Bloodkin (Jaseth of Jaelshead) (18 page)

Lolitha found me as we took seats in the open air. She was wearing a new robe of khaki with a black pinstripe and she had lined her eyes with kohl. She pointed at Steven and Alan as they struggled with the laden picnic baskets.

“That can’t be right, we’re treating them like they’re servants or something.”

Charlie overheard and laughed. “They don’t mind. They’ll go off and find something more interesting to do once they’re a bit more accustomed to being Outside. I spent a few months staying at the Hall in Fortesta when I first left Ұiờ, doing lots of the same things, and I think Jimmy did too.”

Our conversation was cut off as suddenly there was a whooshing noise and steam began to pour from the ferry’s chimney. One of the deckhands cast off the rope that held us to the dock as a big paddle at the stern began to churn the water.

Lolitha’s black-rimmed eyes goggled.

“How on earth do they get it to do that?” she whispered, awed.

“Steam power. You’ve never...? No, I suppose not. Well the Steamers – Journeymen mostly – heat the water in the engine’s cylinder until it converts to steam, which turns the turbines which powers the paddles.”

“Ah.”

Charlie leaned in so we could hear him above the creaking of the boat’s machinery. “I was a Steamer for a while when I was a Journeyman here. Bloody hard work, I tell you what!”

We fell silent and looked back over the stern of the ferry as it pulled away from the dock. Lille was magnificent in the sun, the Human areas glittering, the Nea’thi Quarter dark, flashes of multi-coloured awnings bright as they hung between the buildings. Further out on the lake the ferry turned west and the city glided past to starboard. I could see the great lump of the Hall, perched on the edge of the Quarter, I could even make out the windows of my room. Past the Quarter the Docks spilled out onto the lake, dwellings built less high up the hill behind until the city petered out into farmland. Paddocks were dotted with tiny horses in the city’s common stabling area.

The ferry turned south now, and we headed across the widest part of the lake until Lille was barely visible behind us and we could see the other side. The land on the south shore of the lake had a few gentle hills, rolling off towards the flat plain where most of the grain for the city was grown. As we got closer the ferry turned west again and we passed a couple of small fishing settlements dotted along the shore.

Sallagh and Mantilly were standing up at the front of the deck and I rose to go and talk to them. I came up beside Mantilly and greeted the girls. Sallagh barely looked at me, and so, flustered, I turned to Mantilly.

“You’re from Nallow, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, my parents have a farm right on the edge of town.”

“Yeah?” She smiled at my awkwardness.

“You know, before the Leaving, Nallow was the main town around here. I think that’s why it’s called Lake Nallow, instead of the other way round.”

“Really?” It was hard to imagine a time when Lille was not the great city it was now.

“Oh yes, I mean, the castle has been on the island for ages of course, but Lille used to be just a Temple and the wee village that serviced it. The Nea’thi chose the site just round from the castle to build their Quarter, because it’s warmer over there apparently. Closer too to the entrance to the Enclave, they had to bring out all that funny dark stone that doesn’t reflect the light to build it. And then they built the Academy and Lille grew so big, and now Nallow’s just a fishing and farming town really, although there are a few rich Lille folk who have country retreats over here. Eh Sallagh?”

But Sallagh just sniffed and kept looking over the prow of the ferry. Far along the lake, at the very western corner, we could almost see where the Vondheim started – the great river that snaked across the whole country to Allyon and the sea.

We rounded a promontory and there on our left was Nallow, a wide cove of pebbly beach curved round to a handful of jetties on the right. Up from the beach was a well-tended grassy area,
bordered by shop-fronts and cafes, and the roofs of the town stretched out to the south behind them.

I could think of nothing more to say to the girls, and I wandered back to Charlie and Lolitha as the ferry pulled into the dock.

We set up our picnic on the grass down by the shore, in the shade of an ancient, gnarled old oak, whose enormous mossy roots pushed down the beach and into the lake. Sarah and Emma laid out the blankets Eve had sent with us and Mantilly helped Steven and Alan unpack the baskets. Jimmy perched on one of the tree roots and fished his moss pipe and a big bag of White from a pocket in his robe. The ferry ride had been smooth and the fresh lake air had certainly helped, but I was still feeling decidedly under the weather, so I was pathetically grateful when Jimmy sparked the full pipe and passed it to me. The gentle White vapour worked like a charm, and even as I passed the pipe to Lolitha I could feel my belly grumbling with hunger. Telgeth, who had curled up on the ferry and for all appearances gone back to sleep, perked up when Lolitha handed him the pipe, and with the picnic finally laid out we went to investigate what Myn Eve had packed for us.

