confirmation of the amendments which you and Doctor Tennant made to your Null Thaumiton paper,’ the ambassador said. ‘There has been some concern that the British government requested the warning additions to ensure that a potentially devastating weapon was kept to themselves.’

  Ceri’s skin went paler than usual. ‘No, the warning is absolutely real, ma’am. We had to convince the Ministry and the Army that they couldn’t pursue it. They were offering a lot of money to continue Matthew Barnes’ research and build the bomb he said he could create. I can’t stress this enough, Ambassador, if anyone ever builds one of those dark circle devices they will be handing the world to the demons. What’s left of it anyway.’