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rainbowfic2025-10-10 08:31 pm
thisbluespirit) wrote in rainbowfic2025-10-10 08:31 pm
Warm Heart #28; Vert #26 [Starfall]
Name: Assignations
Story: Starfall
Colors: Warm Heart #28 (Heart); Vert #26 (We may be hopeless to stop bad things but...)
Supplies and Styles: Portrait + Silhouette + Thread + Novelty Beads (October 2024 Challenge: 2) https://64.media.tumblr.com/1880f54617fb7285e7c9acc7db993a09/a5625f96e28a4d41-81/s540x810/030dc8ceac43f5277500399c9539501177aea2c4.jpg [img of text screen reading "Are you flirting with me?" "I'm trying. I have no idea what i'm doing.")
Word Count: 8293
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Death, blood, injury, mild references to sex.
Notes: 1313, Calla Island. Viyony Eseray/Leion Valerno, Tess Hyan, Velin Ienkallis, Lynah Allin. Continues on directly from Dazzled. (The longest section of this sequence).
Summary: Viyony arranges an assignation with Leion, but she's not the only one with plans for midnight.
Catching Leion before dinner proved impossible. As soon as Viyony made her way to the dining hall and out on the terrace, she was cornered by Dutez Owayan, the seed merchant she had spoken to on the previous evening. She braced herself for more business talk that she didn't want to hear when her mind was on romance, but instead he launched into a complaint about Huick Ghalle, the newsletter writer.
"Imor Allin should never have invited that fellow. Wandering round making unfounded insinuations about my affairs. He hasn't been talking to you, has he?"
Viyony shook her head, scanning the assembled guests for Leion. She had expected him to hover around her this evening trying to stop her eating or drinking anything, just to be on the safe side but instead he had failed to appear. She had been waiting for fifteen minutes now to tell him that she didn't appreciate his fussing and had been quite careful enough when choosing her glass of wine from the tray. It was a bit much of him to go to extremes such as having all her wash things replaced and then suddenly abandon her.
"... and he's drunk already, if you ask me," Dutez muttered in her ear.
Viyony blinked and tried to see where Ghalle was, but she couldn't spot him either. She saw Eollan, standing not far away, talking to Nowin Cazalia. He caught her glance and grinned, then grimaced with a nod towards Dutez.
The bell for dinner rang, cutting off Dutez's monologue, but it didn't provide Viyony with an escape—he had been seated next to her. Velin was on the other side and Tess and Teo Dilance, the singer, were sitting opposite. Dutez cheered up once the meal arrived, and he was presented with some small cheese and spinach pastries. It was followed by a comparatively simple main dish of fish and soft grains, and matters improved from there. Velin was pleasant company as ever, although Teo Dilance was left fielding Tess's requests for all her favourites songs, one by one.
Viyony shot a stealthy, sidelong glance down the table to the corner where Leion was sitting next to Huick Ghalle and Captain Wyense. Seeing him side by side with Ghalle made her feel foolish for thinking there was a likeness, although, she noted with amusement, they were both wearing green jackets, if not the same shade. Leion saw her look and raised his glass to her while resting his other hand on the edge of his plate before eyeing her sternly; a mute show that Viyony guessed meant that he wanted to know she was being careful about her food. Viyony straightened, something lifting from her, and deliberately ate a piece of fish in what she very much hoped was visible unconcern. Leion screwed up his face.
She stared instead at the glassware on the table. It reflected the glow of the yellow lightstone lamp hanging above them, and, for a moment, dazzled her, like bright sunlight on waves or the starstone in the cave earlier, glinting and gleaming from all angles. The voices around her faded and she saw pictures in her mind—a fortress's tower in the mountains, a dark blue gemstone set in silver, and blood spilling out over sunset-hued tiles.
"Don't you agree?" said Dutez, at her elbow. "Imai Eseray?"
She jumped. The images vanished, and unlike her dreams, went past all recall. She shook the last vestige of them away and turned back to Dutez. "I'm so sorry. What were you saying?"
After they finished their meal, the guests either returned outside for music and dancing, or decamped into the next room to play games, mainly card and dice. Lynah drew Leion towards the games room, and they stood by the door, talking. Viyony had to wait until Lynah had finished and followed her guests inside before she could have her turn.
Leion smiled and took a step towards her even as Viyony hurried over to join him.
She stopped in front of him. "So I didn't imagine you earlier."
"Apparently not." He grasped her hand as he studied her features. She had to look away. "How are you feeling?"
"Please. Don't fuss. I'm fine—as you can see."
"My apologies. Next time I shall step right over your prone body and head off for a scenic walk with Tess instead."
"Sorry—Velin, Eollan, and Tess all asked the same thing. I'm fine now, though. You needn't worry, truly."
"Worry?" said Leion, taking her arm and ushering her through the door into the warm room. "No, no. I was hoping to be rid of you at last."
Viyony rolled her eyes. "Ha. Leion—please. Wait. I wanted to ask you something. I was hoping—that is—would you come to my room later? After."
"After...?"
She waved an arm at everyone else, sitting at the tables or standing around talking. "This."
"Ah," he said. "I understand. Of course. I've promised Tess a game of Chase—but I can put her off."
Viyony shook her head. "No, no. I need to catch some people first. I'll let you know when I go and you can follow." She hesitated and then turned back, laying a hand on his arm. "Leion, there are people here who know Imoren, so, please -"
"Be discreet," he said instantly. "Of course. I promise."
Viyony walked around the tables, observing with interest. Portcallan's card decks were often different to those she was used to in the Eister Ranges, and some of these were West Korphilian, which were even stranger to her eyes. She was used to suits based on the major Powers and their elements, whether they were the Emoyran eight or the much longer roll call of Eisterlander Powers. Velin saw her hovering and gestured for her to sit beside him, where he guided her through a hand of what he called Iolarn and Nowin Cavalia, who was playing with him, said was better known in more easterly parts as Hearts and Daggers. Viyony didn't recognise it under either name. Father tended to make up his own versions of games, and she generally only knew the most widely played games that she or her siblings had picked up from school friends in Mirambridge.
She drifted back out into the garden once the play was over, needing a little time to think. She mustn't forget to speak to anyone important, running through a mental list of who she had hoped to catch tonight. Her mind kept skittering away from the subject of business, though, until she finally had to give up on it. All she could think of was her upcoming tryst with Leion. Was it too soon to leave the party? She decided it was not, and that she must find Leion to let him know—and, then, as if she had conjured him up by the thought, he arrived at her side so abruptly that she jumped.
"Nice evening," he said.
Viyony caught her breath. She must remain casual, she told herself; all the while fiddling with the embroidered edges of her dress. "What happened to your game?"
"Tess trounced me, so I've given it up forever, or at least until I've learned to live with the shame. To be fair, she did have help."
Viyony smiled out at the night. "Leion," she said. Her mouth dried as a thought struck her; something she ought to say now, while there was still time for him to back out and for both of them to pretend that nothing had happened. "I—that is—do you remember me telling you about Guilleot?"
"Yes," he said, more promptly than she had expected. "Piece of sea shit. Not worth talking about once, let alone twice."
"He didn't really want me, and we never got very far, you know? And there was never anyone else much before or after. Because of the dreams—because of being always at Eseray. Mother thinks that's a dangerously ignorant way to go into an arranged marriage, and that was why she as good as told me to have an affair while I was here."
"Your mother is a wise soul," Leion said. "If only you listened to her from time to time."
Viyony folded her arms against herself at the unexpected wash of homesickness that passed through her, talking about Mother in this unfamiliar place. "You don't even know her."
"You must introduce me when she comes for the wedding."
Viyony watched him for a moment longer, but he made no sudden excuses as to why he shouldn't come to her room. His brow furrowed at her continued silence, and then he shifted nearer and patted her arm.
"Don't ever think about him again," he advised. "Worry about the current piece of sea shit you're engaged to instead."
Viyony started. "Leion!"
"Just go," he said, moving away. "I'll follow presently, as instructed, and we'll discuss everything then, yes?"
Viyony removed her earrings before the mirror in her room, barely even seeing herself as she went through the motions of preparing for bed; her gaze wandering away into the reflected chamber, where, at the edge of her vision, the bed hangings fluttered in a stronger breeze than yesterday's. She seemed, for an instant, to glimpse other shapes in motion there, but as soon as she blinked, they were gone.
Someone knock briskly at the door, and Hueva entered. "Do you have everything you need? I hope the replacement wash things were suitable."
Viyony turned. "Oh!" The heat rose in her face. "I am so sorry about that. Leion—Imai Valerno—was probably worrying over nothing, but he insisted. And yes, thank you."
"It was no problem," Hueva said calmly. "Will that be all?"
Viyony straightened her cream nightgown and then hastily attended to her pink silk robe, still hanging open. It fastened at the centre of the high waist line with a decorative flower-knot, and she now hitched the hidden hook into place. "Y-yes, thank you. Imai Valerno will be coming here soon, so I -" She hesitated as Hueva raised an eyebrow. "Should I have said that?"
"No reason not to," Hueva returned, unperturbed. "Shall I send someone with refreshments—wine, perhaps?"
Viyony smoothed down the sides of her robe. She was quite happy balancing ledgers, navigating social events and negotiating business agreements, but this was another matter entirely. "That's very kind—yes, please." She caught her breath. "That is—should I? Would it be usual?"
Hueva's face crinkled. "I think it might be for the best, Imai. I'll see to it."
Viyony watched her go and sighed. She released her hair from its pins and fastenings, and brushed it with a vim. It would be all right when Leion was here. He wouldn't mind if she didn't know the usual script for a romantic encounter. She didn't think she'd need it.
She hadn't worried until this moment; instead only buoyant with excitement. Now she paced around the room and hoped that the promised wine would arrive before Leion did, or not too long after, and then, when an unfamiliar member of staff appeared with a bottle of wine and a plate of narrow strips of biscuit perching on a tray, she wondered if Leion would decide they shouldn't have any, in case it had been adulterated.
She ate half a biscuit anyway in defiance. It was crumbly, dusted with fine sugar and made with ground almonds. She wiped her mouth clean of the crumbs, and laughed at herself.
