Jay had sun in her eyes, a deep-golden light of the noon that passed its peak and was gearing ready for the evening performance of setting sun. She pulled her hood deeper over her brow as the wind tried to playfully wrestle it from her fingers.
The airship felt alive. The metal deck vibrated under her feet, the sounds of thumping and thrumming carried through the steel body as the magically-powered engines kept them afloat in the skies. Above her head, the envelope filled with gas bulged like a whale, the rope nets over the stretched fabric barely able to contain it, the bunting that adorned it flapping like wings of colourful birds. All around her, the melody of motion unfolded. The rotors of the propellers rumbled, the rigging ropes creaked and shuffled, the wind whistled in the lattices of the metal railings. And there were human voices, talking and laughing, murmuring with the lazy pleasure of the people that had nothing but free time and nothing to do but enjoy the sun and the wind and the views of Arklington spread under their feet.
Jay leaned over the railing and watched the buildings and streets pass below, trying to guess the names of places and streets, wondering how different everything looked from up here, more grandiose and interesting. Ever so often, the tour guide would call out the names of landmarks that came into the view. Far ahead the palace of the King gleamed with its white walls like a marble art-piece. Another gust of wind flew upwards, bringing with itself the throng of smells that permeated the city below them, the smells of river and fish, soot and dust, food and wet leaves, sun-touched bricks and moss-covered stone. The wind whipped Jay’s dress around her legs, ruffling it like a flying flag. Jay laughed gently, trying to keep the soft fabric down. The dress was new, the colour of sealskin and made with much more material than she was used to. It was something a girl of modest means would wear on pleasure excursion on a rare day off from industrial or domestic drudgery. As soon as she caught the almost-escaping hem of her dress, the wind took to playing with the folds of her cloak.
‘Ngh’ said Lethe.
Jay turned to look at him. He had a cloak wrapped around him, grey with a thin leather trim, one that matched her clothes in quality but at the same time made him not to stand out in a crowd. Jay caught a glimpse of his face from under his leather cap. Was it her or he was a bit more ashen and less green?
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Eh, nothing. Just hope that the wind won’t pick up or somebody down below will have very colourful and quite unpleasant day.’
Jay raised an eyebrow.
‘I get airsick easily, yeah? Now can we stop pretending that this is a pleasure trip? We’re just about to be passing above the place.’
Again, Jay looked over the railing. They were passing over one of the richest quarters of Arklington. Magnolia Hill was not a place where you just buy a house. Even if you had more money that was in good tone to brag about and a lineage that was longer than a rich noblewoman’s skirt train you still wouldn’t be able to buy a house here. Any estate agent that would be asked to find a house in Magnolia Hill would smile politely and propose Mauderun or Kingpress where the largest mansions and the richest people of the Kingdom had residences. But the houses of Magnolia Hill, even though no smaller than the mansions and palaces of Mauderun or Kingpress, were restricted to those with positions in the court. But not just any positions, but positiosn that required constant watchfulness on the part of the Kingdom- diplomats, ambassadors, emissaries and people with titles and roles that might as well be called Absolutely Not a Foreign Spy, Trust Me on That.
‘We could have found another way to look at it…’
Lethe sighed.
‘No we couldn’t have had. I tried. This place is guarded better than the Queen’s knickers. So are the others around here. Guards on all the roofs, even more guards on the streets. Just forget about it and pay attention. We’d be flying over any minute now.
Jay turned her attention back to the landscape below, trying to spot their target. And here it was, looking as foreign as a building could possibly look. It was a small palace, occupying a parcel of land that was overgrown with trees that were just starting to prepare to bloom. The building was tall and light, the deep-arched colonnades and a main tower made it look almost like a sea bird that was ready to flight. Its flat roofline was decorated with elaborately-carved spires with pointy tops. The stone the palace was built with was opalescent, almost pearly, shinning with a rainbow of shades depending on the whims of sunrays. It was the paint that made it so and the magically-infused pigments that were added to it. Behind the main building, a white curve of service building was stretching its points towards the palace like a crescent moon.
