Pierrot's Song

Chapter 5 - Twists and Turns-2

‘Amora introduced me to a new drink called coffee.’ Sofia gestured at the beakers. ‘Traders only recently brought it to Aurea. It’s delicious. I feel like I could stay awake for weeks!’

‘How many of those have you had?’

Sofia waved the question away with a sweep of her hand. ‘Not sure. I made more at some point. Anyway, it’s the end of the story that matters. I’m sure Eulalia is at the palace. Listen to this … “Though I will forever be apart from my sisters, I can never allow him to take what he wants from me.”’

Sofia looked up. ‘She means Mourini.’ She found her place again.

‘There is only one place I can think of he does not know about. How ironic that I will be closer to him than I have ever been when I have run from him for so long. He styles himself king now, and the palace is his, but he does not know all its secrets. Nor does he know there are still those who are loyal to me. They have served me well, helping me to ensure the likenesses of my sisters will be preserved in our towns and cities. They will serve me until the end. But I will not hide away waiting for death. I will never stop searching for a way to stop him. I have kept my sisters alive with my tales, which even now spread throughout Litonya.

At first, he tried to destroy the statues and carvings when they appeared, but then he began telling his own tale of seven muses who help the Creator. I don’t know which will stand in the end—his lies, or my truth. But my family was always at the heart of Aurea and they will remain so if my power is good for anything. I pray to the Creator that Orazia will preserve my gifts, so if I fail, one day another will find the truth at the heart of the stories.’

‘Orazia?’ Mina asked.

‘It means “keeper of time”,’ Sofia said. ‘It’s not a name that turns up in any of the Tales of Tarya. It might be an old-fashioned saying, perhaps meaning her talents will turn up in someone else at a later time. Which they did.’

Mina looked at her quizzically.

‘In you!’ Sofia shook her head. ‘She’s your ancestor. Things get passed down. Which, I’ve realised, means it’s even more important Mourini doesn’t get his hands on you. That was her greatest fear. Particularly at the end.’

She turned the book and pointed out the lines she had just read.

‘There … “I’ll be closer to him than I’ve ever been … always at the heart of Aurea.” I think she ended up hiding at the palace, right under his nose. And she was trying to find some way to defeat him. If we can find her hiding place, we might find something to help us.’

They both looked up, their eyes meeting, and spoke at the same time.

‘We need to get inside the palace.’

~

Though Mina had spent a great deal of time in the palace artisan quarters during the Festival of Lights, visiting them again felt entirely strange, as with everything about this return to Aurea. Silence hung like a bad mood in the main hallway now the crowds of performers were long gone. There was a sense of foreboding, and Mina couldn’t tell if it related to the changes they saw everywhere in the city because of the growing suspicion of artisans, or whether it arose from her own fear.

‘Explain again why we have to do this here,’ she murmured to Jal as they walked carefully, keeping their footsteps light.

The corridors were empty because they had timed this meeting to coincide with an official gathering of artisans occurring in the royal ballroom. A summons had been posted throughout the city just after they arrived, with instructions for everyone to bring the tools of their trade with them. Even now Sofia, Paolo, and Lisette would be there, learning what was going on.

Keeping her voice low, Mina continued. ‘I know it has to be you and me, but why can’t she meet us outside the palace? We’re the most wanted fugitives in Litonya.’

Jal stopped and gave her a look of cynical query.

Mina nodded. ‘I know. It’s Isabella. We do things her way. Thank the Creator your mother turned out to be so skilled with makeup.’

She put a tentative hand up to her cheek, careful not to wipe away Amora’s work. Even Jal had been surprised at his mother’s skills, for she had given up her dancing career when he was small and he had never seen the expertise she had developed from years of transforming herself and others for the dance.

Shading to hollow out the cheeks and add the illusion of a break to his perfectly aligned nose had changed Jal from breathtakingly handsome to the sort of haggard and suspicious character you’d avoid on the street. The careful application of dark lines and shadows had aged Mina, while her vivid honey hair was pinned under a dull grey scarf. None of it would stand against close inspection, but coming here they had kept their heads low and their posture bowed to avoid attention. They had entered the palace with the steady flow of artisans, then followed a roundabout route through the gardens and up the back spiral staircase, since mounting the great stairs with everyone else who was going to the ballroom would have made it difficult to slip away unseen.

‘To be fair,’ Jal said, ‘Isabella is supposed to be at the meeting along with every other artisan, so this way she can hurry downstairs and turn up late to it once we’ve spoken with her. Which will surprise no one.’

They had reached the Andreini’s quarters. Jal found the right door and knocked, a somewhat complicated sequence.

‘An old Inamorati song,’ he muttered. ‘She loves her little games.’