It was only as time slipped away, that she began to fear that he might not even turn up. Perhaps all of this was only an elaborate joke everyone had set up between them, all playing their various parts to lead her into making a fool of herself—Leion, Eollan, Lynah, and Kadia, too. Perhaps they were all laughing at her now, for believing she could be welcome in a place like this, or that Leion, that anyone, could ever want her. Every stirring in the room around her seemed to whisper disapproval: doesn't she know she's cursed?
"Nonsense!" she said, and shook herself. She crossed over to lie down on the bed. Leion might be heedless sometimes, but he had never yet deliberately let her down, and he wasn't, unlike Kadia, the sort to play cruel jokes. He would never have agreed to sleep with her if he hadn't wanted to.
Viyony closed her eyes, but got barely a few seconds of peace before a sudden loud clattering disturbed her. She started and sat bolt upright to find someone was rattling at the latticed window screen. She leapt off the bed, thrusting aside the gauzy curtains that threatened to entangle her, and hurried to the window.
"Let me in, can't you?" hissed Leion from the other side.
Viyony found the catch and released it and then pulled the screen back. Leion clambered through and hopped down from the sill to stand in front of her.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, twisting around to look at him, as she shoved the screen closed again. "Leion, doors and windows are not the same thing!"
Leion dusted off his thin dusky green jacket and straightened before running a hand through his hair. "More discreet," he said. He glanced around the chamber, then back at her, standing in her pretty nightwear and raised his eyebrows.
"There's nothing discreet about making a racket trying to climb in the window instead of using the door like everybody else!"
Leion walked about the room. He examined the wine and biscuits on the chest of drawers with interest. "Everybody else? Is this a general meeting? And here I was thinking it was an assignation at last."
Viyony edged nearer to him. If there was a script for romantic encounters, this was not it. "You made me jump out of my skin trying to break in."
"I thought you didn't want people gossiping," he said, and then caught her look and back footed with a brief cough. "I, er, yes. Perhaps I should have thought a little harder, but I crossed through the courtyard and your window was right there—it seemed like a good idea."
Viyony shook her head, hiding her smile. "Of course it did."
He grinned, and then pointed to the biscuits with a hopeful look. She nodded, and he ate one. "Very nice," he said indistinctly. "How come you get special treatment?"
"I told the staff I was expecting a visitor," she said. "When I said be discreet, I only meant not to be too obvious in front of the Lialian people."
He brushed crumbs from his mouth. "Ah," he said, and then tried to sit down on the tiny vanity desk before thinking better of it and immediately straightening up. "Anyway," he continued, pulling a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket, "whatever the case, we don't have too long, because I have another assignation to get to in half an hour!"
"What?" Viyony stopped, her hand going to her throat; half-winded.
Leion waved a handwritten note at her. "Yes. Look—someone slipped this into my pocket when I wasn't watching."
Viyony's eyebrows drew together. This encounter, she was beginning to realise, somewhere on a precarious tightrope between laughter and despair, was playing to an entirely different sort of script, one where somehow Leion had not understood his part at all. She took the piece of paper from him and examined it. It was addressed to Leion Valerno and asked him to meet the writer at an alcove in the main west corridor, as they were in need of his help. It was unsigned.
"But—this is a trap," she said. "Leion! You can't go."
Leion shrugged. "I can't just ignore it."
"Someone sent you a message once before telling you to go somewhere so that they could try to kill you. How many times do you intend to fall for the same trick before they succeed?"
Leion tried to retrieve the note, snatching at it. Viyony hastily shoved it behind her back and gave him a hard stare, daring him to try again.
"You know," said Leion, sounding injured, "you didn't ought to invite people to your room if you're going to hang about looking like that."
"Like what?"
"Confectionery," he said, waving a hand towards her nightdress and rose-coloured robe. "I am only human."
Viyony pressed a hand to her mouth, and somehow managed to keep her composure. "Yes," she said unsteadily. "I have noticed."
Leion paused in the act of reaching for a second biscuit. "Anyway, that's why our talk must wait until after I've found out what this mystery writer wants-"
"After?" said Viyony. "If there is an after!" And, then, distracted: "Our talk?"
Leion shoved the biscuit into his mouth, rendering his answer largely unintelligible.
"Don't be greedy," she said. "If you're going to be impossible, you can't have any more of my biscuits!"
"I'm going now," he said. "Early. I'll hide and see who turns up. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think."
"Where, exactly?" The alcove, or nook, in question, as far as she could recall, contained a window seat, a chair, and a bookcase. She didn't think it offered anywhere a fully grown person could conceal themselves.
Leion hesitated. "The room opposite?"
"That's Tess's. You can't go barging in there at this hour," said Viyony. "What you ought to do is tell Lynah, surely? It's her house. Her island, even."
He fell silent for a few moments before adding, "Somebody might need my help."
"Why?" she said. She saw the brief darkening of hurt in his face, and softened her tone: "Oh, Leion, I didn't mean it like that. I would want your help—I did, earlier today. You know that. But these guests—a good third or more aren't even from Portcallan. Why would one of them ask for you?"
"Well, let me past and I'll find out!"
Viyony remained barring his way. "Leion, no! Be sensible—let's go and find Lynah now, together. She can decide what to do, and if she wants to use you as bait, then I shan't get in your way. But you can't hang around the corridor all by yourself and wait to see if someone turns up and murders you. I won't let you!"
"Well, you can't go running around dressed like that!"
Viyony looked down at herself. "I'm perfectly decent, thank you."
"I suppose you are," he conceded with the greatest reluctance. "It's only -"
She stared at him, hard. Leion reached for the letter and caught her wrist.
"Viyony," he said.
She drew in an uneven breath. He was close enough now that it overset her. When he released her, she shoved the piece of paper into his hand and pulled back. "I will come with you, whatever you do," she said, "so you should just agree with me now and save time."
"I see. An argument is something that only happens when I'm in the wrong, is it?"
"If you're being this idiotic, then yes!"
He lapsed into a smile as he replaced the note in his pocket. He leant forward and reached for her hand. "All right," he said softly. "You win. Let's go find Lynah." He glanced back over at the little table, at the wine and the biscuits, and then back at her. Despite his words, he made no immediate effort to move away. Viyony caught her breath and risked raising her gaze to meet his. He twined his fingers about hers and drew in his breath to speak, but the words never came. Viyony put her free hand to his jacket sleeve with some vague intention of reminding him about Lynah, but he seemed to take it as encouragement and tugged her nearer. All her thoughts fluttered and took flight; she tightened her hold on him to steady herself. What did the note matter, really?
Leion cleared his throat, and said, raggedly, "We should, er, we should go—there's not all that much—all that much time."
"Yes—quite," she agreed.
Before either of them could say or do anything further, everything was taken out of their hands. A scream echoed down the corridor outside and shattered Viyony's last, foolish hopes of the evening.
It was Tess who had screamed. Leion and Viyony found her standing a short distance outside her room, pointing across at something in the very alcove Leion's mystery note had specified. Viyony frowned, trying to adjust to the dim light in the corridor, but Tess clutched at her and pressed shaky sobs into her shoulder before she had seen what was wrong. Leion muttered something under his breath and then shot over to the window nook, kneeling down beside the chair.
There was a body sprawled on the floor. Viyony experienced a brief moment of unravelling—the man lying half on the rug, half on the tiles, had dark hair and was wearing a green linen jacket. She turned instinctively, absurdly, at Leion, as if to be sure that someone hadn't somehow killed him while she wasn't looking, before she realised that it was Huick Ghalle, the writer, the one whose surface resemblance to Leion had caught her off guard several times already.
Nowin Cavalia, the ambassador from Low Eisterland, emerged from a nearby door, long tunic and trousers askew, evidently hastily thrown on. Somewhere out of sight, another door opened and shut followed by the sound of soft, hurried footsteps on the floorboards; the sound fading as whoever it was departed in the opposite direction.
Tess pulled away from Viyony and tried to straighten up. "I'm s-sorry," she said, wiping her face and sniffing. "I didn't even like him much, but I walked out of my room and he was there, like that! He's dead. I touched him—look!" She raised shaking blood-smeared hands.
Cavalia moved forward, muttering something in Low Eisterlandish; an oath, perhaps.
"Leion?" said Viyony, moving towards him.
He was crouching beside the lifeless heap that had been Ghalle. At his feet, a dark pool widened out over the sand-coloured tiles of the corridor where something flashed silver in the faint lightstone glow—the blade of a bloody knife.
"He's dead," Leion said, and rose slowly.
Cavalia looked from one to the other. "What ought we to do?"
"Keep back," said Leion. "Someone needs to find Lynah, or Imai Jhoui, if they're still in charge of security here. Even I can tell he didn't stab himself in the back."
Tess pressed her hand to her mouth and gulped, leaning weakly against Viyony, who put her arm round her while she sobbed, not sorry to have someone to hold onto herself. The other two looked at each other; Leion, close by the body, in a semi-defensive stance and Cavalia against the wall, frowning.
Viyony raised her head. "Leion, you and Aunra Cavalia go for help while Tess and I watch the body. Wait," she added, a thought striking her. "Tess, lovebird. Be brave. Did you see anyone else around when you found him?"
Tess pulled away from Viyony, and shook her head. "No. But I think I heard someone running away—one of the doors to the courtyard banged about."
Leion glanced at Viyony. "Will you be all right?"
She nodded. "I don't think Tess did this, do you? You go—and be careful."
Cavalia hesitated, looking around at the group. "Forgive me, but first—what if one among us is responsible?"
"Leion and I can vouch for each other," said Viyony. "We were together when this must have been happened."
"Yes," Leion agreed, "and neither of us have a spot of blood on us. Check if you like! Well, Viyony has some gory handprints all over her now, but that's Tess's doing."
"Oh, dear," said Tess vaguely. "I am sorry, Viyony. I didn't think. I just hate blood—I hate all this kind of thing! Poor Huick."
Cavalia folded her arms. "What about Imai Hyan? A person could stab a man and then stand back and scream in pretended distress."
"Leion," Tess said, grabbing at his sleeve. "I would never! Tell her!"
Cavalia held up a hand. "I am not saying I think it was so, but—wait! Someone is coming this way!"
They stared down the stretch of corridor that led towards the front of the house, straining to see whose footsteps it was that they could all now hear approaching.
