Sterling (13 page)

“My mother, Verbian. Her news. Pull yourself together, man,” Erich spat.

“She had to pay Galatien nearly half your inheritance, but yes. Your family is back in His Majesty’s good graces.” Verbian continued to glare at our interlaced hands.

Erich’s arm tightened around me.

The world lurched violently. One moment, I sat perched on Erich’s lap, the next, I fell to the floor and everything shook and rattled. Furniture tumbled around me. A legion of shattering wine glasses echoed through the club. Men shouted. Women screamed. Candles guttered. Something hard hit my head.

A deep, dark blackness saturated everything.

“
A
matos
!” Verbian’s voice called through the darkness. “What the—”

Ungodly noises drowned the rest of his words. It sounded as if the entire world had crumbled, as though the ground had been sundered from the sky by the gods. Roaring, cracking, shrieking. Even during the magical attack at Costas Galatien’s Marriage Brokering there hadn’t been such terrible sounds. The human screams were the worst.

As suddenly as the shaking had begun, it stilled, though the darkness remained. People called in voices pitched with terror. Behind me a woman sobbed. I felt hollow, as though a vampyre had sucked my blood and left me half-alive. My head throbbed.

“It’s not working!” Distress laced Verbian’s voice. “Where is it?” Somehow he and I had landed beside each other. I had no idea what he meant, but I could just make out the lines of his face above me.

“Sera!” Erich’s voice rang out not far away.

“I’m here.” I reached into the darkness. Erich’s fingers wrapped around my wrists, but no sparks shot up my arms. I was so surprised I pulled away.

“Are you all right?” he asked, groping to bring me closer.

“I hit my head.”

“Show me.”

I guided his hands—still no sparks—to where it hurt. “Gods, Sera, you’re bleeding.” He probed my head, running his fingers across the wound. When he had touched my cut from his rapier, they had closed, but this time nothing happened. No healing power infused my skin. “It’s not working,” he said. “Listen, I need you to stay awake, do you hear me? Stay awake with me. Promise you’ll stay with me.”

“Yes,” I said faintly. “I’ll stay with you.”

“Verbian?” Erich said. “Can you please cast us a light? Sera’s head needs immediate attention. I can’t see what I’m doing.”

“It’s not working,” the mage said again. “I’m trying, but I can’t feel the aetherlight. It’s gone.” His voice thrummed with tension. “Erich, do
you
feel it?”

Erich only pulled me to his side. Frightened conversations flared around us. I ignored everything but the contact of Erich’s hand on my wrist.

“Stay right where you are,” he told me. I almost cried when he let me go. I had not been this afraid even when I’d found Papa murdered in Engashta. At least then I’d known what had happened, had been able to reason my way through the terror. This had no explanation. The world might explode again at any moment.

Sudden light illuminated Erich’s sculpted cheeks. He’d found a candle.

“Let me see your head.” He examined the painful area behind my right ear. “We have to get you home. I’ll get Verbian. He’s having some kind of problem.”

I followed Erich’s candle back to our table, which was tilted on its side. Commotion flurried around us; more candles blazed into light, but I couldn’t focus.

Glass crunched beneath my slippers. Verbian swept his arms wildly, like a madman. It took me a moment to understand he was attempting to do magic, unsuccessfully.

Erich spoke to him in a soothing tone, as if to quiet a skittish animal. Who knew Erich Talata could be such a rock of reassurance under stressful circumstances?

Finally the mage gave up on his magic, and the three of us wove through the chaos of the club and out onto the street. The scene there was no better. People ran in all directions. Runaway horses and carriages tore down the cobblestones. Several buildings had collapsed, in part or in full. The mageglass section of the theatre’s façade had shattered. All the streetlamps had expired, so only moonlight lit the tumult. Despite the commotion, the world seemed strangely quiet and … lacking.

“We’ll go on foot,” Erich decided, surveying the madness as corseted girls from the theatre wailed and screamed on the steps.

“Only the mage-built pieces fell,” Verbian said, looking down the main street as though he’d never seen it before. “Nothing else.”

Erich turned. “What do you mean?”

Verbian pointed at one of the finer houses where an unnaturally tall and narrow turret had crumbled, leaving only metal struts. “One of the Rarmont mages built that tower fifty years ago. Only the mageglass parts have fallen. And I can’t do any magic. The spells won’t work. Something’s gone wrong with magic. Can’t you feel it?”

