Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1)(37)

Abi still couldn’t think of anything to say. Something careful.

‘If he should have inherited Kyneston after Cadmus, then he must be . . . Cadmus’s eldest son?’

She was rewarded with the ghost of a smile from Jenner.

‘I knew you’d get it, Abigail. He’s Cadmus’s son by his first wife. His name was Sosigenes Parva, but you won’t find it in any history book.’

So-si-je-knees? Even by Equal standards, the name was a mouthful.

‘Doesn’t exactly trip off the tongue, does it?’ she said, then flushed at her own presumption. But Jenner laughed, brightening a little.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I’d be the first to agree. It’s a name that if my father had his way, would never be heard again. As it is, after Cadmus’s journals were lost in the Orpen fire, this little picture is the only evidence we have that Sosigenes ever lived.’

Abi knew about the great fire of Orpen. It had happened before she was born, but she’d seen shaky footage captured from a helicopter flying beyond the estate wall.

Orpen Mote had been the Parva seat, where Lady Thalia Jardine and her sister Euterpe were born and raised. It had burned to the ground in a single night. The two sisters had been absent, but Lord and Lady Parva and their entire household had died as they slept. The shock of discovering her parents’ death had plunged Euterpe into the coma in which she still lay.

But more than a house and its inhabitants had been lost. The Parvas’ reputation as scholars had continued down the centuries, and Orpen Mote had held the most important collection of books about Skill known to exist anywhere in the world. That had included Cadmus’s personal library. All destroyed in the blaze.

But Abi had never heard of any journals kept by the Pure-in-Heart. What documents those would be! How cruel to learn of their existence and their destruction in the self-same instant.

Jenner was busying himself with the boxes on the table. He pulled one across and flipped back the lid. Inside was thick foam, cut to accommodate the small painting perfectly. He kept his eyes down as he talked.

‘No one ever imagined there would be another Skilless child. Cadmus was so powerful, you see, that the family decided that Sosigenes’ mother was to blame for her son’s condition. She died in childbirth, so it was easy to conclude that she was weak. In fact, “Sosigenes” means “born safely”, so maybe the birth had been traumatic for him, too. It’s a tidy explanation.’

‘Might that be true?’ Abi said, unsure whether or not this was dangerous territory, but too curious not to ask. ‘And could a difficult birth be the answer for you, too?’

Jenner smiled again, but still didn’t look at her.

‘Mother pushed me out in about five minutes flat, if that’s what you’re asking. Apparently Gavar was an enormous baby, so Sil and I came into the world very easily.’ He pulled a face. ‘I’ve never felt the need for more information on that.

‘The funny thing is, no one noticed at first – about me, I mean. Some babies show their Skill very early. Silyen apparently set the nursery curtains on fire when he was just a few days old. And Nanny was constantly finding birds perched on his crib singing to him. They had to watch him every minute. But it’s also perfectly normal for there to be no strong showing until the age of four or five.

‘Mother swears I did a few things that resembled Skill, but they must have just been accidents, because by my fourth birthday – nothing. Nor by my fifth. Nor my sixth. Apparently, though I don’t remember this, I then announced that I wasn’t going to have any more birthdays. I must have understood that each one was an important milestone that I kept missing.’

He had finished fussing with the box. The painting had been swaddled, the lid closed, the tape secured. Jenner’s hands rested on top of the box, curled around nothing. He lifted his eyes. They were suspiciously bright.

‘The wall still recognizes me, because I have the family blood. The gate appears for me, but I can’t open it. It’s the same for little Libby. When I was younger, there was even some hoo-ha about whether I was my father’s son. As if that could ever be doubted.’

Jenner pushed his fingers through his hair, the exact same colour as his father’s. Tugged, as if he wanted to tear a bit out and show her, as proof of his parentage.

‘Anyway, I know you’ve wondered about it all. I’ve seen it in your face. So now you know. No great mystery.’ He forced a smile. ‘In my own way, I’m even more remarkable than Silyen.’

Abi felt like her heart had been replaced with one that was several sizes too big for her chest. She took a step closer.

‘Yes, you are,’ she told him. ‘Remarkable. Amazing.’

‘Amazing?’

She touched his cheek, feeling guiltily grateful he didn’t have Skill. If he did, he would surely blast her through the bookcases for her impertinence. But he didn’t move, only raised his own fingers to cover hers, as if to confirm that her gesture was real.

Then Abi practically slapped him as she recoiled at the sound of the library door opening.

The box was knocked off the table and Jenner bent to pick it up. That left Abi, cheeks flaming like the Parva salamander, to face whoever had interrupted them.

It could have been worse – but it could have been a lot better. Lady Thalia was walking towards them, the hem of her silken housecoat swinging, while in the doorway waited Lady Hypatia Vernay.