"We need not worry after all," said Cavalia, as the two newcomers came into view. "Here is Imor Allin."
Lynah had her head of security, Teya Jhoui, at her side. Velin Ienkallis trailed behind them, much more subdued than Viyony had yet seen him, wearing only a robe and nightshirt, not having stopped to dress himself before he went to fetch help.
Lynah, in low tones and with an eye on Ghalle's body as she spoke, asked them what had happened; the security woman looming over her, grim-faced. They told her what little they knew, and Lynah paced the corridor for a few moments, before turning round and ordering Jhoui to gather everyone together in the main hall for questioning—all the guests as well as the few staff who remained on the premises at night. She directed Tess, Velin and Cavalia to the hall to await the others with instructions to say nothing about what had happened until she joined them, but she asked Leion and Viyony to remain. Once the rest had gone, she turned to them.
"Can you wait with the body? I'll need all my people for searching rooms, finding anyone who's missing. Leion, I know I can trust already, and you two say you can account for each other?"
Leion said, "Yes."
"Good. That's something. Will you both stay here and keep watch over the body?"
Leion looked at Viyony, raising an eyebrow. She met his gaze and gave a small nod.
"Yes," said Leion to Lynah. "Leave it to us."
With that, Lynah left. Immediately, now that they were alone, the corridor seemed suddenly eerily still and empty, the wells of shadows about them deeper. All the sounds of the household waking—doors opening and shutting, knocking, movements, hurried footsteps, and muffled conversations – were at a distance, like echoes from another world. They in contrast, were enveloped in a quietness that seemed almost tangible.
Leion paced across the width of the corridor and back before he looked across at Viyony. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," she said, although it was more an automatic reaction than the strictest truth. She was alive and unharmed, and Ghalle was not. "You didn't tell Lynah about the note, but see where we are, where this happened -"
"I'll tell her when she comes back. I thought it was better not to say in front of the others."
Viyony crossed to the window seat and sat down. She placed her hand on one of the cushions and noticed, with oddly detached interest, that she was trembling. "But don't you see? Someone meant to kill you, not Ghalle!"
Leion opted to sit on the rug, leaning back against the wall so that he was facing the prone form of what had only half an hour or so ago been Huick Ghalle. "What?"
"That note asked you to come here. And he looks a bit like you, so -"
"What do you mean he looks like me?" Leion straightened up abruptly and twisted his head to look up at her. "He's much older for a start—shorter—stockier—nothing like me!"
Viyony pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to stifle a nervous bubble of laughter. "Well, you do have the same sort of colouring and you were both wearing green. The light's not very good in this corner—and people do tend to see what they're expecting to see. Which was you."
"Oh, so we're looking for a murderer desperately in need of spectacles." Leion frowned at the body. "You're being ridiculous. I should have got here sooner, that's the thing. He wanted my help—and now look."
"No!" said Viyony. She kept her voice low, but knelt up in the window seat. "That's not possible—not like this, so long before the arranged time."
"It's a sight more possible than killers who stab first and look after."
Viyony sighed and slipped down to join him on the rug. He stiffened, evidently annoyed, although whether at her for stopping him from preventing this, or her theory, she couldn't tell. "No, really, Leion," she said softly, "it couldn't be. Think."
He turned his head towards her.
"If that note was genuine, then whoever wrote it was too scared to sign their name—so scared of someone else here they needed to keep the meeting secret. They wouldn't arrive half an hour early and stand out here alone in the dark." Viyony gazed at the body. "Nobody would."
"Hmph," muttered Leion.
She sighed and pulled herself back up onto the window seat. She leant her head on the latticed screen, cooler night air wafting through against her skin. It must have been Leion they meant to kill, mustn't it? It was too much of a coincidence otherwise. She rubbed her forehead. But then, coincidences did happen.
She was tired and absorbed enough in her thoughts that she started when Leion suddenly tapped her on the shoulder. He gestured for her to budge over, which she did, allowing him to perch next to her.
"I take your point," he said. "And you were right—I should have gone to Lynah straight away. If I had—maybe this wouldn't have happened."
"No, no," she murmured, turning her head as he rose, crossing back across the space to frown down at Ghalle's form. "It's not your fault."
Leion didn't respond. Viyony shrugged inwardly and ran her fingers along the edges of the screen, but she couldn't keep from stealing glances at Leion. He was still standing over the body, scowling as if he could will the man back to life somehow.
"I don't understand," Leion said after a few minutes' silence, and there was a sulky, injured note in his voice, "why you think anyone would want to kill me. Chiulder's the only one who might, and he couldn't get anywhere near this place."
Viyony didn't dare answer, afraid she might laugh again. There was no point in mentioning Kadia, but she had done some strange and spiteful things to Viyony, and tried to plant incriminating evidence on her in an attempt to get her into trouble and divide her from Leion. Kadia might not be here, either, but she had connections to the Allins and, unlike Chiulder, money and influence.
"What's more, it's a bit steep, coming from you! You don't listen to my warnings, do you? You went into that cave with Eollan, and look what happened! How about we talk about that instead? Because someone dosed you with something today, Viyony—and I bet it was him."
Viyony remembered to keep her voice down, but little else, jumping up to face him. "Oh? What do you know? You don't see anything, not even when it's staring you in the face! And you told me not to trust people like the Allins and Hyans back at the start—but now suddenly you're best friends with Lynah Allin! Why should I listen to you?"
She glared. Leion shrugged. Then he turned his back on her, throwing up his hands and walking away, before suddenly stopping with a bitten off curse.
"What is it?"
"I trod in the blood," he said and they both glanced at the corpse, sobering abruptly.
Viyony brushed her hair back from her face. A flush of shame crept up into her cheeks at the reminder of how little heed they had been paying to the dead man. "I'm sorry. I didn't really mean it—but sometimes you're the most frustrating person I know."
"My thoughts exactly," said Leion, in a low tone, his customary good nature returning. "On both counts." Then his mouth twisted into a smile. "Absurd, isn't it? Anyone would think we were jealous."
Viyony sank back down onto the window seat. Her throat constricted and she clasped her hands together on her lap. "Absurd, yes."
"The thing about Lynah," said Leion after another brief pause, "is that it's not my secret to tell. Anyway, I've a suggestion—a compromise, if you like."
"Oh, yes?"
"You take my suspicions seriously, and I'll do the same for yours, even if I want it noted that Ghalle does not—did not—look remotely like me."
"I suppose I can agree to that."
Leion leant against the wall. "The point is—there is danger, and we should both be careful."
They both instinctively looked at poor Ghalle.
"Leion," Viyony said. "Oh, Leion. What are we doing? We should be keeping vigil!"
Irrational panic scrambled about in her chest. She crossed over and knelt down on the edge of the rug, beside Ghalle's legs. The latticed screen was letting the night air in, so there was no need to run and open a window; that much was as it should be. They should also darken all the lights except the one in this corner, but clearly they couldn't do that here. "Has no one sent for a priest or some sort of attendant?"
He moved softly in the gloom behind her; reaching out and then letting his arms fall back. "I'm pretty sure the nearest thing to either on the island is Lynah, being the Allin. Besides, we don't know what he'd want. He could even be Cieleksh or something."
"Cieleksh?"
"Korphilian thing," said Leion, waving all further explanations away. "Not the only group who don't hold with the Powers, either. And this is Portcallan. Most people settle for a simple affair at the nearest Empty Temple."
Viyony stared about her as if the walls or furnishings might give her a better answer. They couldn't leave a dead body lying about unattended for even an hour or so, let alone longer. They should call a priest or attendant and have the corpse moved to a more suitable place for vigil. Leaving him like this was even worse when he had been murdered. Viyony had heard all sorts of tales about what happened to people who came to bad ends if their spirits weren't helped on their way to the stars.
"We can't just sit here and bicker. We're all he's got right now, and he'll be trapped here—his essence forever in this place -" She wiped a hand across dampened eyes, and then pressed the heel of it against her forehead. "And it's our fault!"
Leion's brow furrowed. He took a step towards her, but then checked himself again. "No, no," he said. "That's pure superstition. Powers and Great affinitives disperse; the rest of us don't, not really."
"We don't know that," said Viyony. She bent her head down further towards Ghalle, though she avoided touching him. "Fly free," she said under her breath, hoping Leion couldn't hear her. It felt like something, and it oughtn't to offend anyone, no matter what their spiritual persuasion.
Leion coughed. "Why don't you sit back down on the window seat? I think you're in shock."
Viyony's head snapped up. "Or merely a wild North Easterner?" She got to her feet nevertheless, her panic having receded. "I just wanted to do something." She looked at Leion and then down at herself, and quirked her mouth. "At least we're not too shockingly dressed for mourning." They had managed the right sort of colours between them, if nothing else. He was wearing darker shades—a sober green jacket and brown trousers—while she was in her cream nightdress the pale pink robe.
Leion blinked and then pressed his hand against his mouth to stifle a snort of laughter. "You can't go round wearing your night-things to anyone's memorial—and even if you did, I feel the bloody finger-marks over the shoulders would definitely be in poor taste."
Viyony closed her eyes. "Tess. Oh, no. I'd forgotten."
"I mean, you look charming," said Leion. "Bloodstains notwithstanding. But still -"
A loud thud from somewhere at the other end of the courtyard broke rudely into their conversation. They froze; listening. Viyony clambered up to stand on the window seat, trying to see what was going on through the gaps in the screen without much success.
"Probably one of Lynah's people," Viyony whispered, still squinting through the screen. She craned her head round. "Leion!"
He was already halfway to the outside door. She swallowed back any belated protest. Leion would be Leion, and she wouldn't really have him any other way. He paused, catching her look, but moved onwards anyway. He pulled the door ajar and peered round it.
Viyony rested her hand on the screen, still standing upright on the seat. "Oh, Leion," she said under her breath. Then she leapt lightly down and headed as far along the corridor towards him as she dared, not wanting to leave Ghalle's body unguarded or let Leion stray into danger without her.
Leion turned on hearing her approach, holding up a hand. "I think it's Jhoui, but I'm not sure—yes, there she is. Must have knocked something over, and it's so cursed quiet here, of course. Someone might as well have dropped a boulder in the middle of the courtyard."
Viyony nodded. "Come on—we're supposed to be watching Ghalle. And, I seem to recall, being much more careful. You can't go wandering off alone."