‘It’s so big’ said Jay.
Lethe snickered.
‘That’s what she said!’
‘Uh…who said?’
‘Eh, nevermind. Just look if you can spot anything of interest to us.’
Jay tried to recall the sketch that she’d seen and tried to memorize for a few days now. But at the moment, watching the real thing instead, she could not see any detail that would be useful. The palace below her feet seemed almost unreal to her, so perfectly formed and so much different than the sprawling mansions of the Kingdom’s nobility. It was almost like they were trying to break-in into a dream. A dream that a few nights back she had no idea existed.
It all started a week ago. It was a really dark and wet night and Jay was buried into her bedding in her little room in Three Knocks. The rain was using the wind to push itself through the cracks in the rotten windowsill and frame making the room feel like as damp as a cabin on a ship while the high-seas raged. Jay tried to sleep through the dampness and through the whistling of the wind when the windowpanes shook, the glass rattling as if it was going to fall out frames.
Jay jumped out of bed, drawing her dagger, still groggy but ready to fend- off whatever was trying to invade her room.
‘Jay!’ she heard from outside. ‘Jay, open up! Come, on this shitty wall is slippery as all hell!’
Jay sighed deeply, sheathed the dagger and went up to open the window. Lethe tumbled in, bringing with him the rain and an assortment of smells: acrid magical vapours, fish and the sickening smell of half-digested booze.
‘Um, Lethe? You know that I’ve a door now?’
‘Yeah, yeah. And where would be fun in that?’
Lethe rolled towards the fireplace where the remains of the fire were expiring on the grate and threw a couple of new logs on. Then he stood in front of the fire, drying himself and swaying slightly. The taxidermy jays under the glass jar looked down on him from the mantle of the fireplace. Lethe returned their stare with a cheeky flash of his teeth.
‘You’re drunk Lethe.’
‘Not as drunk as I should be right now. Which reminds me. Aha!’
He reached behind his waistband and pulled out a flat bottle. He uncorked the neck and took a deep gulp from it, wiping his mouth with his sleeve afterwards. Then he reached out, inviting Jay to take a sip too. Jay came closer to him and took the bottle, watching Lethe carefully, wondering if he wasn’t laying Halkyon on top of the booze again. But when she looked into his eyes she saw that they were clear and shining with excitement. She shrugged and took a sip from the bottle. It was not as harsh as she expected it to be, a strong spirit but not complete rotgut.
‘Good huh? I practically wrangled Ann to give me the best stuff they got in the Whaler’s cellar.
‘Yeah. But what’s the occasion?’
‘Occasion yeah! Just look!’ he patted himself over the clothes and then started rummaging in his pouches, finally dragging out an envelope.
‘Read for yourself’ he said, handing the envelope to her.
Jay gave him back the bottle and he took another swing from it. Jay grimaced and turned her attention to the letter. Inside there was a single piece of paper. Jay sighed with relief, seeing that the letter wasn’t long. Then she started reading aloud:
‘To my most reslep…replec…’ Jay tried to wrestle the letters into words, but they stubbornly refused to present themselves as anything that was recognizable.’
‘Aw Jay, you haven’t been practicing at all!’
Jay cast a guilty look to the tinder box next to the fireplace where all the old newspapers that she collected were. She was supposed to use them to practice her reading, but time after time she was losing patience half-way, and one after another they ended helping her build fire instead.
‘Give me that’ Lethe took the letter from her hand and started to read aloud himself. ‘To my most respected client Mister Green. I would like to extend an invitation to you, and your worthy apprentice Jay, to dine with me at my Arklington address. The date of the event and the address you will find at the bottom of this correspondence. I remain yours sincerely. Edmund Munoz. ‘
Lethe folded the letter back again and put it into the envelope again. Jay looked at him with bafflement.
‘A dinner invitation? But don’t understand what-‘
‘Ahh Jay, seriously? Think about it. Munoz never just invites people to his house. Whatever it is he wants to discuss with his clients, he does from the back room of his business.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning that there is something that he needs to discuss in total privacy. Somewhere with no employees or his ‘boys’ to overhear.’
