Who: Una and Cassius What: A soon-to-be-married couple sorts their affairs When: One evening the first few days of October, after dinner Where: Ravensworth House, London Warnings: None significant
Dinner had been excellent; it was going to be a shame if Una's servants wouldn't work with whoever Cassius currently had in charge of his kitchen. But fae were funny that way, and also there was the issue of knives. It was something they'd have to consider after their wedding trip.
For now they were enjoying the last of the Stilton and walnuts, and the port that went with them. And it was, perhaps, time to speak of all the things that had been piling up between them, not the least of which was the MPC investment, which Una knew had been much on Cassius' mind as well.
Una hardly needed another sip of the port to fortify her, but she took it anyway, just because. "So tell me about how things are going in Parliament, Cassius. Has Salisbury made any moves toward Home Rule?" Which was one of her favourite topics even if she liked the Irish a bit less than her beloved Scots.
"Slowly," Cassius replied, unable to entirely hide his annoyance at that fact, or simply disinclined to hide it from his future wife and partner. "As always, of course, but we still have uncertain votes in the House of Shadows, with the werewolves taking so many seats after the war, and one of them nearly assassinated without an heir, which will only encourage others to try the same. I wonder if it was those Americans."
Cassius frowned over his glass. "I see no reason the two would be connected, unfortunately. It would certainly be tidier if they were. But removing Lord Black wouldn't make room for a new coven in power. The wolves wouldn't stand for it, and they'd make too many enemies. Unless they wish to ingratiate themselves with the British covens, of course."
"I mislike this business with the Americans. Even if the coven is originally English, they seem to have lost what civilisation England had in the wars and given it all up in the colonies." They had probably been Roundheads, Una thought, and washed that idea away with another sip of port. "I think we should be prepared to deal with them. We should hope it will not be necessary, but prepare for the worst. Are there any sort of rules for dealing with a rogue coven other than 'let the Night Watch do it'? There are geasa and other methods of compulsion among my people, not least against those who violate their oaths." As Cassius knew from other discussions they'd had.
"If there is an uprising within the vampire covens," Cassius answered mildly, "I don't imagine the issue will ever make it as far as the Night Watch. The elders are similarly unforgiving."
He paused in thought before offering, "Each of us has a Sire, as you know. Responsibility for a vampire's behavior generally rests with the one who created them. In this case..." He shook his head, lips pursed. "It might be a long chain of guilty parties before we reach someone the covens would grant the authority to deal with their progeny."
Cassius met Una's eyes and smiled slightly. "And we have our own compulsions, as you know."
"Yes. I know." Una smiled fondly. She'd been surprised to find Cassius so well-fitted to her interests. "I know that I'm not privy to all the coven secrets and I don't wish to trespass. Merely to know the customs well enough to observe them. I worry that whatever is happening there, especially with whatever happened at the end of the last month, and the troubles I hear of from court, may all be connected. I hope I'm wrong, but there are too many coincidences of time and place for it to all be independent.
"This may be the crisis we feared, moving faster than we expected."
Cassius made a graceful sweep of his hand. "No, of course not. We each have secrets we must keep, but we're also engaged in a partnership. Some information is better shared."
Not all, by any means; he was under no illusions that they could or would be completely honest and forthcoming with one another. But if it served their interests, then he saw no reason to hold anything back.
Her concern was one he shared; it was too neat, the reports of theft and planned coup, and the Americans riding in on their horses to dispense justice. "Fugitives from both your Court and the covens, then? And what do you think of the Americans, their part in this? The Pinkertons?"
He couldn't say that he thought highly of the one he'd met, but it had been only a brief encounter. And Cassius reserved his respect until it had been earned.
Una shook her head, not quite as a negative but approaching that direction. "I know there is magic in their number, like the Night Watch, but I doubt they have the trust of the supernatural community in America, never mind here. Even if they are well-intentioned, and I suspect they are, I don't expect them to solve the problem. It will take greater resources than they have access to, especially far from their power base. They're a wild card. The solutions must be in our hands, and if not yours and mine, hands we trust and would work with. This is the lesson we seek to teach, even as we work to advantage our own," and Una's lips curled into another fond smile there "and a useful way to teach it."
