Emerald House Rising, page 34
“The attendant had been dismissed,” Lady Rinnelle spoke up, to Jena’s surprise. “And Lady Rhuddlan and I—well, I suppose we’d dozed off. I woke up suddenly and saw a dark shape bent over the bed, with hands around the Diamond’s throat. I screamed and Lord Morgan burst into the room; there was a great deal of noise and confusion, and then just as Lord Morgan stabbed him, I saw who it was. You recognize him, don’t you, Guilford?”
Lord Oselare took a step closer and exclaimed softly under his breath. “The captain of the Windspray?”
“Why, that’s the very same villain who attacked her grace only a few days ago at the City and Sea Ceremony,” Lady Kestrienne said as she wound the bandage around Morgan’s arm. “The man must have been quite mad!”
“But this is monstrous!” Lord Teutaine exclaimed.
“Yes, indeed,” said Lord Oselare, pulling a wooden casket out from underneath the edge of his cloak and opening the lid. “Sorcery frequently is monstrous.”
“Lord Oselare—” Lady Rhuddlan began.
“The orb has been tested, as you requested, your grace, and I thought it best to proceed immediately. It may be too late to save him, but at least I can prove it was sorcery that killed him, eh?”
“I believe I told you what happened, my lord,” said Morgan stiffly. “I saw no signs of any sorcery.”
“Forgive me,” Lord Oselare said icily with a very low bow, “if I use my own methods to investigate, rather than take the word of a man who arrived just a moment too late to prevent his betrothed from becoming the Diamond.”
“How dare you, Guilford!” said Lady Rinnelle, drawing herself up to her fullest height. “I tell you, it happened the way I say it did. Or do you doubt my word, brother?”
Lord Oselare stared at her with an expression of mild surprise, as if he were seeing a totally unfamiliar side of her. Which, Jena reflected, very well might be the case. Then he lifted from the casket a glass orb which appeared to be full of black smoke and held it over the Diamond.
Oh, no. It’ll detect the Starburst. Jena held her breath.
But the orb failed to glow, and when Jena saw the surreptitious glance Lady Rinnelle gave Kett’s body, she understood. Of course: Kett’s dead, and it was his spell—and so the orb doesn’t even work anymore!
After a perplexed pause, Lord Oselare gave the glass globe a little shake and held it out again. “I was sure …” he muttered.
“If you’re quite through embarrassing our House, Guilford,” Lady Rinnelle said sharply, “please put that away.” She held out her hand peremptorily for the orb, and after a moment, Lord Oselare reluctantly gave it to her. Placing it back into the casket, she closed the lid.
Then she knelt before Lady Rhuddlan, her skirts flowing out around her like water. “If I might beg a boon from you,” she said, “it would be only this: that you allow me to be the first to swear to you my loyalty and acknowledge you as my true and noble ruler. May your reign be peaceful and prosperous, your brilliance. May you enjoy good health, and long life, and the faithful love of your people.”
She clutched the new Diamond’s hands. “And please, always remember … I was the first.”
Chapter
Twenty-four
The Jewelers’ Guild New Year’s reception honoring newly elevated journeymen and masters spilled from the two public meeting rooms to the gallery overlooking the Guildhall’s inner court. Jena, with Collas, threaded her way through the crowd, blushing at the good-hearted roars of approval that each knot of apprentices gave her at the sight of the new journeyman’s badge on her dress.
“Eh, good fortune, Jena!” said Skelly, giving her a familiar clout on the shoulder.
“Nothing to do with luck,” said Tobio stoutly, smiling. “She earned it.”
“Well, I know that, but—”
“You shouldn’t sneer at luck, though, Tobio.” Rance whistled. “To have it be the Diamond who ends up wearing your piece!”
“She’s not really the Diamond yet. Not till her coronation.”
“Did you see the buckle? I like those flat claw settings.”
“No foils, though. Why’d you do it that way?”
“Jena! Congratulations! You’ll be opening a shop before we know it!”
“Well, I hope to someday, but I’m not sure where,” Jena said with a little smile. “I thought to have one in Chulipse when I’m a master, but my plans are still changeable.”
