‘What will they do?’ she managed in a small voice. ‘The Svenssons?’
He made an angry, despairing gesture, but when he spoke again his voice was lowered. ‘I don’t know. I daresay we’ll find out soon enough, thanks to you.’ He tightened his fists, and when she dared to meet his eyes she saw that they were misted with red. He breathed hard, calming himself. ‘What do you think they wanted with the artefacts? Did they say anything? Think, girl. Think of anything that might help.’
‘I don’t know … they didn’t explain.’ Cassie’s voice shook. ‘But … the Urn, when it glowed – there was something about it. It seemed to … I don’t know, give them some kind of extra power. They were drawing strength from it. The light was like … like a living thing.’
‘Living?’
‘Yes. Maybe there are still spirits trapped in it? From way back, when the Eldest fed on—’
Sir Alric held up his hands and shook his head, frowning. ‘I’ll do the thinking from now on, Miss Bell.’ He paced the room. ‘As for Ranjit Singh—’
There was a hesitant knock on the outer door that stopped him. Startled, they both glanced at it, and Sir Alric barked, ‘One minute, Miriam.’
He lowered his voice, leaning menacingly over Cassie. ‘All I can do is try to undo the harm you’ve done. Minimise it, at least. Listen to me, Miss Bell. I’ll have to leave the Academy to attempt to locate the Svenssons, or at least try to determine what it is they have planned. I will go to the lodge at Mount Kenya, because that’s where I stored all the related documents after that last – unsuccessful – break-in. And I take it, since it was unsuccessful, that you weren’t the culprit.’
Cassie shook her head. The break-in. ‘There’s something I’ve got to—’
‘I don’t want any more apologies,’ he interrupted bitterly. ‘I had sent the documents to Mount Kenya for safekeeping. Not the artefacts, because I didn’t want to let those out of my sight. I realise now that I shouldn’t have been so foolish. But I didn’t allow for treachery quite like this.’
Cassie couldn’t speak.
Sir Alric straightened and went back to his desk drawer. He threw a key into her lap, and she caught it, eyes widening as she recognised the carved symbols.
‘That, as you will remember, is the key to Jake’s old room. Ranjit may as well stay there. He should take time to recuperate, since his life has been bought so dearly. Of course,’ he added savagely, ‘he can’t even use the Tears to aid his recovery, since Jake has those at the lodge. But I daresay you will find some means to tend him, Miss Bell. And make sure no further disturbance occurs.’
Cassie nodded, keeping her lips tightly shut. She wanted so desperately to be back with Ranjit now, to remind herself why she’d done this terrible thing in the first place. She couldn’t think straight any more.
‘One more thing,’ Sir Alric said. ‘I’ll help you get Mr Singh to his new quarters. But once there, you will not get involved with him in any romantic way. For once in your life you will do as you are told. There’s no chance of you splitting from your spirit, now that you’ve given away the means to do it.’ He sounded almost spiteful, and for once she didn’t blame him. ‘So you will keep your spirits apart. For once in your life you will consider the impact of your actions on the rest of the Few, and you will restrain your impulses. Do I make myself clear?’
‘Yes,’ whispered Cassie. If he didn’t let up, she thought, she was going to faint, and that would be the ultimate humiliation.
He stared at her. ‘And now, you’re going to feed.’ He strode to the door, and his voice was suddenly warm and welcoming and perfectly civil.
‘Good morning, Miriam. Thank you for coming so swiftly. Can I offer you a vitamin drink. This won’t take long at all.’
Much later, Cassie sat on the edge of a chair in what she still thought of as Jake’s quarters, gazing at the sleeping Ranjit.
No wonder Sir Alric had let rip at her. And no wonder he’d done it before she fed. Now, restored with poor Miriam’s unwitting help, Cassie’s mind was racing again, and she could feel the old energy trickling back, the old defiance.
She’d deserved it; she knew that. What she’d done was unforgivable. But it had also been unavoidable. Now she just had to start fixing things …
Rising, she went over to Ranjit’s bed and sat down on the edge, stroking his hair and his face and the arm that lay on top of the covers. It was lean and pale, but still muscled, and the fist was clenched in his sleep.
By the time Ranjit had been brought up here, Sir Alric was a little more his old cool self. He’d calmed down enough to do some explaining; maybe, despite his fury, he’d realised that explanations could still stave off disaster more effectively than keeping secrets.
‘Your spirits have always been ruthless, the pair of them,’ he’d told her as they stood looking down at Ranjit. ‘Ruthless and, as you know, tremendously powerful. And always, always passionately connected. At the very heart and soul.’
‘So what was so wrong with that? What happened?’ By that time, she was already feeling strong enough to question him again.
‘Your spirits’ first incarnations were mortal dynastic enemies. They were sworn to crush one another in battle, yet their love was something that couldn’t be resisted. You may imagine the diplomatic chaos that ensued. The chaos, and the carnage. Treachery, passion, conflicting loyalties, and the utter confusion of their people and their armies. The Few that originally housed your spirits learned to combine their powers, thereby multiplying them exponentially. Together they were irresistible as a force of war, but their soul-deep rivalry could no more be denied than their soul-deep love. They quarrelled, they fought, they went to war once more; and yet they could not stay away from each other. The spirits that had once combined, collided. Their empires and their armies and their nations: all were turned to dust.’