Cassius hummed thoughtfully at that. He trusted Una's judgment; if she suspected these agents were more bounty hunters than constables, he believed her. It would explain why they'd come so far afield.
"Speaking of hands we trust," he remarked, "not to change the subject away, if there's more to discuss regarding our current plans, but I may have met someone useful. Possibly two someones, but the second is...more complicated."
Una's ears pricked up slightly at the mention of new people. "I'm always happy to court someone useful to our purposes, especially if they're also interesting. So pray tell me about them, and I'll tell you about some of the interesting people I have met of late, as well."
Cassius chuckled at Una's answer. "You take the words from my mouth." He took a sip of port and collected his thoughts before deciding to start with the simpler story.
"I met an archivist, when I went to tour the Institute last month. I was considering an investment, and I still am, however: I've been given reason to believe that the Institute may not have our," he inclined his head toward her with a meaningful eyebrow, "best interests at heart. My new acquaintance seems to believe there is imminent danger to vampires and others, at the hands of the humans who run it, and he's working to uncover what he can. I've agreed to assist him, as benefactor and by doing some investigation of my own. Certainly if there's a threat there, it would be to our benefit to remove it."
Una's eyebrows arched. "I should like to meet this archivist, then, and take my own measure of him. I suspect I have much to offer him, and if we have 'scientific' enemies--more than any engineering is in general a trouble to my kindred--all the forces we can bring to bear against them will be welcome.
"I seem to be gathering a circle of ladies of supernatural quality around me. I met a mortal sorceress of the Hebrew tradition, and I am assisting dear Gabriel's daughter with her situation. I've decided I should introduce them and see what comes of that. The ladies may prove a resource whose value such enemies fail to understand." Una did enjoy their company for what it was worth but she was aware, in these times, that friendship would often include protecting her own. She would have anyway; she liked Zipporah and had she not liked Leah, which she did, she would protect Leah for Gabriel's sake. But such relationships in the end had to run both ways.
Cassius looked amused. “Her situation being her unmarried state? I wouldn’t have taken you for a matchmaker, but I’m certain you’d be a formidable one. Any prospects on the horizon?”
Given his last encounter with Gabriel Allen, Cassius was not inclined to be charitable toward ‘dear Gabriel’, but the man knew how to charm ladies, and it was obvious Una had been no exception. That last encounter also brought him tidily to his second person of interest, who was by far the more complicated.
“I spoke with an acquaintance of his recently,” Cassius remarked, grappling briefly with a surge of annoyance that he took care to remove from his voice. “You may remember me mentioning her; she’s the one who catered the pastries for our engagement party, and happened before that to pick my pocket and assault me with her parasol in the street.”
The annoyance that he’d managed to smooth out returned tenfold then, soured by the memory of ‘Lady’ di Palermo’s visit to his London house. “I brought our...concerns...to her for further inquiry, and she informed me that she couldn’t explain her behavior, but that someone else would, on her behalf, if I would have patience. Which I did. I was then subject to an entirely unpleasant visit by a Lady Chiara di Palermo--vampire, not connected to any nobility the covens know of here or on the continent, hangs around the House of Shadows though she has no seat there, nor close acquaintance. She informed me that Mrs Adams was her dependent, made claims upon her bakery and person, shrieked a great deal about her refusal to answer any questions, and told me that I was not welcome again in Mrs Adams’ presence, as if the woman were her unwed daughter and I was a penniless pauper seeking her hand in some illicit romance.”
Cassius breathed in through his nose, then out, and recovered his temper. “Mrs Adams swears quite prettily that I wasn’t targeted for any personal or political reason, and that her appearance on the barge was entirely innocent, but I like this business less than ever. Mostly because di Palermo is now involved in it.”
