Opaque Lies Read online

  Drina jumped to her feet and shook out her skirts. “Hello. I better return to my room, my matron is waiting outside for me. Could I take a book with me?”

  “Of course you can. Which one?” Allie asked as she closed both books.

  “India,” the young woman sighed wistfully.

  Allie handed the large volume to Drina. She took it reverently and ran a hand over the cover, before giving the barest nod to Jared and scampering from the library.

  “New friend?” Jared moved to sit in the chair directly behind Allie.

  “Yes. I wonder what her story is. She seems so sad and lonely.” Allie leaned against Jared’s legs.

  He reached out and stroked the side of her neck, and she closed her eyes as he caressed her skin. Her body drank up his touch like the parched desert absorbs the longed-for rain. In a short amount of time she became addicted to his touch and the smallest caress made her want to purr like a contented cat.

  “I never thought I would miss Scotland,” she murmured, longing to return to the easy familiarity they shared in Edinburgh.

  He laughed. “We might make a Highland lass out of you yet.”

  Allie wasn’t sure how she would survive the term, existing on stolen moments and touches when no one else was looking. But now she had the puzzle she stumbled upon in the library to distract her—who was Drina Jones?

  5

  Tuesday, 11th October

  Allie discovered Drina in a few of her classes and made the effort to sit next to the young woman. The other girls spurned her while they cast suspicious glances and whispered about her origins. Unable to figure out where to place her in their pecking order, they appeared to unilaterally agree to shove her to the bottom along with Allie and Eloise.

  Not that either young woman minded the additional company. Once Drina overcame her initial shyness, Allie discovered a bright and attentive student with a fondness for history and a gift for art.

  Drina revealed little of either her family or origins. Each guarded response convinced Allie she had stumbled upon the cause of her sleepless nights. Even more suspicious, a matron followed Drina everywhere. It was always the same hulking woman who trailed behind the petite student, whereas normally one matron was responsible for at least five girls.

  Margaret took an active dislike to Drina. Or perhaps she thought needling a friend of Allie’s was another strike in her direction.

  “The rats are breeding in the gutters. Look how the scurry about in the daylight,” she said as they passed in the hall.

  “That is a horrid thing to say about someone!” Drina stopped and met the blonde’s cool stare.

  Margaret narrowed her eyes and looked down her elegant nose. “Squeak, squeak, squeak. Run along, little rat, before I stomp on you. Although given how short you are, you’re really only a mouse.”

  Drina placed her hands on her hips and looked about to launch an offensive, when Allie tugged on her arm. “Come on, save your breath for the stairs we have to climb.”

  Margaret laughed and her friends joined in, then the group moved on down the hall.

  “Why did you stop me? That girl should be made to apologise.” Drina glanced over her shoulder at the retreating group of young women.

  “Margaret is convinced of her own superiority over every other girl at St Matthew’s and uses her position to torment others.” Eloise hugged her books close to her chest.

  “Superior position?” Drina laughed and then slapped a hand over her mouth.

  Allie swallowed her laughter. If her theory was correct, Margaret was no longer the highest ranked girl at the school. As much as she would love to throw that in her rival’s face, she wouldn’t expose Drina.

  “Ignore her. It speaks volumes about her character that she judges people based on what she sees and doesn’t bother to get to know them,” Allie said.

  “Why are you two so kind to me?” Drina asked as they carried on along the hall to the deserted east wing, trailed by Drina’s solitary guard.

  Eloise pushed open a heavy door that led to a silent corridor. “Firstly, because welcoming a newcomer is the decent thing to do. Secondly, because you want to escape, like us.”

  “What are you escaping, Lou?” Drina asked.

  Eloise’s shoulders slumped. “The expectations of society. I want to be a custodian and learn to cast magic, but it is discouraged for noble girls.”

  The air in the disused corridor was warm and dusty. Allie coughed into her hand and wished a window was open. Although then they would be cold. Which was worse, a scratchy throat or the unrelenting English chill?

