Blood Song: The First Book of Lharmell Read online

I considered this. It would be imprudent to say I thought he was devious, rude and untrustworthy, but I was damned if I was going to gush about him to amuse these women. Just remembering the way he’d eyed me on the archery range yesterday as he’d weighed my bow in his hands was enough to make my blood boil. ‘He certainly seems committed to keeping the city secure.’ There, that was truthful and even mildly complimentary, which was more than he deserved in the circumstances. ‘Which reminds me, this war –’

  ‘I like it when he broods!’ interrupted Calli.

  ‘He’s always brooding,’ said Rupa. ‘He broods while he eats.’

  ‘But we won’t see him tonight, ladies,’ said Munah. ‘He’s off on a little patrol until tomorrow. I told him he’d be sorely missed at dinner tonight, and he gave me the most gentlemanly bow. For all he’s a commoner, he cuts a finer figure on a horse than any other man at court.’

  Away until tomorrow? That gave me an idea. Now all I needed to do was extricate myself from the aunts. They were already babbling about some baron, so I stood up and said, ‘Nature calls!’ They didn’t pause for breath as I made my way out.

  Rodden’s quarters, I’d discovered, were in the northernmost turret and not in the main keep – the same turret I’d seen the orange glow coming from the previous night. Was he signalling to the enemy?

  Whether he was a spy or not, there could be all kinds of information about Lharmell in his room: maps, books, military plans. Anything would help.

  From the bailey I crept up the stone staircase to the parapet in the dusky light, careful that a patrol had just marched past and disappeared round a corner. I didn’t want to run into Hoggit and have to explain what a ‘little lady’ was doing on the battlements. I hurried along the walkway, feeling giddy from the wine I’d drunk and the strong wind buffeting my body.

  I reached the stone archway at the base of the turret, glanced quickly around me, and dashed up the staircase.

  I emerged, breathless, in one large room. It was cluttered with Rodden’s things: books piled on tables, cloaks flung hastily over chairs, a bed strewn with tangled sheets. Several dirty dishes were piled against one wall, dirty clothes against another. It was evident that he didn’t allow the servants up here to clean.

  I looked around, wondering where to start. Against one wall was a bench covered in papers and strange-looking instruments. I walked over and picked up a glass beaker filled with a thick orange sludge. I sniffed. It smelt awful, like burnt hair and rotten eggs. There were more beakers blown into bulbous shapes and mounted on metal stands, boxes of strange metals and crystals, and an odd thing about a foot tall with two glass circles at the top. It seemed to be made for looking through. I peeked into the eye-pieces but could see nothing. These were the trappings of a mad alchemist’s laboratory. What on earth was he up to?

  I heard a rustling sound and turned. There was a rabbit hutch on the floor. Smiling, I knelt down to look at it. Several fluffy brown rabbits were sitting on straw, munching carrots. I poked my finger through the wire to scratch one behind an ear, and the others came hopping over. I would never have guessed that such a serious man as Rodden kept bunnies for pets.

  To my horror, I heard someone climbing the stairs. I looked around for a hiding spot, a closet maybe, but there didn’t appear to be one. I felt panic rise like a tide in my chest: I was about to be caught in Rodden’s room. Then I saw the bed. There was a narrow gap between the frame and the floor. I squeezed myself underneath just moments before whoever it was emerged from the stairwell. I could see only ankle-high but whoever it was wore dusty riding boots and seemed to know his way around. It had to be Rodden. He walked slowly across the room, as if he were bone tired. I willed him to walk right out again, but instead the boots came closer. This was just my dumb luck. He was coming over to the bed. He came right up to it and sat down heavily.

  ‘Oof.’

  ‘What the hell –’ Rodden leapt up again. He groped under the bed, caught my arm and pulled me bodily out from underneath it. Before I knew it I was on my feet, dangling by my wrist and staring into his blazing eyes.

  ‘You!’ he said, practically throwing my arm back at me.

  ‘Ow,’ I said, rubbing my wrist.

  He looked furious. ‘What are you doing in here?’

  I suddenly felt very angry with him. He kept popping up at the most inopportune moments. ‘You,’ I said, pointing a finger right at his nose, ‘were supposed to be on patrol.’