‘But what?’
‘A job of course. The highly-paid, bespoke commission we’d been waiting since the Cathedral job. Jay, we have arrived!’
Jay smiled.
‘And Munoz…he can broker these for us?’
‘Oooof-course he can’ slurred Lethe as the booze he was pouring in himself started to take hold. ‘It’s not like he’s just a guarded storage keeper you know.’
Jay recalled her first meeting with Munoz. She never actually thought that his main business was the guarded storage, having accepted a load of stolen condensed magic from her.
‘Noooo more shitty jobs, noooo more lugging heavy shit’ he sat down with his back to the warm stones. He drained the bottle of the rest of the booze. ‘We’re just high class and fuuuuucking expensive professionals from now on.’
Jay wanted to say something else, but then she noticed that Lethe is already asleep, still clutching the bottle and snoring loudly. She sighed and then took a blanket from her bed. She covered Lethe up so the ‘high class and fucking expensive professional’ wouldn’t wake up chilled to the bone as the hot fireplace cooled down during this damp night.
Herself, she couldn’t sleep. Half because of the excitement that Lethe spilled all over the place and half because it was new-being invited to a place and to a business diner nonetheless. Suddenly she was worried about everything. Were her clothes enough? Was she?
Turned out she was losing sleep over nothing.
Mister Munoz was living in the part of the town that was so middle-of-the-way it was almost like he chose this exact spot with a ruler in his hand. His townhouse was in the very centre of a row of terraced houses, one of those that could fit one person with money or an entire gaggle of families in a slum. Jay took stock of the austere, muted-yellow façade and knew that the place is just as practical as Munoz himself. Inside it was no different. The hardwood floors were old but swept clean and with minimum of rugs over them. The walls mostly devoid of decorations save for a few paintings so old that, no matter how hard Jay was squinting, she couldn’t tell if the person on the canvas was a man or a woman. Yet she could tell that the simplicity of the place was a choice not a sign of poverty. The magical lamps burned brightly in their sconces, in the fireplace the flames roared high and the table they were dining at was set with silver cutlery.
Jay felt overwhelmed. There were more forks that there were dishes, and utensils she was only guessing the function of. The whiteness of the tablecloth was startling to her, as if any potential spot she could cause would be an unforgivable transgression. And there were servants!
Yes, the servants, a young man and a girl a both bit older than Jay. The girl wore a long dress in sombre black and a kirtle embroidered with simple tri-leafed pattern. The young man wore a doublet of the same colour with a sash embroidered in the same pattern- clearly a toned-down livery. The boy especially made Jay uncomfortable. Fair-haired and tall, he positioned himself between her and his employer, standing a few paces apart from the table and watchful as a hawk. He kept Jay’s wine-glass full until she gathered enough courage to tell him to stop. The girl busied herself with changing of the plates- not remaining still even for a second. Jay wondered what they were thinking. Were they resenting serving somebody like her? Somebody that they would not notice in the street or pretend not to? Somebody that just a few months back would have fainted at the sight of all this food and drink? But then if they never batted an eyelid at the sight of Lethe’s face and the colour of his skin, then perhaps they knew better than to think anything about the company their master keeps. Or maybe, they had already seen stranger still.
The conversation over the dinner was as formal as a King’s edict and was telling Jay as little as one. Small talk was the thing that she never truly grasped the concept of. At The Magic Lamp when the topic of conversations turned to cursing the weather or the court gossips she would tune out, retreat into her own thoughts. Even Lethe seemed to be growing restless after a while. He pushed his plate away with a pile of cutlery piled upon it like bones of a strange creature and only held out his goblet for constant refills as the drink disappeared down his throat. Finally, sensing their impatience, Munoz wiped his mouth with a napkin as pristine as the tablecloth and motioned to the servant boy to approach.
‘William please prepare my study for us, we’ll be retiring there shortly.’
