“I would rather stay here,” he said. “It’s not you. I feel safer down here.”
“Suit yourself. Pretend to be a chamber pot, then,” I said.
I crawled out from under the bed, and passed him my quilt. I put my winter cloak on the bed and crawled under the remaining covers. All the other spare blankets were spread out among the guests. As I tried to get my feet covered, I wished Katti were here to keep me warm and hoped she was safe. I remembered I hadn’t heard all of the ghost’s story.
“So how did you wind up with Bright?” I asked in a low voice.
“Once the rogues were gone, I crawled out and looked around. Our chariot was destroyed and the others... They were dead.”
His voice went husky. I put my hand down over the side of the bed, and after a moment he squeezed it.
“I... I... finished binding up the miner I had been working on. I did not know what else to do, and he had a chance of survival. Anyway, by the time I was done, other miners had crept out of hiding to see what had happened to their mates. One of them took me down to your cousin’s regiment and left me there.”
I remembered something else I wanted to ask.
“So is Ghostland like the Empire of Light?”
“Not at all. It’s like one big city. Your land is much prettier. We don’t have many mages, and magic doesn’t give you any advantages. The rulers are mundanes like you and me, and everyone is supposed to be equal under the law, which they sort of are. We all get to vote for our rulers, who are replaced every three years. Anyone can stand for leadership if...”
It sounded like the perfect world Auntie Eff was always going on about. So as usual, I fell asleep.
CHAPTER EIGHT
KATTI WAS PURRING and nudging my head just as she did every morning and like every morning I moaned and batted her away. Instead of ignoring my objections as she usually did, she jumped off the bed, her mind full of curiosity.
Why is he there?
Then a woman cried, “What are you doing under there? Bright Mother! What on earth?”
My eyes sprang open. I sat up to find Lady Klea crouching on the floor beside me. Magic shone out and Shadow was pulled out from under the bed. He flopped around on the rug like a badly landed fish, spitting out his spiky-sounding language. I reached down and helped him upright.
“What in hell’s name is that?” asked Klea.
“It’s a ghost. He’s unregistered. A secret. For Lady’s sake, Klea, don’t tell anyone, will you?”
“Of course not. Where...”
Why do you speak with her when I am here? thought Katti, purring imperiously and nudging the back of my head again. I require food.
Her fur was cold but she seemed perfectly well, unharmed and unperturbed by the night’s terrors.
“Oh, you lovely girl!” I cried, rubbing Katti’s cheeks. “Thank you, Klea. Where’d you find her?”
“She’s been up in Marellason’s hut all night, with me and Bright,” said Klea. “Well, well. A real live outlander. What are you doing with a ghost? And why under the bed?”
Katti was purring so loudly in my head I could barely think.
“Very well,” I cried. I got up and let her out of my door. “No, you’ll have to get Hilly to feed you,” I told her. “I’m busy.”
She flicked her tail at me in a distinctly unimpressed way as she padded away down the hall.
“I’m busy,” I repeated to her receding hind quarters.
“Does she talk to you?” murmured Klea in my ear, stopping me from closing the door. “You lucky thing. Is it nice?”
“Mostly, yes, but when she’s hungry it’s a pain.”
“Anyone else out there?”
“Not a soul,” I said, after a quick look up and down the hall. “Too early.”
Even to my ears I sounded reproachful.
Klea grinned, pushed the door closed and swaggered back to the bed. Swaggered because she was wearing the most amazing boots, tight up to the knee and wide and loose at the top. Even if they weren’t the height of fashion—though they probably were, knowing Klea—they looked stylish. So did the pale silk shirt and matching black waistcoat and coat she was wearing. I started to feel a bit shy of Klea. She’d become so elegant and beautiful. For a most of my winters at the Family House we’d been great friends, allies against the older cousins and dour Auntie Flara, who was Matriarch in those days. When I was twelve, Bright and I had stopped going up to the Family House for some reason never explained. I’d hardly seen her since, but she’d always acted like a friend to me whenever we did meet. I’d always felt that she had a good heart and her rescuing Bright yesterday confirmed this.
“I’ve been up for hours. Tried to get your cousin’s carriage back but it’s still at the inn and Impi’s nephew is watching it. So Bright decided to fly home on a log of wood.”
I felt a rush of relief knowing Bright was safe.
“You found Graceson?”
“Oh, the lover, yes. Isn’t he gorgeous? They’re happily reunited.” She was the first person I’d met who referred to Bright’s inversion without a grimace of disapproval.
“Thanks for last night,” I said. “Was Bright hurt at all?
“He was fine. Just used up. So tell me about this outlander,” she said, flopping down in my chair, putting her feet on my dressing table and eyeing him.
“His name’s Shadow,” I said. “And he can speak our language, so don’t be rude about his looks. So what are you doing here? Or are you not here?”
She took off her hat (no feathers at all on this one, and it looked much better for it) and smoothed out her hair. Which was a shock, because it was clipped short below her ears.
“Klea!”
She grinned. “Daring, isn’t it? It’s ghost fashion. Apparently the women all wear their hair short.” She nodded at the ghost. “You’re extremely fashionable, Sirrah Shadow. And so would a half-ghost like you be, Shine, if you came down to Crystalline. Why don’t you come when Blessing’s over? We could have some fun. I’m in the theatre now.”
“Lord Impavidus wouldn’t allow it.”
“What’s that to do with him? You’re not under his guardianship.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Didn’t your mother leave you...?
“My mother’s not officially dead, so I can’t inherit an allowance and she’s not here to send me to university or make any other provision for me. Your mother is my guardian.”
“You poor thing. No one like Impi for using the pocket to pull the strings, is there? Well, maybe I can help you. I’ve got a favour to ask you. If you do one for me, I’ll do one for you.”
“How big a favour?”
“I want you to find something for me.”
“No, how big a favour will you do for me? Shadow and I want to go up to Elayison after Blessing Time. In secret.”
“Of course. I can take you there.”
She agreed so easily that I regretted not asking for something more. Though mages being mages, who knew if I’d end up getting any favour at all?
“So what’s this thing you want me to find?”