Una was about to explain enough of Leah's situation to make it clearer to Cassius what the problem was, and how she was equipped to solve it as matchmaker or otherwise, when Cassius began his recital about the baker. That part they'd already discussed, but then it grew into the story of Chiara di Palermo, which clearly was upsetting to Cassius. Her brow furrowed and her lips pinched together as Cassius recovered his temper and finished the recital. "I don't like this di Palermo woman either, even without meeting her. If you'd like, I'll see what I can find out. But pray tell, in all this shrieking, did she attempt to threaten you?"
"Attempt, perhaps." Cassius' own lips thinned. "I would say she knew better, but she seemed cognizant of very little. I would not say she succeeded. Had she dared, I might not have allowed her to leave this house." Almost unconsciously, he bared the tips of his fangs, and then forced his control back into place, breathing deeply.
"My apologies," he told Una. "That was unseemly, and unbecoming of a gentleman in the presence of a lady. Forgive me."
He ran his tongue across the less-pointed tips of his incisors, and resumed more even-tempered speech. "She had, by the end of our delightful conversation, banned you and I from Mrs Adams' bakery and presence, insisting we 'cease and desist' any dealings with her. Her precise words, I believe, were that we 'would not be tolerated'."
The sentiment behind the words enraged him anew, although this time he was more prepared to weather the surge of anger. For anyone, much less a coven-less vampire who ran half of a baker's shop, to forbid his bride-to-be anything, to say outright that she would not be tolerated, raised Cassius' temper to within an inch of breaking. He turned his head and closed his eyes briefly.
"I am sorry," he said again, his hand white-knuckled on the arm of the chair. "I find it...difficult...to stomach any insult to you that has gone unchallenged. Perhaps I shouldn’t have let her leave this house, after all."
"Cassius," Una answered, as gently as she could manage, "you are to be my husband. You need not be ashamed of showing your temper at insults, especially not between the two of us. As for this Chiara di Palermo, I would not have you endanger your own position over her. While I have no doubt that ultimately you would be found not guilty of any crime for protecting yourself from a madwoman who came to your home--soon to be our home--to threaten you over defending yourself against a thief, it's a distraction we cannot afford. Not now."
Her voice grew colder. "Having said that, if she threatens you again, or threatens me, she may well find out how a lady of the Winter Court deals with such a foolish upstart."
Perversely, Cassius found Una's show of temper and strength soothing, a balm to his raw nerves. "Should that come to pass, I hope that I may be there to see it," he said sincerely, the slightest touch of a smile at the corners of his mouth, fondness and pride for this formidable woman. "And while I am grateful for your patience, I wouldn't wish to alarm you with my temper. A man who cannot control himself is a poor husband indeed."
And Una, for all that she should never fear him, as powerful as she was, was also fae. Fae blood tempted the control of weaker vampires, even without the addition of protective anger. Cassius was grateful he wasn't one such, and that his wife would be safe in their home.
"My lady," Cassius murmured, reaching across for her hand, should she grant it him, to kiss it. "I am a lucky man indeed, to have such strength at my side."
Una did, with a smile.
This was not the time for courtship, however; they had further matters to discuss, of serious import for both of them. "The pickpocket-baker," Cassius resumed, as if the interlude had not occurred. "She could be useful. She has spirit, and showed no fear of me, even when backed into a corner. Her business grants her entry into a great number of houses, and among gossiping servants, no less. I was thinking of asking you to speak with her, before...the recent unpleasantness."
"I am inclined to look into the matter even so. While I generally respect--let us say, the protection of supernaturals, I would prefer to hear from the baker's lips that she wishes to claim it. And," Una's tone shifted to the distinctly unimpressed, "I do not take orders from persons unknown to me. Especially when they are delivered in such a way.
"Next she may try to order me away from the young fae girl I found, and I will not have that."
"Di Palermo claims the bakery is half-hers," Cassius warned, not particularly worried either way. "It may be easier to speak with Mrs Adams elsewhere, but on the other hand, would anyone keep a great lady from her tea cakes, should she wish for some?"
