I exceeded the word limit on this one, so I'll be posting two parts.
Merry Christmas! I love this time of year. I love the smell of roasted almonds in the street, the cold and the fuzzy scarves. I love mulled wine and linked arms and relaxing in warm cafés. I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday, with the ones you love around you ❤️
This is unedited.
Chapter 2.
"Little crow. I know you're awake." Valice smiled and opened his eyes. His mother's milky eyes smiled down at him and her cool fingers smoothed the hair tenderly back from his brow. "I can't decide if I'm proud of you or disappointed."
"I didn't know he would attack." Valice whispered. He had a bad taste in his mouth and his lips felt dry. He was lying on his pallet and he could hear rain lashing against his window.
"How did that man seem to you?" She asked in her soft voice and pressed gently on his shoulder. Valice pushed weakly up on his arms and she tucked a second pillow behind his head.
"He seemed mad." Valice admitted and eyed the steaming cup that she held just out of reach.
"Yes, he was mad. You were careless to turn your back on him." She finally handed him the cup. "I read about him in the paper. His name was Gelain Remonde. He was a respected mercer, with a wife and children. His wife said that he'd been acting erratic for the past year. He would ramble to himself and disappear for many nights at a time. Then one night, he kidnapped a boy."
Valice cradled the cup in his hands and inhaled the rich coppery scent of cow's blood, before sipping. He could feel it strengthening him already. Running warm through his veins and knitting together injured skin. Bliss.
"I'll be more alert next time." He murmured.
His mother nodded and poured a grey powder into a bowl of black liquid in her lap. It bubbled fiercely and then died down to a fizzle, when she stirred it.
"You've been asleep for two days. Madam Leing stopped by with gifts yesterday. We've never had more tea or colorful fabric." Libitina's grey lips stretched in a wry smile and she knocked the excess paste off her spoon and motioned for him to turn around.
Valice finished his cup, placed it on the floor, and twisted onto his stomach. Libitina lifted the furs gently away from his back and smoothed the mixture onto his skin.
It burned his wounds and he hissed in a pained breath. He knew she was applying a mix of her own blood and animal ashes. She had put the same mixture onto his hands as a child, when he'd stumbled into the fireplace and touched smoldering coals.
"I didn't have the heart to tell her what we drink." Libitina breathed and pressed a dressing onto his shoulder blade.
"You could sell it." He suggested, the burn was cooling and he curled his arms beneath the pillow, closing his eyes. People brought them all sorts of gifts, in exchange for their services. But it was usually something useful, like cattle or fur.
"When you're better, you can take it to the market. I'll be gone for a few days. The duke has sent a carriage for me. His mother's illness has taken a turn for the worse." She applied the last dressing and stood to rinse her hands in a basin.
Valice nodded against the pillow and smiled when a plate touched the floorboards beside his head. He could smell her signature pumpkin and pork pie and his stomach growled eagerly.
"They caught Gelain." Libitina said. "He had nearly reached the edge of town, but the guard's dogs were faster."
Valice turned his head and caught his mother's ghostly eyes. There was no sympathy in her gaunt face and Valice felt none either. Death was a swift and just mistress.
.....
It turned out Mei's mother had left them theater tickets for an upcoming performance, as well. And a week later, Valice took Thera to see it.
The line for the theater stretched out into the street, full of gentry dressed in their finest garb. A child saw them and began to howl with fright, clutching his mother's hand. Valice tried to smile reassuringly, but the boy's cries only grew louder and his mother glared.
The doormen quickly caught sight of the two necromancers, scaring away their customers, and Valice and Thera were ushered through a back-door.
Their tickets were checked, and double checked, before they were seated on a balcony, normally reserved for the privileged classes.
The lights dimmed and a trickle of music breezed through the hall. Beams of light cut through the darkness and illuminated two glittering people. Slowly, they began to dance. It was a melodrama, depicting a story of two lovers torn apart and united again.
He hadn't expected to see Mei back at work so soon. But he was there, playing a nymph who reassured the lovers in their time of need.
His movements were swift and fluid as he moved across the stage, dipping and twisting effortlessly to the music.
His dark eyes sparkled and his pale skin shone, every part of him glowing with youth and vitality.
"He's like sunlight." Thera whispered in Valice's ear and he understood what she meant. Vivid and fast, like a sunbeam that bursts between your fingers.
"She's going to die." Was her next remark and she pointed a small grey finger at a young woman dancing with roses in her hands. It was true. Valice could sense a sickness growing inside her, too far gone for a doctor's skill.
At that moment the woman looked up and their gazes locked. Her steps faltered and she dropped the flowers to the ground. Her chest heaved and Valice could see the knowledge in her eyes. She knew he would come for her soon.
After the performance, the doormen took them backstage to greet Mei's family. Fabrics, ornaments and stage props filled every space and curious eyes peaked at them from dressing tables and doorways.
Mister Leing was tall and lithe. His black hair was slicked back into a queue and he wore a red silk robe that brushed his slippered feet.
It was clear Mei took after his mother, who was small and willowy. She wore a white dress robe, and jade earrings, and her smooth black hair fell to her waist.
Mei was still in his sheer dancing attire. Vines were painted into the fabric and twined up his slender limbs. A silver collar covered his scarred throat and green ribbons hid the bruises on his wrists.
The adults bowed and thanked Valice again and again. But they didn't invite him back for another performance and he wasn't surprised. He could hear a young woman's sobs faintly in the next room.
Mei stared at Valice and gestured with his hands. His thin fingers fluttered and drew patterns in the air, but Valice didn't understand a word of it.
"That man lied." Madam Leing translated. "I didn't seduce him. I didn't even know him. He attacked me on my way home." Her accented voice shook and she gripped her son's shoulder tight. Mei touched her hand reassuringly.
"I know." Valice smiled at the boy, still feeling a flicker of the lost spectre inside him, like a gentle pull. It hadn't recovered from shock yet, but it would soon. "I'm glad you're safe. You dance beautifully."
Mei's dark eyes filled with an emotion Valice couldn't read. His hands lifted, about to sign.
"It was wonderful!" Thera exclaimed. "I'm sorry the dying lady tripped. I think Valice scared her." She frowned up at Valice and whacked his arm, as if to scold his manners. A hush fell over the dancers and several faces grew pale.
"Thank you for the gifts." Valice said hastily and took Thera's hand. "We'd best be off now."
The doormen eagerly showed them out and the door banged shut behind them.
Valice didn't take it personally. The living were naturally frightened of necromancers and it would never be any different.
He gently scolded Thera on their walk home; one didn't just blurt out humans imminent death. But her spirits were high, and he didn't think she heard much of it, skipping beside him and humming the tunes of the play.
.....
That night he heard a tap on his window and stirred on his pallet. At first, he thought he had imagined it, but then a second pebble bounced off the glass.
He opened it and blinked down at Mei. The boy was huddled in a red cloak, face hidden in the folds, but Valice could sense it was him. Was the woman dying already? It seemed a little soon. "I'll be right down."
He rushed down the steps, pulled on his cloak, and opened the door.
"Master Leing, is everything alright?" He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Mei stepped closer and lifted his hood with a shy smile. His black hair was loose and he smelled like the tea leaves that were filling up Libitina's pantry. He gestured past Valice's shoulder.
"Oh, you want to come inside?" Valice stepped aside and Mei slid past him.
The boy looked intently around the ancient kitchen and hung his cloak on a peg by the door. He was wearing a blue silk shirt, with a high neck that covered his throat and frilly sleeves that spilled over his wrists. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Mei quirked a smile and raised his brows. He might as well have said: I can't talk, remember?
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