Sweet on them, Kendall translated, though Lieutenant Meniar wouldn’t admit he cared about Lieutenant Faral that way. Even Captain Faille’s partner, Lieutenant Danress, had stopped being a Sentene mage abruptly when Rennyn had married him.
"Now, I like the Duchess," Lieutenant Meniar went on. "Unlike most of us, I’d at least had a glimpse of her quality before she made that announcement. And, no, I didn’t say it would be convenient if she died killing the Black Queen, and I never heard anyone say that. I hope no-one put it into words. But I’m sure a few thought it. It’s not even how she behaves—she did, after all, get herself badly injured saving everyone—it’s how she makes them all feel. She might say that she has no authority over them, that all she inherited was the ability to control them, not their selves. But there’s no escaping that the Kellian aren’t what they thought they were. They can’t help but see themselves as the continuation of a spell rather than a people, and that upsets Keste so much I can barely stand it."
He took a deep breath, and made a flicking motion with his hands. "That sounded dramatic enough for another play. Suffice to say the Sentene mages are upset. We’ll adapt. And as Duchess Surclere’s assigned mage-physician, let me assure you I have no intention of allowing her to die."
Kendall thought that was true. The Sentene were angry, but at the situation, not Rennyn. They didn’t really want to hurt her. How any of them would stop the Black Queen’s son from killing her was another question.
Chapter Eight
"You’re sleeping in a net!"
"Hammock." Waking into the Dream felt particularly odd on the ship, not least because of the hammock.
"What’s it like?" Auri asked, even as she reached eagerly through the ropes to touch the focus Fallon wore concealed in a special ankle-strap beneath the largest pair of bedrocks he could find.
"Awkward to get in and out of. But a lot more comfortable than I expected, so long as I keep a blanket under me to soften the rope."
Even in a wholly new place, Auri lingered to stroke the hidden focus. Despite its odd deep mahogany colour, the focus was most definitely Auri’s: it made her feel warm, and since they’d found it she’d lost that disturbing frayed-about-the-edges appearance. Fallon felt he’d won them both a reprieve, even if he’d come no closer to restoring her.
Travelling was likely to help with her boredom as well, and Fallon suspected that it was this that pushed her past her own desire to stay near Father, ordering Fallon not to give up the chance he’d so unexpectedly won. There was certainly open excitement in her examination of the room, and of Lieutenant Meniar sitting on one of the storage benches that ran along the walls. New people to look at, new places to see.
"Is he a Sentene mage? Is he nice?"
"Lieutenant Meniar. He’s the Duchess' personal physician for the trip. Very cheerful sort." He’d even greeted being roomed with Fallon with unimpaired good spirits, which was more than some of the other Sentene mages would have managed. A day of flat stares and puzzled frowns had made it obvious that few were happy with Duchess Surclere’s latest choice for student.
"So where’s the Duchess?" Auri didn’t wait for an answer, plunging through the wall into the next room.
Fallon hurried after her, and narrowly avoided walking through Sukata, standing just beyond the wall. Walking through people was horrible, like a fog made of soup.
"Be careful of the hull—the outside wall of the ship," he said, joining Auri in watching Kendall swinging back and forth in her hammock. "The whole thing’s warded."
"These are the other students?"
"Kendall and Sukata. And that’s Lieutenant Faral, Lieutenant Meniar’s partner."
"Kellian are very odd-looking, aren’t they?" Auri said, peering into Sukata’s face as she and Kendall discussed how much swinging the hammock could take. "Almost just people at first glance, a bit over-tall, but look at how her left hand is so much harder to see out of the light of the mageglow."
"The claws are odder, don’t you think?"
"Anyone can file their nails to a point. Does she have a sore throat or does she always sound like that? Is she friendly?"
"Sukata?" Fallon hesitated, distracted by the way he could tell Sukata was laughing without even smiling. Her eyes were very bright and open, despite the grave line of her mouth. "Formally polite. No-one except Duchess Surclere is exactly friendly, but Sukata will answer questions and doesn’t seem to hold Uncle against me. Kendall just glares, but I think that’s her natural state." This was the first time he’d seen the village girl not wearing some level of black frown, and he was surprised by how pretty she could be.
"And the Duchess?" Auri asked, diverted back to her original course.
"Through here."
Fallon led the way out into the corridor and into the big room at the end, trying to control sudden nerves. His most logical course was to become a better mage so he could tackle their problem himself, but Auri was convinced Duchess Surclere would know she was there—would immediately see, and understand, and be able to fix them. Fallon really wanted the Duchess to be that brilliant as well, but he refused to let hope override common sense.
The room’s mageglows had been covered and Duchess Surclere was curled up in one of the seats before the many-paned windows, looking out at a heavy moon striping the horizon. Auri marched straight up to her, leaning in close to peer into her face, her own expression very set and un-Auri-like.
"Help. Me."
Furious words, near to spat into the oblivious woman’s face.
"Auri—"
"She doesn’t know I’m here."
"No." Duchess Surclere hadn’t even blinked.
"She’s not going to be any use at all, is she?"
"I’m going to be of use," Fallon said firmly, stifling any hint of his own disappointment. "Duchess Surclere might have lost her strength, but she has the Surclere knowledge, and she’s going to teach me. There’s not a person in the whole of the world more expert on the Eferum. You just need to be—"
"Patient? What else have I been? She was supposed to see!"
Auri spun and would have run out of the room except that Lord Surclere had just come into it, and the moonlight set him alight, his hair glowing pale mist and eyes silver circles. Auri stopped dead, then stepped hastily out of the way as he reached Duchess Surclere.
"A great deal more comfortable than coaches," Duchess Surclere said, glancing back. "I have to admit it was very helpful."
"The Queen is a practical woman," Lord Surclere said, which didn’t quite sound like a compliment. "She may be practical about Sebastian."
"He thought of that, too, but fortunately the girl’s rather young and tying him to second-in-line really not a good idea. But he plans to be exasperatingly vague and bookish on the off-chance." She gazed back out the window and added unconvincingly: "He’s well able to take care of himself."
Lord Surclere reached out and undid the thin black bow that held back Duchess Surclere’s hair. Pulling it free, he wound it around his wrist.
"Are you going to appropriate all my ribbons?" Duchess Surclere asked, smiling up at him.