888

Chapter 2: Evil Follows You

"You came back, then."

Leanne saw through the flat words straight away, seeing the glint in Deanna's eyes that said she was as pleased to see her as Leanne was to be back. "I have free time on Saturday mornings, once I've done my chores. Today I did them in record time!"

"So you didn't sweep out the corners?" The woman teased, and opened the door to let the houseguest in. Leanne carefully wiped off her feet before seeing the trail of muddy paw prints on the wooden boards and grinning. "Did Selki go paddling?"

"Not Selki, no. That was Jasper." Leanne expected the woman to introduce another pet to her, but instead Deanna squatted down and pointed to the prints. "See, this pad here? You don't get that shape in cat paws. Cat paws are rounder."

"Oh. So Jasper's a dog?" Leanne figured out, and felt an odd glow of pride when the woman nodded. "Can you tell all your pets by their paw prints, lady?"

Deanna stood up and frowned. "Well yes, I can, but I'm sad to recognise Jasper. I told him he should be more careful."

Leanne giggled, but the woman didn't seem to be joking, and darted back into the depths of the house after the rogue dog without another word to her guest. The girl peeled off her shoes slowly, feeling the odd prickly sensation of being left unwatched in another person's home. The prickly feeling intensified, and she looked up to see another pair of eyes studying her. She stared back for a moment, and the man shrugged.

"Avéra." He said abruptly, and then turned and left.

Leanne was still gaping after him when Deanna returned, holding a glass of fruit juice in each hand.

"What does avéra mean, miss?"

Deanna made an odd gesture that was half dismissive, half explanatory. "It's a greeting. Or, I suppose you could call it a blessing. You know, to welcome someone safely into your home? It means… um, I guess you'd say 'may no harm follow you'." She grinned. "It also seems to mean that you've met my husband. Wait a moment." She leaned around the door which Aaron had shut after him and called out, "Ista du eput avéra e Leanne, Aaron?"

Leanne couldn't hear the man's reply, but since it seemed to be in the same lilting language it wouldn't have made much difference if she could. Daine handed her one of the glasses, a faintly annoyed line between her eyes, and when the girl asked her what the reply had been she hesitated before replying.

"He doesn't really think you should be here. I suppose I should be grateful he said anything to you at all." She smiled briefly, a false smile that even the child could see through, and finished, "Well, let's not worry. He'll come round eventually."

"What language is that?" Leanne followed the woman into the kitchen, stopping to stroke Selki when she spotted the cat dozing on top of a bookshelf in the hall. Deanna shrugged and looked sidelong at her, her eyes shifting to the cat for a distracted moment until she answered.

"It used to be called Common, too, like your language is now. Not many people speak it any more, just people from… from where we came from. Languages die just like everything else, you see. So it doesn't really have a name any more."

Leanne thought gravely for a moment. "What is the word for 'common' in it, then?"

The corner of Deanna's mouth turned up. "Yes, you're right! Let's call it Curun."

"Curun. Avéra." Leanne repeated the words a few times slowly, and then nodded. "I like it! Will you tell me more words?"

"You want to learn our language now?" Deanna laughed and gestured to the table. It took Leanne a moment to notice that some of the jars from the living room had been moved into the kitchen. "I thought you might want to know more about the medicines, since you seemed fair curious about them the last time you were here. But if you like, we can learn words instead."

"Or both!" The girl said eagerly, and then blushed. The woman laughed again- she laughed a lot, readily and easily, as if the world as a whole entertained her.

"Surely. Well, then…" she picked up a jar and shook some of the contents onto the table- a tiny pile of dried brown things. "These are mushrooms. The word for mushrooms is utumn, and these particular mushrooms are a special type known as a birch bracket…"

888

Monday mornings always dragged by at school, and this Monday was so slow it was like a special kind of torture. Leanne ignored her usual seat to sit at the back of the class, staring out of the window so she could daydream while the teacher droned on about the basic laws of magic. Her mind reeled through her own lesson, repeating the strange words as if they held some vast secret. Avéra, greetings. Curun, common. Utumn, mushrooms. Gley, herbs. Meh and du for me and you. They were unlike any other language she'd ever heard before; not like the guttural sounds she had to repeat in Carthaki class, or the fluid vowels of the Yamani language. Those words slipped right out of her head or tangled on her tongue before she could say them. But she could remember easily that noméra meant goodbye, and when she'd repeated it back to Deanna the woman's eyes had lit up.

"Miss Kitwake!" A hand slammed down onto the desk in front of her, making her jump, and she blinked up at the teacher. He was an old man, running to fat, and his cheeks wobbled when he was angry. They wobbled now, making the rest of the class giggle. "You've not been paying attention!"

"Nanïm!" She blurted automatically, apologising, and then realised what she'd said when the rest of the class sniggered. Flushing, she tried again, seeing the vein pulsing in the teacher's forehead. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Sorry? Sorry? You don't know how lucky you are!" The teacher frothed, and the class collectively sighed at the lecture they knew was coming next. All the magic teachers had their own version of it, but Mr Kerry repeated his at least once a week. Some of the older students could recite it off by heart.

