Page 122 of Play of Shadows

Twice my size, he was, Corbier boasted.Wrestling a bear would’ve been easier, but I took him down all the same.Damn, but my jaw ached.

Ajelaine rolled her eyes at me. ‘A boy I named you, and a boy you are, Raphan, fighting a schoolyard brawl in the duke’s own palace.’

Needing to provide enough fodder for the cast to buy more time, I chose to present Corbier’s side of the story ratherthan Ajelaine’s, declaring loudly, ‘A matter of honour, a test of mettle– an intolerable insult that only fists could settle.’

Not my best rhyme, but even here, a hundred years in the past, I could hear the oohs and aahs from the audience in my own time; the people of Jereste loved any story that began with ‘A matter of honour.’

Ajelaine was unimpressed. ‘How quickly history’s facts are twisted for the convenience of the storyteller.’

I continued anyway, drawing on Corbier’s recollection of the duel. ‘Our villain? The wretched offspring of privilege and vice who dared claim carnal knowledge of the virtuous Ajelaine, his foul jest made before the entire court. His insidious purpose? To demean the good name of she who would one day rule over his nefarious House.’

Yes!Corbier said enthusiastically.For once you’re getting the story righ—

Ajelaine slapped me across the cheek. Hard.

‘Ow! Damn it!’ I shouted in both the past and present.

Now that part I don’t remember, Corbier informed me.

I prayed the audience wouldn’t notice my outburst over Teo’s outrageous rendition of young Corbier challenging Beretto to a boxing match.

‘You idiot!’ Ajelaine yelled, pulling me back to the romantic ambiance of the palace orchard and this distinctly un-romantic encounter with her. ‘That big oaf in the mustard silk coat played you for a fool, Raphan. He’d been ordered to goadPierziinto a duel, not you. They were trying to trick him into a public brawl that would embarrass him before the generals to prove he couldn’t be trusted with a battalion when he leaves for the borders next month. I’d finally convinced Pierzi to ignore him whenyouhad to swoop in like a near-sighted seagull and crash into everything!’

In the dim fog behind her, Teo and Beretto put on acomical fight, which had the audience cheering and jeering their favourites– but I was more confused than ever. Nothing like this had been mentioned in any of the histories.

Forcing my words to be spoken only through Corbier’s lips, I asked, ‘My Lady, why would—’

‘Their intent is to sow doubts about Pierzi as future prince of the duchy,’ Ajelaine said, cutting me off again. She did that a lot, I realised.

On this point we are in agreement, Corbier said silently.

Ajelaine continued berating us, pacing in a circle as she explained, ‘This is what I’ve been trying to make you understand, Raphan: Pierzi’s enemies don’t think like you or I do. They’re not concerned with tonight or tomorrow; their schemes are planned years– even decades– in advance. All the while you two idiots are playing with swords, they play their vile games with our people, with our laws, with the very fabric of our society.’

I couldn’t help but gaze at her in wonder. Seventeen years old and she was already uncovering conspiracies that had eluded every historian in Pertine.

Did she really say these things to you all these years ago?I asked Corbier.

I’m not sure. . . but yes, now I remember. She used to go on and on about these little intrigues she was piecing together from conversations gleaned here and there, oddities in various records and manifests. I wasn’t paying attention at the time because—

‘He never listened to me,’ Ajelaine said.

I stumbled back against a tree trunk. She was talking tomeagain, not the sixteen-year-old boy trying to court her. Before I could ask her how this was even possible, she entwined her fingers with mine and led me through the orchard.

‘Raphan loved me with a fire brighter than the sun itself.’ Shesighed, the wistful tone of a much older woman. ‘But he never listened to me, not really. He wanted so badly to prove himself the heroic figure that no one believed someone possessed of those disturbing red eyes could ever be. Pierzi was no better, convinced his golden hair and handsome features marked him for some grand destiny. This is how the Court of Flowers set the two of them against each other.’

I briefly turned from her to my own time to toss in a feeble joke, enough for Teo and Shariza’s improvised comedic wooing to keep going, then returned to the far stranger courtship in the past.

‘My Lady, how can you be aware of me, and of events that happened many years after those taking place here tonight?’

She leaned against my arm as we walked and I found the warmth of her body intoxicating. No wonder sixteen-year-old Corbier had struggled to pay attention to her warnings at the time.

‘You expect me to explain your own gift to you, Veristor?’ she asked, laughing. Soft brown hair tickled my cheek. ‘I’m not even sure ifI’mreally here. Perhaps I’m long dead, buried deep beneath the ground of my mother’s estate, and all this is a dream to you and dust to me.’

She squeezed my arm tighter. ‘I can tell you this much, though, Damelas Chademantaigne: memories aren’t simply a sequence of events in time, nor do they belong to one person only. Our thoughts and experiences echo long after we are gone. This is your true gift, Veristor: you give voice to the dead.’

‘Are you Ajelaine’s spirit, then?’ I asked aloud, ‘come to guide me to the truth?’

She stopped and turned to face me. For an instant, her features wavered and I saw Shariza standing before me on stage.

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