Evastany

25 IV

25 IV

Ori reappeared, but without bringing much of use to relay.

‘Nallay,’ he pronounced, consulting a disappointingly small sheaf of notes. ‘I found some records for her, plus a little bit of gossip. Uninspiring academic career leading to not much in the way of employment. Makes a little money here and there as a painter. Her neighbours assume she’s not much good, but nobody could say they’ve ever seen any of her work. No known family to speak of. One person thought she’d flunked out of Sorcerer School—’

‘Stop,’ said I.

Ori looked at me enquiringly.

‘Sorcerer school. Did you check that out?’

He slowly raised one eyebrow, and stared me down. ‘Of course I did.’

‘Because Susa was swiped right out of Sorcerer Academy.’

‘I know,’ said Ori slowly. ‘I remember, because I was there.’

Oops. ‘Right,’ I said crisply. ‘Of course you were. And?’

‘Angstrun let me at the records. Faronni Nallay attended for one term, seven years ago. She had a little aptitude but no application, and never came back for her second term.’

‘Hmm. So, she’s a sorcerer, albeit an untrained one and perhaps not especially powerful. And so is Susa. A link!’

‘Yes, and I was quite excited about that, too, until I came back and found Heliandor missing. I checked while I was there. No record of anybody by that name attending the academy, ever.’

‘Which doesn’t absolutely mean that she isn’t a sorc, but it’s persuasive of it. She’s never claimed any sorcerer or summoner abilities, nor shown signs of possessing any.’

‘Right. So it’s shaky to conclude that Lokant partials with Sorcerer skills are the goal, but it’s interesting information. I’ll look into your Fostiger DeMorte-Tregariat—’

‘DeMarte-Tregoriann.’

‘—That one. He didn’t mention having any other magical abilities, I suppose?’

‘No. Unless you count mathematics.’

‘Haha. No.’ Ori folded up his notes, packed them away, and only then thought to look around my otherwise empty parlour. ‘Where’s Gio?’

Good question. Shall you despise me too much if I admit that I forgot about him? Naturally I didn’t say that to Ori. ‘Working on his lesson plan, I suppose?’

Ori bounced straight up out of his chair and made for the door. ‘Righto, up I go.’

And off he went, but he was back again only two minutes later. He stuck his head around the door, observed the comfortable posture I had taken up in my favourite armchair without, I think, really seeing me at all, and said: ‘Are you sure he’s here?’

‘No,’ I admitted. ‘But if he has gone somewhere else, he did not mention it to me.’

Ori withdrew with a frown, and returned again after another five minutes. He threw the door open this time, strode into the middle of the parlour, and announced: ‘He is not here.’

‘He didn’t leave word for you?’

‘No. But perhaps he didn’t expect me to return before he did.’

I beamed. I couldn’t help myself. ‘This is fantastic. Perhaps he has been kidnapped!’

Ori gave me a flat, unfriendly stare. ‘I fail to see cause for celebration in that.’

‘But it was our plan!’

‘For all four of us! Not Gio by himself! Anyway, how could he possibly? He had not yet set up with a false identity, was not pretending to be anything other than himself.’

‘True.’ My fledgling hopes faded. ‘Then, what?’

‘Probably he has just stepped out to buy something, or… taken a walk.’ But Ori frowned as he spoke, clearly concerned. I couldn’t blame him, considering everything that had lately happe…. oh.

An unpleasant thought occurred to me.

‘Come to think of it,’ I said — with, I confess, some reluctance to admit of my neglect — ‘I haven’t seen Gio since headquarters was broken into.’

Ori glared at me. ‘You mean since Heliandor was discovered missing.’

‘That’s what I mean.’ I felt uncomfortable under that stare, for he was right to be angry with me. How had it not occurred to me to look for Gio? Just because I expected to find odd things going on with our partials and therefore focused upon them, it didn’t excuse my negligence.

‘So he might have been taken along with her.’

‘It’s possible.’ I had to own that it was, though I did not think it likely. Why would a person take Gio? ‘Do you suppose he might have been mistaken for a partial? The differences are not immediately obvious.’

‘Maybe, but I do not think we are dealing with anyone so… poorly informed. Are we? We know that we’ve been watched, our post intercepted—’

‘Do we though?’

Ori blinked. ‘I thought we agreed on that.’

