The Great Ellini (Book One of The Powder Trail)

Chapter Nineteen: Messenger Dragons

Edinburgh, 1871:

Jack left for Sicily on Midsummer's Day. Ellini didn't go down to the palace steps to say goodbye, but she perched on one of the many ponderous, grey-stone balconies overlooking the gates, and saw—even from twenty feet up—the emotional politics of the situation.

Robin knew.

Oh, he behaved affably—he clasped Jack's hand and clapped him on the back and flashed those perfect teeth—but he knew, he knew, he knew she'd kissed him!

He probably didn't know the details. She had been careful, even in the midst of all that moonlight and delight, to make sure Robin wasn't anywhere near them. But he knew something had happened. Jack was radiating happiness—that was obvious from twenty feet up too. It was glinting off the top of his head as though he was wearing a highly polished helmet. In fact, it seemed like more happiness than a kiss could really justify. Robin probably thought she'd gone even further. She might just as well have painted a bullseye on the poor boy's face.

The whole palace had spilled out onto the steps to see him off that morning—some of them peering out twitchily from under their parasols, because they had sunlight-allergies, or just because they hated the sight of the outside world, with all its ill-breeding and bad tailoring. Even the man not-very-affectionately known as the Abominable Crow-man was there, preening his feathers at the back of the crowd.

Robin smiled at this too—smiled so hard that she could see the sunlight glinting off his teeth.

"Don't expect to be this popular in Sicily, golden boy. Gargotha won't even feed you if he doesn't think you're doing well."

And Myrrha was there, with her pigtails and her little girl's gown that displayed her ankles. She was looking pointedly from Jack to her husband, as though to highlight the contrast between them. Robin saw that look—it goaded him into smiles and more smiles, until Ellini thought she'd be blinded by them and topple off the roof into the middle of that fraught family group.

Jack looked for her, of course, but not seeing her didn't dim his happiness. He went off assuming everything was all right—assuming Robin was his friend and Ellini would still be there when he got back. And she envied him his peace-of-mind as well as his destination. From that morning on, she found herself imagining all the different ways that Robin might find to kill him. Perhaps he would bribe someone to push him overboard on his voyage to Sicily. Or give him a sealed letter to pass to Gargotha, with instructions to execute him on arrival.

Only two things consoled her. The first was that none of these methods would be in-keeping with Robin's tastes. He liked things to be cruel and personal. He would want to kill Jack face-to-face, and, since he didn't seem to be making any plans to leave Pandemonium, he was obviously at least deferring Jack's punishment.

The second consolation was the arrival, early next morning, of a fur-and-bronze-clad apparition with a huge broadsword that she trailed behind her as she paced the palace courtyards, dredging up sparks and setting everyone's teeth on edge.

"Her name's Val," Robin told her the next day. He seemed to have decided that the best course of action would be to pretend Jack had never existed, so he was still talking to Ellini, though he didn't meet her eyes very much.

"Val," she murmured, watching through the kitchen window as the new woman jostled with some of Robin's soldiers in the training ground. "Is it short for Valerie or Valkyrie?"

Robin smiled. "I think she's keeping it open."

"How do you know her?"

"Trained with her in Sicily. It's quite a tragic story, really. Strength is her demonic symptom."