"You don't know how lucky you are to have these classes! Oh, you may snore and giggle your way through my lessons, but ten years ago if you had even the smallest trace of the gift… even the smallest spark… you'd have been taken away from your family like that!" At this point, Kerry always snapped his podgy fingers. Today they were greasy; they didn't make the snapping sound he was expecting, and he frowned. "You may complain about the power cuts, but it was worse before, when we had all the power in the world, but we didn't know that it was being ripped out of our families' veins! Oh yes, you're happy enough to boil a pot of water with your gift now; back then, even sneezing sparks would curse you to life as a slave to the Sorrocks! And you're sorry?" He scowled, jowls trembling, and then retreated back to the front of the class with his point made.

"What's wrong with you today?" Angelica leaned over from her desk to hiss at her friend. Leanne half-shrugged, copying down some notes from the board before the bell rang. The class she was lucky to have had apparently been on using the gift to move small objects. It was hardly inspirational. The bell rang before she finished, and she cursed under her breath as she frantically scribbled the last two sentences into unreadable scrawls.

She wasn't badly late, but even so Katy was tapping her foot impatiently outside. Normally Leanne got on well with her brother's girlfriend, since she was the only real mother figure she'd known after her mum had been killed by a stormwing attack in the first immortal surge. But there were a few things that Katy did that annoyed her, and this was the main one. She couldn't be a second late, or walk slowly, because to Katy time was everything. Today the girl's tardiness only bought her a sidelong scowl, and they walked slightly more briskly than usual to catch the time up. They walked around to the junior part of the school, where Daniel was collecting Tallis, and when she saw him Leanne ran ahead to give her brother a hug.

"Hello, trouble!" He said warmly, ruffling her hair. "Good day?"

"It was alright," she replied, as she always did. He laughed and took hold of Tallis' hand so they could start walking.

"I've been thinking," He said, "About what happened on Friday. Who was it you said looked after you?"

"Her name's Deanna, she's a vet." Leanne repeated solidly, not sure where her brother was going with this. He smiled and nodded.

"Ah yes, I remember. Well, I'd like to meet her and thank her for looking after both of you, and for bandaging up Tallis' leg. I don't think he'll even have a scar, it's healing that well! So how about we walk round there before tea?"

"I don't know…" Leanne said slowly. She didn't want Daniel to find out that she'd sneaked over there on Saturday, when she was supposed to be at Angelica's house. He was usually so mild-mannered, but his temper did get nasty when he was lied to. He didn't like secrets, he said, and refused to have them in the house. Thankfully she was spared from having to think of an excuse when Katy chipped in.

"We can't go today, Daniel, we have to go to that… to the meeting." She looked around as she changed the end of her sentence, and Daniel sighed.

"They talk and talk and never do anything. We could miss a night, they wouldn't notice."

"And then they'd talk and talk about us!" Katy's voice was playful, but her eyes glinted. The man thought about that for a moment and then nodded, his voice a shrug.

"Well, I want to thank Deanna anyway. Leanne, how about you take a letter around to her from us? We'll be back before dark, and you'll be perfectly safe if you keep to the streets."

Leanne was nodding eagerly before Daniel even finished his sentence, and couldn't stop the disappointed moue she made when he finished, "And take your nephew with you."

"But he's so annoying!" Leanne whined, kicking her feet. Katy glared at her, ready to yell if she scuffed her shoes, but the girl only stopped when her brother squeezed her hand.

"I know it's hard for you to look after him, but you're so good at it, Lee. We can't take him to the meeting with us. There's things that we don't want you kids mixed up in, not until you're old enough to decide whether you want to do them or not."

Leanne pouted but didn't argue. Her brother was always going to the meetings, and he never seemed happy about them. Once he'd even missed her birthday party, when the time for a meeting was suddenly changed. He never spoke about what they did, but Katy sometimes let something slip, her eyes shining with excitement when she used words like plan and proof and protest and lots of other words starting with P. Daniel's eyes would always flicker towards the children when he asked her to hush. It was one of the only things the grown-ups fought over.

It had taken The Scary Night before Katy stopped talking about the meetings in front of them. Leanne remembered that night, remembered how the front door had slammed loudly, waking her and Tallis up, and how Daniel had rushed into her room smelling of smoke and sweat and the night and another strange, coppery scent, shaking with fear but telling her to stop crying, to be quiet, to turn the lights out, because they mustn't know we're here…

…no, Leanne didn't want to think about the meetings. Spending the afternoon with Deanna seemed much nicer. Even if it did mean taking the pest with her!

Daniel was smiling at her, thinking her silence was compliance, and unstrung her pass from his neck. It usually hung there next to his, a small square of card on a long chain, with her Gift type and name and strange codes and a picture on it. She took it solemnly.

"Tallis will get his pass soon, won't he?" She asked absently, running her fingertips along the edge of the card. She didn't see Katy's face darken, but she heard it in her voice:

"Yes, when he's six. Then they'll call him for his tests and give him his number and then check him every time he passes them on the street to make sure he's one of the good numbers."