He pulled a face, before following her back to the alcove. "You needn't worry about me."
"Yes, but I do," said Viyony, as she perched on the edge of the window seat once more.
Even in this low light, she caught the way his face softened. Her pulse quickened, and she turned her head away. Arguing was a horrible way to behave while sitting vigil over a corpse, but it would be much worse if they were tempted to resume their broken conversation where they'd left off—when Leion had taken her hand and moved so close, as if he'd finally understood what kind of assignation she had intended for tonight. That was out of the question here. Viyony shifted her position on the window seat and stole a glance at Leion, but his profile gave nothing away.
The silence stretched on. Viyony could hear little beyond the rustling of the leaves of the shrubs outside the window, barring the intermittent echo of doors opening and shutting, accompanied by the patter of distant footsteps.
It felt as if no one would ever come near them again, but eventually the sound of nearby footsteps became more distinct and louder until Imai Jhoui rounded the corner towards them with the medic, Pollavena Ezulla, close behind her.
Jhoui stood back while Imai Ezulla drew in her breath softly before crouching down and attending to the body. She set a bright lightstone lamp down beside Ghalle, illuminating the one area that Viyony would rather not see so clearly while casting eerie upward shadows around everything else, giving the whole scene a nightmarish feel. Ezulla knelt close to Ghalle as she worked, muttering indistinctly and occasionally pausing to jot down some notes.
Jhoui turned to Leion and Viyony and asked if they had seen anyone else since she and Lynah had left them. After they told her no, she merely folded her arms and studied the darkened corridor intently. Viyony and Leion exchanged a look.
Several other security people passed by in the course of searching the corridor and the adjacent rooms, before a member of staff turned up, side-stepping Ezulla and Jhoui and the body in order to offer Leion and Viyony a tray containing cups of cold tea and a plate with small twists of bread threaded with cheese and herbs. "Imai Allin asked me to bring you this," he said, lowered his voice, with an uneasy glance back at the body, and Imai Ezulla, who was turning it over with Jhoui's help.
"I hope it's not poisoned," Leion said, picking up a plate and cup, and then, to the man's bafflement, proceeded to sniff the drink and turn over one of the little twists, subjecting it to close examination before passing them onto Viyony.
"Leion," said Viyony, poking him in the arm. "That's not funny."
"Only being careful," he said indistinctly through a mouthful of bread.
She lifted her eyes to the ceiling before angling herself away from him and the corpse both in order to bite into one of the twists and sip the chilled tea. The man who had brought them hastened gratefully off down the corridor.
They had both finished their bread and drinks before Ezulla finally stood up and brushed herself down, her work here over. Jhoui blinked, and then informed Viyony and Leion that someone would relieve them as soon as possible. She and Imai Ezulla then hurried away, taking the lamp and the bloody knife with them.
Leion raised an eyebrow at Viyony. She grimaced in return before huddling up on the window seat and shutting her eyes, just for a moment. It was a mistake. She slid away into a dream almost at once—standing in the rain on a clifftop, high above the sea, or maybe a river; so deeply unhappy that when she shifted and blinked back to sudden, unwelcome wakefulness, her cheeks were damp with tears.
"Some bodyguard you are," Leion said. He was leaning against the wall close by; arms folded.
Viyony screwed up her face in reply, but he was right. She shook herself and stood, resuming her earlier examination of the scene. She didn't expect to find anything, not after Leion, Jhoui, and Imai Ezulla had all looked, but it was something to do that would keep her from falling asleep. Everything in the house had stilled again and it would be horribly easy to drift off. She stared at Ghalle and saw Leion there instead in her mind's eye—and then jumped disproportionately at a sudden slamming of a distant door.
She crossed to the bookshelf, trying to position herself so that she didn't block the available light from falling on the spines.
"Bored?" said Leion.
She ignored him, frowning over titles she couldn't quite make out so intensely that she started violently for a second time when he casually put a hand on her shoulder.
"Here," he said, when she swung round, and passed her a tiny lightstone lamp. "Completely forgot I had this in my pocket."
Viyony took it from him and returned to studying the books. "I wondered if perhaps there might be something here. If he was looking at something, or put a message in one of them -" She narrowed her gaze. "What?"
"It's very late," he said. "Understandable if you've started spouting nonsense."
Viyony turned over the volume in her hands. Arland's Book of Dreaming. Osmer Nivyrn had told her to read it. "Do you think Lynah would let me borrow this?"
"I'm sure she would," said Leion, suddenly sounding quieter, but more alert, "but I don't think you should. It's probably Vollo's."
Viyony opened the book, holding the tiny light at an awkward angle to make out the text. Laon is of the light, she read, and laughed under her breath.
"What's so funny?"
She read it aloud, keeping her voice low. "Laon is of the light—therefore of sight, of inner knowledge. Light lays all things bare. Truth is seen by it, and justice is seen to be done."
"I don't see what's amusing about that," complained Leion. He smothered a yawn. "This is getting a bit much, isn't it? I hope we're not stuck here until morning."
Viyony carried the book over to the window seat, where she tried to position herself and the little light as best as she could in order to read. To her annoyance, Leion immediately sat beside her and leant over her shoulder.
"There are plenty of other books," she pointed out.
Lightstone, she read, is essentially a reflective substance. It stores the light of sun and stars, of the Paths, and emits it again. One looks into lightstone and sees an image that is either a true vision of an event that may occur, or may have occurred, or it is inner vision that is given to the seeker and understanding of one's own thoughts and deeds.
Leion stretched a hand over and tried to lift the corner of the next page. Viyony poked him with her elbow. He remained unrepentant; this time catching hold of the cover as he frowned in an effort to make out the title page.
"Oh, Arland," he said. "Bit basic for you, isn't it? Don't you start where all other dreamers leave off?"
She shrugged. "Imai Nivyrn told me to read it."
Leion let go of the book. "You went to see him?"
Viyony made a vague sound of affirmation and turned over the page, although the words wouldn't come into focus any more. She was so tired and Leion's nearness was very distracting.
"I'll get you a copy," he offered.
"I'll buy my own, thank you."
"I'd like to." Then he leant in and said, "Hold still, I'm reading that part about lightstone visions. It sounds like something Eollan said when I -" He paused and a smile grew over his face. "I went to ask him for advice, just like someone told me to."
"Oh no. How did that go?"
"Neither of us pushed each other off the cliff and it was certainly instructive."
"That well, then?"
Viyony shut the book and passed it to him. She shifted up against the side of the window, leaving a gap between them, and stared hard at the corpse on the floor to remind herself of what they were doing here. It would be so easy, right now, to do something terribly disrespectful, inappropriate and, as the night dragged itself further into the small hours of the morning, she increasingly believed would be unwise. She sighed.
"Viyony," said Leion.
He touched her arm lightly. Her heartbeat sounded hard and fast in her ears, dizzying her. She closed her eyes to the body in front of them. Never mind wise—she was too overtired for that. She looked up.
"This book," Leion said, and then, without warning he stopped, jumped to his feet and dropped it carelessly into her lap.
Viyony clutched at the volume before it tumbled to the floor, and when she raised her head again, she could see what had caught Leion's attention. Lynah was heading their way, accompanied by Imai Jhoui and another member of staff.
"I'm so sorry for abandoning you here all this time," Lynah said, stopping carefully short of the body and the congealing puddle of blood on the tiles. "To cut a very long and tiresome few hours short, what we are left with is that once we had rounded everyone up, one member of my staff, Seshuan, was nowhere to be found. They had obviously prepared to leave earlier—they had taken a case and the essentials. It also turns out there was a row boat waiting for them and they must have left not long after Ghalle was stabbed."
Leion's brows narrowed. "You're sure it was them?"
Lynah shrugged. "I'm swearing to nothing yet, but we've found no indication that anyone else was directly involved."
"Ah," said Leion. "You think someone may have paid them to do it?"
Lynah held up a hand. "As I said—it's too early for jumping to conclusions. We've done everything we can for tonight. Everyone's under strict orders to keep to their rooms in the morning until summoned to breakfast—very uncivilised for a house party—and I'll get a message sent over to the mainland as soon as it's light."
Viyony smothered a yawn.
"You'll be glad to hear your vigil is over," Lynah said, with a softer glance at Viyony. "I appreciated your help in very distressing circumstances." When neither of them said anything, she added gently, "You can go now, although directly to your rooms and you must stay there until you are called for in the morning."
Viyony got to her feet and put the book down on the window seat behind her. "Oh, good." She watched Leion as he moved towards Lynah. "Even so—Leion shouldn't walk back alone."
"Jhoui is going the same way," said Lynah easily. "I'll escort you to yours."
Viyony's room was only a few lengths down the corridor, which startled her. She and Leion had seemed to be hundredlengths distant from everyone else—lost together, guarding Ghalle in an isolated pool of dim light surrounded by a great wash of gloom.
Lynah opened the door for her, and leant her head in to add, "Leion will be safe with Jhoui, don't worry."
Viyony rubbed her eyes. "I know it must sound silly, but someone sent him a very strange note, asking him to go to the place where Imai Ghalle was killed, and while Ghalle doesn't—didn't—really look that much like Leion, but in poor light, in a panic—someone could have made a mistake, I think." She pushed her hand through her hair, as if that might help her think straight. "Oh, it is absurd, isn't it? But I thought I should say."
"No, not absurd," said Lynah slowly. "None of this is over yet, either. Go and get what sleep you can, and leave Leion to me."
Story: Starfall
Colors: Warm Heart #28 (Heart); Vert #26 (We may be hopeless to stop bad things but...)
Supplies and Styles: Portrait + Silhouette + Thread + Novelty Beads (October 2024 Challenge: 2) https://64.media.tumblr.com/1880f54617fb7285e7c9acc7db993a09/a5625f96e28a4d41-81/s540x810/030dc8ceac43f5277500399c9539501177aea2c4.jpg [img of text screen reading "Are you flirting with me?" "I'm trying. I have no idea what i'm doing.")
Word Count: 8293
Rating: Teen
Warnings: Death, blood, injury, mild references to sex.
Notes: 1313, Calla Island. Viyony Eseray/Leion Valerno, Tess Hyan, Velin Ienkallis, Lynah Allin. Continues on directly from Dazzled. (The longest section of this sequence).