‘It made sense at one point, and we do know that somebody sent Miss Nallay a falsified copy of my letter. But that only means that one or two of our letters were interfered with. Since then, Fostiger’s arrived without incident, and nobody appears to have tampered with him at all.’

Ori sighed. ‘That leaves us with nothing much to go on.’

‘I think Gio will be back,’ I said firmly. ‘He is far from helpless, after all. And perhaps he will return with useful information.’

Ori flopped into a chair and cast me a piteous look. ‘I hope you’re right, because I’m faint with worry.’

‘I will order luncheon,’ I said, recognising my cue.

That won me a tremulous smile.

Hurrah, that I should be proved a Prophet! And upon such a point, too! I hope that it has somewhat restored my credit with Ori.

Gio returned just as Ori, Tren and I were reaching the end of a leisurely luncheon. I was moved to believe that Ori was deeply worried, because he ate only half of his usual heroic portion, and sat sipping listlessly at a cup of tea. When the door to the dining room creaked open and Gio’s face appeared around it, he bounced up at once, upsetting the tea, and fell upon Gio with touching gusto.

Tren and I politely averted our eyes while this reunion took place. Once the two had recovered their composure, it was time to hear Gio’s tale.

‘I went home,’ he explained, accepting Ori’s offer of a seat at the table and a plate of food.

‘Home?’ repeated Ori and I in chorus.

‘To Sulayn Phay.’

‘I thought you couldn’t,’ said Ori. ‘Or wouldn’t.’

‘I wasn’t planning the trip,’ Gio agreed. ‘Or I would have mentioned it.’ I suppose we all thought he would progress immediately to explaining what had become of him, but instead he asked, apparently at random: ‘How would you describe Heli Rasset?’

An odd question, but all right. I went with it. ‘Thirtyish? Moderate height, not short. Thin. Hair usually braided. Blue eyes.’

‘More specifically?’

‘Umm….’ I floundered a bit, unsure what Gio was getting at.

Ori saved me by extracting a piece of paper from his notes and making a quick sketch of Heliandor upon it. I was impressed by its accuracy, having never had any idea that Ori could draw.

Gio looked at me and Tren. ‘Would you both agree that’s a fair portrait of her?’

We did, in response to which Gio took a piece of paper out of his coat pocket and spread it out before us. Upon it was a sketch of someone who looked not wholly unlike Heliandor Rasset, but her features were markedly different in a few important ways.

‘That’s who I saw. The person you describe is someone I’ve met before, but not around here. Her name is Ylona Duna, and she’s my grandmother’s main rival for leadership of Sulayn Phay.’

Well, that was a facer. ‘All right,’ I said, concealing my utter surprise behind my favourite — and so often used — Coolly Composed expression. I mentally reviewed everything I had ever seen or heard of Heliandor, and tried to remember what I had talked to her about, without much success in any instance. I had hardly tried to get to know her, merely dumped her with Gio and Ori and gone about my business.

More fool me.

‘So we’ve had a spy right in our midst all along,’ said Ori grouchily, slumping in his chair. ‘Wonderful.’

I think all of us felt a bit foolish. For all our caution and cleverness, it had never occurred to us to suspect those already inside headquarters. Except to cast aspersions on the probable honesty of poor Adonia, to whom I felt like apologising.

I began to understand how Llandry felt a moon or so ago. When you realise your shady and unscrupulous adversaries are easily running rings around you, it’s… not a pleasant feeling.

‘What happened at home?’ I enquired of Gio.

‘Well, first… you should know that Ylona didn’t ransack headquarters.’

I had to focus to remember that Ylona is Heliandor. We hadn’t known her long, but I had already got used to thinking of her as Heli. ‘She didn’t?’

‘No. We discovered that together, and she was not happy about it. I would swear that she was sincere. She was surprised, and angry. She asked me some questions about the security I’d set up — which, I am sorry to say, I had not got very far with at that point, though I have since rectified this oversight — and seemed dissatisfied with my answers. After a while I began to realise that her questions were far too discerning for the person she was supposed to be, but before I could follow that train of thought to any useful conclusions, she grabbed me and translocated. We ended up in Sulayn Phay, whereupon she hauled me off to her private rooms and promptly tried to convert me to her cause. It seems word of my row with Grandmother has spread, and I appear to be a highly tempting recruit. I’ve got inside information on Dwinal, and the doings of your Bureau, both of which appear to be of great interest to Ylona.’

‘Why?’ said I at once.

‘No idea. She wouldn’t tell me.’