"Katy," Daniel's voice was warning. Katy sighed and brushed her son's hair back from his forehead before nudging him gently towards his aunt.

"Off you go then. Have fun. Tell them we'll thank them personally, just as soon as we're able. If they're not in, go straight home, you hear?"

"Yes ma'am." Leanne drawled, and then ducked when Katy took a playful swipe at her, sticking her tongue out before she ran down the road with her brother in tow.

888

"So where did you say your family are?" Daine asked carefully, seeing the odd shadow in Leanne's face when she thought of a reply. The woman sighed inwardly- whatever the answer was, it was likely going to be a lie.

"They're at work. Late. Working late." There was no grace in the lie either, it was artlessly banal. Perhaps the child didn't care if she was believed or not, or perhaps she just hadn't had much practice with lying. Daine found herself hoping it was the second reason.

"Do they work late often?" She made her own voice as artless, and saw the odd mixture of surprise and stubbornness flash across Leanne's eyes.

"'s right. It's important. It's more important than being with us. So it's too important to talk about with people we don't know." The words were defiant, practiced, but spoken with some pain. It was obviously a sore point. Perhaps she should drop it, but Daine opened her mouth to ask… she wasn't sure what, really. She just knew that there wasn't much that would make a young family trust their children with strangers, and the way things were at the moment, she doubted it was something safe.

Numair interrupted her before she could ask her next question, calling out to her from the doorway before he'd even shut the door, and she excused herself to the children before she went to join him. He was pulling his coat off, leaving the sleeves inside out in his haste, and as soon as he saw her he started speaking rapidly.

"They did it. They voted on it today. They're all in favour of it." He tried to hang the coat up and cursed broadly when it fell from the hook. Daine barely noticed. Blood drained from her face as his words sank in.

"But… they can't." She caught hold of the wall, not trusting her legs not to shake under her. "I never thought they would… they won't actually…"

"Oh, they will." Numair's voice was grim as he picked up the coat and kicked off his boots. "They don't know anything. They see any immortals as animals, as… as beasts to be butchered. They have the technology, after all. A few hundred years of draining human beings has given them good practice! They were so happy, Daine. They were joking about how much power a creature made of magic, rather than just having magic, would produce in a few years wired up to their machines…"

"Please don't." Daine whispered, knowing that he was furious and needing to rant, but feeling sicker with every word he said. Her husband glanced up and then paused, stepping forward to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry." He said, "I wasn't thinking; I'm angry. Are you alright? You're white as a sheet."

"They wouldn't even know about the dragons if it wasn't for us." Daine's voice was bitter. "I told Kit we'd find our own way out of the divine realms once the barrier was destroyed, but she wouldn't hear of it… and now…"

"They'll fight back, you know." Numair wasn't sure if his voice was doubtful or reassuring, but both of them knew what he meant. Blood would be spilled, both silver and red, over this decision. He took a deep breath and amended his sentence. "We have to find some way to warn them. The spells have the same pull over them they always did, when Ozorne dragged the immortals through… but they can at least be prepared for it this time."

"Missus Draper?" The voice was high pitched and uncertain, and Tallis actually took a step back when Numair looked down at him. "Missus, are you alright? Grown ups don't cry, you know."

"I'm not crying." Daine hastily wiped under her eyes and thanked the gods that the harsher sounds of Common hid the roughness in her voice. "Go back to your sister, Tallis, this is a grown-up talk."

"Yes ma'am." The little boy trailed back into the kitchen obediently, looking back in frank curiosity but keeping firmly to command.

"What are they doing here?" Numair asked. Daine explained to him about the thank-you message, and the strange absence of both their parents.

"So they're in the resistance." He concluded after a few sentences. The woman shrugged and half-smiled.

"It certainly seems that way, doesn't it? I was thinking the same thing before you got here."

Numair tugged at his nose, eyes distant. "Well, if they're in the resistance, we could use their help."

"No." Daine was surprised at the strength in her voice. "No. We owe them more than to mix them up in this."

"Daine, they're going to be mixed up in it anyway." The man's voice was kind, but held the same vein of iron. "Better they're prepared…"

"They're prepared. We did that to them ourselves. They know how to protect themselves. This time, let them make their own choices." The woman ran a hand through her hair, frustrated and not knowing how to explain herself. "We can't keep dragging them into our problems."

"But you're perfectly happy to let their children…"

"That's different." Daine knew she was being hypocritical but didn't care. "They're innocent."

Numair looked at her for a long moment, and then sighed. "Well, then… I won't approach them. Not yet. There's a lot to be done before we take action, anyway. But… the very second that the council rips the barriers apart, there's going to be chaos to answer to."

"I know." Daine set her jaw. "I can teach the children. They'll be safer for it. They don't need to know why."

"Poor little soldiers." Numair said, and shrugged. "Better you'd tell them."

"I won't. Let them have one last summer." Daine bit her lip and glanced out of the glass-panelled door. The birds called to each other outside, and it was so peaceful that she wondered if the group of officials who had voted today knew they were plunging their country into a vicious war.