London Steam

Part 1: The Shadows of Kenfig-4

“Fitzhugh!”

Dex ignored the cry. He was a step away from the last carriage ride of his life as a free man, and he was not going to stop and make chat with anyone from the club. He’d have to sell the carriage first thing in the morning. How the hell had things gotten so far out of control? He was ruined. Utterly—

“Fitzhugh!” A warm hand landed firmly on his shoulder. Dex shook it off.

“Doctor.” Dex snapped. “That’s my title and you can address me as such.”

“Doctor Fitzhugh, then,” Maitland said. He held his hands in a neutral position, palms out and just slightly to his sides. “I’m sorry…well, whatever it is. I’m sorry. I’d like a moment to talk to you, if you don’t mind?” The horses shied nervously, flicking their docked tails and stamping shod hooves uncomfortably. Dex barely spared them a thought as his driver hopped from the bench to soothe them.

“You’ve bankrupted me, as much as I’ve done it to myself,” Dex said, not restraining the bitterness in his voice. “I’ll pay it, you’ve need not worry on that account. I’m a man of my word. But forgive me, I do not in the slightest ever wish to look upon your face again.”

“I know you are a man of honor, Doctor. It is precisely for this reason that I…well, I have not precisely acted with honor, but if you will allow me to explain, I believe we can come to some arrangements that will not ruin you, and will, hopefully, allow me to return to some semblance of honor. Please. Might I have a moment of your time? Just ride with me. If I’ve not said anything you wish to hear, I’ll leave you at your home and we’ll speak of this no longer, and you can pay your debt whenever you can.”

Dex inhaled sharply, pulling the oil and coal stink of London deep into his chest. Of course he was going to have to listen to whatever this ninny wanted. Of course he was. There was no choice, none at all. But damned, damned, if he was going to be polite. “Lead on then, my lord,” Dex bowed sarcastically. He slapped his hands together sharply to dismiss his own coach.

“Seth,” Maitland said. “My name is Seth.” Maitland led him over to one of the Steamies, a coal-run horseless carriage. The driver lowered his goggles as Maitland threw open the door to the velvet-lined interior. Another coachman hopped into the back. It was his job to keep the coal loaded, to watch the water temperature, and other maintenance work as necessary.

“Forgive me, my lord, but I do not wish to forget for one moment,” Dex said, climbing into the Steamie, “that we are not friends.”

“Oh, I think we will be,” Maitland said. “Or we will be close enough for it to matter not in the slightest.”

Dex had never been in one of the Steamies. They were still a relatively new innovation. Only the very wealthy had managed to purchase one; the wait time for a working unit was at least six months. He wished, very much, not to be impressed, but he still couldn’t avoid a slight sigh of envy.

“Do you like it? I’m quite fond. The blacksmith who crafted it for me is a genius.” The young lord opened a small box under the seat. “Ale?”

Without waiting for an affirmative, Maitland handed Dex a brown bottle, the cap gemmed with frost. “All the comforts of home, and able to travel almost ninety miles in a single afternoon. With no horses to feed. Of course, when it breaks down, it’s not such a simple matter.” Maitland chuckled nervously, eying Dex over the mouth of his bottle before taking a long swallow.

“Can we skip the getting to know you? What is it you want, my lord?” Dex settled himself into the bench, ignoring the proffered drink.

“All right,” Maitland said. He kicked his long legs up onto Dex’s bench, leaving the doctor sharing the seat with a finely crafted pair of boots, dusty from London’s street. “I’d hoped to make this somewhat painless, but as you wish.”

“There is no way I could possibly be at ease—”

“I meant myself.” Maitland snapped, his voice ice-cold. “Now shut up and listen, if that’s what you wish, before I lose my nerve.”

Dex blinked, astonished, but gestured with one hand. “Continue.”

“I need your expertise, Doctor, and I’ve nowhere else to turn that is reputed to be a trustworthy source. There is no one else with your brilliance, your experience, your knowledge. And that is as implicitly honest as you are said to be.” Maitland couldn’t seem to meet Dex’s gaze, instead he kept his chin firmly pointed at the thin, grease-smeared portals of the Steamie. If he was actually seeing the passing roads, the houses, carriages, the few other Steamies, Dex couldn’t tell. He was fascinated by the clench of Maitland’s jaw, the tense lines around the eyes, the rapid flutter of lashes almost obscenely long for a man.

In many ways, Dex could have eased the conversation, made some sort of comforting noise, or given some support. He did not. He kept his gaze level and his lips pressed firmly together.

“In all your time…in your travels and studies…“ Maitland stammered, “is there any hope…any sign…damn it. Are they lost to humanity in entirety? Forever outcast, to be hunted down? Stamped out like some vile pestilence?”

Dex sighed. “What are you talking about, Lord Maitland?” He turned the frigid bottle in his hands, wetting the leather gloves.

“The gwren. Is there any hope at all?”

“For what?”

“For your silence, your assistance…I am willing to forgive your debt to me, and to pay you handsomely in addition. I don’t know who else to ask, Doctor Fitzhugh, and for that I’m terribly sorry. I would not have contributed to this situation for anything else.” Maitland risked a sidelong glance.

Dex raised one eyebrow, reluctantly giving the young lord his full attention. He hadn’t wished to be intrigued, hadn’t thought it in him to feel sympathy for this man, but Seth drew him in against his will.

“And the situation is?”

“I’m gwr. Infected, this half year.”

A long silence filled the Steamie, the sort that stings and prickles like a handful of sand thrown into the wind.

“There. We both have the means to ruin the other, you more so than I. I place myself entirely in your hands, Doctor. Please. I beg you. Help me.”