That got a laugh out of everyone. “Oh, yes. Once you have your own salle, people flock. But it’s not as if taking the portal is a tremendous burden. I’d certainly consider it on a regular schedule.” Ismene said it smoothly, as if she were sure there’d be cause. The others echoed that, and of course Cyrus and FitzAlan were already likely to be somewhere with a portal and not a great deal of traffic waiting for it.
They started out with Cyrus and FitzAlan, partly to give the other four a chance to work out a rota of matches. Ismene offered to take on Thessaly first, with Albert to fight Helena. Then they’d see about another round of bouts. Everyone expected to get three or four, maybe five bouts in, which gave Thessaly a good idea about the level of skill, given they’d booked the salle for two hours. That meant things would go fast.
Watching Cyrus was interesting, actually. He was still not a naturally brilliant duellist, but since she’d last seen him, admittedly, several years ago now, he’d improved. He had a much more sure sense of where he was in the salle, and how to use all his resources. His charmwork had definitely improved, especially whenever he leaned into the more elemental forms. A gust of air almost knocked FitzAlan off his feet at one point. Then there was a rolling movement of the earth that turned into a boggy swamp under FitzAlan’s feet.
The older man— he was a little less than twenty years older, so secure in his position and skills— laughed, several times, apparently delighted by the challenge. They went back and forth, one gaining the upper hand than the other. All of a sudden, FitzAlan pulled out several unexpected twists in quick succession, bringing Cyrus down on his back in a cloud of dust. He reached down to help Cyrus up, and Cyrus was grinning.
“You’ve got better,” Thessaly called out, agreeably. “But there’s still room to grow.” That earned her a laugh, and she suddenly wondered how long it had been since he’d laughed likethat. He’d said he was arranging this for her, but clearly he’d needed something like this himself, perhaps tremendously.
He and FitzAlan bowed Ismene and Thessaly into the salle, with FitzAlan lingering to oversee the match and get them started. Ismene declared, cheerfully, “I know you want to get a sense of how things are for you. I’ll match you for a little. Not forever, though.”
“I wouldn’t think of asking.” Thessaly took her position.
FitzAlan counted the opening, stepping back, and Thessaly threw herself into it. There was nothing in the world for her but the magic, her feet on the ground under her, and her own wits. The world had changed for her as well, if perhaps less dramatically than it had for Cyrus. Or at least less visibly. She was slower than she wanted to be. That was lack of practice. Despite all her efforts, she’d lost conditioning. Thessaly was in no shape for a lengthy bout right now. She’d have to work on that with Emeline. She managed to get Ismene off-balance once, then again, but then Ismene stepped up her protections and Thessaly had to work to find any opening.
What she managed was, naturally enough once she thought of it, illusion. Casting any complicated image on the fly was a tremendous challenge, of course. But she managed to call up two images of herself, then shift them around so it was near impossible to tell which was real and which were illusion. It gave her just enough of an edge that she got a touch on Ismene, a solid enough one that Ismene yielded the match.
“I’d say that’s cheating, but of course it’s not.” Ismene held out her hand.
“Use every skill you have,” Thessaly agreed. “At least that’s within bounds. But I know I’m weak a dozen places, including in the knees at the moment. And my footwork is horrendous.”
“I noticed you keep your left elbow raised a bit more than the usual. Any reason why?” That chatter occupied them amiablyas Albert and Helena set up and went into their own dazzlingly rapid bout. They were going so fierce and so fast that it was difficult even for the skilled duellists watching to follow all of it. FitzAlan joined the rest of them in the viewing area, and all five of them, Emeline very much included, were passing comments back and forth. The match lasted, too, a good five minutes. Finally Helena managed an elegant combination of charms that shattered one of Albert’s protections and then made good on the thread of possibility. He went down, head over heels, before pushing himself upright and laughing.
