Chapter Twelve

Author's note: Wow a whole chapter where Boa doesn't burst into tears! Ok, time check. I've had many chapters all happening in one day, and we're still in that day, so:

They all woke up, Boa read the paper and accused Carrion of lying to her father, then they went down to meet Finnegan/Quiffin, and later on they have to have dinner with Mater Motley.

That's what's happened so far in Midnight.

"Urgh!" Boa exclaimed as she got back into the carriage. "I'm so angry!"

Carrion looked at Quiffin to see what he made of this, since he himself seemed always to say the wrong thing to Boa, even if he was making an effort. Quiffin just shrugged at him in a way that expressed he didn't think Boa was about to cry, so it was proberly safe to proceed.

"We could always kill him for you?" Carrion offered after Boa had successfully twisted her skirt into a crumpled mess on her lap.

Boa stared at him.

"You are joking, right?" she asked not entirely sure. She would have taken it as a joke from anyone else, but from Christopher Carrion… you had to be careful what you joked about and agreed to.

"I'm not killing anyone in this shirt, it's pure silk and uncommonly difficult to get clean," Quiffin said inspecting his shirt cuffs.

Carrion frowned.

"You Sir are as bad as Boa, 'Oh, I can't possibly walk with you today, these shoes cost too much to get dirty!'" Carrion said, mimicking something Boa had said to him a long time ago.

Boa blushed scarlet.

"Boa? Expensive shoes?" Quiffin questioned in jest. "She must have been trying to avoid you, because Boa gives all her money to orphans."

Quiffin thought he was doing his sister a good turn by defending her spending habits, but he didn't realise that what he was saying was actually the truth. He hadn't been around to see the coldness between the pair at the beginning; all he had seen was the now.

"Don't get her started on clothes, she'll be begging me for shoes next and I'm not buying more than one item of women's clothing in a week, people will be asking questions," Carrion said making Boa blush even harder, for he had recalled in front of her their meeting in the library.

Quiffin looked like he was going to question that, but Carrion cut him off.

"Back to Hobb," he said saving Boa from further embarrassment. "I hope you two asked him to leave, because I told you before Midnight does not like visitors especially unwelcome ones."

"I think so, actually I don't remember what I said, I was so angry! How dare he come around here, undermining my decisions, demanding I go home with him? I mean, who does he think he is? But to say those things about my brother, who has never been anything but civil to him! No, I don't want to see him again for a very long time," Boa concluded. "And never mind you two, if he turns up here again, I'll kill him!"

"I'd love to see that," Quiffin said in his easy laid back manner. "That man annoys me no end!"

"And I thought he'd be just your cup of tea," Carrion said.

The comment went right over Boa's head, but her brother caught it.

"What's that supposed to mean? Just because I take care over how I look, it does not mean…!" Quiffin said half annoyed half amused.

Boa gasped and rounded on Carrion.

"My brother is not a sissy boy!" she said a little too loudly.

"Now Boa that isn't nice, you shouldn't imply things, who said anything about that?" Carrion asked flipping the joke onto her.

Boa blushed; maybe they had been talking about something else? She bit her lip feeling stupid. Quiffin smirked, he liked embarrassing his sister in front of Carrion, he didn't know why, but he supposed it was some sort of inbuilt sibling sort of thing.

"Well either way, it doesn't bother me," Carrion said holding his hands up. "Each to their own."

Quiffin smirked and winked at him with a click of his tongue in the side of his mouth.

"But that bothers me," Carrion said moving back from him.

"Alright, this is too weird for me," Boa declared folding her arms. "How come Quiffin can be rude to you, but I can't?"

"Your brother is joking; you on the other hand are always too serious," Carrion replied. "Nobody can have a joke with you."

"Ha! That's rich coming from you, Mr Misery-guts. And they can too! I can make jokes, can't I Quiffin. You tell him!" Boa demanded crossly.

"I think Lord Carrion just proved his point there…" Quiffin said quietly. "So, what do you two got planned for later, I was thinking of going to the pub, what'd ya think?"

Boa screwed up her nose.

"We have to dine with granny dearest," she said with a defeated sigh. "And he won't let me decline!"

"Be thankful I'm even accompanying you later, I wasn't actually invited," Carrion replied making Boa turn pale.

"Well, I'm not going… no offence," Quiffin said, tacking the last comment on for good measure. "I try to avoid old people."