“Do you think Master Collas will need any more apprentices now?” Skelly asked with an impudent wink.
“I wouldn’t dream of depriving Master Brody of your talents,” Collas replied with a smile.
A servitor passed with a tray, and Jena asked, “Shall I fetch you some fritters, Father?”
“No, indeed. Today’s your day, Jena, so I’ll do the serving this time. Excuse me.” Collas walked away, amid the mocking ooo’s of the apprentices, which dissolved into general laughter.
“Journeyman Jena! How fine it sounds!”
Jena turned to exchange a smile with the rangy woman with the blond braid coronet. “Thank you, Master Elisabetta. I’m proud to be able to follow in your footsteps.”
“No, indeed!” Master Elisabetta laughed. “You’re making your own footsteps, my dear! Don’t be afraid to forge your own way.” She squeezed Jena’s hand. “Well done. I look forward to seeing much more of your work—and with a master’s stamp someday.”
Collas appeared shortly with a selection of fritters, seedcakes, and other delicacies. Following closely at his elbow was Arikan. “Your father managed to snag the last of the pickled oysters,” he greeted Jena, frowning. “Right from under my nose.”
“I saw my chance and took it,” returned Collas. “But then, you made it easy by stopping at the wine table first.”
“Thank you for coming, Arikan,” Jena said.
“Jena, I wouldn’t miss the occasion for the world.” Arikan leaned forward unexpectedly and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Especially since the Jewelers’ Guild always serves the best pear tarts in the city.” A figure in the crowd caught his eye, and he smiled. “There’s Lady Kestrienne. Shall we go speak to her?”
“Oh, yes! Father, Master Elisabetta, if you will excuse us?”
Jena took the elbow Arikan offered and went with him through the crowd, exchanging greetings with people as they went. Finally they reached Lady Kestrienne’s side, and she greeted Jena warmly. “My dear child, I’m truly happy for you. You’ll make us all proud, I know.”
Jena curtsied. “Thank you for your good wishes. And my lady, I owe you such a debt of thanks—”
“Oh, pish posh! Whatever for?”
“For helping me see that I really did want to reapply. And for your mentoring—you know.”
“Ah, yes. Well, one of the chief pleasures of having a protégée is the opportunity it gives you occasionally to bask in reflected glory. Today I consider myself amply repaid for any trifling trouble I might have taken on your behalf.”
Her bright eyes fastened on the necklace around Jena’s neck. “What an exquisite piece of jewelry that is, Jena. Is it your work?”
“No, my father made it. He gave it to me just this morning.” Jena smiled as she fingered the length of silver links, set with round-cut tourmalines, blue-green in color.
“Those stones are perfectly matched.”
“Yes, Father’s work has always been splendid. He wanted me to have it as a gift, he told me, because he’d made it for my mother.”
“That’s not the only reason, Jena,” Arikan said, and smiled when she looked at him inquiringly. “That necklace was Collas’ reapplication piece to the Guild. The second time, he was accepted as a journeyman.”
Jena stared at Arikan, her mind awhirl in a wash of surprise.
Lady Kestrienne patted her hand kindly. “I hope you will have perfectly smooth sailing from here on out, my dear. But remember: we all have to learn, even the ones who always make it look easy. We all have setbacks, and we all make mistakes.”
A stirring in the crowd caught Lady Kestrienne’s attention. “Ah, here come two others who wish to congratulate you.” She stepped back and curtsied, and Jena turned and hastily curtsied, too.
The Diamond-to-be and her declared Consort were walking toward them through the crowd. They both wore white velvet trimmed with ermine and cloth of silver, and the Starburst was pinned just below the small ruff at her brilliance’s throat. Jena studied their faces as they approached. No one, she thought, not even the nonadept, could miss the aura surrounding them. It was there in the placement of Vianne’s hand on Morgan’s arm, and in the smile that hovered around the corners of his mouth as he bent to speak in her ear. It was in the calm joy shining in their eyes. Possibility.
“Lady Kestrienne,” the Diamond said, smiling, as Lady Kestrienne arose from her curtsy.
