Page 52 of Play of Shadows

‘I was raised by two Greatcoats,’ I said, ‘and while I knew almost from birth that I’d never be worthy of such a lofty title, the one thing my childhood with the King’s Parry and the King’s Courtesy taught me was how to spot those who are.’

I took hold of my friend’s hand between both of mine. It felt awkward and contrived and yet exactly the right thing to do. ‘On what little honour I have, I swear to you, Beretto, one day I will find the First Cantor of the Greatcoats. I will walk up to him or her and slap them across the face with my glove and say, “Name you Beretto Bravi to the Greatcoats, and do so today, or tomorrow you will face me in the duelling circle and, by steel and blood, will I change your mind.”’

Beretto stared at me, mouth hanging open, tears already forming at the corners of his eyes. The man could cry at the drop of a hat. ‘Oh, my brother,’ he shouted, shaking off my hands to grab me in a crushing hug. More softly he said, ‘That would mean so much more if you weren’t such a lousy fencer.’

Chapter 24

The Invitation

We laughed and drank every drop of ale Beretto’s obscene promises could wheedle out of Mother until the unpleasant glare of morning seeped through the shuttered windows. As dangerous sobriety began to set in, I declared, ‘I’m for bed. Don’t wake me until it’s time to head out to the Belleza– or if someone’s come to murder me.’

‘Ah,’ Beretto said. ‘Iknewthere was something I was forgetting.’ He stumbled to the other side of the living room and started fishing in a stack of scripts.

Saint Zaghev-who-sings-for-tears, please don’t make me read another of his new plays. . .

‘Beretto, you know I love and admire your stories, but—’

‘None of your platitudes, varlet. I merely hid the invitation here in case the Bulger came a-burgling while we slept.’

I rose to join him. ‘An invitation?’

‘Yes,’ Beretto said, still shuffling through the pile of paper. ‘While you were off wooing half the ladies of Jereste—’

‘Most of them being assassins or madwomen, of course.’

Beretto shifted his attention to the bookshelf of well-worn novels. ‘Naturally. Anyway, while you were indulging your preoccupation with breasts and awkward fiddly bits—’

‘Um. . . you know you’ve slept with more women than I have, right?’

‘—beauty in all things—’

‘Yes, well, did they appreciate you referring to their private parts as “fiddly bits”?’

The big man held a book by the spine and shook it. ‘Can’t be sure. At the time they were screaming my name.’ He dropped it and picked up another. ‘I’m strangely gifted at making love to women.’

One of these days the saints were going to send a wonderful, good-hearted man to fall madly in love with Beretto. . . and the saints would owe that poor fellow anenormousapology.

As he shook the next volume, what looked at first to be a wooden coin with something gleaming at its centre slid out from between the pages. He caught it in his free hand– then displayed the title. ‘Of course–Saint Erastian’s Erotic Journeys. I knew I’d put it somewhere sensible.’

I walked over and took the proffered object, which turned out not to be a coin, but a thin, delicately carved brooch of gilded ebony shaped like a human eye with an iris of gold. I rolled the smooth disc between my thumb and forefinger, marvelling at the exquisitely dark grain of the wood and the way the light of our candles glinting in the gold of the eye made it seem alive, almost as if it were watching me.

‘A scholar’s mark?’ I asked. ‘Why would someone leave a pass to the Grand Library for me? And why didn’t you mention this earlier?’

‘How was I to remember something so trivial when you were staggering in here raving about mad Bardatti guitarists and scaring off the Vixen herself with your raw, unbridled manly disposition? Besides, the library isn’t open at night, so it’s not as if you could’ve done anything about it.’

I examined the gold edge of the scholar’s mark more closely. Itwas a thin layer, although you could probably scrape off at least a jubilant’s worth, but access to the Grand Library of Jereste was far more valuable, so I’d been told.

‘And you’ve no idea who left this for me?’

‘I never saw them, but I can tell you everything you need to know about your would-be benefactor.’

‘If you didn’t see any—’

Beretto took the brooch from me and flipped it in the air like a coin. ‘Do you have any idea how much a pass like this costs? At best– and only if we came into a decent inheritance– a commoner like you or me could afford a copper-trimmed one. Scholars from the academies and visiting professorsmightwear a silver mark, if their institutions were paying. But agoldpass?’ He flipped it again. ‘These are crafted exclusively for the great Houses of Pertine, and that means—’

When I snatched it in mid-air, the shiny golden iris at the centre seemed to wink at me. I pinned it next to my Veristor’s mark, then glanced over at the window and the now glaring morning light. The Grand Library would be opening soon. I picked up my coat and headed for the door. ‘Someone very powerful desires to make my acquaintance at my earliest inconvenience.’

Chapter 25

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