That matter settled, Cassius did not have to feign interest in Una's last statement. "Found?" he echoed, curious. "That's an unusual choice of words. Is there a story there to tell?"
"I think someone has hidden a changeling among mortals." Una's brow wrinkled a little with concern and confusion. "There was an advertisement in the Shade that interested me, and I followed up on it to find a young girl practising alchemy; she appears to be of Sidhe heritage. But she thinks herself mortal. I thought to tell her of what she is, but we were interrupted. Now I am watching her from a distance, and wondering who left her where she is. I may not have time to follow up before the wedding, though."
"How interesting." And it was, truly; the fae always had reasons for doing things, and while they enjoyed taking the occasional mortal child, often the thing left in their place did not bother to pretend it was a child for long...or so the stories claimed, anyway. Una would know better, but it was not something Cassius felt he had an invitation to ask at present.
"If there is any way I can be of service to you, you have only to ask. Whether with this girl or the wedding. I don't have the artistic eye of the bride," Cassius joked with a small smile, "but I can deal with other matters, should you need assistance."
He considered the items on both of their plates, and what must be the most pressing for Una, aside from the wedding. "The hunt, for the Winter Court," he said delicately, careful not to phrase it as a request for information Una could not provide. "Is there anything I or the coven might do to provide aid, in good faith as your allies?"
"If I could prove they were allied with the Stahls, or that it was connected firmly to the Ripper matter, or what happened on the thirtieth, then I would know what to ask for. But with all these uncertainties, apart from listening to the winds for their troubles, there is little to be done.
"I will be going to the springs of Tyburn soon, by night, to perform certain rituals and gain information. It's a matter for the courts, dealing with the deaths on the thirtieth, and Conall Mac Ruadh will be joining me. He has the Queens' authority." She paused there to let that sink in. "I will be glamoured, but it is possible I will be recognised even so. I do not wish it to reflect ill on you, but it is a necessary duty. And you should know in advance, lest someone try to use my presence against me, or you."
There was a brief pause, wherein Cassius was given time to consider why on earth anyone should try to use Una's presence acting as a source of information for her people against him, and then he remembered certain ancient pagan rituals and traditions, and the implication became clear. He wished, quite viscerally, that it had not.
"Should I assume you're speaking of a ritual marriage?" Cassius asked, which was the polite way of putting it. "Before our own?"
Una flushed and shook her head. "No, no no. That's not what I meant at all. While many magics work better with a balancing of summer and winter powers, they don't have to be--joined, if you will, in that way. Most of those magics are for the spring and if Conall requires a winter bride next year, he'll have to look elsewhere." This last she said flatly, continuing with a touch of mild annoyance, "In other times what we mean to do would cause no notice, but people nowadays are strange about men and women, and guess that any man and woman together after dark are illicit lovers. That's the sort of gossip I wish to avoid."
"Ah." Cassius' demeanor thawed considerably and instantly, although he would have denied it ever approaching frosty. Theirs was a political alliance; he had made it very clear that he would not interfere with personal business in Una's bed. That being said, Cassius would have been less-than-pleased - if unable to say so - that Una was having such assignations with mac Ruadh. They had little fondness for each other, and Una had altogether too much, to Cassius' mind.
"You are no ordinary woman," Cassius responded. "Of course you must see to the Court's business. Should any whispers arise, I am certain they will be quelled soon enough, and those responsible convinced to mind their tongues. Don't give it another thought."
Una's colouring resumed its more normal pale aspect and her frame relaxed just slightly at Cassius' words and the change of his tone. "I had not thought the reputation of the Sidhe so lascivious as all that. There are many forms of magic and only a few benefit from, and even fewer require, what was once called a Great Rite. Inspecting a spring and a passage isn't on that list; I'm sorry to have--left such an impression."
