Chapter 34

JUNE 24TH

O n Monday, Vitus spent the morning in Niobe’s workshop before she shooed him out to do other useful things. He’d originally intended to go to the Faire, but he wasn’t remotely in the mood. Instead, he went by the haberdasher his father swore by, to pick up a new tie and pocket square. He had a black suit, suitable for funerals, of course, but only one properly sombre tie. Two would be better, since there would be some people at both, almost certainly.

From there, he went off to the Four Metals house, arriving on the late side of the lunch hour. As he’d expected, there weren’t many people there. Most would either be tending to whatever their business was, or out at the Faire. He settled down in the conversation room to read through the paper and a few other minor publications, and also to see who happened by.

He’d been there perhaps twenty minutes when someone went by him, past him, then stopped and backed up. “Just the man I remembered I wanted to talk to.” It was Merryn Penforth, looking particularly sharply dressed. “Do you have a minute, Vitus?”

Vitus had been to three evening gatherings, including that first one she’d invited him to. As she’d said, the topics weren’t always to his particular interest, but the discussions around them were. He nodded, setting the paper aside. “Of course. Here or somewhere else?”

“One of the private rooms, if you don’t mind. It won’t be long, but there’s a possible commission.” And that, yes, he’d want to learn about without everyone listening over his shoulder, for all sorts of reasons. Vitus got up, slotting the paper back in place neatly, and followed Merryn down the hall. The layout was both like the Stream and not. There were no sleeping rooms upstairs, like the House clubs had for people who needed to spend a night in Trellech in a reliable spot.

Instead, this floor had a variety of meeting rooms, with the kitchen and staff rooms in the basement. The first and second floors held a variety of workshop spaces with smaller tools and materials. Four Metals as a society had a country estate, convenient to a portal, and that was where all the larger or more complex workshops were; the forge, the kiln, the carpentry shop, and several buildings Vitus had never ventured into.

The private room Merryn chose was small, but the decorative woodwork was pleasing. The walls were a shade of deep blue that Vitus found restful, and the two easy chairs were comfortable. She went in first, and Vitus flipped the sign by the door to show it was occupied, closing the door behind him. Merryn settled in the chair facing the door, and Vitus took the other. Then he waited. She had all the relevant information; he did not.

What Merryn did was look at him, her head cocked slightly. “Two things, in fact. First, are you intending to be at Magistra Powell’s funeral tomorrow?” She held up her fingers. “I gather you spoke with her briefly at the Council rites, and with her niece a little longer.”

Vitus blinked. “You are well-informed.” He nodded. “I was planning on it, yes.” Someone from Fox House would dissemble here, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Besides, it would be obvious tomorrow that he was there. Keeping it secret now didn’t seem worthwhile. “May I ask why?”

“She was one of our own.” Merryn’s voice was a little clipped. It was the sort of tone that made Vitus sure this loss was personal to her, if not nearly as much as to Thessaly. “You know our customs?”

Vitus inclined his head. “I’ve not, in the past, but yes.” It was the custom of the Four Metals to craft a chain, a link for each person mourning the death. They were made of hammered metal and left on the grave by someone with access, buried in the top layer of soil. “After the service?”

“At the country house, yes, in the metal shop. If you can bring your own gloves and such, that would be a help, but we’ll have spares handy.” Merryn considered him. “May I ask how well you knew her?”

“Not nearly as well as I suspect you did.” Vitus inclined his head. “I’m sorry for your loss. I met her niece - Thessaly, the older of the Lytton-Powell daughters - at the St George’s Day gala. And we’ve talked several times since. She was intrigued by the illusion challenges of lapis lazuli, and she had some questions for me about some of my work.” There, that was neutral enough, though he suspected some of his emotion showed through somewhere. It certainly felt like it was all on display. And even more so once he remembered yesterday.

“Ah.” Merryn’s voice was suddenly very neutral. “I don’t know Mistress Lytton-Powell well, but I know nothing against her. She’s a braver woman than I am, making the marriage choices she has.”

Vitus held still at that, and he was sure that showed as well. Then he took a breath, considered his options, and went for honesty, given he couldn’t hide all his feelings. “We’re on the way to being friends. I think she might rather need them.”

Merryn gave him a sharp look. “I expect you’re right.” Her voice started neutral, but then she shook her head, as if shaking something off. “We would be glad to have you then, and you’d be welcome to tell her niece about our custom in due course, if you thought it the right thing.”

“I appreciate that.” Vitus hesitated. “May I ask whether you’re the one arranging it, or just the one who spotted me?”

“I am the one who is helping arrange matters, but I also suggested you be invited. How’s that?” She spread her hands, palms up. “We are still getting to know you again. Travel changes a man - and a woman - as I know myself.” Her mouth quirked up. “I came back from a Grand Tour of my own. I promptly refused to marry the man my parents had in mind for me. Then I went sideways into an entirely different line of apprenticeship. I didn’t know Metaia at school, but she was helpful in sorting out the apprenticeship, and by the time I finished, she was on the Council.”

“Ah.” Vitus considered that. “That would make a strong connection, that kind of help. And I gather she was generous with that, helping people find where they might do best.”

Merryn’s eyes gleamed for a moment. “A great loss, for many people. She kept the Four Metals part rather private. She felt she could do more from the shadows. And she did like her illusions and tricking the eye. The sort who preferred to be underestimated.” Merryn tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair. “She was supposed to be meeting Thirza. You’ve seen more of her, I think?”