The boy gave an understanding nod as if he was awaiting this command. Jay thought that this too must be something that he is used to.
‘Then you’re both free to go home. I won’t be requiring you tonight.’
This too was met with a nod and a shallow bow. Another thing they were much used to.
Soon they moved towards the study, Munoz’s cane tap-tap-tapping over the wooden floors of the corridors. The study was much like his office at the guarded storage, most likely just the environment he associated with working. A long table had the centre of the room, competing with the fireplace in size. A few chairs were arranged around the table- dark and heavy with tall, wide backs leather-bound seats. There was a cupboard to the side, no doubt containing carafes with drinks. Sturdy shelves lined the walls, with their old-looking tomes stacked onto the shelves. Jay looked around, almost expecting an Alloy Man standing in the corner. Papers lined the table, illuminated with bright light of magic lamp that stood at the edge. On the other edge there was a silver tray with a crystal carafe and three small goblets. A peach-coloured liquid glimmered inside the carafe like a promise of a summer day. It must have been placed there just a few minutes ago by one of the servants. Lethe threw himself on one of the chairs while Jay perched on the edge of another.
Mister Munoz took the silver carafe from the tray and poured into the three gobbles. He offered one to Jay and the second he passed to Lethe. Jay took the drink from his hands and sniffed it. It smelled sweet, almost like a juice.
‘Abrecari brandy’ said Munoz. ‘I take you don’t often have a chance to taste imported liquors Miss Jay?’
Jay nodded and took a careful sip. It tasted as sweet as it smelled. In contrast Lethe threw the whole thing down his throat as if it was the meanest moonshine cooked up behind a charnel house and put the goblet down.
‘Now that all the pleasantries had been observed, can we finally get to business? As much as your food is good and booze decent too, I want to finally hear what you have to say.’
‘Very well then, Mister Green’ said Mister Munoz. He walked around the table, putting down his own untouched goblet. ‘We would proceed presently.’
‘Would you be so kind as to avert your eyes for just a brief moment? I’d ask the same of you Miss Jay.’
Lethe laughed.
‘All those years Munoz and you still don’t trust me?’
‘It’s nothing personal of course.’
‘Of course’ said Lethe and smiled crookedly.
Jay stifled a smile but did as Munoz asked. Perhaps it was only common sense not to reveal all your secrets in front of thieves? Watching the patterns on the floor, an ageless collection of scratches and lines furrowed into the wood with use, she strained her ears. She heard a clicking noise and a clinking, like voice of a tiny glass bell. Then there was rustling of papers and more clicking noises. Finally there was a muffled thud and tapping of Munoz’s cane.
‘I am ready now’ Munoz said finally.
Munoz was sitting in the chair behind the table and in front of him there were some papers that weren’t there before alongside with a metal cassette-type chest. He leaned back and folded his hands over the knob of his cane.
‘It seems like the dedication the both of you had put into your craft had attracted certain amount of attention and I would even say- admiration.’
‘Ha! See Jay? I told you that things are stirring.’
Jay grinned in response.
‘Indeed’ continued Munoz’ I’ve been approached by a certain gentleman that seemed to be…uniquely informed. And by this I mean that he asked for you specifically.’
‘Let me guess’ Lethe’s wide grin turned even wider. ‘He had heard about that story with the Scared Bond and was quite impressed how it took balls of steel to hit the Lectors.’
‘Yes he was aware of that. But he seemed to be well-informed on other matters as well. How some of the guests of Duke Kingston found themselves missing a few possessions for example. ’
‘Being famous- what can I say? I could get used to that!’
‘Yes, quite. And since the gentleman knew exactly the level of your expertise in…infiltration and retrieval, he is of the opinion that you could help him retrieve something.’
‘What is his name?’ asked Jay.
Mister Munoz smiled politely.
‘The gentleman introduced himself as Jarred. Of course I have no doubts that it is not his actual name, but also that he is rather a…representative, to somebody that prizes their privacy above all else.’