“An honor, your brilliance.”
Arikan bowed. “Madame, if I may presume?” After a small pause, the Diamond extended her hand to him, and Arikan bowed over it and kissed it with careful courtesy.
“We are pleased to see you among our friends here.” The Diamond turned to Jena. “Journeyman Jena, will you speak privately with us?”
Acutely aware of curious eyes, and the delighted nudges her friends among the apprentices were giving each other, Jena joined the Diamond and her betrothed as they continued down the gallery. To her surprise, however, after they passed the second meeting room, people suddenly seemed to cease noticing them. Instead, they simply moved out of their way without a second glance. By the time the three had reached the gallery’s end, no one else stood within earshot.
The Diamond smiled at Morgan. “Did you do that, my dear?”
“What? Oh, the crowd? Yes. You did say you wanted to speak privately, didn’t you?”
The Diamond shook her head, amused. “I see I’ll have to guard my tongue around you.” She turned to clasp Jena’s hand. “Jena, a joyous new year to you.”
“Your brilliance, your kindness to me has made it so. Thank you for your letter to the Guild. It made my elevation certain.”
The Diamond tapped her belt buckle lightly, with a mischievous sidelong glance at Morgan. “This piece has proven useful to both of us. But the truth of the matter is that Morgan and I both know ourselves to be in your debt.” Her voice grew serious. “You have given my love back to me. And were it not for you”—her fingers touched the Starburst—“I wouldn’t be wearing this.” Seeing Jena’s eyes linger over the brooch, the Diamond reached up and unclasped it. “Perhaps you would like to examine it more closely?”
Jena accepted the brooch and turned it over with great care, feeling the thrum of its protective power between her fingers. “I’d guess, judging from the setting,” she said absently after a moment, “that this brooch must date all the way back to the Founders’ War, at least.” Something about that niggled at the back of her mind.
The Diamond leaned in to look. “How can you tell?”
“One clue is the filigree wire work, combined with the use of those high-relief collet settings.”
“Collet?” Morgan asked.
“Boxlike, instead of claw. And there’s no sign of the basic S-curve, which became the main feature of design about a hundred years ago. White gold was much more fashionable back then, too.” She cocked her head and looked at Morgan. “Doesn’t anything strike you as strange about that?”
Morgan looked at the brooch with a puzzled frown. “What?”
“Well, I presume whoever made the Starburst and Sunburst died long ago. So who’s maintaining the spell on them now?”
The Diamond and Morgan looked at each other, and back at the brooch.
Slowly Jena began to smile. “Somewhere out there, even now … it’s strange, isn’t it? The Founders despised magic, and so when their war was over, they tried to set up the Diadem in a way that would keep magic out. And yet, in all the centuries since then, while the Diadem went on hating magic, somewhere adepts have made sure magic was protecting them.”
“But why?” said the Diamond softly, eying the brooch as if she wondered whether she should put it on again.
Jena shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe the adepts were tired of the wars, too, and even though they were shut out in the end, they wanted to make sure that the new government would be safe. Even from themselves.”
She looked down again at the brooch in her hand. The metalwork was exquisite but … “It’s rather a pity about the stones.”
The Diamond blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
Jena blushed. “I’m sorry, your brilliance. I spoke without thinking.”
“No, please. What about them?”
“Well …” Jena turned the brooch over again. “It’s just that they were cut in the old style, the double pyramid. It’s easy to do, and common, because it follows the stones’ natural crystalline structure. But the double-pyramid cut doesn’t do much to reveal a diamond’s inner fire, the way a round cut or a brilliant would. Perhaps that’s why the previous Diamond didn’t wear it very often.”
“I see.” The Diamond looked thoughtfully at the brooch in Jena’s hand, and then gently closed Jena’s fingers over it. “Will you recut the stones in the Starburst for me?”
“Your brilliance!” Jena stammered, stunned. “I … I didn’t mean to imply—”
“I know you didn’t. But you’re right. The brooch should be recut, and I think the honor rightfully belongs to you.”
