Martin Millar - Lonely Werewolf Girl (45 page)

Jay had noticed that Moonglow was pre-occupied. It was harming
their relationship, just to add to her problems. It was a relief to
arrive in college. The cuneiform script was baffling enough to drive
every-thing else from her mind. Daniel wasn't in college till the
afternoon so Moonglow ate lunch on her own in the canteen, sitting at a
table with a book propped in front of her. She was engrossed with her
reading and didn't notice when someone sat down at her table.

"You study even when you're eating?"

Moonglow looked up abruptly, recognising the Scottish accent.
It was Markus.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to thank you," said Markus, in his soft voice.

Markus was now clean, well dressed, his wounds healed. His
chestnut hair hung over his brow, soft and thick. There were slight
shadows under his eyes but otherwise he looked almost as good as he had
before, apart from the sadness of his expression. They looked in
silence at each other for a little while.

"My girlfriend was killed," said Markus, suddenly.

Moonglow didn't know how to reply.

"You know of our family problems?" said Markus.

Moonglow nodded.

"She got caught in the middle. I think we would have been
married one day."

Markus tried to say more, but the words died on his lips. A
tear formed in the corner of one eye. Moonglow was overwhelmed with
compassion. She stretched out her hand and put it over Markus's hand to
comfort him. Markus looked hopeless, and hung his head.

"Are you in danger?" asked Moonglow.

"My friends moved me to a safe house. But I can't bear to go
back there. All I do is sit and think of Talixia."

People at nearby tables were watching but Moonglow didn't
notice them. She didn't notice anything except Markus.

"Should 1 take you there?" she asked.

Markus didn't reply. He just sat there looking miserable.
Moonglow rose, took Markus by the hand, and led him from the canteen.
Alicia, entering at that moment, had only the briefest of glimpses of
Moonglow as she left, but even so she couldn't help noticing that her
friend was leaving the cafeteria hand in hand with one of the most
beautiful men she'd ever seen.

"Lucky Moonglow," she said to her companions. "Do you think
Jay knows about this?"

Outside the college Moonglow waved down a taxi and told the
driver to take them south, away from the centre of the city, to
Markus's safe house.

121

Kalix wrote in her journal. She was making a list of all the
reasons she was unhappy. She still felt upset about her visit to the
twins. It seemed to Kalix that they had deliberately excluded her from
their conversation. This sort of small incident was just the sort of
thing to have a ruinous effect on Kalix's fragile confidence.

Gawain is never coming back
, she wrote,
in her laborious handwriting, still struggling over every word.
And
Sarapen will kill me
. It was another painful reminder of how
badly Kalix had messed everything up. Her lover was gone, her brothers
wanted to kill her and her cousins wouldn't talk to her. She wrote
again.
Moonglow hates me because I kissed Daniel
.
Any moment Kalix was expecting Moonglow to tell her to leave. When that
happened, Kalix would go. It wasn't comfortable to stay here anyway.
Even Daniel was acting strangely since they'd kissed.

Kalix took her knife and made a small cut on the inside of her
thigh, and watched it bleed. It made her feel a little better. She
drank some laudanum and crawled into her bed, covering her head with
her quilt. The laudanum lulled her to sleep but she slept uneasily,
with bad dreams of her childhood. Her father was chasing her through
the castle and she couldn't get away. No matter how fast she ran he was
always getting closer. She fled round a corner and the way was blocked,
though there should have been a door. Kalix moaned in her sleep. This
was a recurrent dream, where she was being pursued through the
corridors of Castle MacRinnalch and suddenly the familiar passageways
would change and she'd find herself trapped. She woke, dripping with
sweat, and looked round the room fearfully, thinking that the Thane was
there.

Kalix shuddered, and dragged herself into a sitting position,
trying now not to sleep, but the laudanum had her in its grip and she
couldn't keep her eyes open. The minute she nodded off she plunged into
a terrifying dream in which she was with Gawain in the forest but the
moon overhead was breaking into pieces and raining down on their heads,
crashing Gawain.

