Part 1 (2/2)

She wasnat so fine and so sweet-curved as I couldnatave found somebody elsea”and bettera”to tickle that night. But she was married to a diplomat, which was what made it so bad, so when I tried to pay her like she was a common wh.o.r.e, she got wild as a wet cat on me, screaming and throwing things and breaking vases. I thought she was a wh.o.r.e, the way shead tarted herself up, but apparently that was just an Arlemagneas way: powder on everything and too many undergarments, the kind of teasing frippery you only see in Our Lady and which I normally donat have time for. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were incredible, thougha”big and round and soft and warma”and I spent a lot of time letting her know how incredible I thought they were. Even if I did think it was a commercial exchange, she mightave been grateful instead of screaming rape all over, like thatas what you can do if youare a woman when things go sour and you feel a slight.

She called me all kinds of things in her raw-edged Arlemagne voice, all kinds of incredible things I pa.s.sed on afterward to Magoughin, who collected that kind of talk. But then all of a sudden there was a diplomat with some ridiculous mustache knocking down our door like he was going to kill us, and I almost had my knife in him, all the boys laughing and whooping it up, when Adamo got his arms round me and dragged me off, both of us cursing up a storm.

Which led us to where we were, too early for my tastes, ready to take our lumps from thaEsara”which is what they call him in the streets, on account of there being one too many eas in the t.i.tle otherwisea”and n.o.body happy about it, except me, since at least Iad seen some action and was feeling pretty good despite the situation.

aSo what about this f.u.c.k-up with the little Cindy?a I asked, acause I knew I could fish it out of Jeannot, who loved gossiping about the n.o.blesse better than the n.o.blesse did themselves.

Jeannot sighed. aRook,a he began.

aFine,a I said, amending. aThe Margrave, then. Biting the pillow with one of Arlemagneas princes? Everyoneas talking about it. I just figured youad know the sordids.a aHeir apparent,a Jeannot replied. aHe was abiting the pillowa with Arlemagneas heir apparent.a af.u.c.k,a I said, and whistled.

Balfour gave me a look like Iad offended him something awful, which was ridiculous, seeing as head been one of us long enough that no man could call him rookie. Besides which, Iad found better names for him since, and he knew what to expect from me.

aIt wonat be anything serious,a said Ace, who never thought anything was serious unless he was in the air, and even then he was keeping score. But I didnat know whether head been listening to us or whether he was trying to rea.s.sure himself about the punishment that was waiting for us just on the other side of thaEsaras door.

Evariste took it as the second meaning, and didnat bother answering. He was only ever half-listening to anything anyone ever said, anyway. aThey never punish the Margraves.a aThey never punished us before, either,a I pointed out. aWhere the f.u.c.k is f.u.c.king Niall?a The ninth of our company had talked his way past the guards, pleading a weak bladder, but I didnat think itad have worked for anyone else. Niall came from soldiering blood; they recognized their own and favored him as such. Unfair f.u.c.king world, but Niall was tight in a pinch, especially when the pinch required sweet-talking. Even now he was probably reading the rags on one of thaEsaras own porcelains or, better yet, milking information from a maid somewhere with his hand right on the teat.

Besides the boys, there wasnat much to look at in the Antechamber, just blank walls painted the same puke tan every which way you stared. Raphael said it was supposed to be calming, the color, so as to soothe the wild psychopath within, but Raphael talked like that all the f.u.c.king time, like head read one too many fancy books as a kid and the words had left him addlepated. Anyway, I figured the men that designed the room wanted anyone waiting to think long and hard on what theyad done, instead of letting them relax by filling the place with fancy picnic scenes so they could sit and think aWhat a lovely paintinga and not aIf Merritt goes on tapping his foot like that, Iall kill him.a aShe did have amazing b.r.e.a.s.t.s,a Ace said finally, before he kicked Merritt in the s.h.i.+n, at least solving that problem.

His topic was a pleasing one, though it always set me on edge to be agreeing with anything Ace had to say. But I guess even disagreeable men could come together over a nice pair of b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

I smiled, fierce and smug. Along the line of chairs, one or two bodies s.h.i.+fted like they had something important to say but couldnat see their way toward saying it. I crossed my arms and dared them to go on and get it off their chests, but anyone who wanted to protest at being called in on my account had missed his chance when itad first happened. aCourse, they mayave been discouraged by my knife and my temper at the time, but that just meant they were prudent.

Had to be prudent to fly with the Dragon Corps.

Niall came skidding back into the room, looked relieved and then disappointed that we were all sitting exactly where head left us. He took the empty seat, fussing with the high collar of our uniform. aEsaras tied up in some big to-do a ways down. Very top secret. Something to do with a Margrave and the prince of Arlemagne?a aHeir apparent,a I told him, in a foul mood now because this was no news, and I hated hearing the same rumors twice. aSeems heas bent as aa”a aRook,a Adamo cut in, calm as ever, but with a promise in his tone for anyone who took that calm as anything like weakness.

aFriend of yours?a I asked, and then I closed my mouth. Adamoad always said I had more guts than good sense. Why anyonead want or need the latter, I couldnat imagine, but Adamo was too big for arguing with.

aAs a matter of fact, he is,a said Adamo, like he knew Iad just been mouthing off and hadnat been expecting that.

