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After Tom Leaves
Aug. 2nd, 2005 03:26 pmDoor isn't sure how the rats get in.
She asked her father once, years ago when she was quite small, and they spent an afternoon searching his office for holes in the walls or special rat-sized paintings, but eventually had to leave it a mystery.
Some days, Door thinks that there must be holes they missed. Other days, she suspects that the Ratspeakers are on to something.
In any case, the rats find their way in, notes tied to their backs with delicate bits of thread, London Below's most reliable way of communicating with the House of Arch.
Today, Door is curled up in her father's favourite armchair. She isn't crying, though she'd like to. Tom is gone, and she is empty, even of tears.
And then there is the familiar scratch of claws on the floor.
Lady Door, the note reads,
The Knights of Sloane Square have beseiged us. I beg you to come speak with them and rescue us. It's what your father would have wanted, girl.
The Earl
Something to do. Door is painfully relieved. It only takes her a moment to grab her leather jacket, to remove her opal necklace (Tom's gone - why keep it? No, don't think about it) and then she slips through the gallery and into London Below.
---
"So you don't have the Earl under seige?" Door massages the bridge of her nose, her head beginning to throb out of frustration.
"No, my Lady. I swear it. We would not hesitate to tell you if we did." Sir Quentin, leader of the Knights of Sloane Square, would have taken offense at the continual questioning of his word half an hour ago, had anyone but Door been asking. As it is, he is testier now than Door has ever seen him.
"I believe you," she sighs. "I just don't see why the Earl would lie to me."
Quentin's eyes narrow. "As I have said before, Lady, I do not think you are safe with him. He is plotting something, and until I am sure he does not mean you harm-"
Door raises a hand, and he cuts off abruptly. "The Earl is a dirty, misogynistic, forgetful old man who is very set in his ways, but he wouldn't hurt me," she says firmly. "I'm going to go talk to him. I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding."
"Then allow me to send a retinue with you, for your protection."
"I can take care of myself."
"For my own comfort, then." Quentin's expression is almost pleading, and Door would very much like to agree, but she knows she can't.
"With the situation between the two of you the way it is, there's no chance. Starting a war when it could have been prevented is the very last thing I want to do. You can send somebody with me to wait for the train, but I won't take any of your knights into Earl's Court."
Five minutes later, Door is making her way through an old service tunnel, accompanied by two fully armed and armoured knights. The chain around her neck is slightly warm, but to be honest, it's been a bit warm whenever she's been in London Below for weeks, now, and she's beginning to wonder if it's malfunctioning.
It flares sharply when she leaves the Knights to enter Earl's Court. The doors slide shut behind her, and Door realises belatedly that the compartment is even darker than it normally is, and that it appears to be empty.
She is reaching toward the door, ready to Open - the train has only just started moving, she can jump out if she moves quickly - when something cracks against the back of her head and she knows no more.
She asked her father once, years ago when she was quite small, and they spent an afternoon searching his office for holes in the walls or special rat-sized paintings, but eventually had to leave it a mystery.
Some days, Door thinks that there must be holes they missed. Other days, she suspects that the Ratspeakers are on to something.
In any case, the rats find their way in, notes tied to their backs with delicate bits of thread, London Below's most reliable way of communicating with the House of Arch.
Today, Door is curled up in her father's favourite armchair. She isn't crying, though she'd like to. Tom is gone, and she is empty, even of tears.
And then there is the familiar scratch of claws on the floor.
Lady Door, the note reads,
The Knights of Sloane Square have beseiged us. I beg you to come speak with them and rescue us. It's what your father would have wanted, girl.
The Earl
Something to do. Door is painfully relieved. It only takes her a moment to grab her leather jacket, to remove her opal necklace (Tom's gone - why keep it? No, don't think about it) and then she slips through the gallery and into London Below.
---
"So you don't have the Earl under seige?" Door massages the bridge of her nose, her head beginning to throb out of frustration.
"No, my Lady. I swear it. We would not hesitate to tell you if we did." Sir Quentin, leader of the Knights of Sloane Square, would have taken offense at the continual questioning of his word half an hour ago, had anyone but Door been asking. As it is, he is testier now than Door has ever seen him.
"I believe you," she sighs. "I just don't see why the Earl would lie to me."
Quentin's eyes narrow. "As I have said before, Lady, I do not think you are safe with him. He is plotting something, and until I am sure he does not mean you harm-"
Door raises a hand, and he cuts off abruptly. "The Earl is a dirty, misogynistic, forgetful old man who is very set in his ways, but he wouldn't hurt me," she says firmly. "I'm going to go talk to him. I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding."
"Then allow me to send a retinue with you, for your protection."
"I can take care of myself."
"For my own comfort, then." Quentin's expression is almost pleading, and Door would very much like to agree, but she knows she can't.
"With the situation between the two of you the way it is, there's no chance. Starting a war when it could have been prevented is the very last thing I want to do. You can send somebody with me to wait for the train, but I won't take any of your knights into Earl's Court."
Five minutes later, Door is making her way through an old service tunnel, accompanied by two fully armed and armoured knights. The chain around her neck is slightly warm, but to be honest, it's been a bit warm whenever she's been in London Below for weeks, now, and she's beginning to wonder if it's malfunctioning.
It flares sharply when she leaves the Knights to enter Earl's Court. The doors slide shut behind her, and Door realises belatedly that the compartment is even darker than it normally is, and that it appears to be empty.
She is reaching toward the door, ready to Open - the train has only just started moving, she can jump out if she moves quickly - when something cracks against the back of her head and she knows no more.