There were plates of sandwiches generously filled with cold meats, little jam pastries, and a big basket of fruit. Mantilly poured coffee from some strange metal cylinders, remarkably still steaming hot.

“Thermoflasks,” Charlie pointed out, his face full of sandwich. “Nea’thi-crafted. Bloody handy, eh?”

Handy indeed, I thought, as I grabbed a handful of sandwiches and a plate and went to a sunny corner of the blanket to eat. Telgeth and Lolitha came to sit with me, the Mentors preferring to stay in the shad. Lolitha nibbled daintily at her lunch, Telgeth wolfed whole sandwiches in one bite, hardly chewing.

“Looking very suave today ‘Litha, borrow some of Jimmy’s kohl?”

She blushed but squared her jaw at Telgeth. “He says it helps with the glare, and what with it being so sunny and all, I thought…”

“Well
I
think you look very pretty,” I told her, and she shoved me.

“Yeah yeah, very gallant Jas, but it works!”

The pastries and fruit were passed around and when Telgeth had finished he let out a huge burp and sprawled in the sun like a well-fed dog.

“So Jas, you and Sallagh eh? Wink wink, nudge nudge!”

Lolitha almost choked on her coffee, “What?”

“Jas made out with Sallagh at the Thistle last night, didn’t you see?”

“Fyar khanall.” The Nea’thi curse, spoken in her flat Human tones, sounded particularly vehement. “Really Jas, Sallagh? I thought you had better taste.” Telgeth hooted and I blushed.

“Yeah, well, she’s hardly looked at me today.”

“No, she wouldn’t. She’s a bitch, I told you that.”

“She was nice enough last night,” I offered weakly.

“Yeah, before or after she found out about you being a Lord’s heir?”

Ouch, she might have had a point there.

“Don’t be mean ‘Litha, she’s a babe,” said Telgeth helpfully.

“Hmph. No offense Jas, but she only let you kiss her because Sammoch had been put to bed. She’s been eyeing him up all week.” I looked over to where Sallagh, Mantilly and Dunkerle were watching Sammoch and Donnick throwing a ball around on the grass. Sammoch had looked particularly green on the ferry, but after the White and a solid lunch had apparently perked up.

“She got a bit drunk, had some fun with the next most eligible male, and now she regrets it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Bollocks to this, I thought, and went over to the others. Behind me I could hear Telgeth laugh. “Nice one, now you’ve hurt his feelings.”

“Well it’s true,” she grumbled.

“Dunk! Catch!” yelled Sammoch, feigning a throw.

Dunkerle threw his hands in front of his face. “Just because I can see now doesn’t mean I’m coordinated.” He grinned at me as I sat. “Sports never were my forte, can you tell?”

Sallagh meanwhile was giggling and whispering loudly to Mantilly, “Ha, lezzy Loli is wearing kohl today, did you see? Hope she’s not trying to improve her looks!”

I thought I should say something in her defence.

“She’s wearing it for the sun, like the Nea’thi do.”

Sallagh laughed and raised her perfect eyebrows at me. “So our little lesbian has her champion? Look, it’s not as if I
mind
gay people, I just don’t want her trying to put any moves on me.” She tittered.

I looked up as a shadow fell across me. Lolitha was standing there, fists balled at her sides.

“Sallagh, you have far too high an opinion of yourself,” she said quietly but clearly. “I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot barge pole. Not if you were the last woman on earth.” She stalked off to sit with the Mentors in the shade, leaving Sallagh open-mouthed, a blush darkening her pretty features. She tried to wave the embarrassment away.

“No manners, these country girls, no manners at all.” She sniffed, clearly shaken by the confrontation. Emma wandered over and placed a gentle hand on Sallagh’s shoulders.

“Darling, it’s not nice to speak ill of others.” She giggled to lighten the mood. “Especially when those other people have Nea’thi-Blood hearing!”

The town clock sounded that the time was a quarter to the hour, the bells pealing across the green. The doors of the temple, a handsome old stone building, opened and people dribbled out.