  Drina stopped in her tracks and stared at Eloise. “Gosh. A woman custodian. I didn’t know there were any.”

  “They are rare, but there are a handful dotted around the world.” Eloise smiled and then looked down at her shoes as though embarrassed by Drina’s admiring tone.

  “Some people are born to be something marvellous, like our Lou, who I am sure will be the most powerful custodian ever.” Allie glanced at their new friend. Was she born to become a queen? If so, how did one tell?

  The three young women and the matron shadow turned another corner in the school’s labyrinth of corridors and stairs. At the end of the short hall, they reached the bottom of Eloise’s tower and the narrow stairs leading upward.

  The matron heaved an audible sigh.

  “The stairs go up to a tower room with no other exits. The three of us are going to sit up there on cushions, eat the sweets Lou has hidden in her pockets, and talk. You are welcome to join us, I believe there are over a hundred stairs? Or if you prefer, there is a bench here where you can wait for Drina to come back down.” Allie gestured to the wooden bench pushed against the wall.

  The matron stared at the narrow stairwell that spiralled up into the dim funnel. “There’s no other exit?”

  “No ma’am.” Which was a slight lie—they could climb down the exterior if they had a long enough rope—but Allie couldn’t see either of the other girls risking that unless the tower was on fire. Having conjured up that scenario, Allie made a mental note to secure a long enough rope in case Eloise started a fire that blocked their exit.

  “I’ll await your return here.” The matron sat herself on the bench and pulled a ball of wool and knitting needles from one of her skirt’s voluminous pockets.

  Eloise led the way up the stairs. Her voice echoed around the tight spiral as they climbed and she continued to explain her situation to Drina. “There are only a few women custodians in the world. I met one in Edinburgh, Master Cowie, who has kindly offered to mentor me if I apprentice to the Scottish branch of the Ouroboros League.”

  “Have you decided then, Lou? Does that mean you won’t pursue biology?” Allie asked as she took up the rear position with Drina nestled safely between the two of them.

  The stone column filled with short puffs of breath as they climbed. Eloise paused for a moment to answer. “I have decided to do both. Master Cowie said it would be possible to take some biology classes from the university that would complement my studies with the league. She said it would be unusual, but they are dedicated to learning and would give me the opportunity to pursue both.”

  Eloise pushed open the turret door and Allie charged through to hug her friend. “That is marvellous, Lou. Why didn’t you say earlier?”

  Eloise blushed a deep red. “I wasn’t sure if I could choose both, and I have yet to break the news to my family. It feels so greedy to grasp at everything I want. I talked to your grandfather and he seemed excited by the advantages of combining the study of biology and magic.”

  “You will be busy for many years to come.” Allie opened one of the narrow casements and breathed in the blast of cold air from outside.

  Drina dropped into the pile of oversized cushions in front of the fireplace.

  When Allie closed the window and turned back to the room, Eloise stared at her work bench and touched a stand of vials with a sad air about her.

  “Whatever is wrong? You don’t look happy about the prospect of years and years of unrelenting study before you.” Alarm touched Allie at her friend’s sudden loss of enthusiasm for her future.

  Eloise’s shoulders heaved in a deep sigh. “What about Zeb?”

  Allie pointed her finger at Eloise’s head. “Don’t you dare say you will abandon your dreams to marry him and darn his socks.”

  Eloise spread her hands. “I love him, you know that, and he needs someone to look after him.”

  Allie wanted to shake some sense into her friend and clasped her hands together before she took hold of Eloise and rattled her brain. How dare she consider giving up on her dreams to look after Zeb as he pursued his goals. “Zeb will manage fine. His family have staff.”

  “Noble girls are supposed to marry, have families, and darn socks,” Eloise whispered as she picked up a length of copper wire and twirled it around a finger.