“Your brilliance honors me immensely, but … the Starburst! I’m only a journeyman.”
“And yesterday you were only an apprentice, were you not? Yet think about it, Jena. Who else could I trust, who could do the work while still keeping the Starburst’s other special properties in mind?”
There was certainly truth in that, Jena had to admit. She looked down at the Starburst in her hand and thought about stones, and magic. She thought about the changes she had undergone in the past several months, and the inner self those changes revealed. “I will honor your brilliance’s trust,” Jena said finally. “Yet, please, keep the brooch awhile longer. I’ll study and learn, and cut it when I’m ready. When I’m a master.”
The Diamond accepted the brooch back with a smile and repinned it below her ruff. “I look forward to that day, Jena Gemcutter.” She turned to take Morgan’s arm as Jena swept her another deep curtsy. “Shall we go, Morgan?”
But Morgan withdrew her fingers and raised them to his lips and kissed them. “Would you please allow us a few moments?”
The Diamond glanced at Jena. “Of course. I’ll meet you at the other end of the gallery when you’re ready.”
They both watched her walk away, and when they faced each other again, there was an awkward pause.
“I want—”
“Do you know—”
They looked at each other and laughed.
“You first,” Morgan said.
“I only wanted to say how pleased I was to hear that the Diadem voted Lord Duone in as the new Emerald.”
“Yes, I was, too! Poor Lord Oselare, though.” Morgan chuckled. “Vianne said he looked as though he’d bitten into a lemon when the vote was tallied. I suspect Ranulf is going to be crossing swords with him quite frequently in Council.”
“Maybe what Lord Oselare needs is a worthy opponent.”
“He’d certainly have one in Ranulf.” Morgan looked thoughtful. “There’s a real antagonism there; I’d give much to know why.”
“I’d wondered whether Kett wasn’t trying to make him suspicious that at least someone in the Duone family was an adept, in hopes of scuttling your marriage when your betrothal became known.”
“And Oselare settled on Ranulf instead of me? I wonder how long it will take him to discover he’s yapping up the wrong tree.” He blinked, surprised at his own choice of words, and Jena laughed.
“Have you seen your nephew yet?” she asked.
“Yes, I have. He took one look at me and tried to pull off my mustache.”
Jena smiled. “I suppose that you …” she stopped. “You know, I don’t know what to call you.”
Morgan shot her an amused look. “I seem to remember your arguing for the right to call me just ‘Morgan.’ ”
“But you’re going to be the Diamond Consort now. The last Diamond was a widower for so long that I don’t even know: what’s the proper title for the Diamond Consort, anyway?”
“Mostly I’m just ‘your lordship,’ although I gather that if you want to be particularly formal, it’s ‘your radiant lordship.’ ” Morgan rolled his eyes. “I’ll never get used to it.”
Jena grinned. “Are you sure?”
“You might as well just call me Morgan, since we’re partners. As long as …” he gave Jena a speculative glance.
“As long as no one else is around who would think it odd, I know,” Jena said quickly. “I have the same arrangement with Kestrienne.”
“Do you? Well, actually, that wasn’t what I was about to say. What I meant was, as long as you actually want to be my partner.”
Jena’s eyebrows rose. “Do we have a choice?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. Doing magic means choosing possibilities, and yet we never really chose each other. The bond just happened to us. It’s a paradox, isn’t it?”
“You did ask if I wanted to come with you.”
“Yes, to be my pupil, I thought. I didn’t understand wizardry then; neither of us did. But now, suppose you were given the choice: what would you say? Would you like to be partners? Or maybe,” he added, a touch awkwardly, “even friends?”
Jena gave him a considering look. “I’ve heard Father say that the noble who tells you he wants to be friends is usually the one who won’t pay your bill.”
A smile tugged at the corner of Morgan’s lip. “Is that so? What do you think a friend is, then, Jena?”
“Someone you can trust. Someone who’ll keep promises and keep your confidences. Someone who’ll tell you the truth and doesn’t expect you’ll give them everything for free.”
“Fair enough, as long as it works both ways. If those are the terms, I accept. Partners?”
