Page 23 of The Dark Mirror (The Bone Season #5)

23

IN THE GLOAMING

I fished an old key from under the fountain and led Arcturus on to the streets of Rome, past its golden streetlamps. Once I reached the door I needed, I unlocked it.

When I had asked Ver?a if she could locate a pipe organ in Ponte, she had risen to the challenge. With her general charm and fluency in Italian, she had soon found a place and talked someone into letting me use it for a couple of hours.

I went to the balcony above the door, where the organ stood ready. Arcturus stopped beside me and gazed up at it. Unless he chose to open up, this was all I could do. I owed him this much.

‘The first time I heard you play the organ, it was like you were expressing all the things you couldn’t say,’ I murmured. ‘It’s all right if you don’t want to talk about what happened in France, but I want you to be able to … let it out, somehow. I thought this might help.’

Arcturus considered the instrument. I waited.

‘I had not thought I would be able to play again,’ he said. ‘Would you like to hear anything in particular?’

It took me a moment to realise he was inviting me to stay. To share the music with him.

‘Just you,’ I said.

Arcturus sat on the bench. I watched him get used to the instrument, familiarising himself with the pedals and stops and keys, making small adjustments. I kept my distance, feeling like an intruder. He tried out a few chords, then started to put the organ through its paces.

The music wrapped me like the warmth of a fire after days in the cold. I let myself bathe in it, as I no longer could with any ease in water. Sometimes it took my breath away, that someone who showed so little emotion on his face could weave so much of it into his music.

He played and played for what seemed like hours. When he stopped, the sound trailed away, and the chamber was silent.

‘Thank you,’ I said. ‘It’s a privilege to hear your music.’ I turned to go. ‘I’ll leave you alone now.’

‘You told me once that you like to sing,’ Arcturus said, stopping me. ‘Would you do me the honour of accompanying me, Paige?’

Learning a duet entails time. And patience. Calls for us to move as one . His voice came rushing back to me with the memory of his touch, hot against my skin. I want you to show me where to touch you. I want to know how to make your body sing.

‘I don’t know if I can sing alongside an organ,’ I said.

‘I can use the swell boxes to soften the sound.’

When I was a child, I had sung all the time. My grandfather had called me éinín an cheoil .

And then my teachers at Ancroft had got to me, making me afraid to speak, let alone sing. Even after I had left school and moved to Seven Dials, I hadn’t often been able to practise. I had shared a wall with Jaxon, and he would have given me a clip on the ear for annoying him.

But I loved to sing, even if I rarely did. And I couldn’t refuse this chance to be close to Arcturus.

‘All right.’ I approached, the temptation growing. ‘Did you have a song in mind?’

‘Anything you wish. I will adapt.’

I had to think about it. Now the possibility of singing was there, I hardly knew what to choose.

‘You played a song on your gramophone in Magdalen,’ I eventually said. ‘It’s just a short one, but I’ve always liked it. I heard it when I woke up after Gallows Wood.’

‘I know it well.’ Arcturus nodded to the bench. ‘Do sit, if you wish.’

I perched on the end. This was the closest we had been since he rebuffed me in Venice. This time he let me stay there, my hip barely a handspan from him.

He eased one of the pedals down with his boot, closing the gilded shutters above us, before he glanced at me for approval. When I gave him a nod, he began. The music sounded quieter, with the swell boxes containing it, but it worked for the song.

Arcturus was such a gifted musician, I suddenly felt self-conscious at the thought of accompanying him. He had been honing his ability for two centuries. I tried to remember the techniques of singing – how to breathe, the correct posture – but I knew it was all about to fly out of my head. Before I could lose my nerve, Arcturus had finished the introduction, and I let the song pour out of me.

In the gloaming, oh my darling, when the lights are dim and low

And the quiet shadows, falling, softly come and softly go

The opening had been a little rusty, but Arcturus played with such power that I could only lift my voice to match him, my vocal cords warming at once. His variation of ‘In the Gloaming’ was slower than the one I was used to, but I soon worked out his cadence and settled into it.

I had unintentionally started with an English accent. Back at Ancroft, that was the only way I had ever been allowed to sing, or the Schoolmistress would rebuke me. Now I corrected my course, shaping the words as I pleased.

When the winds are sobbing faintly with a gentle unknown woe

Will you think of me and love me, as you did once, long ago?

