those patrons so deeply inebriated or desperately miserable that the thought of a walk home required encouragement. I stayed where I was – between his good humor and the size of his shoulders, Adolphus never had much trouble walking anyone out the door. And the real troublemakers don’t wait till the end of the night before causing violence.
It was a while before I noticed that Adeline had crept up next to me. I’d been drinking for a solid six hours, not fiercely, but consistently, and my powers of perception were far from their height. Besides, I’m all but deaf in my left ear, casualty of lying down too close to a black powder bomb. Not that I’m complaining – I had been the one to set it off, after all.
I assumed she hadn’t been waiting too long, though with Adeline you couldn’t be entirely sure.
‘Hey there,’ I said.
‘Hey yourself.’
It had been more than fifteen years since Adolphus had brought her to meet me, blushing like he’d robbed a bank. I hadn’t seen the appeal – a tiny little Valaan, already running to plump, and so silent I’d near taken her for a mute. But she made him happy, damn happy, and this was right after the war, when we were watching comrades who’d survived years in the trenches drink themselves to death in six months, or drag a combat knife along an artery. I figured anything that kept his mind off his eye couldn’t do any harm.
It didn’t take me long to realize my first impression was for shit. Adeline didn’t miss a leaf falling in autumn, and she was done adding the sums in her head before you’d gotten around to breaking out scrap paper. Youth is dew on the vine, beauty lipstick on a whore. I wouldn’t give a piss for either. Adeline was solid as a cornerstone, a sure port in a thunderstorm. And if she was quiet – well, time goes by you realize that’s no kind of vice either.
‘How was your day?’ she asked.
‘Twenty-four hours long.’
‘We need to talk.’ Adeline was not huge on pleasantries.
‘I’m listening.’
‘It’s about Wren.’
‘Who?’
The list of Adeline’s virtues would scroll down to your feet, but you’d be hard pressed to find a sense of humor amongst them. She didn’t mind it exactly, so much as she just didn’t quite see the point. ‘I’m worried about him.’
‘I’m worried about all of us.’
‘He can’t go on like this, tending bar.’
‘It’s worked out fine for Adolphus.’
Adeline had this look she’d give you, not quite contemptuous, she was too kind for that – more like she was disappointed in your refusal to live up to your potential. ‘You know as well as I do that Wren isn’t Adolphus.’
‘No,’ I agreed. ‘He isn’t.’
‘How long you think it’ll be before Alain or one of the others realizes how valuable he’d be to them?’
‘They know to stay away from him.’
‘But he doesn’t know to stay away from them.’
‘It’s not something I’m unaware of, all right? But there aren’t so many options for a street child.’
‘He’s clever.’
‘No one likes clever people, they make regular people feel stupid.’ I sighed and went to pour another shot. Discovered the bottle was empty. Sighed again. ‘He’s too old to join a trade, and anyhow I can’t quite see him cobbling shoes.’
‘He’s already got a trade.’
I took a casual look around, making sure we were unobserved. ‘Not one he can practice.’ Since the end of the Great War, the Crown had gradually tightened control over the Empire’s practitioners. Anyone with the spark was required to register with the Crown, and actually working magic without a license was strictly forbidden and unpleasantly punished. I’d made Wren a criminal by keeping him off their rolls – a cruel decision, but the alternative was unacceptable.
‘What does Mazzie say?’
‘She says she’s taken him as far as he can go. She says we ought to find him another teacher – a proper Artist.’
‘What did you say?’
‘That
It was a while before I noticed that Adeline had crept up next to me. I’d been drinking for a solid six hours, not fiercely, but consistently, and my powers of perception were far from their height. Besides, I’m all but deaf in my left ear, casualty of lying down too close to a black powder bomb. Not that I’m complaining – I had been the one to set it off, after all.
I assumed she hadn’t been waiting too long, though with Adeline you couldn’t be entirely sure.
‘Hey there,’ I said.
‘Hey yourself.’
It had been more than fifteen years since Adolphus had brought her to meet me, blushing like he’d robbed a bank. I hadn’t seen the appeal – a tiny little Valaan, already running to plump, and so silent I’d near taken her for a mute. But she made him happy, damn happy, and this was right after the war, when we were watching comrades who’d survived years in the trenches drink themselves to death in six months, or drag a combat knife along an artery. I figured anything that kept his mind off his eye couldn’t do any harm.
It didn’t take me long to realize my first impression was for shit. Adeline didn’t miss a leaf falling in autumn, and she was done adding the sums in her head before you’d gotten around to breaking out scrap paper. Youth is dew on the vine, beauty lipstick on a whore. I wouldn’t give a piss for either. Adeline was solid as a cornerstone, a sure port in a thunderstorm. And if she was quiet – well, time goes by you realize that’s no kind of vice either.
‘How was your day?’ she asked.
‘Twenty-four hours long.’
‘We need to talk.’ Adeline was not huge on pleasantries.
‘I’m listening.’
‘It’s about Wren.’
‘Who?’
The list of Adeline’s virtues would scroll down to your feet, but you’d be hard pressed to find a sense of humor amongst them. She didn’t mind it exactly, so much as she just didn’t quite see the point. ‘I’m worried about him.’
‘I’m worried about all of us.’
‘He can’t go on like this, tending bar.’
‘It’s worked out fine for Adolphus.’
Adeline had this look she’d give you, not quite contemptuous, she was too kind for that – more like she was disappointed in your refusal to live up to your potential. ‘You know as well as I do that Wren isn’t Adolphus.’
‘No,’ I agreed. ‘He isn’t.’
‘How long you think it’ll be before Alain or one of the others realizes how valuable he’d be to them?’
‘They know to stay away from him.’
‘But he doesn’t know to stay away from them.’
‘It’s not something I’m unaware of, all right? But there aren’t so many options for a street child.’
‘He’s clever.’
‘No one likes clever people, they make regular people feel stupid.’ I sighed and went to pour another shot. Discovered the bottle was empty. Sighed again. ‘He’s too old to join a trade, and anyhow I can’t quite see him cobbling shoes.’
‘He’s already got a trade.’
I took a casual look around, making sure we were unobserved. ‘Not one he can practice.’ Since the end of the Great War, the Crown had gradually tightened control over the Empire’s practitioners. Anyone with the spark was required to register with the Crown, and actually working magic without a license was strictly forbidden and unpleasantly punished. I’d made Wren a criminal by keeping him off their rolls – a cruel decision, but the alternative was unacceptable.
‘What does Mazzie say?’
‘She says she’s taken him as far as he can go. She says we ought to find him another teacher – a proper Artist.’
‘What did you say?’
‘That
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