  He gave a short laugh. ‘You conniving little –’ He stopped. ‘And just what were you doing up here? Snooping, no doubt. You’ve done nothing but snoop since you got here.’ He sniffed, frowning. ‘And have you been drinking?’

  I deflated a little. I had been hoping he wouldn’t notice. What a wonderful impression I was making on him, first as a tart and now as a lush. I was just starting to feel the first pangs of mortification when I noticed something. He’d pulled his cloak and jacket off before he’d sat down on the bed and he stood before me in his shirtsleeves. The shirt was open at the neck revealing a strong brown throat. There was a silver chain around his neck, and something hanging from the chain.

  I went still, my eyes fixed on his throat. ‘What’s that?’

  He looked confused for a moment, and his hand went up to his neck.

  It was my silver ring. The one the phantom had stolen from my room the night before our departure from Amentia.

  He muttered a curse and dropped his head forward.

  I took a step back, forgetting the bed was behind me, and I sat down hard. He was the blue-eyed phantom. I should have seen it before. His eyes were the same white-blue as mine.

  ‘What are you?’ I whispered.

  ‘What am I?’ he repeated, standing over me. ‘What are you?’

  ‘You were in my room in Amentia. You stole my ring. What the hell is going on?’

  Shaking his head, he buttoned the neck of his shirt.

  I grabbed his arms. ‘You have to tell me! Look at my eyes. They’re the same as yours. What did this to me? We’re the same, aren’t we?’

  He shook me off. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. You’re nothing like me.’ He paced away, hand to his mouth. He turned back. ‘You have to leave.’

  I rose. ‘No, not until you tell me what’s going on.’

  ‘No, I mean go back to Amentia. Right now. Before it’s too late.’

  ‘Too late? What are you going to do? What’s going to happen here? My sister lives here now – she’s going to marry the prince. I have to warn her if it isn’t safe.’

  ‘It’s you,’ he said coldly. ‘You’re what’s going to happen. You’re putting us all in danger.’

  ‘You’re lying. I haven’t done anything. You’re just worried I’m going to find out what you’re up to.’

  ‘If you really love your sister, you’ll leave.’

  ‘If? What do you mean, if? Of course I love my sister.’

  He gave a short laugh. ‘Now, Zeraphina. We both know that’s a lie. I’ve been watching you. This wedding is just subterfuge. You’ve barely been at your sister’s side the whole time you’ve been here. Now, if you go home, I might be convinced that you’re innocent in all this. If you don’t . . .’ He shrugged. ‘I won’t be held responsible for what happens to you.’

  My mouth fell open. He was threatening me.

  ‘What gives you the right to talk to me this way?’ My voice sounded shrill and afraid even to my own ears. ‘I do love my sister and I’m not going anywhere until Lilith is married.’

  He glared at me, considering this. ‘Fine. Stay for the wedding, but then you go. No snooping, no questioning the soldiers or anyone else. And you remember, one word from me to the king, and this wedding’s off, and you and your sister and your beggar-woman of a mother will have to slink back to the block of ice you call home. But I’d rather not have to resort to such drastic measures. Amis is already besotted with Lilith and there’s no reason for him to suffer because of you.’ He pointed a finger right at my nose. ‘B
ut if I get even a whisper that you’ve been disobeying my orders . . .’ He let the words hang in the air.

  I smacked his hand away. ‘Give me my ring back.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Security.’

  I scoffed at that. ‘It’s a trinket. What use is it to you for security?’

  ‘None of your business. Now, are you going to get out of my room, or am I going to have to talk to the king?’

  I pushed past him, fists clenched at my sides. ‘You don’t scare me with your empty threats. I know you’re up to something. So guess what? It’s going to be me watching you from now on.’

  A taunting smile curved his lips. ‘You won’t discover anything.’

  ‘Well, we’ll see.’ I gave him one final glare before I tore down the stairs. I didn’t stop running until I was in my room where I stood, back to the door, shaking uncontrollably.

  SEVEN

  The next day all I wanted to do was stomp around the grounds and glare up at the northern turret. I had told Rodden I would be watching him, after all, and this was the best plan I had come up with so far. But I wasn’t even allowed that luxury. It had been decided that we were to go on a shopping expedition into the city. When I say it had been decided, I mean that Renata had decided and we all had to go along with it. Lilith was very happy to, and so was Carmelina. I was bullied into it.