Verbian’s words echoed ominously through the dark night. Erich scowled. “Put your foot in it, Verbian,” he snapped as we walked away from the town center.

No part of Erich’s house was mage-built; it stood whole and undamaged when we arrived. The servants—Scelpts, Orgin, Cortis, and the two new maids—huddled in the front salon.

“Sera,” Scelpts exclaimed when she saw me. “My gods! What happened to you?” She lifted my arms out to the sides, staring at my dress. Only then did I see that my right shoulder and sleeve were covered in blood.

“I hit my head,” I murmured.

“That was not a natural quake,” Verbian announced. “It had magic behind it.”

“Was it an attack? With some magical weapon?” Erich asked. “Would Costas attack Avani? That doesn’t make any sense.”

No one answered him. He turned to me. “Let me take you upstairs, Sera.” He supported me as my legs grew weaker and weaker. Still I felt no sparks as he touched me. He brought me to his own room. I didn’t resist; my head felt too light.

“Lie down.” Erich guided me to bed. “I’m sending for the doctor.” He met my gaze, and I saw an unsettling emotion in his: fear.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Erich took up all the space in front me. “You care for me, don’t you Sera?”

I answered without thought. “Of course.” I remembered how much I’d hoped he could learn to care for me when we were betrothed.

“You wouldn’t leave me? You wouldn’t run away? No matter what you heard?”

“No,” I slurred, but before I could even think what I was saying, blackness closed over me.

* * *

I
woke
with my head so tender I didn’t want to move it. I sighed and snugged deeper into the pillows and down blanket.

“Are you awake?” That had to be Erich’s voice, full of strain and concern.

“Barely.”

“How are you feeling?” He sat on the edge of the bed, taking hold of my chin and turning my face towards his.

Something had changed. His touch brought no sparking heat; his eyes were hard and fierce. My ribcage clamped down, restricting my breath. “What’s wrong?”

“I sent for a mundane doctor. He had to put stitches in your head. None of the mages in Avani can work; there’s something wrong with magic,” Erich explained. “The doctor insisted that we wash you clean of all cosmetics before he worked on you.”

I choked on my breath. My right hand flew up to cover my right cheek and neck.

“Sterling, why didn’t you tell me?”

He expected an answer, but my horror prevented speech.

Erich smoothed his hand down my neck and rested it in the middle of my chest. “Breathe, Sterling.” A smile played on his mouth, but I couldn’t fathom what it meant. Was he pleased to find me because it meant he could turn me over to his mother as a bargaining chip? Or to ingratiate himself with Costas Galatien?

I wriggled upright, pulling the bedclothes with me.

“I’m glad you came here, Sterling,” Erich said. “Though I don’t know how you found my place. I’d never have sent Alira here if I’d known you’d come. You should have told Orgin who you were.”

I opened my eyes. When I looked at Erich, the world stopped spinning. “It was all a mistake.” My right hand couldn’t help itself; it crept up again to cover my mark.

“A mistake?” Erich peeled my hand off my face, lacing his fingers through mine. My head jerked so my left side presented.

“I didn’t know this was your house,” I muttered.

“You didn’t? Then why are you here?”

“What will you do with me?”

“What do you mean, what will I do with you?” He asked the question as though he didn’t understand the power he had over me.

“Will you turn me over to your mother or Costas Galatien?”

“Sterling.” Erich tried to wrap an arm around me. I scooted to the corner of the bed and huddled against the wall. He recoiled as if my retreat had burned him.

A dark expression shadowed his face. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, Sterling. But I think eventually you
should
turn yourself over to Costas. It will be the only way to reclaim your rightful place as Head of House Ricknagel. We’ll figure out the best plan.”

“Who else saw me?” I thought of Verbian, who might report me to Tirienne Talata.

“Only Scelpts and the doctor.”

“Did he recognize me?” My free hand inched up my face, palm to cheek.

Erich looked puzzled. “I don’t think so. Why would he?”

“My mark!”

“Few people have actually seen you, Sterling. I never had until I saw you in Engashta. I had no idea what you looked like. I don’t think you need to worry.”

“But—”

“Let me send for your breakfast.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Erich ignored me and rang the bell. Scelpts dashed in, almost as if she’d been waiting in the hall.

