He lurched up the stairs to the next level of his tower, unlocking the door with shaking hands. He had to be alone; he could not bear the thought of meeting anyone. Up he went, and up, past the little observatory he had not used in years, eight flights in all to the topmost, open floor. Around him, nine slim columns supported the zinc roof that rose in a barley-twist spiral for another fifty feet. The shoulder-high outside wall was covered in yellow tiles, now glazed with ice.
Rix lay down on a snow-covered bench and bawled like a baby for the family now lost forever. When his tear ducts were as dry as the saline flats of the Southern Seethings, he crawled across to the nearest wall. He had to end this tainted house that, clearly, had been bloodstained for generations.
But would his death end it? The chancellor cared only for the survival of Hightspall and might even reward Lady Ricinus if that ensured her cooperation. Rix staggered down again. He had to make sure; had to put House Ricinus beyond recovery.
Shortly, he returned to the roof. The cellar picture swam in his mind, but the two faces, though much changed now from ten years ago, remained perfectly clear. They did not have a sorcerous bone between them, so why had they killed Tali’s mother for the ebony pearl? Surely not just for the money?
The faces of Lord and Lady Ricinus.
His own mother and father.
And why had he, Rix, been there?
He would never know. There was only one way to make up for the evil of such a family, and the dishonour of betraying them. He was going to end it now.
He climbed onto the tower wall, swung a leg over it, slipped on the ice-glazed tiles, and fell.
CHAPTER 89
The iron book burned red-hot in Tali’s dreams, as if its maker had cast it back into the chymical furnace to forge its pages anew. She jerked awake in the makeshift bed concealed under Tobry’s big bed. It had been after three in the morning when Tobry had brought them to Rix’s chambers, which were unguarded now the portrait had been completed.
Rannilt whimpered in her sleep. ‘Leave me alone. Didn’t do it, didn’t do it.’
Tali put an arm across her shoulder. The girl clung to her briefly, then sighed and rolled over. Her steady breathing resumed. She seemed a little better now.
After Rix left them on the road, it had taken ages for Tobry to sneak them into the city unseen, and he’d had to hide Tali and Rannilt in a damp tunnel on the other side of the city all day. The hidden entrance into Rix’s scalderium had been blocked and Tobry had to wait until the early hours to bring Tali and Rannilt into the palace. Tali had collapsed into sleep the moment she lay down.
Now, though still exhausted, she was wide awake. She had hurt Lyf with the iron book but he would attack again, and he knew her weaknesses now. He knew she had little control over her magery, knew where she had gone and probably where she was now. He would try again for the pearl, and it would not be long.
Her mother’s killers would not have given up, either. Had Rix completed the cellar painting and discovered who they were? He was not here to ask, and neither was the sketch.
With every passing minute the killers must be drawing closer, eliminating possibilities and following clues to track her down. Lady Ricinus would be doing the same. She would be desperate now, with the Honouring and the deadline of the chancellor’s ultimatum only hours away …
Rap-rap. It was the front door.
Tobry raced in. ‘Stay under the bed, that’s Lady Ricinus.’
Tali crouched there, fingering her knife. If discovered, she would be caught and sold back to the chancellor. She could think no further than that.
‘Where is Rixium?’ came Lady Ricinus’s chilly voice as her heels clicked along the hall. ‘It’s five-thirty. He should be dressing for the Honouring.’
Tali started. She must have slept all day.
‘I don’t know, Lady Ricinus,’ said Tobry politely. ‘He wasn’t here when I returned in the early hours.’
Lady Ricinus gave a disapproving sniff.
Tobry must have felt a mischievous urge for he said, ‘Perhaps he’s run off to a monastery.’
‘He will be there,’ said Lady Ricinus in a voice so cold it made Tali’s teeth ache.
Lady Ricinus’s breathing was quick and shallow; a musky perfume wafted off her. Her heels tap-tapped through the salon and scalderium, then up to the studio and down again. Rix’s door was flung open, then Tobry’s. Tali clenched the knife, though she could hardly use it on Rix’s mother, could she? Oh yes.
‘When my son returns, tell him I require audience with him immediately.’
‘I will so inform him,’ said Tobry virtuously.
Lady Ricinus swept out. Tobry bolted the door. Tali crept from beneath the bed and followed him into Rix’s bedchamber, where he began rifling through an enormous wardrobe. ‘What time is the Honouring?’
‘The ball is at eight o’clock and the Honouring will be straight afterwards. I’m sure he’ll be back any minute.’
‘Are you going to the ball?’
‘Of course,’ said Tobry, picking out a crimson velvet tailcoat and holding it up against himself. ‘As Rix’s closest friend, I’m required to be there.’
There had been no dancing in Cython, save in the privacy of one’s cell. ‘I suppose it will be a very grand affair,’ she said, sighing.
‘The grandest of the year. House Ricinus isn’t well liked, but it’s so exceedingly rich that none of the nobility, nor indeed Hightspall’s vulgarly wealthy commoners, would think of missing it.’
‘It doesn’t seem right, with all the war and ruin outside.’
‘It’s a sign of defiance, and therefore good for morale.’
‘I don’t understand.’
‘The enemy may break our walls and burn our shanty towns, they may have taken the outlying provinces and be marching on Caulderon again, but they will never crush our spirit. That’s what the Honouring says, to our own people as much as to the enemy, and it’s why even I want it to go ahead. Where the blazes is Rix?’
‘I’m sure he’ll be there.’
‘I’m worried now. He … wasn’t in a good state when I saw him yesterday evening.’
‘You didn’t tell me that.’
‘It’s … a private matter. Dreadful.’ Tobry looked away. ‘He was so distraught …’
‘You’re afraid he’s done something terrible. Is it — ’ There was no one around but she lowered her voice. ‘Is it about the treason?’
‘How did you know about that?’
Tali told him everything.
‘And you informed the chancellor of this?’
‘Before I went to the Crag.’
‘The bastard! He set a trap and Rix fell right into it.’ Tobry told her about the poisoned dog, and what the chancellor had said to Rix.
‘The worst poison of all,’ said Tali. What did that remind her of? The clues were starting to fall into place, and everyone would be at the Honouring. She had to go.
She glanced at Tobry from under her eyelashes. ‘I’d love to see it,’ she said wistfully. ‘The beautiful ladies in the gowns, the handsome noblemen in their uniforms …’
‘Not to mention the unhandsome fallen nobility.’ Tobry pointed out. ‘But the guests will also be there for a baser reason.’
‘What’s that?’
‘To be witness when House Ricinus rises even higher or, should rumour prove well founded, to delight in its destruction.’
Tali limped into the scalderium, absently studying herself in the full-length mirror. She took a deep breath, fluffed up her hair and walked back to Tobry, who was inside Rix’s wardrobe now, frowning at a collection of kilts.
‘Tobry?’ she said, fighting an urge to chew her fingernails. No, she was Lady Tali, heir to the ancient, noble House of vi Torgrist. She would act like a lady at all times.
‘Mmn?’ he said absently.