Una filed the thought of the Great Rite away for later. While it was not hers to participate in such a thing, and it was better done with a Summer Queen and a Winter King, if the change to the Summer court wasn't enough for Conall to bear down on their enemies by the Spring Equinox, it was not out of the question. Though not with her.
Cassius was surprised by Una's remark, and felt an immediate flood of guilt at her flush. "No, no...it's I who must apologize," he insisted, leaning forward toward her. "I should not have entertained such a thought, and it was the height of rudeness to speak so aloud, to a lady. My misunderstanding was that the Sidhe should consider such a thing lascivious; I thought myself a prude for being given pause, and that you must have a more evolved..."
Cassius broke off and pursed his lips. "In apologizing for being a cad, I am only becoming more so. I beg your forgiveness most humbly, Baroness. My behavior was beyond the pale."
Una reached out to take both of Cassius' hands in hers. "I take no offence. Truth be told, our nature is different to mortals, and sometimes rituals require, as you say, marriage. And also it's true that many of the Sidhe who spend time among mortals enjoy bedsport with them--but that is sometimes a matter of wildness while on holiday, if you will.
"This is exactly why I chose to tell you that I would be abroad in the night, working magic with Conall mac Ruadh," she explained. "We know there are forces arrayed against us. If someone comes to you and says 'we saw her with another man', you now can say, 'ah yes, my lady has duties to her court," and not only is their approach to you blunted, but all overhearing the exchange will know we are confident in each other and our alliance is strong."
Cassius raised Una's hands to his lips and pressed a dry, chaste kiss to her knuckles. "You are as politic as you are clever," he complimented, avoiding the more patronizing - though deserved - praise of her beauty.
Taking up his glass again, Cassius sipped and considered a topic they had not touched on of late. "Speaking of alliances," he suggested with a thin smile. "What are your thoughts, concerning the Modern Prometheus Corporation?"
Una took some time to ponder that before answering, which she covered by pouring herself a little more port. "That I mislike it all but we may need to put our money into MPC to keep a hand on the tiller of the ship lest it turn its weapons against us. Not that I think Mrs Linden means to act against us, but it would be easy for her to accept other investors who opposed our aims. What are your thoughts?"
"That you prefer airships to railroads, and that the head of a company who is aware of our existence might be less likely to blunder, knowing the likely consequences." Cassius' answer was simple and prepared--he'd had time to meditate on the subject. "She has no reason to cross us. She might know of the existence of Faerie and other such temptations, but along with that, she knows what happens to humans in the stories, when they trespass."
He considered her words regarding the tiller of the ship, so like what he and Mr Green had discussed not long ago. "I believe that while both you and I might prefer a return to more idyllic times, our best course is not to impede progress directly, but to provide a guiding hand in its direction. Investing in an airship company might also add credibility to my interest in the Institute, and allow us greater access to information and developing industry."
"You're right," Una said, for all that she didn't like it much. "And perhaps we can guide them toward ways of making things that are less damaging to the world, and return some of the idylls thereunto. Besides, I'd rather do it this way than give money to the Russians." Giving money to a business owned and run by a woman was preferable if one had to do it, even if one wasn't sure one actually liked the woman.
"That's settled, then?" Cassius set down his glass. "I'll speak to the coven and our solicitor, and see how large an investment they believe is wise. If we negotiate at all, are there guarantees you'd like written into the contract? Stipulations regarding...what was it Mrs Linden mentioned? Protection from the iron in the airship?"
"Yes, and the use of alternative materials, ceramics and the like, and ideally access to the research she was talking about concerning their use in airships, with first rights to invest in future products that come from it. I have learned," Una said, "to take the long view in business. There will end up being some concessions and secrecy, and I can certainly accept that, but if she actually has something, I want to know, and direct its future use, even if only as an otherwise silent partner.""
Cassius smiled. "You are a negotiator after my own heart. I shall set it down in writing, then, and have you look over it before I send it on, to be certain our initial conditions meet your approval."
He lifted his glass toward Una in toast. "To partners."
"To partnership," Una agreed, raising her own glass. "Long, and successful."