She glanced at Erich as she cupped the marred right side of my face.

I froze.

“How are you, dearie? Does your head pain you?”

“A little. But it’s not too bad.”

She patted my cheek. “Don’t you worry, Sera.” I couldn’t gather her meaning. Perhaps she thought I’d be thrown from the house because of my appalling face?

“She needs something to eat,” Erich said from the middle of the room.

“Of course. I’ll be right up with a tray, my lord.” Scelpts scurried out beneath Erich’s baleful glare.

“She doesn’t like me,” he said after Scelpts had departed. “But you seem to have her wrapped around your little finger.”

“We are kind to each other because we worked together.” I threw aside the covers to rise. Shock halted me when I saw my bare thighs. I yelped. I was
naked
, without even underthings!

I dove under the covers. Dear gods, had the doctor seen me thus? And Scelpts? I shoved my face into the pillows.

“Are you all right?” Erich leaned over me.

No, I was angry. How could he have let them remove all my clothing? It wasn’t proper. He had sisters. He ought to know these things.

“Where are my clothes?” I bit out.

“I took them off last night.”

“
You
took them off? Did—”

“I wanted to see your body, to check for other injuries.”

My poor face had been on fire forever. What a horrible mess. “I need something to wear now.”

“Stay in bed. The doctor said you must rest for the next day or two. Head injuries can be delicate.”

He grinned. I wanted to throw a pillow at him. “I suppose,” I snapped, “that if I try to get up you’ll only tie me here anyway.”

“Would you like that?” Erich slid over me with the grace of a fencer. He put one hand on either side of my body, pressing the coverlet around me. “You can stay in my bed as long as you like, Sterling.”

His eyes, inches from mine, caught me. I completely forgot to be ashamed of my face. He wasn’t looking at my mark; he gazed into my eyes the way I looked into the Emerald Ophira: dreamily, deeply. His lips brushed mine. Then his tongue darted out and caressed my bottom lip.

I froze in shock. I’d never understand Erich Talata. Here I sat, a disaster in his bed, and he was flirting
with me.
He couldn’t mean it.

A knock sounded on the door. Erich retreated to a decent distance and called, “Enter.”

With the unfailing instinct of a good servant, Scelpts perceived the tension in the room and departed quickly. The tray across my lap would force Erich to keep his distance. I snatched the cup of tea. “Don’t play games with me, Erich Talata. I am not in the mood for your mockery.” I couldn’t believe I’d had the guts to call his bluff, but I congratulated myself for doing it. At least he wouldn’t think me a starstruck girl madly in love with him.

Erich strode to the door. “I’m not playing any game, Sterling. Rest now,” he said as he departed.

My conversation with Erich had clarified exactly nothing about how I should proceed. Erich had suggested I present myself to Costas Galatien, but the very thought made my stomach turn.

When Erich didn’t return after several hours, I became frightened. What if he’d been lying to me? What if, as I lolled about in his bed, he’d had Verbian aether-send to Costas Galatien’s mages? Dragonnaires could be racing across the countryside to Avani to capture me.

Understanding finally dawned; he thought if he seduced me well enough, he could easily keep me here. He thought I’d be so flattered by his attentions that I would not think to escape.

I threw off the bedclothes and dashed behind Erich’s dressing screen, where I found my clothing from the night before. I donned it hastily and palmed the Emerald Ophira, which was still in the dress pocket. I peered into its depths, but the faint glow was gone. I thought I saw a tiny blue and yellow braid, or a trick of the light. Erich and Verbian seemed to think the earthquake had damaged the way magic functioned in Avani. My Ophira certainly seemed affected.

I scurried into the servants’ passage and thanked the gods that Erich’s household remained on an economy, with few servants. The hall was dark and empty. I found my basement quarters as I had left them. My maid’s dress and cap were folded neatly, my reticule resting on top. I quickly changed into my maid’s dress and stuffed my hair into my cap. I shoved the Ophira into the reticule with Papa’s signet ring and the earrings Erich had bought me. Torn, I wondered if I had time to return to Alira’s chamber for cosmetic. On the one hand, I wanted to cover my mark; on the other, I could easily get caught if I delayed. The need for cosmetic pulled more than the risk. I ran back upstairs, stuffing the extra bottles into my reticule and smearing cream over my mark as I departed the house.