  ‘Daughter, it’s such a nice day, and we haven’t seen anything of the city yet.’

  It was such a nice day. Every day was a nice day in Pergamia, it seemed, and I was beginning to wish for some Amentine gloom. I hadn’t slept well the night before. My mind had been haunted with visions of blazing blue eyes staring into mine. I had been hot and restless, and felt claustrophobic inside the mosquito netting over my bed. So I’d paced the room like a caged animal, wishing I could fly out the window as Griffin had done earlier in the evening. Leap had been sprawled on the cold stone floor, belly up, trying to catch a breeze. I’d rubbed him with my foot and tried to think of a plan. Any plan. But I didn’t even know where to start. Rodden’s threat of calling the wedding off might not have been as hollow as I first thought. Who knew how far his influence went with the king?

  We rode down to the markets on horseback flanked by two armed guards. I hadn’t been on a horse in years and I clung one-handed to the side-saddle. My other hand was clamped atop my head, keeping my broad-brimmed hat from blowing off in the stiff breeze. The sun was blazing hot and I was taking no chances with my ‘alabaster’ skin – I could be burnt to a frazzle on a day like this.

  The others looked effortless and graceful on their horses, which made me even crankier. Lilith wore a trailing cream gown and rode a smart white horse. In one relaxed hand she held the reins, and the other lay in her lap. She held her head regally and I could see a dreamy look in her eyes that betrayed her private thoughts. I was quite certain she was head over heels in love with Amis, and the whole of Pergamia too. Renata’s back was as straight as a ramrod and her triumphant expression was befitting one whose daughter was about to marry the most powerful prince in the land. Then there was me, the sack of potatoes in a saddle, and Carmelina bringing up the rear. Her horse was wandering lazily under a slack rein. The princess gazed out at the heat-shimmered olive groves, day-dreaming no doubt.

  ‘Do hurry up, Carmelina,’ I called over my shoulder. Under my breath I added, ‘Let’s get this over with.’

  Carmelina clicked her tongue and trotted up beside me. ‘What’s gotten into you, Zeraphina?’

  ‘What? What do you mean by that?’

  ‘You’re very cranky today. What’s wrong?’

  ‘The heat,’ I said. The heat was becoming my excuse for everything.

  She sighed, eyes on the clear blue sky. ‘It’s such a beautiful day.’

  I pinched the bridge of my nose, certain I had a headache coming on. ‘I really wish people would stop saying that.’

  Carmelina laughed. ‘You are in a sulk. Here, have a crystallised strawberry.’

  ‘No. Thank you.’ There was nothing more annoying, I decided, than a girl your own age treating you like a child and offering you sweeties.

  There were many riders and wagons on the road into town and we proceeded slowly, but not by design. Passers-by stopped to rubberneck at the bride-to-be and the foreign queen. As we descended into the market square, I groaned. It was packed, barely room to walk, let alone ride a horse through. We tethered our mounts at a nearby tea shop.

  ‘Carmelina,’ Renata said. ‘Where is the best place to buy fabric? Zeraphina and I will need lots of new dresses in the Pergamian style for when we return to Amentia. We’re going to start a trend, aren’t we, Daughter?’

  ‘Hmph,’ I said.

  Renata slapped a coin purse in my hand and hissed, ‘Since you left that cat at the palace I was hoping to see you without a puss on today.’

  Carmelina danced around me. ‘I think she’s jealous of Princess Lilith, my Queen. She wishes she was about to marry someone as handsome as my brother.’

  The rotten little suck.

  We shopped. I gazed, uninterested, at the stalls. It wasn’t as exciting as it had looked from my window. There was a lot of junk for sale: cheap trinkets that looked like they’d turn your neck and earlobes green; drums made from badly cured animal skins; wonky pottery. As we progressed the wares improved in quality, but nothing took my fancy. As the others pawed bolts of fabric, I dawdled at a book stall. I could feel one of the guards’ eyes on me, nervous that I might wander off, no doubt. There were a lot of tawdry novels and dusty books in strange languages. I picked up a particularly old and worn-out volume titled Creetchers Moste Fowl. The title was vaguely amusing. Did it contain monstrous chickens? I thumbed through it, preoccupied by thoughts of Rodden with my ring around his neck. But then I did a double take. There was a crude sketch of a cloaked creature on one of the pages, and beneath it in curly script were the words ‘The Lharmellins’.