The tables at the cafes were mostly full of people, and children played on the grass, running and shrieking in the hot afternoon.

“We’ve got a lovely Temple here,” Mantilly told me as we stood and I helped her fold the picnic blankets. “It was a church of one of the old religions that they converted after the Leaving, so it’s
ancient
. It’s got a great organ too, and our organist is just fabulous.”

Sallagh had gone over to talk to Sammoch and Donnick. Mantilly saw where I was looking and shrugged.

“Sorry about Sall. She really is a nice girl, but she can be a bit… difficult.” Sallagh laughed at something Sammoch said and touched his arm.

“So she does regret it then?” I muttered, more a statement than a question.

“She’s… confused. Emma had a talk with her.
Hyalanacza phlescha khalnacza
and all that.”

“Don’t screw the crew? Yeah, Charlie gave me that one as well. Doesn’t seem to be stopping her now though, does it?” I gritted my teeth, trying desperately not to watch Sallagh with Sammoch.

Mantilly wrinkled her nose at me. “She’ll calm down, she’s just a bit boy-crazy, that’s all.” She grinned. “You’re far too nice for her, Jaseth.”

Oh good. I’m too
nice
to get girls now. The awesome high I had felt last night seemed like a joke now. I had been bloody stupid to think a girl like Sallagh would ever be really interested. Crossly I dumped the blanket in one of the baskets and went to stand with Lolitha, who was watching Telgeth on the beach, skipping stones on the lake.

“Go on then, you told me so, right?”

“Oi, I wasn’t going to say that!” She glanced at me wryly. “You’re much too nice for her anyway, she’d eat you alive.”

“So everyone keeps saying,” I muttered bitterly.

“Whoop! Eight times, did you see that?” cried Telgeth, bouncing up the beach.

“Yeah yeah, nicely done. You big ginger lout,” called Lolitha. He ruffled her hair under her hood as he passed us.

“Right, we going to go get this Temple business out of the way or what?” He skipped over to the others, the picnic now cleared.

Lolitha paused for a second, still looking out over the lake, the hills on the Lille side barely visible.

“Um, Jas?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for, you know, before. Sticking up for me and stuff.” She kicked at a pebble that had found its way onto the grass.

“Ha, I hardly said anything.”

“Still. Thanks.”

It occurred to me that perhaps she hadn’t had many people on her side in the past. I grinned at her as we turned back to the group.

“Well, we’re going to have to be buddies now, what with the Hall and the Academy and all that.”

The others had started walking across the green to the Temple as we caught up, Steven and Alan still carrying the baskets, though they looked considerably lighter now. Mantilly was leading the group, explaining about the history of the Nallow Temple.

“Ugh, the old religions sound so barbaric!” exclaimed Sallagh, tossing her head.

“Well there’s one thing you can be grateful for, my dear,” Emma said, taking her arm.

Other groups had entered the Temple before us and we were the last lot through the doors. A shaven-haired Acolyte handed us piece of paper and pencils as we entered, and as we took our seats she closed the doors behind us.

The Nallow Temple was a large building, its solid stone exterior giving way to wooden panelling inside. Light filtered through stained-glass windows, sending coloured beams that lit the incense-filled air. On Sundays, Temples in populous regions held small services on the hour for most of the day. Wooden pews were laid out in two rows on either side of a centre aisle, covered with blue velvet cushions for comfort.

An elderly Priestess, bald and with spectacles perched on her nose, entered through a door to the side of the altar. She paused in front of the statue of Queen Lilbecz and bowed her head. The congregation stood and did the same. She turned to us, motioning for us to sit, which we did with much rustling.

The Priestess stood behind the altar in her plain yellow robes and raised her hands.

“Welcome friends to this place of peace and contemplation. I am grateful to you for taking this time to remember and be thankful.” She gestured to the organist, seated at the organ console to the side of the altar. Music began to float through the air as the organist played, the keys on the console controlling the air being
forced through the great brass and wood pipes arranged behind the statue of Queen Lilbecz.

As was customary, the Priestess was writing on her own piece of card, and the rest of us followed suit, leaning the paper on the ledge of the pew in front. We were supposed to write down the things that we were grateful for, the act of writing forcing us to clarify our feelings. I thought for a moment before putting pencil to paper. I was still feeling more bitter than grateful, but I forced myself to concentrate.