  “Why can’t we do more than that?” Drina spoke up from her pile of cushions. “Why should men get to have careers and go off on adventures, when we are expected to stay at home and… darn socks?” Drina jumped up from her cushion and stood with her spine erect until she nearly seemed five feet tall. She fixed Eloise with a piercing stare. “Women can do many things if we are given the opportunity. I think it is high time we broke free of the chains society wraps us in, and take charge of our own lives.”

  “If you broke free, what would you become, Allie?” Eloise changed the subject away from her own issues.

  What did she want to be? Free was the only word that bounced inside her head. Then she regarded her friends and another idea squirmed into being with inspiration taken from recent events. “I think I want to be a warrior. Someone who fights for those who can’t fight for themselves.”

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; Eloise turned to their newest friend. “What about you, Drina? What would you be?”

  “With a custodian and a warrior beside me, what couldn’t I become?” Drina sighed.

  “Pick something. Go on, and make it utterly outrageous,” Allie said.

  A broad smile broke over Drina’s delicate face. “Empress of the Moon!” She spread her arms wide as though she embraced the moon, and spun around the room.

  “Let’s start a club, an adventurer’s club, and we will help each other become who we really want to be.” Eloise stretched out her hand. “I’m going to be a custodian.”

  “Warrior,” Allie said as she placed her hand over Eloise’s.

  “Empress of the Moon.” Drina’s hand joined theirs and they formed a triangle.

  A warm glow took up residence inside Allie. Empress of the Moon? Why not. Who knew what the young woman could achieve, with them at her back and an airship that could travel to the moon and back.

  “Since you will be a custodian, would you mind terribly explaining why studying magic and biology is an advantage?” Drina asked. The young woman soaked up knowledge and often launched a barrage of questions about topics that caught her interest.

  “Like biology or chemistry, magic is a science. It has elements, formulas, and a raw form in the mageum found deep in the ground. For the last three years I have been studying the formula required to create a flame.” Eloise held out her hands, whispered under her breath, and rolled her fingers together. When she opened her hand, a tiny flame burst into life on her palm and danced to the slight breeze that squeezed through a gap between stone and window.

  “Can you make it bigger?” Drina peered closer.

  “I am working on it. When you think of a spell as a mathematical formula, to make it bigger or more intense I need to add volume. To change the colour, I have to add another element. Or to cast it somewhere else, I need to factor in distance which affects the formula.” Eloise passed her other hand above the flame, and it wiggled across her palm and along a finger like a glowing pirate walking a tiny plank.

  “Likening it to maths removes all the mystery and makes it less… magical.” Allie stared at the dancing flame and wondered why it didn’t burn her friend, until she noticed that it hovered above her skin.

  Eloise curled her finger into her palm and the flame disappeared. “I did tell you it was science.”

  She muttered the odd words again and rubbed her hands together. When she flung them out this time, a spark burst through the air and landed in the cold grate. “Unfortunately, the further away I cast the flame, the smaller it gets. The formula for distance needs more volume as well, and currently I only seem able to do one or the other.”

  Allie nudged her friend. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Apprentices labour for a decade to cast a flame yet you mastered it in three years and on your own. You are quite extraordinary.”

  Eloise walked closer to the fireplace until she cast a large enough flame to ignite the kindling laid out.

  “Small things can be as effective as larger things. Imagine if someone cast a flame on the hem of Margaret’s skirt.” Mischief danced in Drina’s eyes and she winked.

  Allie laughed. The idea of setting fire to Margaret was tempting, but inflicting harm on the other girl would never heal the ache inside Allie. She took a seat on a cushion by the fire and fed it more fuel. Perhaps the warmth from the fire would dislodge the chill that crept over her heart.

  With the school term underway, Allie resumed her routine of early morning training. Today, Jared was the one who sparred against her. With their new understanding, anger no longer flowed between them. Instead they possessed focused attention. Their relationship increased their awareness of each other, making their swordplay faster. They engaged in a lethal dance to music only they heard.

