The Council of Ten

Chapter 18 - The Cloak of Night (Lena Foscari)

Chapter Eighteen – The Cloak of Night (Lena Foscari)

*****

‘The night walked down the sky with the moon in her hand.’ ~Frederick L. Knowles

*****

I sat and gazed mournfully out of my window as the night crept up on the day and swallowed it whole, leaving an empty darkness in the room. Several small stars poked their way through the black sky, twinkling as if to say hello. The stars combined with the shimmering water of the canal was so lovely I had to resist the urge to sit on the windowsill to get a closer look. It would have been foolish to do such a thing, so I made do with staring from the safety of my seat. Sometimes I like to just sit and clear my mind of things, though often it isn’t quite so simple. Thoughts of murder and magical books whirled around my head, making it impossible to get any peace. Such sad thoughts, if only they’d go away and leave me alone.

In the stillness I glimpsed a flicker of movement, a shadow shifted on the wall and then threw itself over the desk I was leaning on. I blinked and rose from my seat, reaching for the handle on the window. But before I got any closer a gloved hand came into view and tapped on the glass. A green glove. I froze, barely breathing for a moment before gathering my wits and grabbing the handle, turning it round. The window swung open and a figure shuffled along the narrow ledge before entering the room, stumbling over his feet. It was him. “Hello,” I said, my voice small, hesitating.

“Good evening,” said the boy, smiling in what little light there was. “Have you read it?”

I knew what he was talking about, how could I not? Yet I didn’t want to answer. Somehow, I just couldn’t bring myself to. Looking at the eager expression on his face, I knew he’d be annoyed, if not angry, with me for losing the book. Or rather, getting it stolen. “No,” I said, the word barely audible.

The boy sighed “look, Lena, you really-“

“I can’t.” I said, the words tumbling from my mouth. I had to let them fall, for if I tried to form them, they wouldn’t come out. “I can’t because...I don’t have it. It was stolen.” There, I’d said it. I waited for his reaction, his fury, and took a step back.

I saw a green glove clench before he spoke “how do you know it was stolen?” I brought out the note I’d received, smoothing it out as best I could and handed it to him. Wordlessly, the boy read it and frowned, putting the piece of paper in his own pocket. “I’m going to have to get it back now,” he muttered “next time, please be more careful. And please, just read it as soon as you can.” I could tell he was annoyed, the way he kept it shoulders stiffly in one place, the way his fist was still clenched.

“Wait,” I said, “I’m coming with you.”

“You can’t-“ Began the boy but I cut him off.

“And why not? It’s my fault anyway, you can’t stop me.” I didn’t want to be left out of everything, even though there was a part of me hoping he would stop me, the part of me that I liked to hide. That part that was so afraid, so scared.

“I think I could stop you, Lena, you have no idea.” His face was expressionless , or rather, his mask was. Although you could see expressions change on his mask, I had no idea if they were true or not. After all, it was enchanted and magic can do all sorts of strange things. “But you may come, if you wish. But we leave now, it is much safer to travel on business such as this under the cloak of night.”

I blew out my candle and made for the door, saying “I just need a moment-“

“There is no time,” growled the boy “the night is waning as we speak, we must hurry.”