Perhaps this had been a poor choice of song. I was already too aware of Arcturus. I kept going, swept along by his music and the exhilaration I found in singing again, after so long. The last time we sat together at an organ, wrapped in the candlelight of Magdalen, he had confessed to hearing me in my memories – murder ballads at the market, parting voyants from their coin – but this was the first time I had shown him my voice in the present.

In the gloaming, oh my darling, think not bitterly of me

Though I passed away in silence, left you lonely, set you free

For my heart was crushed with longing, what had been could never be

A knot was forming in my throat. I still managed to belt out the ending.

It was best to leave you thus, dear, best for you and best for me

It was best to leave you thus, dear, best for you and best for me

Arcturus brought the song to a close. The echoes of his music faded, leaving only the sound of my breath.

‘You have a magnificent voice, Paige.’

I managed a smile. ‘Don’t lay it on too thick, now.’

‘I would not pay you an insincere compliment.’ He regarded me. ‘Why are you so fond of this song?’

‘It’s about doing the right thing for someone you love,’ I said. ‘Even if hurts.’

‘And yet we only hear one side of the story. One might ask how the other lover feels about their separation.’

He was so close to me, and still too far.

‘Well,’ I said quietly, ‘maybe he wasn’t being clear. So she had to guess what he needed.’

The tension was so heavy that I could almost reach out and grasp it. I looked up at his face, the face I had been sure I would never see again. Confronted with the strong cut of his jaw and his golden eyes, I couldn’t deny how much I still wanted him.

And there was a deep ache between my legs that bordered on pain, an ache I recognised from Paris.

And my lips were no longer just my lips, but an invitation, a welcome. An offering.

Arcturus looked at our hands, and then back into my eyes, as if he was scrying for truth in their depths. The spreading chill had disturbed every fine hair on my body, all the way to my nape. I wanted to speak, but this silence felt sacred, rich and pregnant with possibility.

‘Ducos has found you somewhere outside Rome,’ I eventually said. ‘You can stay there until Terebell comes back. Will you promise me you’ll feed?’

‘Will you be coming?’

‘I wasn’t—’ I stopped. ‘Do you want me to?’

He looked away, his eyes flickering.

‘The alysoplasm you are taking is a poison,’ he said. ‘I do not know the long-term effects on humans. If you do not allow yourself a reprieve, it may damage your aura permanently.’

He still hadn’t quite managed to say yes .

‘I need to see Sala first,’ I said. ‘But I’ll bear that in mind.’ I stood. ‘You can use the organ until midnight. Ver?a just asks that you lock up after.’

I held out the key. He took it.

‘Thank you, Paige,’ he said. ‘For this, and for the book.’

All I could do was nod before I left him with the organ.

The next day, I could do nothing but rest. Arcturus filled my thoughts, distracting me from the task ahead. He clearly wanted me to join him in Orvieto, and I sensed it had been difficult for him to admit that one small thing.

A message arrived with the particulars of the meeting with President Sala. At quarter to eleven, I left the Chiostro del Bramante and waited in the right place, my hearing pricked.

When the car pulled up, I slid inside. The driver wore a suit and an earpiece and made no attempt to engage me in conversation, which suited me just fine.

The car drove through a pine forest. At first, I thought we must be approaching Castelporziano, the presidential estate that Arcturus had mentioned, but when the car stopped, it was outside a small and run-down farmhouse in the countryside. When the driver let me out, a man in body armour approached, with another guard not far behind him.

‘Paige Mahoney,’ he said. I nodded. ‘Please follow me.’

He pointed me into the farmhouse. Inside, a woman awaited me, dressed in jeans and muddy boots and a chequered shirt.

Like someone who didn’t want to be recognised as the President of Italy.

Beatrice Sala was a shadow of the bold woman I had seen in the news. She had lost weight since the last time she was photographed, and her face was gaunt.

‘Paige Mahoney,’ she said. ‘It is you.’

‘President Sala,’ I said.

‘I thought you were voyant. A dreamwalker.’ The lines on her brow deepened. ‘I see no aura.’

‘I’m concealing it with a drug. I need to stay under the radar.’

‘I have been trying to do the same,’ she said. ‘I understand Domino sent you to track me down.’

‘Yes.’ I stepped towards her. ‘You’re voyant.’

‘A secret unknown to most of my staff,’ Sala said, ‘though I meant for them to know it soon, once we unveiled the Council of Kassandra. A dream that grows fainter with each passing day.’ She slid her broad hands into her pockets. ‘You requested my attention. I have risked a great deal by returning, so I hope you have something important to say.’