"You're not angry that my brother isn't attending?" Boa asked as they climbed the stairs to Motley's apartments.

"Grandmother has not invited him, and before you say lucky him, it means that he'll have to introduce himself to her tomorrow. He can do it alone too, because I'm too busy to chaperone everyone who's too scared of the old crone."

"Well, in that case I suppose I ought to thank you for not abandoning me," Boa said sarcastically.

"Well, you're different."

They walked in silence for a while, up the staircase that seemed to never end. Finally Boa had to break the silence.

"Are you seriously not afraid of that woman?" She asked, secretly very impressed.

"I can understand why you would be afraid of her," Carrion replied. "And I can even understand why she might perturb your brother, as full of himself as he is. But no, I do not fear her. I detest her immensely, for reasons I would rather not discuss."

Boa thought for a moment. She could think of many reasons he might hate the woman, but there was a clear winner.

"Is it because of the fire? Do you think she had something more to do with that than we know?"

"I said I'd rather not talk about it. Whatever I said to you in the past about that subject, it does not matter now."

His voice was cold and distant again.

There was a shadow in Carrion's eyes, as if he was recalling things he didn't want to see again. He could vaguely remember talking to Boa about his suspicions years and years ago, be he could not recall what he might have told her.

But Boa would not let it rest.

"But if she helped the fire…then she's guilty! She's taken lives!"

"I said it doesn't matter now!" Carrion almost shouted, but at the last managed to control himself. His pulse was quickening in a state of nervousness that he couldn't control.

"Christopher!" Boa called his thoughts back, she felt there was injustice somewhere and that he didn't care.

Carrion turned to her on the stair, his breath held a second longer in his lungs before exhaling to try and steady himself.

"What would you have me do?" he asked darkly. His voice sounded full of secrets, as if he had wondered down this track before and knew where it lead.

Boa's eyes were wide with uneasiness.

"I don't know, but she should be punished."

"Punished?" Carrion repeated.

He looked at her for a time before beginning again.

"The law in Midnight is thus, plotting to, or succeeding to kill a member of the royal family is treason. Do you know what happens to people convicted of treason Boa? They are sentenced to death, and at whose pleasure? Mine."

Boa just stared at him speechless.

"You want me to kill my own grandmother?" he asked.

"No of course not!" Boa exclaimed shocked.

"Then she remains alive. Besides there is no evidence to link her, believe me, I've looked."

Boa shook her head, it all seemed so unfair. Her confusion, and the belief that the woman should be punished, but knowing she could not be, seemed to show on her face, as Carrion felt compelled to explain further.

"Understand that I hate that woman to my very soul, but I need her alive, just as she needs me so. We are trapped together Boa, in a maze that only gets darker the further you go in. That's why Midnight welcomes you here. I know you can save us."

Boa took his hand, it was gloved in a thin cool material, but she could still feel him through it. Using all her courage she looked him straight in the eye, something she hadn't been able to do for a long while.

"I am sorry I always seem to be questioning you about the way you live your life. I don't always mean to sound like I am disappointed by you. You are not much older than me, yet you always seem to know what to do. You are running a country, I'm running a charity, and I cant even do that properly. I could never be like you," Boa said making sure he knew she meant every word she said with her eyes.

"I shouldn't want you to be. If I could admit my faults as you do I should be a much better person, no good ever came from thinking you are right all the time. I cannot love myself, but I can love you. Don't you dare try to be like me."

Boa closed her eyes as he kissed her on her forehead. There was comfort to be taken from what he had just said. She saw everything he did as being so confident and always right, and to know that he admired her for her doubts made her feel less stupid.

"Now," he said brushing away all that had been said. "Lets go meet the hag before you loose your nerve."

Finally Boa understood that Carrion didn't tolerate his grandmother because he liked her, but because she was useful to him like his leg or his arm. You didn't cut off your leg when it helped you walk. She was just a part of his way of life, a habit. Yet Boa couldn't help but feel a strong curiosity about what had happened to him in the fire that had destroyed his whole family.

Of course they had spoke of it when they were younger, they had talked about everything back then. Her, Quiffin and Carrion had been terrible rebel children, but it had been spoken of through childish games. She longed to know what had happened now he had a grown man's mind and heart.


Phew, I'm getting there slowly, they might all starve to death if I don't get a move on with the dinner scene. Anyway, it's planned for the next chapter, and Motley is turning out to be the relative from hell in my notebook. Ick.

Anyways, please send me reviews.