  Marshall came down the spiral stairs and Allie faltered for an instant. Jared caught her blade on a downward thrust and disarmed her. He spun her into him and she went with the movement to lean back against him.

  “Will you give me this day?” Jared whispered by her ear.

  Allie closed her eyes. Each day he caught her somewhere and murmured the same question. Would she give him one day and be his for a few hours more?

  “Yes,” she replied. For an achingly brief moment, she could drop her physical and emotional defences.

  “You two obviously sorted things out over the holiday.” Marshall halted before them.

  Allie coloured and moved out of Jared’s embrace to pick up her fallen weapon.

  “I think I preferred it when they were fighting. The love-bird routine gets a bit sickening.” Duncan mimicked gagging.

  Allie moved off the mat and smacked him in the stomach on her way past. “You’re just jealous.”

  “Jealous of what? That you get to kiss him? Yuck, he’s my cousin.” Duncan snorted.

  “I hear you acquitted yourselves well against the Reapers. Though somewhat foolishly.” Marshall waved his hand at Jared’s arm. “Show me.”

  Jared tossed his sword to Allie and tugged his shirt off over his head. Then he unwound the bandage to reveal the angry scar across his right bicep with criss-cross stitches. He had promised Eloise she could remove the stitches when they were due to come out in a few more days. With time, the thick red line would fade to a silvery white—the first stripe of war paint to adorn his body.

  Allie’s eyes flitted to the wound before her attention roamed over Jared’s torso, wishing her fingers could follow the same path her eyes took. Their relationship raced along, like a match tossed on a trail of gun powder, and it ignited the blood in her veins.

  “You could have lost the arm.” Marshall waved his own stump that he had acquired in battle, the abandoned limb buried somewhere in a field in Spain.

  “Duncan stopped the blow before it went too deep.” Jared shrugged the comment aside. “If I hadn’t made breathing space for Allie, I would have lost more than my arm. Without her on the gantry their guards would have picked us off before the Conri arrived.”

  Marshall rubbed his jaw. “You should have played for time until they did.”

  Jared pulled his shirt back on. “That wasn’t an option. Their agent became suspicious and ordered a guard to shoot Allie. I had to do something.”

  “You were lucky this time. Next time I’ll be watching you,” Marshall said.

  Jared arched an eyebrow. “Next time?”

  He glanced to Allie but she shrugged.

  “General Galloway has his eye on you three. He sent me a dispatch, saying he’d like you along on the next suitable mission the Conri undertake. Since I’m responsible for you lot, I’ll be accompanying you. Consider it a field exercise for extra credit.”

  “What sort of mission?” Duncan’s eyes lit up.

  Marshall slapped him on the back. “Don’t get your hopes up. I imagine it will be something mundane and boring if they are letting cadets join them. Not matter how talented those cadets are proving themselves to be,” Marshall added when Duncan’s lower lip jutted out.

  “I’m not a cadet.” Allie had the subtle pressure from her father to swear her allegiance to the Whisperers. Or could she be like Lieutenant Harris and serve two masters—guild and military?

  “Shame. I can imagine you in the uniform,” Jared murmured as he returned his blade to the weapons cabinet.

  Duncan resumed the gagging noise and proved that even a quiet tone carried in the large gymnasium.

  In her mind, Allie took the Conri’s black uniform and added her short swords and a belt of throwing stars. With a few more familiar touches, such as a deep hood and a veil so only her eyes showed, perhaps she could become an intelligence agent. If she lived that long.

  6

  Thursday, 13th October

  The young women established a new routine, and at the end of the day headed for Eloise’s tower. Drina’s matron, known only as Webber, would rather sit on a comfy bench and knit than tackle a large number of stairs and they made sure she was comfortable during her silent vigil. Allie added a cushion to her bench and a low table next to it. Eloise brought either a flask of lemonade or hot chocolate. Drina added a tin of biscuits.