Summary: Viyony arranges an assignation with Leion, but she's not the only one with plans for midnight.
Catching Leion before dinner proved impossible. As soon as Viyony made her way to the dining hall and out on the terrace, she was cornered by Dutez Owayan, the seed merchant she had spoken to on the previous evening. She braced herself for more business talk that she didn't want to hear when her mind was on romance, but instead he launched into a complaint about Huick Ghalle, the newsletter writer.
"Imor Allin should never have invited that fellow. Wandering round making unfounded insinuations about my affairs. He hasn't been talking to you, has he?"
Viyony shook her head, scanning the assembled guests for Leion. She had expected him to hover around her this evening trying to stop her eating or drinking anything, just to be on the safe side but instead he had failed to appear. She had been waiting for fifteen minutes now to tell him that she didn't appreciate his fussing and had been quite careful enough when choosing her glass of wine from the tray. It was a bit much of him to go to extremes such as having all her wash things replaced and then suddenly abandon her.
"... and he's drunk already, if you ask me," Dutez muttered in her ear.
Viyony blinked and tried to see where Ghalle was, but she couldn't spot him either. She saw Eollan, standing not far away, talking to Nowin Cazalia. He caught her glance and grinned, then grimaced with a nod towards Dutez.
The bell for dinner rang, cutting off Dutez's monologue, but it didn't provide Viyony with an escape—he had been seated next to her. Velin was on the other side and Tess and Teo Dilance, the singer, were sitting opposite. Dutez cheered up once the meal arrived, and he was presented with some small cheese and spinach pastries. It was followed by a comparatively simple main dish of fish and soft grains, and matters improved from there. Velin was pleasant company as ever, although Teo Dilance was left fielding Tess's requests for all her favourites songs, one by one.
Viyony shot a stealthy, sidelong glance down the table to the corner where Leion was sitting next to Huick Ghalle and Captain Wyense. Seeing him side by side with Ghalle made her feel foolish for thinking there was a likeness, although, she noted with amusement, they were both wearing green jackets, if not the same shade. Leion saw her look and raised his glass to her while resting his other hand on the edge of his plate before eyeing her sternly; a mute show that Viyony guessed meant that he wanted to know she was being careful about her food. Viyony straightened, something lifting from her, and deliberately ate a piece of fish in what she very much hoped was visible unconcern. Leion screwed up his face.
She stared instead at the glassware on the table. It reflected the glow of the yellow lightstone lamp hanging above them, and, for a moment, dazzled her, like bright sunlight on waves or the starstone in the cave earlier, glinting and gleaming from all angles. The voices around her faded and she saw pictures in her mind—a fortress's tower in the mountains, a dark blue gemstone set in silver, and blood spilling out over sunset-hued tiles.
"Don't you agree?" said Dutez, at her elbow. "Imai Eseray?"
She jumped. The images vanished, and unlike her dreams, went past all recall. She shook the last vestige of them away and turned back to Dutez. "I'm so sorry. What were you saying?"
After they finished their meal, the guests either returned outside for music and dancing, or decamped into the next room to play games, mainly card and dice. Lynah drew Leion towards the games room, and they stood by the door, talking. Viyony had to wait until Lynah had finished and followed her guests inside before she could have her turn.
Leion smiled and took a step towards her even as Viyony hurried over to join him.
She stopped in front of him. "So I didn't imagine you earlier."
"Apparently not." He grasped her hand as he studied her features. She had to look away. "How are you feeling?"
"Please. Don't fuss. I'm fine—as you can see."
"My apologies. Next time I shall step right over your prone body and head off for a scenic walk with Tess instead."
"Sorry—Velin, Eollan, and Tess all asked the same thing. I'm fine now, though. You needn't worry, truly."
"Worry?" said Leion, taking her arm and ushering her through the door into the warm room. "No, no. I was hoping to be rid of you at last."
Viyony rolled her eyes. "Ha. Leion—please. Wait. I wanted to ask you something. I was hoping—that is—would you come to my room later? After."
"After...?"
She waved an arm at everyone else, sitting at the tables or standing around talking. "This."
"Ah," he said. "I understand. Of course. I've promised Tess a game of Chase—but I can put her off."
Viyony shook her head. "No, no. I need to catch some people first. I'll let you know when I go and you can follow." She hesitated and then turned back, laying a hand on his arm. "Leion, there are people here who know Imoren, so, please -"
"Be discreet," he said instantly. "Of course. I promise."
Viyony walked around the tables, observing with interest. Portcallan's card decks were often different to those she was used to in the Eister Ranges, and some of these were West Korphilian, which were even stranger to her eyes. She was used to suits based on the major Powers and their elements, whether they were the Emoyran eight or the much longer roll call of Eisterlander Powers. Velin saw her hovering and gestured for her to sit beside him, where he guided her through a hand of what he called Iolarn and Nowin Cavalia, who was playing with him, said was better known in more easterly parts as Hearts and Daggers. Viyony didn't recognise it under either name. Father tended to make up his own versions of games, and she generally only knew the most widely played games that she or her siblings had picked up from school friends in Mirambridge.
She drifted back out into the garden once the play was over, needing a little time to think. She mustn't forget to speak to anyone important, running through a mental list of who she had hoped to catch tonight. Her mind kept skittering away from the subject of business, though, until she finally had to give up on it. All she could think of was her upcoming tryst with Leion. Was it too soon to leave the party? She decided it was not, and that she must find Leion to let him know—and, then, as if she had conjured him up by the thought, he arrived at her side so abruptly that she jumped.
"Nice evening," he said.
Viyony caught her breath. She must remain casual, she told herself; all the while fiddling with the embroidered edges of her dress. "What happened to your game?"
"Tess trounced me, so I've given it up forever, or at least until I've learned to live with the shame. To be fair, she did have help."
Viyony smiled out at the night. "Leion," she said. Her mouth dried as a thought struck her; something she ought to say now, while there was still time for him to back out and for both of them to pretend that nothing had happened. "I—that is—do you remember me telling you about Guilleot?"
"Yes," he said, more promptly than she had expected. "Piece of sea shit. Not worth talking about once, let alone twice."
"He didn't really want me, and we never got very far, you know? And there was never anyone else much before or after. Because of the dreams—because of being always at Eseray. Mother thinks that's a dangerously ignorant way to go into an arranged marriage, and that was why she as good as told me to have an affair while I was here."
"Your mother is a wise soul," Leion said. "If only you listened to her from time to time."
Viyony folded her arms against herself at the unexpected wash of homesickness that passed through her, talking about Mother in this unfamiliar place. "You don't even know her."
"You must introduce me when she comes for the wedding."
Viyony watched him for a moment longer, but he made no sudden excuses as to why he shouldn't come to her room. His brow furrowed at her continued silence, and then he shifted nearer and patted her arm.
"Don't ever think about him again," he advised. "Worry about the current piece of sea shit you're engaged to instead."
Viyony started. "Leion!"
"Just go," he said, moving away. "I'll follow presently, as instructed, and we'll discuss everything then, yes?"
Viyony removed her earrings before the mirror in her room, barely even seeing herself as she went through the motions of preparing for bed; her gaze wandering away into the reflected chamber, where, at the edge of her vision, the bed hangings fluttered in a stronger breeze than yesterday's. She seemed, for an instant, to glimpse other shapes in motion there, but as soon as she blinked, they were gone.
Someone knock briskly at the door, and Hueva entered. "Do you have everything you need? I hope the replacement wash things were suitable."
Viyony turned. "Oh!" The heat rose in her face. "I am so sorry about that. Leion—Imai Valerno—was probably worrying over nothing, but he insisted. And yes, thank you."
"It was no problem," Hueva said calmly. "Will that be all?"
Viyony straightened her cream nightgown and then hastily attended to her pink silk robe, still hanging open. It fastened at the centre of the high waist line with a decorative flower-knot, and she now hitched the hidden hook into place. "Y-yes, thank you. Imai Valerno will be coming here soon, so I -" She hesitated as Hueva raised an eyebrow. "Should I have said that?"
"No reason not to," Hueva returned, unperturbed. "Shall I send someone with refreshments—wine, perhaps?"
Viyony smoothed down the sides of her robe. She was quite happy balancing ledgers, navigating social events and negotiating business agreements, but this was another matter entirely. "That's very kind—yes, please." She caught her breath. "That is—should I? Would it be usual?"
Hueva's face crinkled. "I think it might be for the best, Imai. I'll see to it."
Viyony watched her go and sighed. She released her hair from its pins and fastenings, and brushed it with a vim. It would be all right when Leion was here. He wouldn't mind if she didn't know the usual script for a romantic encounter. She didn't think she'd need it.
She hadn't worried until this moment; instead only buoyant with excitement. Now she paced around the room and hoped that the promised wine would arrive before Leion did, or not too long after, and then, when an unfamiliar member of staff appeared with a bottle of wine and a plate of narrow strips of biscuit perching on a tray, she wondered if Leion would decide they shouldn't have any, in case it had been adulterated.
She ate half a biscuit anyway in defiance. It was crumbly, dusted with fine sugar and made with ground almonds. She wiped her mouth clean of the crumbs, and laughed at herself.
It was only as time slipped away, that she began to fear that he might not even turn up. Perhaps all of this was only an elaborate joke everyone had set up between them, all playing their various parts to lead her into making a fool of herself—Leion, Eollan, Lynah, and Kadia, too. Perhaps they were all laughing at her now, for believing she could be welcome in a place like this, or that Leion, that anyone, could ever want her. Every stirring in the room around her seemed to whisper disapproval: doesn't she know she's cursed?
"Nonsense!" she said, and shook herself. She crossed over to lie down on the bed. Leion might be heedless sometimes, but he had never yet deliberately let her down, and he wasn't, unlike Kadia, the sort to play cruel jokes. He would never have agreed to sleep with her if he hadn't wanted to.
Viyony closed her eyes, but got barely a few seconds of peace before a sudden loud clattering disturbed her. She started and sat bolt upright to find someone was rattling at the latticed window screen. She leapt off the bed, thrusting aside the gauzy curtains that threatened to entangle her, and hurried to the window.
"Let me in, can't you?" hissed Leion from the other side.
