Ink and Steel pa-3

by Elizabeth Bear

  Ink and Steel

  ( Promethean Age - 3 , The Stratford Man - 1 )

  Elizabeth Bear

  Kit Marley, playwright and spy in the service of Queen Elizabeth, has been murdered. His true gift to Her Majesty was his way with words, crafting plays infused with a subtle magic that maintained her rule. He performed this task on behalf of the Prometheus Club, a secret society of nobles engaged in battle against sorcerers determined to destroy England. Assuming Marley’s role is William Shakespeare— but he is unable to create the magic needed to hold the Queen’s enemies at bay. Resurrected by enchantment in Faerie, Marley is England’s only hope. But before he can assist Will in the art of magic, he must uncover the traitor among the Prometheans responsible for his death…

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF THE PROMETHEAN AGE

  Principal Players in Ink and Steel

  Epigraph

  Prologue

  Act I, scene i

  Act I, scene ii

  Act I, scene iii

  Act I, scene iv

  Act I, scene v

  Act I, scene vi

  Act I, scene vii

  Act I, scene viii

  Act I, scene ix

  Act I, scene x

  Intra-act: Chorus

  Act II, scene i

  Act II, scene ii

  Act II, scene iii

  Act II, scene iv

  Act II, scene v

  Act II, scene vi

  Act II, scene vii

  Act II, scene viii

  Act II, scene ix

  Act II, scene x

  Act II, scene xi

  Act II, scene xii

  Act II, scene xiii

  Act II, scene xiv

  Act II, scene xv

  Act II, scene xvi

  Act II, scene xvii

  Act II, scene xviii

  Act II, scene xix

  Act II, scene xx

  Intra-act: Chorus

  Act III, scene i

  Act III, scene ii

  Act III, scene iii

  Act III, scene iv

  Act III, scene v

  Act III, scene vi

  Act III, scene vii

  Act III, scene viii

  Act III, scene ix

  Act III, scene x

  Act III, scene xi

  Act III, scene xii

  Act III, scene xiii

  Act III, scene xiv

  Act III, scene xv

  Act III, scene xvi

  Act III, scene xvii

  Act III, scene xviii

  Act III, scene xix

  Act III, scene xx

  Act III, scene xxi

  Act III, scene xxii

  Intra-act: Chorus

  About the Author

  PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF THE PROMETHEAN AGE

  Whiskey and Water

  The many varied plots skillfully and subtly interweave into a finale withserious punch. Elizabeth Bear’ writing style is as dense, complex, andsubtle as her plots and characters. The style reminds me a little of Tolkien.This is definitely not a book to sit down to for a light, fluffy read. But ifyou immerse yourself in this rich, dark world, you will be rewarded withcharacters with layers of motivation and relationships that weave through theworld’ destiny like an intricate spider’ web.

  SFRevu

  [Whiskey and Water] reaffirms [Bear s] skill at creating memorable and memorably flawed characters as well as her sure hand at blending together themodern world with the world of the Fae. Her elegant storytelling shouldappeal to fans of Charles de lint, Jim Butcher, and other cross-world andurban fantasy authors.

  Library Journal

  Bear brings a new level of detail to the subject, and her magical creaturesare an interesting mix of familiar and unfamiliar traits.

  Don D Ammasa, Critical Mass

  Bear succeeds in crafting a rich world… . It’ a book that I couldn tput down, with a world in which I found myself easily enthralled andenchanted, not necessarily by Faerie, but by Bear’ poetic expression andknife-sharp narrative.

  Rambles

  Intrigued and delighted sum up my reaction to Whiskey and Water as a whole. Don’t think of it as a sequel, because it’ not: It’ the next part ofthe story, and just as rich, magical, and poetic as its predecessor. … I mhoping for another one.

  The Green Man Review

  The wonderful Promethean Age series just keeps getting better. Bear has aknack for writing beautifully damaged characters, who manage to be both alienand sympathetic at the same time, and then putting them in situations wherethey have no choice but to go through the fire. The result is glorious.

  Romantic Times (Top Pick)

  Cleverly designed and well written … a delightful tale filled with allsorts of otherworldly species. Alternative Worlds Blood and Iron “Blood and Iron takes everything you think you know about Faerie and twistsit until it bleeds.