  My head snapped up. ‘How much?’ I asked the stall-keeper, waving the book under his nose. I gave him the coins and, as the book was small and I could think of nowhere else to conceal it, I shoved it down the front of my dress.

  I hurried back to the others and saw Renata holding up some striped red fabric.

  ‘Lovely, Mother, just what I need. You should get it. All done? I think it’s about time we were getting back. We don’t want to be late for the banquet tonight.’ There was to be yet another dinner in honour of the happy couple. The gorging, it seemed, was to be endless.

  ‘With your colouring? Nonsense, darling.’ Renata put the fabric down. ‘It’s scarcely two hours past midday, and this fabric is revolting. You just browse away and we’ll be done in no time.’

  I scowled. I knew what ‘no time’ meant when she was shopping. It meant until the end of time. I pulled Carmelina away from a basket of ribbons. The time for subterfuge was over. ‘What’s Rodden up to in his turret? He’s got all sorts of strange paraphernalia up there. And rabbits as well.’

  Carmelina studied my face. ‘How do you know what he’s got in his room?’

  ‘I went up there, you ninny,’ I hissed. ‘But that’s not the point. It looks like he’s doing all sorts of experiments and things. And he stole something from me.’ I held my hand aloft. ‘My thumb ring.’

  Carmelina looked at my hand. ‘There is a ring on your thumb.’

  ‘My other ring, silly. I had two.’ I knew I shouldn’t be saying any of this to Carmelina. At best, she’d think I was mad. At worst, she would tell her father and then I’d be for it.

  ‘What would Rodden want with your ring?’

  ‘I don’t know. But he threatened me.’

  ‘When did he threaten you?’

  ‘When he found me in his room.’

  Carmelina clasped her hands over her mouth in horror. ‘Are you stark staring mad?’ she asked. ‘Couldn’t you have been more careful?’

  ‘I was careful,’ I hissed. ‘I hid under the bed.’<
br />
  ‘And how did that work out for you?’

  ‘Oh, shut up. He’s up to something,’ I said. ‘And I don’t like it. He’s . . .’ And I knew I shouldn’t say anything, but I couldn’t help myself. ‘He’s a spy,’ I blurted.

  Carmelina looked at me like I was nuttier than nougat.

  I grabbed her arm. ‘You need to tell me what it is he does all day. I know he’s up to something.’

  ‘Zeraphina, I think your brain is melting in the heat. You need to stop thinking about Rodden.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  ‘I mean I think you’ve got a bit of a thing for him and it’s making you crazy.’ She patted my hand. ‘I’ve seen this before. He has that effect on girls who’ve been shut up in gloomy old castles all their lives and have nothing to look forward to but a paunchy, balding husband. You wouldn’t be the first to try to elope with him. But really, Zeraphina, he’s not interested.’

  I took my hand from her matronly grasp. ‘I’ll be with the horses when you’re all done,’ I muttered. I stomped off into the crowd, furious with everyone, including myself. I shouldn’t have opened my big, fat mouth.

  Down the front of my dress the book was getting all sweaty and uncomfortable, but I left it there. I didn’t want Renata or Rodden or somebody else taking it away from me before I could read it.

  ––

  As soon as I was alone in my room I tore the book out and flicked to the page I had seen at the bookstall. I studied the sketch. The Lharmellin looked horrid; long and thin and cloaked in black, floating just above the rocky ground. Black trees grew around it. A lipless mouth bared dozens of thin, pointy teeth in a grotesque grimace. Light blazed from its eyes, eyes that seemed to have neither pupils nor irises, made huge by sunken cheeks. The thing was looking straight out of the page, and I couldn’t get over the impression that it was looking right at me. Its withered fingers were outstretched and it seemed to be reaching for me with its clawed hands. In the background was a craggy mountain range, desolate and treeless. It looked just like the place in my vision.