Viyony found the catch and released it and then pulled the screen back. Leion clambered through and hopped down from the sill to stand in front of her.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, twisting around to look at him, as she shoved the screen closed again. "Leion, doors and windows are not the same thing!"
Leion dusted off his thin dusky green jacket and straightened before running a hand through his hair. "More discreet," he said. He glanced around the chamber, then back at her, standing in her pretty nightwear and raised his eyebrows.
"There's nothing discreet about making a racket trying to climb in the window instead of using the door like everybody else!"
Leion walked about the room. He examined the wine and biscuits on the chest of drawers with interest. "Everybody else? Is this a general meeting? And here I was thinking it was an assignation at last."
Viyony edged nearer to him. If there was a script for romantic encounters, this was not it. "You made me jump out of my skin trying to break in."
"I thought you didn't want people gossiping," he said, and then caught her look and back footed with a brief cough. "I, er, yes. Perhaps I should have thought a little harder, but I crossed through the courtyard and your window was right there—it seemed like a good idea."
Viyony shook her head, hiding her smile. "Of course it did."
He grinned, and then pointed to the biscuits with a hopeful look. She nodded, and he ate one. "Very nice," he said indistinctly. "How come you get special treatment?"
"I told the staff I was expecting a visitor," she said. "When I said be discreet, I only meant not to be too obvious in front of the Lialian people."
He brushed crumbs from his mouth. "Ah," he said, and then tried to sit down on the tiny vanity desk before thinking better of it and immediately straightening up. "Anyway," he continued, pulling a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket, "whatever the case, we don't have too long, because I have another assignation to get to in half an hour!"
"What?" Viyony stopped, her hand going to her throat; half-winded.
Leion waved a handwritten note at her. "Yes. Look—someone slipped this into my pocket when I wasn't watching."
Viyony's eyebrows drew together. This encounter, she was beginning to realise, somewhere on a precarious tightrope between laughter and despair, was playing to an entirely different sort of script, one where somehow Leion had not understood his part at all. She took the piece of paper from him and examined it. It was addressed to Leion Valerno and asked him to meet the writer at an alcove in the main west corridor, as they were in need of his help. It was unsigned.
"But—this is a trap," she said. "Leion! You can't go."
Leion shrugged. "I can't just ignore it."
"Someone sent you a message once before telling you to go somewhere so that they could try to kill you. How many times do you intend to fall for the same trick before they succeed?"
Leion tried to retrieve the note, snatching at it. Viyony hastily shoved it behind her back and gave him a hard stare, daring him to try again.
"You know," said Leion, sounding injured, "you didn't ought to invite people to your room if you're going to hang about looking like that."
"Like what?"
"Confectionery," he said, waving a hand towards her nightdress and rose-coloured robe. "I am only human."
Viyony pressed a hand to her mouth, and somehow managed to keep her composure. "Yes," she said unsteadily. "I have noticed."
Leion paused in the act of reaching for a second biscuit. "Anyway, that's why our talk must wait until after I've found out what this mystery writer wants-"
"After?" said Viyony. "If there is an after!" And, then, distracted: "Our talk?"
Leion shoved the biscuit into his mouth, rendering his answer largely unintelligible.
"Don't be greedy," she said. "If you're going to be impossible, you can't have any more of my biscuits!"
"I'm going now," he said. "Early. I'll hide and see who turns up. I'm not as stupid as you seem to think."
"Where, exactly?" The alcove, or nook, in question, as far as she could recall, contained a window seat, a chair, and a bookcase. She didn't think it offered anywhere a fully grown person could conceal themselves.
Leion hesitated. "The room opposite?"
"That's Tess's. You can't go barging in there at this hour," said Viyony. "What you ought to do is tell Lynah, surely? It's her house. Her island, even."
He fell silent for a few moments before adding, "Somebody might need my help."
"Why?" she said. She saw the brief darkening of hurt in his face, and softened her tone: "Oh, Leion, I didn't mean it like that. I would want your help—I did, earlier today. You know that. But these guests—a good third or more aren't even from Portcallan. Why would one of them ask for you?"
"Well, let me past and I'll find out!"
Viyony remained barring his way. "Leion, no! Be sensible—let's go and find Lynah now, together. She can decide what to do, and if she wants to use you as bait, then I shan't get in your way. But you can't hang around the corridor all by yourself and wait to see if someone turns up and murders you. I won't let you!"
"Well, you can't go running around dressed like that!"
Viyony looked down at herself. "I'm perfectly decent, thank you."
"I suppose you are," he conceded with the greatest reluctance. "It's only -"
She stared at him, hard. Leion reached for the letter and caught her wrist.
"Viyony," he said.
She drew in an uneven breath. He was close enough now that it overset her. When he released her, she shoved the piece of paper into his hand and pulled back. "I will come with you, whatever you do," she said, "so you should just agree with me now and save time."
"I see. An argument is something that only happens when I'm in the wrong, is it?"
"If you're being this idiotic, then yes!"
He lapsed into a smile as he replaced the note in his pocket. He leant forward and reached for her hand. "All right," he said softly. "You win. Let's go find Lynah." He glanced back over at the little table, at the wine and the biscuits, and then back at her. Despite his words, he made no immediate effort to move away. Viyony caught her breath and risked raising her gaze to meet his. He twined his fingers about hers and drew in his breath to speak, but the words never came. Viyony put her free hand to his jacket sleeve with some vague intention of reminding him about Lynah, but he seemed to take it as encouragement and tugged her nearer. All her thoughts fluttered and took flight; she tightened her hold on him to steady herself. What did the note matter, really?
Leion cleared his throat, and said, raggedly, "We should, er, we should go—there's not all that much—all that much time."
"Yes—quite," she agreed.
Before either of them could say or do anything further, everything was taken out of their hands. A scream echoed down the corridor outside and shattered Viyony's last, foolish hopes of the evening.
It was Tess who had screamed. Leion and Viyony found her standing a short distance outside her room, pointing across at something in the very alcove Leion's mystery note had specified. Viyony frowned, trying to adjust to the dim light in the corridor, but Tess clutched at her and pressed shaky sobs into her shoulder before she had seen what was wrong. Leion muttered something under his breath and then shot over to the window nook, kneeling down beside the chair.
There was a body sprawled on the floor. Viyony experienced a brief moment of unravelling—the man lying half on the rug, half on the tiles, had dark hair and was wearing a green linen jacket. She turned instinctively, absurdly, at Leion, as if to be sure that someone hadn't somehow killed him while she wasn't looking, before she realised that it was Huick Ghalle, the writer, the one whose surface resemblance to Leion had caught her off guard several times already.
Nowin Cavalia, the ambassador from Low Eisterland, emerged from a nearby door, long tunic and trousers askew, evidently hastily thrown on. Somewhere out of sight, another door opened and shut followed by the sound of soft, hurried footsteps on the floorboards; the sound fading as whoever it was departed in the opposite direction.
Tess pulled away from Viyony and tried to straighten up. "I'm s-sorry," she said, wiping her face and sniffing. "I didn't even like him much, but I walked out of my room and he was there, like that! He's dead. I touched him—look!" She raised shaking blood-smeared hands.
Cavalia moved forward, muttering something in Low Eisterlandish; an oath, perhaps.
"Leion?" said Viyony, moving towards him.
He was crouching beside the lifeless heap that had been Ghalle. At his feet, a dark pool widened out over the sand-coloured tiles of the corridor where something flashed silver in the faint lightstone glow—the blade of a bloody knife.
"He's dead," Leion said, and rose slowly.
Cavalia looked from one to the other. "What ought we to do?"
"Keep back," said Leion. "Someone needs to find Lynah, or Imai Jhoui, if they're still in charge of security here. Even I can tell he didn't stab himself in the back."
Tess pressed her hand to her mouth and gulped, leaning weakly against Viyony, who put her arm round her while she sobbed, not sorry to have someone to hold onto herself. The other two looked at each other; Leion, close by the body, in a semi-defensive stance and Cavalia against the wall, frowning.
Viyony raised her head. "Leion, you and Aunra Cavalia go for help while Tess and I watch the body. Wait," she added, a thought striking her. "Tess, lovebird. Be brave. Did you see anyone else around when you found him?"
Tess pulled away from Viyony, and shook her head. "No. But I think I heard someone running away—one of the doors to the courtyard banged about."
Leion glanced at Viyony. "Will you be all right?"
She nodded. "I don't think Tess did this, do you? You go—and be careful."
Cavalia hesitated, looking around at the group. "Forgive me, but first—what if one among us is responsible?"
"Leion and I can vouch for each other," said Viyony. "We were together when this must have been happened."
"Yes," Leion agreed, "and neither of us have a spot of blood on us. Check if you like! Well, Viyony has some gory handprints all over her now, but that's Tess's doing."
"Oh, dear," said Tess vaguely. "I am sorry, Viyony. I didn't think. I just hate blood—I hate all this kind of thing! Poor Huick."
Cavalia folded her arms. "What about Imai Hyan? A person could stab a man and then stand back and scream in pretended distress."
"Leion," Tess said, grabbing at his sleeve. "I would never! Tell her!"
Cavalia held up a hand. "I am not saying I think it was so, but—wait! Someone is coming this way!"
They stared down the stretch of corridor that led towards the front of the house, straining to see whose footsteps it was that they could all now hear approaching.
"We need not worry after all," said Cavalia, as the two newcomers came into view. "Here is Imor Allin."
Lynah had her head of security, Teya Jhoui, at her side. Velin Ienkallis trailed behind them, much more subdued than Viyony had yet seen him, wearing only a robe and nightshirt, not having stopped to dress himself before he went to fetch help.
Lynah, in low tones and with an eye on Ghalle's body as she spoke, asked them what had happened; the security woman looming over her, grim-faced. They told her what little they knew, and Lynah paced the corridor for a few moments, before turning round and ordering Jhoui to gather everyone together in the main hall for questioning—all the guests as well as the few staff who remained on the premises at night. She directed Tess, Velin and Cavalia to the hall to await the others with instructions to say nothing about what had happened until she joined them, but she asked Leion and Viyony to remain. Once the rest had gone, she turned to them.
"Can you wait with the body? I'll need all my people for searching rooms, finding anyone who's missing. Leion, I know I can trust already, and you two say you can account for each other?"