  Sarah Monette, author of The Mirador

  Bear works out her background with the detail orientation of a sciencefiction writer, spins her prose like a veil-dancing fantasist, and neverforgets to keep an iron fist in that velvet glove.

  The Agony Column

  Complex and nuanced… . Bear does a fantastic job with integrating thesecenturies-old elements into a thoroughly modern tale of transformation, love,and courage. Romantic Times

  Bear overturns the usual vision of Faerie, revealing the compelling beautyand darkness only glimpsed in old ballads and stories like Tam lin.

  Publishers Weekly

  This is excellent work. Bear confronts Faerie head-on, including thedangerous and ugly bits, and doesn’t shield the reader with reassuringhappily-ever-after vibes… . She also writes a few brilliant scenes andset pieces, the most memorable for me being … the beautifully handled(and beautifully explained) Tolkien homage near the climax… . I’m lookingforward to spending more time in this world. Eyrie… and for the other novels of Elizabeth Bear

  A gritty and painstakingly well-informed peek inside a future world we’d allbetter hope we don’t get, liberally seasoned with VR delights andenigmatically weird alien artifacts… . Elizabeth Bear builds her futurenightmare tale with style and conviction and a constant return to the twistsof the human heart.

  Richard Morgan, author of Altered Carbon

  Very exciting, very polished, very impressive.

  Mike Resnick, author of Starship: Mercenary

  Gritty, insightful, and daring.

  David Brin, author of the Uplift novels and Kiln People

  A glorious hybrid: hard science, dystopian geopolitics, and wide-eyed sense

  of wonder seamlessly blended into a single book.

  Peter Watts, author of Blindsight

  Elizabeth Bear has carved herself out a fantastic little world… . It’ rare to find a book with so many characters you genuinely care about. It’ aroller coaster of a good thriller, too.

  SF Crowsnest

  “What Bear has done … is create a world that is all too plausible, onewracked by environmental devastation and political chaos… . She conductsa tour of this society’ darker corners, offering an unnerving peek into afuture humankind would be wise to avoid. SciFi.com An enthralling roller-coaster ride through a dark and possible near future.

  Starlog

  [Bear] does it like a juggler who’ also a magician.

  The Mumpsimus

  Principal Players in Ink and Steel

  combined with a selection of historical and literary figures as may be convenient to the reader.

  Alleyn, Edward : (Ned) A player. Principal Tragedian of the lord Admiral’s Men.

  Amaranth : A lamia

  Arthur : A King of Britain. Mostly dead.

/>   Baines, Richard : An intelligencer and Promethean

  Bassano lanyer, Abilia : England’s first professional woman poet. Mistress of Henry Carey. Sadly, not appearing in this book because I did not have room for her.

  Bassano, Augustine : Court musician to Elizabeth, Venetian Jew, father to Abilia, and intimate of Roderigo Lopez. Also not appearing in this volume,but I promise you, he and Abilia and Roderigo and Alfonso had manyinteresting adventures that Will never found out about. Someday I will write the Jews of Elizabeth’s Court book and you can find out all about it.

  Bradley, William : Stabbed by Thomas Watson in Bankside. Dead.

  Brahe, Tycho : An Astronomer

  Burbage, Cuthbert : Brother to Richard Burbage

  Burbage, James : Father to Richard Burbage. Owner of the Theatre in Bankside.

  Burbage, Richard : A player. A Promethean. Principal Tragedian of lord Strange’s Men, the lord Chamberlain’s Men, and the King’s Men. Eventual Shareholder at the Globe.

  Burghley, Baron : (William Cecil) lord Treasurer. A Promethean. Mbber of the Privy Council. Father to Robert Cecil.

  Cairbre : A bard, the Master Harper of the Daoine Sidhe

  Cecil, Anne : Wife to Edward De Vere, daughter to William Cecil, sister to Robert Cecil

  Cecil, Robert : Secretary of State. A Promethean. Mbber of the Privy Council. Later, the Earl of Salisbury.