‘I do,’ I said. ‘I know why you left, and I think I can help you.’

‘I am listening.’

‘Domino was informed of a Scion military plan called Operation Ventriloquist, which aims to bring countries down from the inside. It’s the reason Norway fell,’ I said. ‘They believe Italy is the next target, and that’s why you gave Capri and Ischia to Scion. Were you threatened by a man with a red aura – a man called David Fitton, or Cadoc Fitzours?’

‘How do you know this?’

‘I heard it from the prisoner Scion left on Capri.’

‘You went there?’

‘Yes, to free him. He told me more about Operation Ventriloquist.’

‘You may have doomed us. Once I had evacuated those islands, no one was to set foot on them. Scion wanted to conduct its affairs there in secret.’

‘I wasn’t detected. The only way they’ll find out is if they send people down to the Grotta Azzurra,’ I said. ‘Did Fitzours come to see you?’

‘Yes,’ Sala said. ‘I was in a meeting with the Prime Minister when my aide, Valentina Chen, walked into the room. She spoke to us, but she was not herself. In the calmest manner, she told us she was Cadoc Fitzours, a dreamwalker. Through her, he explained what he had done to Umberto, and to Helen Githmark in Norway. Lorenzo didn’t believe a word, so Fitzours made Valentina stab herself. I could not believe what I was seeing.’

I swallowed.

‘He claimed he could do this to anyone. That none of us had free will any longer,’ she said. ‘He told us that he could enter our dreamscapes, see through our eyes, at any time. He ordered us to sign away the islands on the spot, under a new treaty between Italy and Scion, or he would leave Valentina to bleed out and frame us for her murder. The treaty promised that Italy would join Scion. It legitimises any future invasion.’

When Scion moved against Italy, nobody would come to punish it. Sala would appear to be fully complicit.

‘Until then, the islands were a sign of our commitment, to lie untouched in the sea,’ she said. ‘Fitzours possessed Lorenzo and dropped the treaty from a window. Someone below took it away.’

Cade really had thought of everything.

‘I had learned a little about dreamwalkers from Jaxon,’ Sala said, ‘so I knew Fitzours needed to be within a certain range of a person to possess them. I decided to go into hiding at once, so I could not be forced to act against my will again. Lorenzo agreed that he would remain behind, to uphold the impression of normality, but I fear for him.’

‘Is Fitzours watching him?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I haven’t dared to speak to anyone. I’ve been trying to formulate a plan, but all I have been able to do is stay away. But there is only so long I can hide, and my powers are limited.’ Her mouth thinned. ‘The Roman Forum was to be our embassy, the first of many. If Rome falls, so do all of those decades of work for voyants. All of the time and money we have poured into the Forum Project will be for nothing. But what Fitzours can do – I have never seen the likes of it. How can anyone fight such a power?’

‘Fitzours is just one person. He can’t be everywhere at once.’

‘And you know this because you are a dreamwalker.’ Sala drew a deep breath. ‘After what I saw from Fitzours, I was in two minds about meeting you, but you may understand the threat better than anyone. That’s why I agreed to see you, against my better instincts.’

‘I want to stop him,’ I said. ‘But I need to know where he is.’

‘Probably abroad,’ she said. ‘He told us that if we behaved, we would be allowed to continue running the country until he decided to come back for us, to force us to announce the conversion. Thanks to this Operation Ventriloquist, we are already little more than a dummy government. Lorenzo is petrified. Fitzours told him he would force him to kill his family if he resisted. It is a power no one should have.’

I had once told a man I would kill his children, but it had been a bluff. Cade was clearly willing to make good on his threats. I could see why Sala might find my gift disturbing.

‘Linda Groven was made into a Grand Inquisitor. I am unnatural, so I will be executed,’ Sala said. ‘I seem to have two choices. Either I flee into exile, or try to resist this attack on our country. But even as head of the armed forces, I do not know how to fight this man.’

I was already out of my depth. Despite my confidence, I had no business advising this woman.

‘President Sala,’ I finally said, ‘I know this situation is terrifying, but I believe Fitzours is trying to intimidate you and the Prime Minister into giving up without a fight. Scion has its hands full with the Iberian Peninsula. They don’t want to waste time and resources on more drawn-out invasions; not while the anchorisation is ongoing. That’s why they’re using this tactic to scoop up a few more countries in quick succession. They don’t know who launched the airstrikes. They’re nervous, so they’re taking a shortcut. That has risks.’

