The Masked City (The Invisible Library #2)(45)
There was a rustle as people checked their watches or other timepieces. Irene glanced at her own wrist automatically, not wanting to look out of place, but inwardly her heart had frozen. She had a single day to find Kai. And if she failed to rescue him, the result would be war. She could barely breathe. She wasn’t without skills, but how - how was she going to manage this in a strange city, on her own, by midnight tomorrow …
The Train shuddered, and Aunt Isra glanced out of the window. Beyond the glass there were lights in the distance, spangled across buildings and domes and palaces. Venice. ‘You had best prepare to observe events on the platform, children, or find your patrons. Do not keep them waiting.’
SECOND INTERLUDE - KAI IN THE TOWER
Kai woke to the taste of brandy, and swallowed on reflex before the thought of poison crossed his mind.
The dreadful constant pressure and burn of chaos had gone. For a moment that thought dominated all others. The cold stone and cold metal against his skin were gentle caresses by comparison, and the drag on his arms was unimportant. He was able to think clearly again, to perceive, to reason.
Someone was supporting him and holding his head up, tilting the flask of brandy against his lips. Kai let his eyes flicker open for a fraction of a second, just long enough to see who it was and where they were.
It was his kidnapper, the man they’d called Lord Guantes. Sheer fury spiked through Kai, and he wrenched at whatever was holding his wrists, struggling to pull them free so that he could get his hands around the Fae’s neck.
Guantes stepped back, rising to his feet. ‘I take it that means you don’t want any more brandy,’ he said, wiping the neck of the flask with his sleeve. He was in grey silks and velvets now, with a draping mantle over doublet and breeches. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘How dare you ask me that, after laying your hands on me in this way!’ In another place and time Kai’s words would have woken storms, brought rivers and seas rising to his command. But here and now they were only words, and they echoed flatly inside the small grey stone room.
‘Oh, please.’ Guantes tucked the flask into his mantle. ‘You were a pitifully easy target. I’d have thought your father or your uncles would have taught you more caution. A shame for you that they didn’t.’
The insult to his sire and his uncles made Kai bite his lip, rage clouding his vision. He strained at the manacles that held him to the wall, until the blood ran down his wrists. ‘You are going to die for this,’ he snarled.
‘Words, words, words. If I’d known that you dragons were so weak, I’d have acted sooner. So tell me, would you like to sue for ransom? I imagine that we could send a letter to your uncle. In fact, hmm.’ Guantes began to pace thoughtfully, distracted by his train of thought. ‘It could be quite interesting to sow suspicion among your uncle’s servants. We’d have to leave a trail suggesting that one of them compromised you, of course, and then I could even incriminate one of your older brothers, or possibly suggest the Library was behind it all, while at the same time selling information to …’
A man who was standing by the door coughed politely. He was wearing the same sort of clothing as Guantes, but cheaper, and in unobtrusive faded black. ‘My lord, the test?’
‘Oh, yes, I quite forgot. You may report to your lords that the dragon shows no sign of breaking free from his chains under severe provocation.’ He turned back to Kai. ‘You must excuse me. I do get distracted so easily. Tell me, who do you think would make the most plausible suspect?’
‘For what?’ Kai demanded, confused. He sank back against the wall. There was no point trying to reach Guantes. He could only hope the Fae would come closer again.
‘Kidnapping you, of course. Oh, I know that you know I did it, but who else would? There’s so much scope here, I wouldn’t want to confine myself unduly. Perhaps the best option would be to wait until word gets out about your capture and then suggest that someone was impersonating me. Or maybe that I was an agent for your mother, and the whole thing was the first strike in a civil war against your father. Of course there isn’t actually a civil war yet, but we can work on that.’ He shook his head. ‘No, I must control myself. Stick with the current plan until it’s fully carried through, as my dear wife keeps on saying.’
Kai tried to laugh, his throat still burning from the brandy. He gathered his pride, squaring his shoulders and rising to his feet. ‘If you go so far as to offend my mother, the fate that I have in mind for you now will pale by comparison. You are a fool, and you are meddling in matters beyond your understanding.’
‘A very pretty speech,’ Guantes said. ‘I’d be proud of it myself. But allow me to point out that you are currently in chains, in prison, and far away from anyone who could possibly help you. Also, nobody knows where you are.’
‘A temporary situation,’ Kai retorted as he tried to ignore the hollow uncertainty in his belly. ‘My friends will come for me. My uncle will find me.’
‘Not here,’ Guantes said, with a certainty that conveyed absolute truth. ‘This sphere is deep in the chaos zones. Even if your uncle could find you, he neither could nor would come here, even to save your life. It would be an act of open war. Actually, the fact that you are here yourself could be construed as a provocation. The King of the Eastern Ocean’s youngest son, deep in the heart of our territory.’