Kalix woke again with a start and this time threw herself from
her bed. She stumbled into the wooden chair that was her only piece of
furniture and the painful blow on her shin brought her back to reality.
She shivered. Her whole body was damp from sweat and there was blood
congealing on her thigh. She had the frightening impression that the
room was smaller than it used to be. Kalix backed into a corner,
trembling with fear. She could feel the anxiety overwhelming her. She
struggled to breathe as the walls began to move towards her. Kalix
burst into tears and backed into a corner then slid down the wall,
ending up curled up on the floor, her hands over her head, shivering,
and crying, and quite certain that this was the time when she was
finally going to go insane.

122

When Thrix returned from her meeting, Malveria was sitting in
her office reading Harpers and Queen. The Enchantress put down her
briefcase and sighed.

"Is there absolutely nothing for you to do in your own realm?
You know, queen stuff?"

"Very little. The crushing of all enemies was a terrible
mistake. I was thinking of re-decorating the throne room. Perhaps Louis
XV?"

"An excellent idea," said Thrix. "Let me introduce you to some
interior designers. You could visit them now."

Malveria looked pained.

"Dearest Enchantress, are you trying to make me go away?"

"I'm not telling you any more about my night with Gawain."

"Really, Enchantress. Do you think that is why I've returned?
I have not such a great interest in the affair. Was it entertaining?"

"Malveria, I'm really very busy. Yes it was quite
entertaining, what I remember of it. But if you want me to come up with
a range of outfits for Livia's birthday party, you must let me get to
work."

"Aha. So you admit it was entertaining. One day you must tell
me all. Although I have very little interest, I assure you. But it is
not why I have returned. More important matters have come to my
attention. Why did you not tell me you were defeated by a spell outside
the headquarters of the vile Zatek?"

The Enchantress looked surprised, then deflated. She sat down
heavily at her desk.

"Because I was embarrassed, that's why. I got flung across the
road like a novice. I wasn't in a fit state to be working magic. I was
hoping you wouldn't hear about it."

The Fire Queen looked concerned. This was a serious matter.

"A man of Zatek's limited capabilities should not have been
able to harm you, dearest Thrix, no matter what state you were in. My
agents report that more powerful sorcery has been transported from the
Empress Asaratanti's realm into this one by Merchant MacDoig.
Undoubtedly Princess Kabachetka has given this sorcery to Zatek, so
we're now faced with a far more dangerous opponent than we anticipated.
He may be able to employ spells even more potent than the
Seeing
of Asiex
."

"Why would Princess Kabachetka do that for Zatek?"

"The disgusting Princess will stop at nothing to outshine me
in terms of fabulous clothing. Already she's been spreading a rumour
that I wore - "

The Fire Queen stopped, an expression of fury on her face.

"I cannot repeat what she said. The very idea that I would
wear shoulder pads almost fifteen years after they were last
fashionable is too hurtful for words. Were any of my subjects to repeat
such a rumour I would have them executed."

The Fire Queen began to stride round the room, muttering
threats, curses and insults.

"I wouldn't have thought the Empress would be very pleased to
learn her daughter has been peddling her secrets to Zatek," said Thrix.

"She would not. But Kabachetka is a desperate woman. Faced
with the unmatchable Queen Malveria, she has thrown caution to the sea."

"So we have a problem," said Thrix.

"Indeed we do," agreed Malveria. "If Zatek is armed with the
Gilded
A saratanti Protection Spell
for instance, it will be very
difficult to attack him. And if he's using the Empress's own
Spell
of Wondrous Spying
, it will be almost impossible to prevent
him from seeing everything that goes on in this building. I can negate
the effects of these sorceries in my own realm, Enchantress, but in
this world it is differ-ent. I am not as strong. Even our combined
power may not be enough to block all espionage."

Malveria smoothed a tiny crease on her new jacket. She glanced
at herself in the mirror and smiled. Another fine outfit.

"So I suppose we must go to war," continued the Fire Queen.

"What?"

"We should attack Zatek. He must not know in advance what
clothes I am to wear to Livia's celebration. I will bring forty
warriors, and start preparing the
Deadly Wall Breaching Spell
."