  Catesby, Robert : A Catholic recusant

  Chapman, George : a playmaker and poet

  Cobham : Briefly, lord Chamberlain

  Coquo, Oratio : Edward de Vere’s catamite, a former choirboy. I am not making that up.

  Corinna : The love object in Ovid’s fifth elegy, and a character in Tamburlaine

  Davenant, Jenet Shepherd and John : Innkeepers along the road to Stratford

  Dee, Doctor John : An astrologer

  Drake, Sir Francis : A privateer

  Ede, Richard : A keeper at the Marshalsea prison

  Edward : A player. A mbber of the company of lord Strange’s Men.

  Essex, Earl of : (Robert Devereaux) A Promethean Faustus: A Scholar

  Fawkes, Guido : A Catholic recusant

  Findabair : A princess of Faerie. Dead.

  Fletcher, John : A vile playmaker

  Forman, Simon : A physician of sorts

  Frazier, Ingrim : A servant to Thomas Walsingham

  Ganymede : Jove’s cupbearer. Euphbistically speaking, a term for a catamite. A gardener

  Gardner, William : Justice of the Peace for Southwark

  Gaveston, Sir Piers : lban to Edward II, formerly King of England

  Geoffrey : A Faerie, with the head of a stag

  Green, Robert : A vile playmaker and pamphleteer

  Henslowe, Philip : Owner of the Swan Theatre Holinshed: A historian, of sorts

  Hunsdon, lord : (George Carey) lord Chamberlain. A Promethean. Mbber of the Privy Council.

  Hunsdon, lord : (Henry Carey) lord Chamberlain. A Promethean. Mbber of the Privy Council. Father to George Carey.

  John : A carriagban

  Jonson, Ben : A vile playmaker, son of a bricklayer, educated at Westminster. Formerly a soldier in the low countries.

  Kbp, Will : A player. Clown for the lord Chamberlain’s Men

  Kyd, Thomas : A vile playmaker

  Langley, Francis : A moneylender

  Lanyer, Alfonso : A court musician, and husband to Abilia Bassano. Sadly,also not appearing in this volume.

  Lavinia : A victim of rape and dismbberment in Titus Andronicus

  Lopez, Doctor Roderigo : A Promethean. Queen’s Physician and Ambassador from Antonio, pretender to the throne of Portugal. Of Jewish descent.

  Lucifer Morningstar : An Angel, once, and most dearly loved of God. Gave Ned Alleyn rather a bad turn, on one occasion. A mare

  Marley, Christofer : (Kit; Christopher Marlowe; Sir Christofer) A Promethean. The dead shepherd. A playmaker and intelligencer. Dead (to begin with).

  Marley, John : Father to Christofer Marley, a Master Cobbler of Canterbury

  Marley, Tom : Brother to Christofer Marley

  Mathews, Mistress : landlord of the Groaning Sergeant

  Mebd, the : A Queen of Faerie

  Mehiel : An Angel of the lord Mephostophilis: A dbon of Hell

  Merlin : A legendary bard

  Monteagle, Baron : William Parker, a cousin of William Shakespeare

  Morgan le Fey : The half sister to Arthur, King of England. The Queen of Air and Darkness. And, formerly, Cornwall and/or Gore.

  Murchaud : Morgan’s son, a Prince of Faerie

  Nashe, Tom : A vile playmaker

  Northampton, Earl of : A friend to Sir Walter Raleigh

  Nottingham, Earl of : The lord Admiral, a patron of players.

  Orpheus : A legendary musician who sought to rescue his love from Hell

  Oxford, Seventeenth Earl of : (Edward de Vere) A Promethean, alleging himself a poet

  de Parma, Fray Xalbadore : A Promethean. An Inquisitor.

  Plantagenet, Edward : (Edward II of England) A historic king, the title character of Edward II by Christopher Marlowe

  Peaseblossom : A Faerie

  Poley, Mary : Sister to Thomas Watson, estranged wife to Robert Poley, mother of Robin Poley

  Poley, Robin : Son of Mary Poley

  Poley, Robert : A Promethean. A moneylender and intelligencer. Eventually, a Yeoman Warder of the Tower.