Leion said, "Yes."
"Good. That's something. Will you both stay here and keep watch over the body?"
Leion looked at Viyony, raising an eyebrow. She met his gaze and gave a small nod.
"Yes," said Leion to Lynah. "Leave it to us."
With that, Lynah left. Immediately, now that they were alone, the corridor seemed suddenly eerily still and empty, the wells of shadows about them deeper. All the sounds of the household waking—doors opening and shutting, knocking, movements, hurried footsteps, and muffled conversations – were at a distance, like echoes from another world. They in contrast, were enveloped in a quietness that seemed almost tangible.
Leion paced across the width of the corridor and back before he looked across at Viyony. "Are you all right?"
"Yes," she said, although it was more an automatic reaction than the strictest truth. She was alive and unharmed, and Ghalle was not. "You didn't tell Lynah about the note, but see where we are, where this happened -"
"I'll tell her when she comes back. I thought it was better not to say in front of the others."
Viyony crossed to the window seat and sat down. She placed her hand on one of the cushions and noticed, with oddly detached interest, that she was trembling. "But don't you see? Someone meant to kill you, not Ghalle!"
Leion opted to sit on the rug, leaning back against the wall so that he was facing the prone form of what had only half an hour or so ago been Huick Ghalle. "What?"
"That note asked you to come here. And he looks a bit like you, so -"
"What do you mean he looks like me?" Leion straightened up abruptly and twisted his head to look up at her. "He's much older for a start—shorter—stockier—nothing like me!"
Viyony pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to stifle a nervous bubble of laughter. "Well, you do have the same sort of colouring and you were both wearing green. The light's not very good in this corner—and people do tend to see what they're expecting to see. Which was you."
"Oh, so we're looking for a murderer desperately in need of spectacles." Leion frowned at the body. "You're being ridiculous. I should have got here sooner, that's the thing. He wanted my help—and now look."
"No!" said Viyony. She kept her voice low, but knelt up in the window seat. "That's not possible—not like this, so long before the arranged time."
"It's a sight more possible than killers who stab first and look after."
Viyony sighed and slipped down to join him on the rug. He stiffened, evidently annoyed, although whether at her for stopping him from preventing this, or her theory, she couldn't tell. "No, really, Leion," she said softly, "it couldn't be. Think."
He turned his head towards her.
"If that note was genuine, then whoever wrote it was too scared to sign their name—so scared of someone else here they needed to keep the meeting secret. They wouldn't arrive half an hour early and stand out here alone in the dark." Viyony gazed at the body. "Nobody would."
"Hmph," muttered Leion.
She sighed and pulled herself back up onto the window seat. She leant her head on the latticed screen, cooler night air wafting through against her skin. It must have been Leion they meant to kill, mustn't it? It was too much of a coincidence otherwise. She rubbed her forehead. But then, coincidences did happen.
She was tired and absorbed enough in her thoughts that she started when Leion suddenly tapped her on the shoulder. He gestured for her to budge over, which she did, allowing him to perch next to her.
"I take your point," he said. "And you were right—I should have gone to Lynah straight away. If I had—maybe this wouldn't have happened."
"No, no," she murmured, turning her head as he rose, crossing back across the space to frown down at Ghalle's form. "It's not your fault."
Leion didn't respond. Viyony shrugged inwardly and ran her fingers along the edges of the screen, but she couldn't keep from stealing glances at Leion. He was still standing over the body, scowling as if he could will the man back to life somehow.
"I don't understand," Leion said after a few minutes' silence, and there was a sulky, injured note in his voice, "why you think anyone would want to kill me. Chiulder's the only one who might, and he couldn't get anywhere near this place."
Viyony didn't dare answer, afraid she might laugh again. There was no point in mentioning Kadia, but she had done some strange and spiteful things to Viyony, and tried to plant incriminating evidence on her in an attempt to get her into trouble and divide her from Leion. Kadia might not be here, either, but she had connections to the Allins and, unlike Chiulder, money and influence.
"What's more, it's a bit steep, coming from you! You don't listen to my warnings, do you? You went into that cave with Eollan, and look what happened! How about we talk about that instead? Because someone dosed you with something today, Viyony—and I bet it was him."
Viyony remembered to keep her voice down, but little else, jumping up to face him. "Oh? What do you know? You don't see anything, not even when it's staring you in the face! And you told me not to trust people like the Allins and Hyans back at the start—but now suddenly you're best friends with Lynah Allin! Why should I listen to you?"
She glared. Leion shrugged. Then he turned his back on her, throwing up his hands and walking away, before suddenly stopping with a bitten off curse.
"What is it?"
"I trod in the blood," he said and they both glanced at the corpse, sobering abruptly.
Viyony brushed her hair back from her face. A flush of shame crept up into her cheeks at the reminder of how little heed they had been paying to the dead man. "I'm sorry. I didn't really mean it—but sometimes you're the most frustrating person I know."
"My thoughts exactly," said Leion, in a low tone, his customary good nature returning. "On both counts." Then his mouth twisted into a smile. "Absurd, isn't it? Anyone would think we were jealous."
Viyony sank back down onto the window seat. Her throat constricted and she clasped her hands together on her lap. "Absurd, yes."
"The thing about Lynah," said Leion after another brief pause, "is that it's not my secret to tell. Anyway, I've a suggestion—a compromise, if you like."
"Oh, yes?"
"You take my suspicions seriously, and I'll do the same for yours, even if I want it noted that Ghalle does not—did not—look remotely like me."
"I suppose I can agree to that."
Leion leant against the wall. "The point is—there is danger, and we should both be careful."
They both instinctively looked at poor Ghalle.
"Leion," Viyony said. "Oh, Leion. What are we doing? We should be keeping vigil!"
Irrational panic scrambled about in her chest. She crossed over and knelt down on the edge of the rug, beside Ghalle's legs. The latticed screen was letting the night air in, so there was no need to run and open a window; that much was as it should be. They should also darken all the lights except the one in this corner, but clearly they couldn't do that here. "Has no one sent for a priest or some sort of attendant?"
He moved softly in the gloom behind her; reaching out and then letting his arms fall back. "I'm pretty sure the nearest thing to either on the island is Lynah, being the Allin. Besides, we don't know what he'd want. He could even be Cieleksh or something."
"Cieleksh?"
"Korphilian thing," said Leion, waving all further explanations away. "Not the only group who don't hold with the Powers, either. And this is Portcallan. Most people settle for a simple affair at the nearest Empty Temple."
Viyony stared about her as if the walls or furnishings might give her a better answer. They couldn't leave a dead body lying about unattended for even an hour or so, let alone longer. They should call a priest or attendant and have the corpse moved to a more suitable place for vigil. Leaving him like this was even worse when he had been murdered. Viyony had heard all sorts of tales about what happened to people who came to bad ends if their spirits weren't helped on their way to the stars.
"We can't just sit here and bicker. We're all he's got right now, and he'll be trapped here—his essence forever in this place -" She wiped a hand across dampened eyes, and then pressed the heel of it against her forehead. "And it's our fault!"
Leion's brow furrowed. He took a step towards her, but then checked himself again. "No, no," he said. "That's pure superstition. Powers and Great affinitives disperse; the rest of us don't, not really."
"We don't know that," said Viyony. She bent her head down further towards Ghalle, though she avoided touching him. "Fly free," she said under her breath, hoping Leion couldn't hear her. It felt like something, and it oughtn't to offend anyone, no matter what their spiritual persuasion.
Leion coughed. "Why don't you sit back down on the window seat? I think you're in shock."
Viyony's head snapped up. "Or merely a wild North Easterner?" She got to her feet nevertheless, her panic having receded. "I just wanted to do something." She looked at Leion and then down at herself, and quirked her mouth. "At least we're not too shockingly dressed for mourning." They had managed the right sort of colours between them, if nothing else. He was wearing darker shades—a sober green jacket and brown trousers—while she was in her cream nightdress the pale pink robe.
Leion blinked and then pressed his hand against his mouth to stifle a snort of laughter. "You can't go round wearing your night-things to anyone's memorial—and even if you did, I feel the bloody finger-marks over the shoulders would definitely be in poor taste."
Viyony closed her eyes. "Tess. Oh, no. I'd forgotten."
"I mean, you look charming," said Leion. "Bloodstains notwithstanding. But still -"
A loud thud from somewhere at the other end of the courtyard broke rudely into their conversation. They froze; listening. Viyony clambered up to stand on the window seat, trying to see what was going on through the gaps in the screen without much success.
"Probably one of Lynah's people," Viyony whispered, still squinting through the screen. She craned her head round. "Leion!"
He was already halfway to the outside door. She swallowed back any belated protest. Leion would be Leion, and she wouldn't really have him any other way. He paused, catching her look, but moved onwards anyway. He pulled the door ajar and peered round it.
Viyony rested her hand on the screen, still standing upright on the seat. "Oh, Leion," she said under her breath. Then she leapt lightly down and headed as far along the corridor towards him as she dared, not wanting to leave Ghalle's body unguarded or let Leion stray into danger without her.
Leion turned on hearing her approach, holding up a hand. "I think it's Jhoui, but I'm not sure—yes, there she is. Must have knocked something over, and it's so cursed quiet here, of course. Someone might as well have dropped a boulder in the middle of the courtyard."
Viyony nodded. "Come on—we're supposed to be watching Ghalle. And, I seem to recall, being much more careful. You can't go wandering off alone."
He pulled a face, before following her back to the alcove. "You needn't worry about me."
"Yes, but I do," said Viyony, as she perched on the edge of the window seat once more.
Even in this low light, she caught the way his face softened. Her pulse quickened, and she turned her head away. Arguing was a horrible way to behave while sitting vigil over a corpse, but it would be much worse if they were tempted to resume their broken conversation where they'd left off—when Leion had taken her hand and moved so close, as if he'd finally understood what kind of assignation she had intended for tonight. That was out of the question here. Viyony shifted her position on the window seat and stole a glance at Leion, but his profile gave nothing away.
The silence stretched on. Viyony could hear little beyond the rustling of the leaves of the shrubs outside the window, barring the intermittent echo of doors opening and shutting, accompanied by the patter of distant footsteps.