The door was flung inward. Isabella’s eyes swept over them both and she clasped her hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle, then beckoned them into the room. Gently she pressed the door closed before spinning toward them with a tinkling burst of laughter.

‘Oh, Jal, you’ve become quite the master of disguise. So sad to see your pretty features distorted though. And, Mina, you look terrible.’

She strode over to an upright mirror on a dresser laden with ribbons, brushes, and makeup. Gazing at her own reflection, she offered it a kiss and bounced her hair with her hand before turning back to them.

‘In an utterly convincing and useful way, of course. Lovely to see you again.’ She rushed over and seized Mina by the shoulders, kissing the air on either side of her cheek. ‘Now, Jal didn’t tell me what this was about, other than that he needs my help. Again!’ She reached out and ran a teasing finger down his face. ‘Honestly, sweetheart, I think you just can’t bear to be apart from me.’

Jal reached up and seized her hand. ‘We don’t have time for your games.’

She snatched her hand back and pouted at him. ‘I told you last time you owed me. Do you really want to ask for another favour? It will cost you.’

Mina decided to shift the mood. ‘I’m the one asking this time. If you won’t do it because we’re friends, perhaps you might because you’ll be a hero? I know you love being admired.’

Jal gave Mina an appreciative glance. Encouraged, she continued.

‘Isabella, even in the palace you must have seen how much things have changed. It feels dangerous to be an artisan.’

‘It is dangerous to be an artisan,’ Jal added.

Isabella strode over to a winged chair, arms swinging, and dropped into it, her skirt puffing up around her. She crossed one leg over the other in an extravagant gesture and waved her hand. ‘Intriguing! Go on. Tell me how I can be a hero.’

Mina glanced at Jal. They shared an unspoken moment of triumph. Isabella kicked a leg out impatiently. Mina walked over and kneeled beside the chair.

‘You can help us set things right. We’ve discovered something important was hidden here in the palace, a long time ago. Something we hope will let us turn things around, back to the way they were.’

‘What thing?’

‘Actually, a person. We’re looking for some sort of hidden rooms, where someone might have lived.’

Isabella leaned on the chair arm and placed her hand under her chin in a decidedly self-conscious thinking pose. Her top leg, still crossed over the other one, bounced up and down slowly. Mina had the sense this was all for show. Isabella knew something. Clearly Jal had the same impression.

‘Come on, Is, I know you. What do you know?’

She clucked her tongue at him. ‘Patience, lover. There are things to weigh up.’

Her foot ticked away endless seconds until finally a smile crept across her face. She sat up.

‘You know I can’t resist the idea of being a hero. Being loved and admired by all.’ She leaned forward and tapped Mina on the arm. ‘So clever of you. I’ve just been weighing up the risks. Some would argue my allegiance is to the palace and all who live in it. Betrayal is a terrible thing, you know. But I will help you.’

She sprung out of the chair, pulling Mina up to stand beside her.

‘Wait here,’ Isabella instructed. ‘I need to fetch a key from Lucien’s father’s room, then I’ll take you to where I think you need to go.’ She flashed Mina a big smile. ‘Jal can come with me—I don’t think I’ll be able to reach the key on my own.’

With a slam of the door she and Jal were gone.

~

Jal followed Isabella into the next room in the Andreini’s suite. With swift movements she seized him by the front of his shirt and pulled him in to her as she backed herself against the wall.

‘I saw the way you looked at her. How long have you been in love with Mina?’

Alarm bells went off in his head. If there was one thing Isabella hated, it was competition.

‘I’m not. I mean, I flirt but …’

‘But you flirt with everyone. I know. But there was something between you, I saw it.’

‘No, Is.’

Abruptly her mood shifted. A smile lit up her face. ‘Whatever you say. I don’t care, obviously. I’m a married woman now. And too busy being a hero.’

She hurried to a bureau identical to the one in the room next door, opened a box, and pulled out a key, which she held up triumphantly.

‘You didn’t need my help to reach that. What were you on about?’

Isabella strode past him to the door, winking as she did. ‘Time alone, lover boy. Time alone.’ One hand on the doorknob, she turned back to Jal, waving in the direction of a small table. ‘Can you fetch that lamp for me? We’re going to need it.’

Jal crossed to the small ceramic oil lamp. As he reached for it, the door behind him slammed.

Always impatient, he thought, and hurried to follow her. But when he twisted the handle, the door held firm.

‘Isabella! What are you doing?’

A giggle was the first response. ‘I really loved you, Jal.’ Isabella’s voice was pitched just loud enough for him to hear. ‘Well, as much as I can love anyone. It hurt me to see you flirting with Mina. I couldn’t bear to see it again, so you can’t come with us. But the good news is, there are certain people who made some very enticing promises if I delivered Mina to them, so consider that favour you owe me delivered.’

Jal rattled the handle hard. ‘But she’s your friend, Isabella!’