‘You are a young criminal with no military training,’ Sala said. ‘Why should I listen to you?’

‘I’m not saying you should ask me for tips on how to win a battle,’ I said, ‘but I know about dreamwalking. I can make things difficult for Fitzours.’

‘I did not stay away from Rome just to protect my own integrity. I also feared he could be in my head, like a silent observer. He told me so.’ Her throat bobbed. ‘I thought that if I spoke to Domino, or to the Council of Kassandra, he would be able to hear it.’

‘No. Most people black out for the time they’re possessed. You’d know if he was in your dreamscape.’

Sala absorbed this.

‘If we stand firm,’ she said, ‘there is a possibility that Scion will use military force. You are right that the Second Inquisitorial Division is preoccupied, but even if they don’t have the numbers for a ground invasion, they can launch missiles from France and Greece. If we resist, Scion could slaughter many Italians, but if I comply, I condemn all the voyants in this country – my fellow voyants – to death and misery. It is an impossible choice.’

So far, she hadn’t mentioned the Rephs. I would do the same. If Carter was a strong influence on her, she could mistrust my association with the Ranthen.

‘I can’t make this decision for you,’ I said, ‘but I wanted you to know you have a dreamwalker on your side. If Cade invades your body, I can get him out. I can do the same for your ministers.’

‘Are you offering to act as a bodyguard?’

‘If necessary. Talk to whoever you need to consult,’ I said. ‘If you need me, I’ll be here.’

‘You are not planning to leave Italy?’

‘Not while Cade is alive. I want a clear shot at him.’

Sala looked me over. I wondered if she could smell my lack of confidence.

‘Fitzours said he would come back,’ she said. ‘He would not specify a date, presumably to stop us hatching any plans. But we could lure him.’ I could see the gears of her mind turning. ‘If we returned the residents of Capri and Ischia to their homes, it would send a message of defiance, and draw him back to Italy. But if you miss this shot, he could do untold damage.’

‘Not quite as much as he pretends. Our gift is very rare. I think he’s relying on ignorance to pull this off, trying to give the impression that he’s more powerful than he is, but even dreamwalkers have limits. He can’t possess multiple people at once. He can’t hear your thoughts or see your memories. When he inhabits someone, his body is left in a vulnerable state. If we know he’s got his claws in someone, I can dislodge him.’

‘Can I keep him out of my head myself?’

‘The only fail-safe way is to become unreadable. I doubt you want to do that,’ I said. She grimaced. ‘Even I’m not immune to his possessions. But I stand a better chance than most.’

Sala thought for a long time.

‘I was losing hope,’ she said. ‘Now I feel a fool. I see that he was trying to terrify us with his best performance. But no voyant is without a weakness.’

‘You didn’t know what you were dealing with,’ I said. ‘Now you do.’

‘Yes.’ She lapsed back into silence. ‘If I am to do this, it would be useful if I could return to Rome – to speak to the Minister of Defence, root out any incriminated politicians and confer with the Council of Kassandra. But I fear that Fitzours could be waiting for me.’

‘I can give you some protection.’ I took a vial of alysoplasm from my jacket. ‘This will suppress your gift and your sixth sense, but you’ll be undetectable in the ?ther. A sip will last about a day. You should also get as much sleep as you can, to build up your defences. And remember, he can’t see your memories. Or through your eyes, if you’re still seeing.’

Sala slowly accepted the vial.

‘Since you are confident he can’t eavesdrop,’ she said, ‘I will reinstate contact with Domino tonight. It will take me a few days to steady the government as best I can, and to initiate the resettlement of Capri and Ischia.’

I nodded. By now, the cold spots on Capri should have closed.

‘Should I decide to resist Operation Ventriloquist, I will let you know a time and date for us to plan our strategy,’ Sala said. ‘Until then, you should stay away, since you will be our best asset against Fitzours. The resistance will be riding on your shoulders, Underqueen.’

‘I’m used to that.’ I gave her a nod. ‘Thank you for agreeing to see me, President Sala. From one voyant to another, I hope you make the right choice.’

Sala didn’t reply, but she did slot the alysoplasm into her coat. I let her bodyguards escort me back to the car. As I left the President of Italy in the dark, I finally sent a reply to Ducos.

Assignment complete. And I’ll go to Orvieto.