It felt as if no one would ever come near them again, but eventually the sound of nearby footsteps became more distinct and louder until Imai Jhoui rounded the corner towards them with the medic, Pollavena Ezulla, close behind her.
Jhoui stood back while Imai Ezulla drew in her breath softly before crouching down and attending to the body. She set a bright lightstone lamp down beside Ghalle, illuminating the one area that Viyony would rather not see so clearly while casting eerie upward shadows around everything else, giving the whole scene a nightmarish feel. Ezulla knelt close to Ghalle as she worked, muttering indistinctly and occasionally pausing to jot down some notes.
Jhoui turned to Leion and Viyony and asked if they had seen anyone else since she and Lynah had left them. After they told her no, she merely folded her arms and studied the darkened corridor intently. Viyony and Leion exchanged a look.
Several other security people passed by in the course of searching the corridor and the adjacent rooms, before a member of staff turned up, side-stepping Ezulla and Jhoui and the body in order to offer Leion and Viyony a tray containing cups of cold tea and a plate with small twists of bread threaded with cheese and herbs. "Imai Allin asked me to bring you this," he said, lowered his voice, with an uneasy glance back at the body, and Imai Ezulla, who was turning it over with Jhoui's help.
"I hope it's not poisoned," Leion said, picking up a plate and cup, and then, to the man's bafflement, proceeded to sniff the drink and turn over one of the little twists, subjecting it to close examination before passing them onto Viyony.
"Leion," said Viyony, poking him in the arm. "That's not funny."
"Only being careful," he said indistinctly through a mouthful of bread.
She lifted her eyes to the ceiling before angling herself away from him and the corpse both in order to bite into one of the twists and sip the chilled tea. The man who had brought them hastened gratefully off down the corridor.
They had both finished their bread and drinks before Ezulla finally stood up and brushed herself down, her work here over. Jhoui blinked, and then informed Viyony and Leion that someone would relieve them as soon as possible. She and Imai Ezulla then hurried away, taking the lamp and the bloody knife with them.
Leion raised an eyebrow at Viyony. She grimaced in return before huddling up on the window seat and shutting her eyes, just for a moment. It was a mistake. She slid away into a dream almost at once—standing in the rain on a clifftop, high above the sea, or maybe a river; so deeply unhappy that when she shifted and blinked back to sudden, unwelcome wakefulness, her cheeks were damp with tears.
"Some bodyguard you are," Leion said. He was leaning against the wall close by; arms folded.
Viyony screwed up her face in reply, but he was right. She shook herself and stood, resuming her earlier examination of the scene. She didn't expect to find anything, not after Leion, Jhoui, and Imai Ezulla had all looked, but it was something to do that would keep her from falling asleep. Everything in the house had stilled again and it would be horribly easy to drift off. She stared at Ghalle and saw Leion there instead in her mind's eye—and then jumped disproportionately at a sudden slamming of a distant door.
She crossed to the bookshelf, trying to position herself so that she didn't block the available light from falling on the spines.
"Bored?" said Leion.
She ignored him, frowning over titles she couldn't quite make out so intensely that she started violently for a second time when he casually put a hand on her shoulder.
"Here," he said, when she swung round, and passed her a tiny lightstone lamp. "Completely forgot I had this in my pocket."
Viyony took it from him and returned to studying the books. "I wondered if perhaps there might be something here. If he was looking at something, or put a message in one of them -" She narrowed her gaze. "What?"
"It's very late," he said. "Understandable if you've started spouting nonsense."
Viyony turned over the volume in her hands. Arland's Book of Dreaming. Osmer Nivyrn had told her to read it. "Do you think Lynah would let me borrow this?"
"I'm sure she would," said Leion, suddenly sounding quieter, but more alert, "but I don't think you should. It's probably Vollo's."
Viyony opened the book, holding the tiny light at an awkward angle to make out the text. Laon is of the light, she read, and laughed under her breath.
"What's so funny?"
She read it aloud, keeping her voice low. "Laon is of the light—therefore of sight, of inner knowledge. Light lays all things bare. Truth is seen by it, and justice is seen to be done."
"I don't see what's amusing about that," complained Leion. He smothered a yawn. "This is getting a bit much, isn't it? I hope we're not stuck here until morning."
Viyony carried the book over to the window seat, where she tried to position herself and the little light as best as she could in order to read. To her annoyance, Leion immediately sat beside her and leant over her shoulder.
"There are plenty of other books," she pointed out.
Lightstone, she read, is essentially a reflective substance. It stores the light of sun and stars, of the Paths, and emits it again. One looks into lightstone and sees an image that is either a true vision of an event that may occur, or may have occurred, or it is inner vision that is given to the seeker and understanding of one's own thoughts and deeds.
Leion stretched a hand over and tried to lift the corner of the next page. Viyony poked him with her elbow. He remained unrepentant; this time catching hold of the cover as he frowned in an effort to make out the title page.
"Oh, Arland," he said. "Bit basic for you, isn't it? Don't you start where all other dreamers leave off?"
She shrugged. "Imai Nivyrn told me to read it."
Leion let go of the book. "You went to see him?"
Viyony made a vague sound of affirmation and turned over the page, although the words wouldn't come into focus any more. She was so tired and Leion's nearness was very distracting.
"I'll get you a copy," he offered.
"I'll buy my own, thank you."
"I'd like to." Then he leant in and said, "Hold still, I'm reading that part about lightstone visions. It sounds like something Eollan said when I -" He paused and a smile grew over his face. "I went to ask him for advice, just like someone told me to."
"Oh no. How did that go?"
"Neither of us pushed each other off the cliff and it was certainly instructive."
"That well, then?"
Viyony shut the book and passed it to him. She shifted up against the side of the window, leaving a gap between them, and stared hard at the corpse on the floor to remind herself of what they were doing here. It would be so easy, right now, to do something terribly disrespectful, inappropriate and, as the night dragged itself further into the small hours of the morning, she increasingly believed would be unwise. She sighed.
"Viyony," said Leion.
He touched her arm lightly. Her heartbeat sounded hard and fast in her ears, dizzying her. She closed her eyes to the body in front of them. Never mind wise—she was too overtired for that. She looked up.
"This book," Leion said, and then, without warning he stopped, jumped to his feet and dropped it carelessly into her lap.
Viyony clutched at the volume before it tumbled to the floor, and when she raised her head again, she could see what had caught Leion's attention. Lynah was heading their way, accompanied by Imai Jhoui and another member of staff.
"I'm so sorry for abandoning you here all this time," Lynah said, stopping carefully short of the body and the congealing puddle of blood on the tiles. "To cut a very long and tiresome few hours short, what we are left with is that once we had rounded everyone up, one member of my staff, Seshuan, was nowhere to be found. They had obviously prepared to leave earlier—they had taken a case and the essentials. It also turns out there was a row boat waiting for them and they must have left not long after Ghalle was stabbed."
Leion's brows narrowed. "You're sure it was them?"
Lynah shrugged. "I'm swearing to nothing yet, but we've found no indication that anyone else was directly involved."
"Ah," said Leion. "You think someone may have paid them to do it?"
Lynah held up a hand. "As I said—it's too early for jumping to conclusions. We've done everything we can for tonight. Everyone's under strict orders to keep to their rooms in the morning until summoned to breakfast—very uncivilised for a house party—and I'll get a message sent over to the mainland as soon as it's light."
Viyony smothered a yawn.
"You'll be glad to hear your vigil is over," Lynah said, with a softer glance at Viyony. "I appreciated your help in very distressing circumstances." When neither of them said anything, she added gently, "You can go now, although directly to your rooms and you must stay there until you are called for in the morning."
Viyony got to her feet and put the book down on the window seat behind her. "Oh, good." She watched Leion as he moved towards Lynah. "Even so—Leion shouldn't walk back alone."
"Jhoui is going the same way," said Lynah easily. "I'll escort you to yours."
Viyony's room was only a few lengths down the corridor, which startled her. She and Leion had seemed to be hundredlengths distant from everyone else—lost together, guarding Ghalle in an isolated pool of dim light surrounded by a great wash of gloom.
Lynah opened the door for her, and leant her head in to add, "Leion will be safe with Jhoui, don't worry."
Viyony rubbed her eyes. "I know it must sound silly, but someone sent him a very strange note, asking him to go to the place where Imai Ghalle was killed, and while Ghalle doesn't—didn't—really look that much like Leion, but in poor light, in a panic—someone could have made a mistake, I think." She pushed her hand through her hair, as if that might help her think straight. "Oh, it is absurd, isn't it? But I thought I should say."
"No, not absurd," said Lynah slowly. "None of this is over yet, either. Go and get what sleep you can, and leave Leion to me."
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Hey, it's the murder mystery!
She read it aloud, keeping her voice low. "Laon is of the light—therefore of sight, of inner knowledge. Light lays all things bare. Truth is seen by it, and justice is seen to be done."
"I don't see what's amusing about that," complained Leion.
That's very them.
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Well, as you can see, it's really not, lol. /o\ In this segment, I shall demonstrate how Not to write a murder mystery...
That's very them.
Aw, thank you! <3
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Interesting. I wonder what Leion was going to say about the book before Lynah showed up again. And I wonder what talk he originally thought Viyony actually wanted to have with him. I don't think he ever said, did he? Although maybe he just wanted to theorize about who he thought was trying to poison her.
I do think Viyony's suspicions are more sensible than Leion's, here. I'm glad she told Lynah about the note, I'm interested to see what else is revealed.
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Yes, that's right - he thinks they need to discuss the whole poisoning business. I mean, it's Viyony POV, so this isn't explicit here (or she would have explained her alternate have sex plan more clearly and Leion would have immediately abandoned his discuss the Poisoning option), but it's definitely what he was thinking.
And thank you! <3
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Psst! I couldn't decide what the issue is with this sentence: The voices around her faded and she pictures in her mind—a fortress's tower in the mountains, a dark blue gemstone set in silver, and blood spilling out over sunset-hued tiles.
I'm not sure if it should read "she pictured" or "the pictures ", but as it stands, it's incorrect.
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I'm not sure if it should read "she pictured" or "the pictures ", but as it stands, it's incorrect.
Fixed! I think it's yet another round of the missing word game; the missing word in this case being 'saw'.
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Ahem. Anyway.
What a worrying development, and I'd like to know what Leion was about to say about the book.
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