Page 16 of The Salted Sceptre
‘No!’ she screeched. ‘No pills! No spiders! No!’ She glanced over her shoulder, clearly expecting to be followed, but Athair and Arbuthnot simply watched her.
I tried to remember to keep breathing like a normal person.
Hester extracted a pill and dropped it into a jug of water that was sitting on the bar waiting to be emptied, then she threw in three more. Each one fizzed and slowly dissolved. She took the remaining pills, tossed them onto the floor and zipped down to stomp hard on them, throwing herself at them until nothing remained but specks of white dust.
By now everyone in the restaurant had stopped to watch her; even a couple of the chefs were peering at her from the porthole window in the kitchen door. I knew Hester was aware of her audience when she added a couple of flourishes and mid-air spins. When she’d finally smashed the last few crumbs of spider’s silk deliciousness into smithereens, she raised her head and gave a succession of sweeping bows. She turned to me and snapped out the sort of salute of which even a memberof the Royal Guard at Buckingham Palace would be proud and returned to the table.
Unfortunately, she was now covered from head to toe in white spider’s silk dust. I swallowed hard and dragged my eyes away from her – but my left one was twitching furiously.
‘That’ll be £1,650.’ Arbuthnot spoke aloud for the first time.
‘Bill me,’ Hester snarled.
‘He just did.’ Athair regarded her mildly then turned to the bogle and nodded
Arbuthnot appeared to understand the silent request. He reached into a different pocket and pulled out another box. This one was embossed with gold.
‘Don’t worry.’ Athair winked at Hester. ‘We have plenty.’
I wanted to be the queen of nonchalant behaviour. I wanted to lean back in my chair, cross my legs and shrug so I could prove to the entire world that I didn’t need or want spider’s silk. Unfortunately I could only remain very, very still and focus on the breathing techniques that my drug counsellors had taught me.
‘You don’t look very happy, daughter,’ Athair said. ‘Are you unwell?’
Fuck. Off.
‘You’re rather sweaty. Perhaps you have a mild fever?’
As I looked down and ostentatiously checked my watch, my movement seemed jerky and un-coordinated. There were fifty-two minutes to go. In theory, I could walk away at any time – I hadn’t actually given my word that I’d stay for a full two hours – but if I left now, I’d be putting Hugo in danger.
I considered my options while Athair smirked and continued his little drama. He held out his hand, palm upwards. Arbuthnot dropped the small box onto it. ‘You can go now,’ Athair said to him.
The bogle’s heavy brow creased in protest. Athair didn’t waste his breath repeating the order; instead, the tiniest flicker of electricity zipped between his fingers, dancing across the tips from pinkie to thumb. The bogle froze then stood up, nodded at me and left.
We all pretended not to notice the collective sigh of relief from the other diners – but they were scared of the wrong person. They should have ignored the large, lumbering bogle and focused their terror on the thin old man with the twinkle in his eyes.
Athair thumbed open the little box. My eyes slid to its contents and away again. A perfect dozen.
‘There are many benefits to being a fiend,’ he said. He dipped into the box, withdrew a pill and placed it on his tongue. Leaning back in his chair, he closed his mouth and his eyes and gave a small moan of satisfaction.
He swallowed and looked at me again. ‘I can enjoy the benefits of all sorts of things without ill effect. I don’t worry about high cholesterol. My weight is not an issue. I can imbibe all the caffeine and calories I wish – and I can take all the drugs and alcohol I desire without hangovers, addiction or unpleasant side effects. It’s really rather wonderful.’
His lack of subtlety was noticeable but he didn’t need to be subtle. Not in this.
Otis tugged at my collar. ‘Daisy,’ he whispered. ‘Ignore him.’
Athair reached for a second pill and I watched him raise it to his lips and swallow it. Then he took a third.
I gazed into his eyes. His glamour was strong enough for there to be no tell-tale ring of silver around his pupils; perhaps the drug didn’t even affect him.
‘It’s quite extraordinary stuff,’ he murmured. ‘I can feel it coursing through my veins. There’s a strange fizz as it hits myheart, and the way it sneaks around the edges of my magic and rubs away at my powers is rather delicious.’
I straightened. Was the spider’s silk dampening his magic in the same way it had dampened mine? Was Athair walking into a trap of his own making?
He clearly knew what I was thinking. ‘You’re welcome to try, sweetheart. Attack me here and let’s see if my power has diminished enough for you to beat me. I won’t hurt you.’ He paused. ‘Much.’
I exhaled: so spider’s silkdidaffect him, even if only slightly. However, there was no doubt that it wasn’t enough to give me the upper hand. I ran my tongue around my mouth, acknowledging my deep-seated jealousy that I was not the person tossing pill after pill into my mouth.
When Athair dipped his finger in for a fourth damned dose, I pushed my chair back and stood up. ‘Come on,’ I said to the brownies. ‘We’re leaving.’
