Brigette threaded her arm through mine and propelled us out of the room. “She is. I can’t disagree.”
“I don’t want to hire Enson.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“I want you.”
“Why?” She paused at the parlor’s threshold and stared at me, eyes wide and unblinking behind her spectacles. “Didn’t you hear Hannah? I’m broken.”
“We all are.” If I told her about my mechanical heart, would it sway her opinion of me in the right direction? Or would she shun me as too much of a freak? “My court is a band of misfits. You’d fit right in.”
Chapter 13
To my surprise, Hannah had arranged after-dinner refreshments on the terrace. Overhead, she had strung glass votives filled with lit candles in a crisscrossing pattern, and more tapers burned in elaborate candelabra placed in the terrace’s shadowy corners. Flowering shrubs added bursts of rose, carmine, and gold. Statuary of exotic animals perched on plinths stationed around the perimeter like guards. “She’s trying to impress you,” Brigette whispered as we approached our companions. “Show you what a worthy ally she would make for you.”
“I’ve already promised her brother my favor in return for helping me find you,” I said.
Brigette clucked her tongue, took a glass of champagne from a footman’s tray, and strode away. Enson and Hannah quickly took their places at my side. The footman offered champagne, but I waved him off. This was no night to be dampening my wits, and I hated the taste of champagne.
“Lovely dinner,” I said to Hannah. We’d managed to finish the meal without a cross word or talk of Lord Daeg and Le Poing Fermé. Instead she had gone out of her way to list Enson’s attributes, his superior education in Pecia, his family’s extensive pedigree. While I was grateful for the brief truce between us, I sensed it coming to an end. “I haven’t had lamb like that since I left home.”
Hannah’s chin bobbed. “I chose it on purpose, out of respect for your origins. You must be terribly homesick by now.”
“If I’m to understand the old legends,” Enson said, “Inselgrau is basically a Dreutchish colony. It was founded by... hmm... what would you call him? A Dreutchish refugee?”
I gritted my teeth. “There were plenty of people already living on Inselgrau when Trevelyan Stormbourne landed there. They were kind enough to adopt him, take him in, embrace him as one of their own.”
“His ability to strike them to smithereens possibly had something to do with it, don’t you think?” Enson thumped his champagne glass, sending bubbles to the surface in a flurry of fizz.
Before I could reply, the terrace doors flew open, and two footmen stepped out, escorting an old woman. A kerchief covered most of her white hair, but the candlelight highlighted the peaks and valleys of her wrinkled face. Age and wear had frayed the edges of her simple dress. The servants directed her to a cushioned bench and held her arm as she sat.
Unease stirred inside me, and I glanced at Hannah from the corner of my eye. “What’s this?”
“A contest.” She clasped her hands together over her chest. “To help prove which of our Magicians is the best.”
My unease turned to dread. Lightning flashed in the distance. “No.”
“You don’t even know the details yet.”
“I know you’ve brought an innocent woman here to be some kind of target. Or victim.”
Hannah flapped a hand at me as she crossed the terrace toward Brigette. “Don’t be so sensational, Evie.” She gripped Brigette’s shoulder. “Come. Let’s have a bit of a show.”
Brigette’s face crumpled into a sneer. “I’m not a trained dog. Demand all you want. I won’t dance for you.”
“What are you afraid of?” Enson raised his voice, issuing his challenge to Brigette, but it sounded like he’d meant it for all of us. Candlelight gilded his dark waves and lent his eyes an ethereal glow. “A little trial, nothing too dangerous.”
I gave Brigette a worried look. It would be dangerous if participating brought her pain and intensified her need for mordid. Sure, I wanted to hire her to perform Magic on my behalf—ask her to be the very same trained dog she was protesting. But I wouldn’t ask for parlor tricks like this. Does that make me any better than Hannah and Enson, though?
I stepped forward, placing myself before the old woman. “If you’re going to insist on this, let this woman go. I’ll be your test subject.”
Niffin hurried to my side. “No, Evie. Lord Daeg’s Magician is likely maneuvering you into a trap.”
“Do I let him experiment on an innocent woman instead?”
Better her than you, Grandfather said. You have more to lose.
You can’t know that. You can’t presume anything about this woman.
“And I still haven’t agreed to participate.” Brigette stood and backed away. “In fact, I think I’ve had quite enough of this whole charade—”
A sharp cry from the old woman claimed everyone’s attention. I backed away from her as she rose like one of the Fantazikes’ balloons, as if filled with a floating gas. Whipping around, I caught sight of Enson wearing a smirk, his hand raised like an orchestra conductor.
“Put her down, Enson,” I said. “This only proves that you’re cruel, not powerful.”
He swirled his finger, and the old woman pirouetted like a marionette on invisible strings. She shrieked. Enson chuckled and sent her soaring higher.
A bolt of lightning crawled across the sky, closer this time. Close enough to rouse a rumble of thunder. “Put her down.”
He glanced at me, still wearing his smirk. “You going to strike me down, little lightning goddess?”
“You wouldn’t be worth it.”
Chuckling, he threw up both hands. The old woman shot like an arrow into the night, rising so high that darkness swallowed her, and we could no longer hear her screams.
Brahm stepped up to the Magician’s side and wrapped his big, scarred hands around Enson’s biceps. His voice was a low growl. “That’s enough, Enson.”
The Magician’s eyes narrowed. His sneer faded. “You know what? I agree.” He clapped his hands, turned his back, and strolled away. The old woman shrieked again as she plummeted toward the terrace at full speed. No graceful descent, but a sickening fall that would certainly kill her.