‘Is that so?’ the enchanter drawled, slowly replacing the exquisite Swanns in their velvet pouch. ‘Then I suppose I must keep hold of them a little longer.’
Lex watched helplessly as the enchanter put the beautiful things away. In ordinary circumstances, he would have simply stolen them. But he knew that this would be no easy feat and that only a fool would attempt such a task without extremely careful preparation. If he was going to get the Swanns, he would have to do so honestly.
‘I have a few hundred pieces of m-gold,’ Lex said. ‘But I also have some artefacts, some precious artefacts that I have collected over the years and I would be happy to trade them all. Please, let me show you what I-’
‘I am not interested in a trade,’ the enchanter replied firmly. ‘But there is another way of purchasing them that might make the price more amenable to you.’
‘Which is?’
The enchanter reached into his robes once again and placed a bracelet on the table between them. It was a simple piece and looked like two bracelets moulded together — one an ivory white colour and the other an obelisk black. Engravings in ancient runes ran round the edge.
‘The bracelet’s price is fifty pieces of m-gold,’ the enchanter said. ‘If you buy the bracelet, you can take the Swanns for free.’
‘Excuse me?’ Lex asked, staring at him.
‘Yes, they’re part of a set and I would hate to see them broken up. So, if you buy the bracelet, I would have no choice but to give you the Swanns.’
Lex hesitated, forcing himself to think the thing through and not just snatch the Swanns away greedily. Of course, enchanters were known for their eccentricity and occasionally hazy logic and the Swanns were being offered for a fraction of their value…
‘On the condition that you promise to wear it until the time comes to take it off,’ the enchanter said.
Alarm bells sounded in Lex’s head. Few people would be fool enough to wear a piece of quite-possibly- enchanted jewellery they knew nothing about. Suddenly, he regretted his rash action in entering the tent. This wasn’t fun any more. He was aware of the old crone muttering to herself in the corner, and the unnaturally loud purring of the cat draped across her shoulders, blocking out the everyday sounds of the market outside. The masks and strings of grinning skulls clicking together softly were beginning to unnerve him and the cloying purple incense smoke was making the tent tiny and hot. He was very aware of the blueness of the enchanter’s eyes, the lines on his face and the slightly hypnotic quality of his voice. Lex got to his feet quickly, feeling slightly alarmed.
‘No, thank you. I think I’d better be going now.’
‘A pity,’ the enchanter said, standing up just as abruptly and sticking out his hand. Lex shook it, thanked him for his hospitality and turned to go.
‘Aren’t you forgetting something, Lex?’ the enchanter asked sharply.
Lex turned back to inquire what that might be and instinctively caught the velvet pouch the enchanter threw to him. He could feel the three Swanns clicking lightly together through the fabric.
‘But… I thought you said… one million pieces of-’
‘I changed my mind,’ the enchanter said brusquely. ‘Now please go. My crone requires rest.’
Lex was eager enough to comply with the request. He still had quite a lot of stolen goods in his backpack but he’d had enough of the midnight markets for one night, and had enough cash to be going on with now at any rate, so he decided to head back to the docks. He was almost there before he realised he was wearing the black and white bracelet, which was odd because he distinctly remembered seeing the enchanter replace it in his pocket. And the alarming thing of it was that he didn’t seem to be able to take it off.
CHAPTER FOUR
Lex managed to snatch two hours of sleep in one of the brightly-painted gypsy wagons stationed down by the harbour before Cara was knocking on the door, waking him up and telling him it was time to go. With an effort, Lex forced himself reluctantly from the cosy warmth of the wagon into the cool early-morning mist outside. The stalls of the midnight market had been shuttered up for the day and a temporary peace lay over the harbour, the bright flags from the gypsy ship fluttering softly in the early-morning breeze.
Lex had always loved ships, but for a long while his favourite had been the gypsy ships for they were painted bright colours and were adorned with bright sails and flags and Cara’s family’s ship — the Breathless — was no exception. Painted sea monsters danced across the hull and a sculptured wooden mermaid rose up along the prow.
Lex stood at the hull as they set sail, and gazed back at the roofline of the Wither City, not knowing when he would ever be able to go back. It didn’t bother him overly. He had enjoyed the city with its books and its museums and law courts, but in some ways the Wither City had been too civilised for him. Thieving from the museums had been a passing amusement but few things compared to the thrill of travelling.
The one faint pang of regret Lex felt was for Mr Lucas since he knew that his employer would suffer the consequences of Lex’s flight. But even this did not overly prey on his mind for it was not in Lex’s nature to give much thought to the plight of others. It served the old lawyer right, really, for trusting him. Selfishness was part of human nature. And at least Lex was honest about his dishonesty. He didn’t hide behind a screen of pious hypocrisy like the rest of the world.
The gypsies had not said much to him but had merely quietly accepted that he was to be accompanying them on their voyage. Lex had been careful to conceal the bracelet on his arm. The gypsies were a superstitious lot and it would not do for them to discover that an enchanter had put it there. Still, the thing itself seemed to be harmless. It was just a bracelet, after all. It wasn’t tight to the point of being uncomfortable, but it followed the curve of Lex’s wrist exactly and no matter how he fiddled with the thing it would not come loose.
The enchanter had called Lex by his name before he left. His real name. Lex had been too preoccupied to notice at the time. But it came back to him later with a small thrill of unease… But, after all, nothing dreadful had happened and it was a small price to pay for the beautiful Wishing Swanns of Desareth. Lex took them out of his pocket and balanced them in his palm, examining them in the glimmering half-light of the morning. He felt a great pride in owning these utterly priceless things and felt glad now that he had ventured into the enchanter’s tent.
‘My name is Lex Trent,’ Lex muttered smugly to himself. ‘And I always get what I want.’
Then he turned from the railings and walked straight into Mr Schmidt.
‘You’re actually going to have a heart attack if you carry on like that,’ Lex said eventually, eyeing the elderly lawyer warily.
As someone who had studied the laws on murder, manslaughter and causation, Lex was feeling distinctly uneasy about the state that the lawyer was winding himself into. It would be just like the spiteful old man to land Lex with a manslaughter conviction. Apparently he had decided to give chase and had paid for his way on the gypsy ship as the only vessel leaving the harbour that morning. Of course, he had believed Lex to be on the ship that had left the harbour some hours earlier, having witnessed the cabin boy scampering aboard wearing Lex’s coat.
‘How is it possible?’ he had spluttered, on running into Lex. ‘I saw you board that other-’
‘Lost sumfing, guv?’ Lex asked with a grin, holding up the coin that the lawyer had given him the previous night, believing him to be a cabin boy.
A look of startled comprehension crossed Mr Schmidt’s face and that was when he got really angry and started shouting and a couple of nearby gypsies became aware of the dispute and came to watch. Entertainment was scarce when you were at sea.
‘I’m flattered, Mr Schmidt, I never realised you hated me quite that much,’ Lex drawled. ‘But surely you must realise that you have no jurisdiction over me now that we are outside the province of the Wither City.’
‘You contemptible villain!’ the lawyer snarled. ‘Are you not even going to show any remorse for what you’ve done?’
‘What, the thieving or the lying?’
