Elaine Corv

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you. You ll probably have to do some searching before you can find anything fit to wear, so take your
time."
It didn t take Mina nearly as long as she expected to find something serviceable. Although time and
nesting mice had damaged some of the costumes, most were simply dusty. After sorting through heaps of
dresses, military uniforms, and togas, she found what she was looking for. The black trousers and quilted
black shirt looked to have belonged to some play featuring a swordsman from the East. There was even
a quilted black coat that hung to her knees. Although the coat was too hot for now, it might serve in the
winter.
Wiping gray dust from the black cotton, she wandered back out into the corridor. The sitting room was
empty, but voices sounded from the direction of what she guessed to be the stage. She followed them,
emerging between the dusty, rotting folds of a blue velvet curtain.
The huge room beyond was oddly eerie in its silence. Row upon row of empty chairs stretched away
towards the upper tiers, occupied by nothing save shadows. Pigeons nested in boxes where the wealthy
of the city had once sat. The proscenium arch was ornate, covered with gilded figures of men and
women, but its once-bright colors were turned a uniform gray by dust. An enormous chandelier hung
over the first rows of seats, its crystal draped in spider webs. The moldering curtain behind her moved
slightly in some breeze she couldn t feel, as if ghostly actors hurried past.
The only illumination came from the grimy footlights. Duncan and Bryan loitered near the edge of the
stage, talking and gesturing at its expanse. When Bryan caught sight of Mina, he grinned and nodded his
approval.
"That ll do," he said. "We can train here the stage will give us plenty of room."
She nodded, feeling suddenly nervous. "Good. What do I do first?"
Duncan rolled over to her. He started to put a hand to her elbow, as if to guide her back to the hall, but
she flinched away quickly. His brows quirked together slightly, but he was too much the gentleman to
make any comment. Instead, he simply held the decaying curtain out of her way. "Let s go back to the
sitting room, where we can be comfortable. Bryan has agreed to halt his own lessons while I concentrate
on teaching you the basics. He can use the time to practice everything he should already know."
Bryan winked at Mina, obviously not at all disturbed by Duncan s acerbic comment. Mina found that she
envied the easy camaraderie between them. What it would it be like, to feel so comfortable with another
person?
They made their way back to the sitting room. Duncan wheeled over to one of the wing-backed chairs
and levered himself into it with the ease of long practice and the help of the conveniently located bars and
straps. "Bring the other chair over to face me, if you would," he said mildly. Once Mina had situated
herself, he studied her face in silence, as if searching for some clue written on it.
"I believe I mentioned yesterday that every faeling has different abilities," he began at length. "A good part
of our time together will be spent discovering exactly what you can and cannot do. Would you like to tell
me what happened when you used your magic the other day?"
She had the feeling that it was not really a request. In a halting voice, she explained the accident at the mill
and how she had caused the drive belt to break. She didn t mention her one previous use of magic,
which had ended in death, for fear of his reaction. When she was finished, he sat silent for a time,
contemplating what she had said.
"I think that you are very strong, Wilhelmina," he said finally. "I m amazed that you were able to summon
your magic at all, surrounded by iron machinery as you were. I don t know that I would have been able
to do so."
"Oh," Mina said, not certain what response to make.
Duncan eyed her thoughtfully for a moment, and then gestured at the decrepit doctor s bag that sat open
on the nearest table. "If you d be so good as to fetch a jar from in there. The opaque white one."
She did as he asked and started to hand it to him, but he motioned for her to open it herself. It contained
an innocuous-looking white cream that smelled faintly of herbs. "What is it?"
"It s how Bryan and I were able to see the Hound the other night. The potion will allow you to see
through the glamour cast by other faelings or by fae, for that matter. Take a small amount, and dab it
into your left eye. It s perfectly harmless, I assure you."
The potion stung sharply, bringing tears to her eye. "Damn it," she swore angrily. Blinking rapidly against
the pain, she turned accusingly back to Duncan, only to be confronted by a bizarre double-image.
Through her left eye he looked perfectly normal. But her right eye insisted that a young dark-skinned man
sat in his chair.
"What the hell?"
"I m wearing a glamour," he said calmly. A moment later the illusion of the young man vanished, and the
true figure of an aging cripple showed again through both eyes. "Your untouched eye was fooled by it,
but the other saw the truth."
"Oh. Will I be able to do that? Make myself look different?"
"In time. But there are more important priorities. Wards, for example."
"Wards?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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