From there, they explored the variations. FitzAlan was sturdy in a way that Thessaly found interesting to duel, and he seemed to have an endless library of charms and feints and strategies at his disposal. Cyrus, oh, she wanted to figure out a lot more about what he was doing, and she suspected he’d tell her at least some of it in due course. Albert had a sharp knack, the kind of tricksiness that made Thessaly think of Aunt Metaia. He went at problems from an angle, and rarely the one most logical to pick. He was tremendously successful with it.
And Helena had not flattered her, Thessaly did not want praise she had not earned. But she had agreed that with some regular time in the salle, Thessaly had an excellent chance of excelling. Certainly, Thessaly wanted to give Helena a challenge in due course, but Helena had won their bout handily ninety seconds in, purely on speed and dexterity.
It meant each of them had a chance against each of the others, too. By the time their slot was over, everyone had had a go, and they rapidly made plans for the next Tuesday. Helena promised to send along some recommendations for Thessaly, places to start with improving. But she hadn’t lost so much skill she’d embarrassed herself.
Thessaly changed again, a necessity given the distance to the portals, and Emeline was quiet until they’d gone through toBryn Glas. “Not that I’m saying that you should do away with my services. But it was a pleasure to see your level of skill, tried by people who know what they’re about.”
Thessaly let out a long sigh. “It felt so good, too. I’d missed it. I think I hadn’t allowed myself to miss it. It hurt too much? Can we do some more footwork drills tomorrow evening? In the bottom of the carriage house, or clear out the entry hall or something?”
“I’ll talk it through with Collins.” Thessaly beamed, and went off to go and change into something comfortable and full of colour. Then she flung herself back on the pile of research that awaited her.
22
JANUARY 9TH IN TRELLECH
“Ibeg pardon, what?” Vitus felt he had not handled that at all smoothly, but he couldn’t think of anything better to say. Florent Montague had asked to speak to him, a consultation for other work. Fortunately, they were in Vitus’s consulting room, behind his own warding, rather than at one of the clubs.
“Are you available to help with a somewhat urgent question? I don’t have all the necessary skills for it. For the Fortiers. Or, these days, the steadiness of hand I’d prefer.”
“Lord Clovis and Sigbert Fortier,” Vitus said. “Did you mention you were asking me?”
“I said that you taking it on was my requirement for my part of it.” Florent settled back, unreadable other than the surface politeness he made visible. Vitus had, in fact, followed up on the invitation he’d made after Vitus had finished his apprenticeship. He’d had drinks a couple of times with Florent and Dagobert in various combinations, but this was different.
Now Vitus took a breath. “What is the project, then?”
“There will be oaths required on it when we get to that stage. They have a long-term project in play, one where the next step involves stabilising certain energies and magics. A different range than the pieces you did for the Council, for the challenge,but somewhat similar. The other aspect involves figuring out what stones might work, to be done from samples and sympathetic resonances. I certainly have some expertise in that, but I think it needs your eye as well.”
“And they know you’re asking me. In specific. I would not have thought that would be acceptable.” Vitus said it outright.
“I am doing them the favour. I gather they were not sure who else to ask, and my being open to the request is of help to my daughter and her husband. For my part, I said I needed your touch with several aspects. Clovis is not precisely pleased but accepted my terms. Sigbert was agreeable. I do not expect Maylis will invite you to stay to tea.”
That was the sort of mess that Vitus very much wanted to discuss with Thessaly. “And the scope of the project, in terms of the work, time involved, and contractual considerations?”
“If you’re willing, a visit to Arundel this afternoon to see the space. It is outside their estate wards, but not far from the portal, on the Arun. I’d like you to consider what the land tells you. At a suitable time, we could meet to select specific stones and approaches to try. Next week, perhaps.” Florent looked amused. “The other condition I made is that they pay well.” He laid out the amounts - for the planning, for the creation of the talismans, for the setting of them, then added. “That’s per person divided evenly. If you’d like, I’d be glad to defer most of the creation to you and handle that portion proportionately. You have more freedom in your schedule.”