‘Ah, who cares? He can name himself after Waldorf the Many-Pricked Beast of the Northern Sea if that’s what he gets off to. He can keep his ‘privacy’. Get to the interesting part. Like- what is that what we’re ‘retrieving’?’
Munoz leaned forward and picked up a single sheet of paper then passed it to Lethe. Lethe looked at it for a moment and then passed it to Jay. The paper bore a sketch of a small flat chest- a beautiful workmanship with arching patterns of bound metal and a line of small gemstones running alongside the lid.
‘So this thing is worth so much to him? And what’s inside? Gemstones? Magical amulets? Rare seeds of plants that bloom once in a thousand years?’
‘Papers’ smiled Munoz. ‘Papers that Mister Jarred wants to not be in the place they currently are.’
‘Where are they then?’ asked Jay.
‘Yeah, what she said.’
‘I have been informed that the item is as of now stored in the offices of the Abrecari Embassy, the home and workplace of the Abrecari Ambassador.’
Lethe whistled.
‘Shit! That’s a tall order!’
‘It is.’
‘What? Why?’ asked Jay, feeling like she’s being left out.
‘Miss Jay, it is a common knowledge among people interested in politics that the safety of foreign dignitaries is both guaranteed and sponsored by the King.’
Jay skewed her face. Politics again. How was she supposed to know that?
‘Yeah’ added Lathe.’ And that means the best guards, locks and magic the money can buy to make sure not a hair falls off their thick arses while they’re on the Kingdom’s soil. Which will be a huge pain in our own rear ends if we want to accept. That means this Mister Jarred better be prepared to pay through his nose for that job. I’m not going anywhere close to this unless I know it’s worth it.’
‘I believe that Mister Jarred’s exact words were: ‘It would be most disrespectful of me if I did not mention a proper remuneration’. He left this with me. As an…advance payment on the commission.’
He pulled the cassette chest closer to himself and opened it. Jay looked inside. Gold coins looked back at her. Coins in number she had never seen before.
‘M-hmm’ said Lethe as greed filled his face. Jay had no doubts that he will accept now, no matter the difficulty.
‘The full payment includes three more of those, as he assured me’ said Munoz, closing the lid on the chest. ‘If you’re interested in accepting and delivering. Are you?’
‘Damn straight we’re interested. Right, Jay?’
Jay nodded, feeling that smile wouldn’t leave her face for quite some time yet.
‘His money seems good‘ said Lethe after a moment. ‘Now, what else he has for us? He wants those papers so he’d better has something useful to help us too.’
‘Indeed. Mister Jarred left some information that might perhaps mitigate the problem of the tight security of the place.’
Munoz shuffled the papers on his table. Jay and Lethe leaned over them, reading with intense interest. There were floor-plans, instructions, names, points of entry and more- a treasure-trove of information. All of it of worth much in itself, if they would find a buyer and if they would be willing to sell. But Jay knew that they are going to use all of this themselves. She saw the glimmer in Lethe’s eye, the greed was still visible in his features, but there was something else in there. Something that Jay could only describe to herself as a professional interest, the need to test his skills against a challenge.
‘And there is another thing’ said Munoz, leaning back and letting them study the papers. ‘This commission must be completed before the month’s end. Would that be a challenge?’
‘A challenge’ muttered Jay to herself. Now a few days later, as she was standing on the deck of the cruise airship and looked down on the building of the embassy, she started having doubts. Maybe, just maybe, this was a bit too much for them.
‘Challenge?’ said Lethe. ‘You want to see a challenging thing? There!’
He pointed at the space between the main palace and the service building. A long colonnade of silver-accented arches ran through the middle on a slightly raised dais. In each arch a large shape was standing guard, like a display of statues. Jay squinted to see better and recognized them for what they were.
‘Alloy Men’ she said. Each automaton was plated in ornamental armour, the light glinted over those like a prick of a sharp needle.
‘Yeah’ we could sneak through the garden as long as we avoid those.’
Jay shifted uncomfortably. Of course he was speaking about an alternate exit route if they were cut off from the one they will get in. But somehow it sent a shiver down Jay’s spine, despite the metal deck under her feet being warmed up by the sun.