  Raleigh, Sir Walter : A sea captain, sympathetic to the Prometheans A lame raven

  Robin Goodfellow (aka Puck) : A Faerie

  Rosalind, also Ganymede : The heroine of As You like It

  Sackerson : A bear.

  Shakespeare, Anne : (Annie) Wife to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, Edmund : Brother to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, Gilbert : Brother to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, Hamnet : Son to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, Joan : (Joan Hart) Sister to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, John : Father to William Shakespeare. A glover of Stratford-upon-Avon.

  Shakespeare, Judith : Daughter to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, Mary : Mother to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, Richard : Brother to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, Susanna : Daughter to William Shakespeare

  Shakespeare, William : A vile playmaker. Principal player of lord Strange’s Men, the lord Chamberlain’s Men, and the King’s Men. Eventual Shareholder at the Globe.

  Sidney, Sir Philip : A respected poet. Husband to Frances Walsingham. Dead.

  Skeres, Nicholas : An intelligencer

  Sly, Will : A principal player with the lord Chamberlain’s Men A sorrel gelding

  Southampton, Earl of : (Henry Wriothesly) Patron to William Shakespeare,Promethean

  Spencer, Gabriel : A player

  Spenser, Edmund : A respected poet

  Strange, lord : (Ferdinando Stanley) A Promethean, and patron to players

  Stuart, James : (James VI, James I): King of Scotland and eventually England

  Stuart, Mary : (Mary, Queen of Scots) Mother to James VI of Scotland. Dead.

  Stubbs, Philip : A Puritan, dismbbered for treasonous writings

  Taliesin : A legendary bard Tam lin: A legendary noblban kidnapped by Faeries

  Thomas the Rhymer : A legendary bard

  Topcliffe : The Queen’s torturer

  Tresham, Francis : A Catholic recusant A troll

  Tudor, Elizabeth : (Elizabeth I, Bess, Gloriana) The Queen of England, or perhaps Pretender to its throne

  Tudor, Henry : (Henry VIII of England, Great Harry) Dead

  de Vere, Elizabeth : Daughter of the seventeenth Earl of Oxford

  Wade, William : The Queen’s other torturer, clerk of the Privy Council

  Walsingham, Etheldreda (Audrey) : Wife to Thomas

  Walsingham, Frances : (Frances Sidney, Frances Devereaux) Daughter to Sir Francis, widow of Sir Philip Sidney, wife of the Earl of Es
sex

  Walsingham, Sir Francis : A Promethean. Spymaster to the Queen. Formerly, her Secretary of State.

  Walsingham, Thomas : Cousin to Sir Francis, Patron to Christofer Marley

  Watson, Thomas : A poet and intelligencer. A Promethean. Dead.

  Divers demons, ifriti, faeries, prentices, goodwives, publicans, recusants, damned souls etc as required.

  And since we all have suck’d one wholesome air,

  And with the same proportion of Elements

  Resolve, I hope we are resembled,

  Vowing our loves to equal death and life.

  CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE, Tamburlaine the Great, Part 1, Act II, scene vi

  Prologue

  And since my mind, my wit, my head, my voice and tongue are weak,

  To utter, move, devise, conceive, sound forth, declare and speak,

  Such piercing plaints as answer might, or would my woeful case,

  Help crave I must, and crave I will, with tears upon my face,

  Of all that may in heaven or hell, in earth or air be found,

  To wail with me this loss of mine, as of these griefs the ground.

  EDWARD DE VERE, 17TH EARL OF OXFORD, loss of Good Name

  Christofer Marley died as he was born: on the bank of a river, within the sound and stench of slaughterhouses.

  The news reached London before the red sun ebbed, while alleys fell into straitened darkness under rooftops still stained bright. It was a bloody end to the penultimate day of May, in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of the excommunicate Elizabeth.

  The nave of the Queen’s chapel at Westminster lay shadowed when, at the secluded entrance of a secret room, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford hesitated. Edward de Vere pushed his hood back from fine hair and wiped one ringed hand across his mouth. The panel slid open at his touch, releasing the redolence of oil. The sputter of candles along the walls reassured him that he was not the first. Four men waited within the stifling chamber.