Before it could get nasty, or interestinga”or botha”the heavy doors at the end of the room gave way. The kid whoad opened them looked barely thicker than the doors themselves, but he wore the frip and cut of a man in the service of thaEsar.

aWeare ready for you,a he said.

Compagnon snorted, triggering a ripple of amus.e.m.e.nt through the rest of us as we stood, ranged more or less shoulder to shoulder with the exception of our punier members.

No one was ever ready for us, I thought. Not even thaEsar himself.

HAL.

The story began the way all the old legends began: This is only a story. Whether there is some truth to it is for the discerning reader to decide.

Many years ago, in a distant land, there was born a most extraordinary young man to two entirely mundane parents. With his parents being such simple country creatures, it came as no surprise that young Tycho was born without any magical powers to speak of, let alone a Talent of his own. Perhaps it was this absence that caused his behavior, queer and brash at once, as though he did not understand that he too was meant for a common life, and wished to rail against the stars that had ordained his purpose.

Tycho was many things before he was the Brave. Just short of twenty years, he lost his nose while outmatched in a duel with a magician. It is said that the lady they fought over was so impressed with his foolhardy courage that she implored her fathera”a silversmitha”to craft the young Tycho a nose of precious metals to wear instead.

She was a beautiful lady, unmarried and kindhearted. Therefore she was precisely the sort of lady any man would start a duel over, and even a man so peculiar as Tycho was not immune to her charms.

What happened next was unclear; whether the lady held Tychoas favor for the good shead done him, or whether he had so indisputably impressed her that night. Whatever the case, it is certain that they made an impression on each other, for they came to be engaged over the course of the next year. Tycho visited his ladyas house to ask after the progression of his fine new nose, and soon he grew accustomed to taking her walking in the gardens or through the streets of the city.

aWe should be married in a garden,a he would say to his lady.

aYes,a said the lady, for that was what she always said.

They might have been married the very next month, for the ladyas father had finished his work on Tychoas fine nose, and there was no reason for any further delay. However, the magician who had taken Tychoas nose in the first place had a delicate sense of honor, which had been dealt a frightful hurt over losing the lady when head won the duel.

He came to Tychoas wedding, dressed all in black velvets with a splash of white lace at his throat. There he placed a curse on the bride, that before the yearas end harvest she would fall ill and become a lady entirely of stone.

aYour body will become as cold as your heart!a the magician cried, and he disappeared before any member of her family could reach his rapier in time.

The lady was most distressed over this news. She fretted all through the reception and would take no cake, nor drink any wine.

aI will take care of this,a Tycho said, for her father had many books, and he himself was incredibly learned.

aYes,a said the lady, for that was what she always said.

They enjoyed no honeymoon, and the newly married couple went to none of the fine summer festivals that year. Tycho spent his days locked away in the study of their small home, poring over his vast library for any spell that might counter what the magician had done. His lady wife interviewed hundreds of magicians in their parlor, asking them each what might be done about the curse placed upon her, and if there was anything that might be done to keep a ladyas body flesh and blood the way it was meant to be.

Every day, the magicians shook their heads and left the house regretful. Every night, Tycho would unlock the window cas.e.m.e.nt in his study and climb to the roof of their house to sit with his wife and gaze at the stars.

aThe harvest comes soon,a Tycho said, stretching his fingers to trace the shape of a horseas head in the sky.

aYes,a said his lady, for that was what she always said.

The summer ended, and it came time for the yearas end harvest. Magicians from all four corners of the world visited Tychoas house, but none of them was able to offer a single suggestion that could offset the magicianas curse. The ladyas mother came to stay at their house and to look after her daughter, while Tycho expanded the time he spent with his books, reading through them like a man caught up in some terrible fever.

aThere must be something,a he said to his ladyas mother.

aA pity you had no children,a replied the old woman.

The harvest came. The men and women on their farms scythed their fields and reaped their wheat, and one morning Tycho woke to find his lady wife a gray weight beside him, stony and silent.

A great heaviness settled over his own heart that day, as though some part of him had turned to stone as well. He set his lady in the garden, where they had taken their first walks and spoken their first vows. Then he locked the doors to the house they had shared and left the village where he had been born and raised.

The events of those years are not well doc.u.mented. It is said that Tycho was searching for the magician who had cursed his wife, or that he was searching only to forget his wife entirely. Some accounts insist that Tycho encountered a dwarf and took to keeping him as a kind of jester, to lift his spirits. Others say that he took to riding a moose, stating that it traveled much faster than even the swiftest of horses.

Of the many differing accounts of these years, it may be argued that the most true is the very first: that he sought to take his revenge on the magician who had so cruelly stolen his lady wife.

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