‘I have urgent business elsewhere and cannot escort you to your home,’ he said, ‘wherever that is. However I will provide you with silver enough to outfit yourself respectably.’
He did not call her lady, nor even use her name. Clearly, she had angered him, though Tali had no idea how. However, his offer of coin to outfit herself respectably was an insult. House vi Torgrist did not ask for charity. She had to make it clear who she was without antagonising him further. She needed his help, for Rannilt’s sake as well as her own.
‘House vi Torgrist is not wealthy, nor powerful,’ she said with cool dignity, ‘yet our line extends unbroken back to the Second Fleet and the founders of Hightspall.’
‘Why only the Second Fleet?’ Rix said mockingly. ‘Why not claim the First?’
‘Only Herovians came on the First Fleet. Clearly, I am not descended from those big, black-haired, brawling buffoons.’ Her eyes raked his huge frame, his black hair, then, remembering her manners, she said coolly, ‘Thank you for your offer, but we do not accept pennies from strangers.’
‘Pennies!’ cried Rix. ‘Are you suggesting that I’m cheap?’
Tali’s self-restraint foundered. ‘How dare you insult me by offering charity, sir!’ she snapped. ‘Has House Ricinus no nobility at all?’
His face flushed and he strode towards her.
‘Rix!’ Tobry called, warningly.
Rix stopped, his massive chest rising and falling. ‘I show you more respect than a scallyscragging impostor deserves,’ he cried, still keeping his eyes averted.
She did not know what the word scallyscragging meant, though it must have been an insult. ‘I am not an impostor,’ she said coldly, drawing herself up to her full, meagre height. ‘Every word I’ve said — ’
‘My lady Tali?’ said Tobry.
Was he mocking her? No, all she saw in his eyes was a bittersweet amusement. ‘Yes?’
‘I know every noble house in Hightspall. House vi Torgrist was wiped out in the Fester Plague seven centuries ago, along with one-third of the other First Families. So, who are you?’
Tobry’s words were like a sunstone imploding inside her — burning heat followed by shards of ice, then a sickening dizziness. She sagged, clutching her stomach. Her house wiped out? It could not be.
She studied him from under her lashes. He had the air of a man stating facts that were well known to all, so it must be true. Yet again she had allowed her expectations to run away from reality. What was she to do now? Without the aid of her people, how could she hope to complete her quest? The cellar where Iusia had died might have been anywhere and she had no idea where to begin.
‘I am Tali vi Torgrist,’ she said, raising her chin and looking him in the eye.
‘It’s a crime to pretend you’re noble when you are not,’ said Rix, still smouldering. ‘You can be stoned for that.’
Tali, proud lady that she was determined to be, could take no more. ‘I can recite the names of every one of my ancestors back to the Second Fleet. Can you do the same, sir?’
His fists knotted and red waves flooded his face. ‘I’ve had enough of this — ’
Tali fought an urge to scream and bolt. He might be twice her size but he was not going to dominate her. She had to take control, and there was only one way to do that — with calm, clear logic.
After taking several breaths, she said gently, ‘I understand that you feel inferior because your House is newly risen, but there’s no need to get angry. It’s the way things are, and if you’ll just — ’
At Rix’s bellow of rage, she yelped and took an involuntary leap backwards.
Tobry caught Rix by the arm and dragged him off for several yards. ‘Given your vow of a few minutes ago,’ Tobry said savagely, ‘I’d have thought you’d treat a girl down on her luck more honourably.’
Rix might have been smacked in the mouth with an eel. He jerked free and turned away, clenching and unclenching his fists, then snapped, ‘Thank you for reminding me. Despite her insults, I will take her to her house. If she has one.’
Tobry said softly, ‘What about the portrait?’
‘Damn it! And Mother, too. And damn you to hell, Tobry Lagger.’
Stalking back towards Tali, he bowed and said stiffly, ‘Forgive me, Lady Tali. My manners do my house no credit. I will personally escort you wherever you wish to go.’
She bowed back, her mind racing. If her house had fallen centuries ago, where could she go? She knew the names of the other noble houses but why would any of them help her? Tali looked up at Rix, gnawing her lip, his sheer physicality intimidating her. Despite his bad temper, she did not think he had any ill intentions towards her. Even so, there was something about him she could not read. And also, now that he was close, something vaguely familiar about the eyes …
Unconsciously, Tali ran her fingers through her hair. She had to have food and somewhere safe to stay; and clothing and boots. Without help, her quest would fail. Besides, with Rannilt to look after and the enemy hunting her, there was no choice but to go with them. But go where?
‘Thank you,’ she said, bowing again.
His sword rattled in its sheath and shivers ran in waves along her arms. He struck the hilt an angry blow with his fist and the rattling stopped, though her unease did not go away. A darkness lay on him, or within him, something she had not sensed before.
‘Does Torgrist Manor still stand?’ said Tali.
‘More or less,’ said Tobry. ‘It’s a plague house. The whole of House vi Torgrist died there, and most of their servants. There are terrible stories — ’
‘What kind of stories?’
‘The townsfolk wouldn’t let them out the gates, nor let any food in. The survivors were starving and the Lady vi Torgrist tried to escape underground with her children to the palace down the hill …’ Tobry went still for a moment. ‘Some say they were walled up in the tunnels, others that they were massacred there. No one ever got out and the plague house has lain empty ever since.’
‘Where is it?’
‘Not far from Palace Ricinus, as it happens.’
She raked her hair again. ‘I’ll go to my house. I’m not afraid of some ancient plague.’
Rix’s eyes narrowed. He was staring at her shoulders, exposed where the loose sleeves had slipped down when she raised her arms.
‘Your arms are black and blue,’ he said. ‘Have you been beaten?’
They were the bruises that Mimoy’s wire-like fingers had made last night. Tali dropped her arms. ‘It’s nothing.’
Rix took her left arm, and she was almost overpowered by his physical presence. He was a handsome man … and yet, there was something about him that made her uneasy, that she could not fathom.
A deep, inflamed gash ran the length of his left forearm, as if he had been clawed by some large beast. Without thinking, she reached inside herself for a healing charm. No, what was she thinking? Always hide your gift. Revealing it to a stranger could be fatal.
‘Who did this to you?’ said Rix.
‘It doesn’t matter.’ She jerked her arm free. ‘Let me go.’
He held her, pushed the sleeve up, then drew a sharp breath.
He was staring at the scar on her left shoulder, at the complicated pattern that was both her slave mark and the symbol of her nobility — the unique and instantly recognisable seal of House vi Torgrist. Now he would believe her. Now he would know that she was as noble as anyone in Hightspall …
‘You came from the Rat Hole!’ he cried.
Tali did not know what he was talking about.
He thrust her away so hard that she tripped and fell backwards onto a tussock. Rix’s eyes were ablaze, his mouth curled down in disgust.
‘You’re no lady, you’re a lying, stinking Pale!’ he cried. ‘An enemy collaborator. How dare you try to inveigle me?’