“I have.” Thirza Remmerton was an acclaimed crafter of pigments. There was some overlap between their arts, or at least the raw materia for them. And stones that weren’t suited for talisman work could profitably go to pigment work. She wasn’t a colourman - or colourwoman - making up inks, but instead crafted materials for artists and for magical use. “Ah.” He now saw how the invitation must have gone, if Thirza had any idea of the connection. “That must have been terribly hard for her, as well.”

“You’re very thoughtful. We do like that, on the whole, you’ll have a chance to say so tomorrow. She’s taken it hard. They were close friends, comfortable friends, no masks, no illusions. Those are too rare a thing in the world.” Then Merryn shifted, almost shaking out invisible feathers into something tidier. “The other question - or did you have anything else first?”

Vitus considered. “I also intend to attend Philip Landry’s funeral.” She’d been the one to suggest the introduction. He’d thanked her for it already. “I know the circumstances are mysterious - I was just reading the paper about that. But I know them, through the Fortier connections, and Philip was kind to me. And I feel for his brother.”

“Ah.” Now Merryn tapped her fingertips together, a little fidget, unlike her. “No one’s seen any of the Fortiers outside their estates, I gather. Not since Solstice. And no one’s sure why. I won’t ask you to pass on information. I don’t move in those circles, but I know enough of the risks. And no one’s ever been sure what to make of the Landrys, though I agree Philip could be quite congenial in the right circumstance. Always that sense of distance, but congenial and willing to share in the ordinary line of things. If you notice anything unusual at the funeral you feel you can share, I’d like to know. There have been some odd orders for materia, as well, and we’re not sure why.”

Vitus considered this, the implications of the request. “You are one of the people keeping an eye on the Four Metals, then.” It was a secret society at root, a collaboration of people bound by mutual interest and creativity as much as any oath. Leadership, such as it was, rotated, but the way it did was mysterious. There was a rota of people who made sure materials were reordered for the workshops, tended to any requests for the building, and resolved the rare interpersonal problem.

But mostly, events of the Four Metals were self-selecting. People went to the ones that interested them and ignored the ones that didn’t. Vitus found it decidedly restful, more than the Stream, where everyone seemed to want to drag anyone nearby into their latest interest or idea. On the other hand, people had to keep things running, and that meant a few people coordinating.

Merryn snorted. “Guilty as charged. One of seven, as we usually do it, I have been this year. Keeping an eye on our more liminal members - people beginning or finishing apprenticeships - is one of my particular duties, though I’d have invited you along to supper, anyway. You’re reasonable to talk to, you don’t hoard your knowledge, and you’re not afraid to explore new ideas.” Then she considered. “I suppose that brings me to the second thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Yes?” Vitus straightened a little. He wasn’t entirely surprised by either Merryn or her actual role. He knew there were people doing those exact things. Knowing it was Merryn might lead him to ask her a few more questions in private at some point. She wasn’t competition for him, as he wasn’t for her, but she had an entirely different range of professional connections.

“There will be a new Council challenge, obviously. People are already considering it, as callous as that seems.” She let out a huff of breath. “I know of someone who might be looking for talisman work. I can’t say I entirely recommend him as a person. But as a client I think he’d be in a position to be of interest to you, and he’s good for the fee. The sort who believes in paying well for skilled magical work, which is always a good quality in a client.”

“Someone you know well?” Vitus asked, though that was a sort of sideways insult in there.

“Oh, someone you know. Same year at Schola as you, if I have the maths right. Theo Carrington.”

Vitus blinked. “Fox House, my year, yes.” He considered. “Rather skilled in Incantation, I think he finished his apprenticeship while I was away. Good family, not one that has reliably held a Council seat.” Then he tilted his head. “Did he proposition you at some point, then?”

Merryn let out an exasperated breath. “Last summer. I was doing some work on the warding on the family estate. He took no for an answer, and he doesn’t have wandering hands without asking, which is more than you can say for a number of men of that type. Not a problem you’d need to duck, and I don’t think he’d dare try with Niobe if he called round.”

“He already had a reputation for ardent pursuit of women at school. Though I will say, all the gossip I heard suggested that he takes a no in reasonably good grace. I didn’t hear comment that he didn’t. But I didn’t hear whatever complaining he did in the dorms, of course. He wouldn’t, to the likes of me.” Vitus nodded. “I’d be glad to talk to him and see what he wants, a consultation. Not tomorrow or Wednesday, and I’d rather wait until the end of the Faire. Or I’ll be at the Fortier booth Wednesday afternoon if that’s convenient for arranging a good time.” He’d be going from Philip Landry’s morning funeral to the Faire, pausing at the Stream to change clothing and leave his case to be picked up later.

Merryn pulled a notebook out and made a few notes. “That’s plenty to go on with. Correspondence to the Stream, or to your home? You don’t have a workshop yet, do you?”

“To Niobe’s, by preference, she’ll forward on anything if I won’t be in for a day or two.” Vitus rummaged and pulled out a card which had the details, his name on one side, her workshop address on the other.

“Grand. I’ll pass it along, give you my recommendation, and I hope he’s the sort of client you’re looking for. Do charge what you’re worth, please, he’ll expect it.” Then she stood. “I must get along, people to see, orders to make. I’m glad I caught you, dinner next week, if things settle down?”

Vitus stood, getting the door for her, and agreeing that would be excellent if the world cooperated. Merryn took herself off promptly, and Vitus decided that burying himself in the library and drafting a few ideas for talismanic work for a Council challenge would be the best use of his time and mind for the moment.