‘A poor attempt at recruitment.’

‘I know? All I wanted was for her to tell me every facet of her plans on the spot, without the smallest guarantee of my loyalty thereafter. I didn’t think it was so much to ask.’

‘So disobliging,’ I agreed. ‘What did she tell you?’

Gio smiled faintly. ‘She abused my grandmother’s character and morals — cautiously at first, in case I might be suffering from any lingering family loyalties. I gave her to understand this was not the case, after which she was more forthright in her disapproval. Ylona is determined to win the leadership from Dwinal, and there is an election coming up soon.’

‘How does she plan to win it?’

‘That she did not tell me. I probed a little, but to no avail. She wants to feel confident of my support, I believe, before she will open up about it.’ To my surprise, he grinned rather mischievously. ‘So I joined her team on the spot, and I am happy to inform you all that I am now a double agent. Triple, in fact, as I am charged with winning my way back into my grandmother’s good graces so I can spy on her, too.’

Ori beamed at Gio, his smile shining with approval and pride and love. ‘You are a marvel.’

Gio gave a half-bow, but his smile faded. ‘I hope so. I do have to pull it off without getting myself… um, diced.’

Ori sobered at that idea. ‘Right, well. You’re going to need help.’

‘I was hoping you would say that.’

Tren raised a hand. ‘Anything I can do? I like the sound of this party.’

‘Me too,’ I put in. And I did! I might have been suffering some mild impulses to dice and slice duplicitous Ylona myself, but at least we knew who we were up against.

Mostly. ‘So, questions,’ I continued. ‘Who searched our headquarters, if it wasn’t her? Who forged the letter to Miss Nallay, since I sent it before Ylona reached us? And for that matter, is Faronni at Sulayn Phay, and Susa?’

‘I get the impression Ylona might have one or two over-enthusiastic supporters,’ Gio said. ‘Though I’m unsure. I will try to find out. As for Faronni and Susa, I don’t know yet but I assume so. There seems little doubt that Ylona is behind their extraction.’

‘I’d like to talk to this Ylona,’ I said, hopefully without sounding too murderous about it.

‘I’m working on that,’ said Gio. ‘I did subtly suggest to her that if she was looking for partial Lokants, she could hardly do better than you. She pointed out that a person would have to be an i***t to walk off with so public and powerful a figure as Lady Glostrum and expect to gain by it, which is fair. Your willing cooperation might not be declined, however.’

‘Noted.’

This journal-keeping is an interesting business. It forces one to pay unusually close attention to the details of one’s daily doings. For instance, I have never before had occasion to notice how much of our important business is conducted over dinner, or possibly luncheon. What a merry band of hedonistic epicureans we are.

I say “we”, but since this is my house and I am the generally acknowledged leader of our various endeavours, does that mean it’s all my fault?

Possibly. Very possibly.

Anyway. Interesting news. I took careful note of Gio’s words, particularly the part about my willing cooperation. If Gio can pretend to be an enthusiastic convert to Ylona’s cause, I dare say I can, too.

Everything’s getting a trifle complicated, I have to observe. I had one ordinary, promising student who had not been made off with and she turns out to be no less than the mastermind of those very same abductions. Somebody else, meanwhile, has trashed my precious headquarters in search of who-knows-what and we still have little idea what Ylona proposes to do with the two people she has thieved from us. Somebody is intercepting our post… or perhaps not? It grows difficult to keep track.

All very much par for the course with Lokant business.

Gio we cheerfully dispatched back into the jaws of danger, with strict instructions to find out as much as he could about Ylona’s shenanigans. We also encouraged his triple-agent activities as far as his grandmother is concerned, though the poor boy was visibly less sanguine about that prospect. I suffered a pang or two of guilt on his account, but what can be done? We need information, and Gio is best placed to retrieve it.

‘If you will, Gio,’ I said before he left, ‘Do please invite Ylona — most cordially, of course! — to cease absconding with my students. It is highly inconvenient and insufferably rude.’

‘I can try,’ said he doubtfully.

‘It is fair to note that there is no established programme of etiquette regarding the claiming and counter-claiming of students. I ought to write one, perhaps, though I do not have time today.’

Gio gave me his precious bemused look, the one that says he cannot tell whether or not I am joking.

‘I am joking,’ I told him.

‘Oh.’

‘Mostly.’

He blinked twice, opened his mouth, and said nothing.