The ship started to turn, drawing a long arc around the grounds of the embassy, the buildings slowly passing it from the port to starboard. Jay and Lethe started to cross the deck, to keep it in view for as long as possible. As they walked a child about five ran the length of the deck almost getting entangled in Jay’s cloak that flapped behind her in the wind. Jay could see the child’s eyes growing suddenly wide under her bonnet. From her angle, it was easy to catch a glimpse of Lethe’s face, mostly obscured from the perspective of adults. She stopped abruptly, whatever she was chasing after- forgotten for a moment. Jay pressed pointing finger to her mouth in a ‘shhhh’ gesture. The child nodded solemnly and after a split second ran off to whatever she was doing before.
Jay finished her walk to the railing on the other side of the deck and watched as the embassy passed below. From this angle there was not much more to be seen, the grounds seemed like a perfect little world guarded jealously from the outside by the glinting of the guard’s helmets upon the roofs, by gentle shimmering of the runic perimeter over the walls and the spikes of the portcullis over the gates.
‘Some trees overhanging the wall to the left’ she said. ‘We could climb out through there in a pinch.’
Lethe glanced in the direction she pointed out.
‘Yeah, hopefully the wards don’t extend into the air. Maybe worth asking Burke for spellbreakers just in case.’
Jay sighed. Lethe was right, better safe than sorry but then it would take money, biting into their profits. And not to mention the time. Days were passing and the deadline loomed ever closer.
‘Relax, we’ll make it in time’ said Lethe as if he could read her mind.
Relax! He had been saying all this time that a commission was supposed to be easier that any regular jobs they could score for themselves, but now there was a clock ticking somewhere that measured the remaining minutes and seconds until the great opportunity passes. Jay just wanted it all done with, no matter how tantalising the lure of the challenge itself was.
The ship passed the embassy and started on its slow way back to the Isambard Tower, back to its moorings high above the city. A gust of incoming wind rocked the deck, a promise of a first spring storm that would arrive in a day or two, bringing the clouds from somewhere to the west. It ruffled the pennants and the folds of their clothes before going its way and left the sun to reign for a bit longer.
Lethe grunted.
‘Alright, I’m done. I’m heading below and try not to hurl over anything important.’
Jay watched him as he went through the happy crowds, disappearing between tall men in billowing surcoats, women holding to their bonnets and hoods and the gaggle of children that disregarded the gusts playing with their clothes in favour of sweets and rambunctious games of tag.
Jay raised her head and caught the scent of pork scratching roasting on the coals- the pride of the deck food-stand, if the man tending to it was to be believed. She felt her stomach rumbling at the smell of cooked food, a sensation that no longer was something to combat. The guide stopped talking through the tube and a jaunty music of fiddles, flutes and drums drifted to her from the aft. She walked the deck for a little bit more, hidden by the crowds, enjoying a handful of crunchy pork scratching from the paper bag. The sun and the lingering coal smoke made them taste hearty and fulfilling. After she was done she crumpled up the fat-drenched paper bag and tossed it over the railing. A seagull, swift like an arrow, caught the bag in its beak before it even started to fall. The bird flapped its wings and disappeared, carrying its quarry in the yellow beak. Jay turned around again and grabbed a tin cup from the water fountain close to the raised viewing platform on the prow and found the steps that led under the deck to the common cabin.
It was not dark in here, but it almost seemed like it was after being on the sunny deck. Lamps were shining in the four corners but their light was brought lower since there was almost nobody here. The cabin was mostly used as a shelter for passengers if the weather up top would turn for the worse. The length of the cabin was filled with wooden benches, well-polished with use. Here Jay found Lethe, pushed into a corner of the bench and almost curled up on himself. Jay sat next to him and offered him the water, which he took and downed with one gulp. They sat together until the airship made to the Isambard Tower and the rumbling of engines turned into the soft purr. The stabilizing runes at the moorings took held, the sway of the wind lost the grip on the vessel and the machine was finally still.