"That's a tempting idea, Malveria. I'd like to see Zatek's
fashion house disappear off the face of the earth. But an operation
like that would take a lot of planning and I don't have much time to
spare."

"But what else can we do?"

"The Pendant of Tamol can hide anything."

The Fire Queen considered this for a few moments.

"It is true. The Pendant would hide all things from Zatek. It
is the most powerful means of concealment known to work in your world.
No sorcery can penetrate its field, not even the Empress's
Spell
of Wondrous Spying
. But consider, Enchantress. If it is
removed from Kalix, she will be found and killed."

Malveria shrugged her elegant shoulders.

"Still, our need is greater. I will get it back."

"I wasn't actually thinking of taking it back," said Thrix.
"My mother would never let me hear the end of it. I have a better idea."

123

Kalix was whimpering on the floor when the door burst
open and a strange girl walked in.

"I thought I sensed a werewolf in here," she said.

Kalix looked up. The girl was around seventeen, slender,
boyish and pretty, with brown skin, her hair cut short and spiky,
bleached almost white. Bleached rather badly, so that the dark roots
showed quite clearly. She was rather oddly dressed, with a shiny silver
corset that looked expensive, and a pair of ragged army trousers that
looked like they had been through a series of bad accidents.

"Hi! I'm Vex," said the girl, smiling broadly, apparently not
noticing that Kalix was curled up in a ball, sweating and trembling.

Kalix scrambled to her feet. All of a sudden she felt
embarrassed to be in such a poor state in front of a stranger.

"You're so skinny!" cried Agrivex. "It's fabulous! I'd just
die to be that skinny!"

Kalix stared at her in surprise. She could sense that she was
a Hiyasta, just as the girl could identify her as a werewolf. What was
another Hiyasta doing here?

Daniel entered the room.

"Sorry Kalix," he said. "She just ran up the stairs ahead of
me."

"You have such fantastic hair," enthused Vex. "It's so long.
Is it sorcery? Or is it just a werewolf thing?"

She turned to Daniel.

"Doesn't she have fabulous hair? Have you ever seen anything
like it? Isn't it wonderful?"

Daniel nodded dubiously. He could see that Kalix was not in
the greatest of states and was worried about their unannounced
intrusion. Agrivex meanwhile looked round her with interest.

"This is a small room. Is this where you live? Did your mother
cut off your allowance? Aunt Malvie gives me practically nothing you
know, it's a scandal, really."

Vex stopped, and looked concerned, remembering that she wasn't
meant to mention Malveria. Agrivex's mission to seduce Daniel was
supposed to be a secret.

"Who are you?" asked Kalix.

"Just an exchange student who's come home with Daniel. We're
going to sleep together."

Daniel blushed as she said this. Vex carried on brightly.

"It's so cool to meet a werewolf especially one who's so
skinny. Not that I'm fat, do you think I'm fat? How do you get your
hair so long and thick? It's just fabulous. You're so pretty!"

Without her even noticing it, Kalix's terrible anxiety attack
was fading. Under the relentless onslaught of Vex's compliments, her
anxiety just seemed to melt away.

"Can we be friends?" said Vex. "I don't like anyone in my
realm much, they're all so annoying. Do you like this nail varnish?"

"One moment," said Daniel. "What do you mean your realm? You
said you were from India."

Vex looked momentarily confused. Malveria had once more sent
her to ensnare Daniel, and she was not meant to let it be known that
she was anything other than a normal girl.

"Forget I mentioned it," she said, and grinned.

"How come you can recognise a werewolf?"

Vex frowned.

"What is this, an interrogation? Am I not young, beautiful and
about to sleep with you? Is this the time to be asking hundreds of
questions?"

"We met at a gig at college," said Daniel, by way of
explanation to Kalix. "Moonglow didn't show up."

"Malveria never mentioned you lived with a werewolf," said
Vex. She paused. "Forget I said that."

"Malveria? Are you a Hiyasta?" demanded Daniel.

"Absolutely not! What a ridiculous idea. Ha ha ha. I'm just
your average - "

" - complete imbecile," came a familiar voice. They looked
round to find Malveria and Thrix standing in the doorway. The Fire
Queen was frowning.