Chapter Three

Sitting on the balcony outside her bedroom, Elizabeth was torn between anger at Mai’s attack and anxiety over not knowing what had provoked it. On the Library terrace Elizabeth had wanted to run after Mai and demand an explanation. Thankfully, Nathan had urged her to go home. The last thing Elizabeth needed was an altercation with someone at work, especially in her first week.

Elizabeth patted a madly purring Thoth and a sunbaking Seshet, trying to work out if she had accidentally repeated mistakes from her past. As a little girl, it took Elizabeth a long time to learn that she could stop the bullying if she deliberately lowered her test scores and ‘forgot’ enough things to seem like everyone else. It had been such a relief to be left alone; the process of defending herself always left her drained and nauseous. She thought she had left random assaults like Mai’s in the past…but hang on, it wasn’t possible for Elizabeth’s differences to have aggravated Mai. The only thing Elizabeth had done was faint in front of her – how could that trigger such vitriol?

Elizabeth sighed. Returning to work was going to be uncomfortable, whatever the reason for Mai’s outburst. If only she didn’t have to go back on Monday. If only she didn’t have to go back at all. For a fraction of a second Elizabeth decided she’d pack a bag, go to the airport, and fly to Mexico to be with Luke…

Thump! Paris and Loki skidded into her bedroom. Thoth sat up and moved in front of Seshet. Elizabeth smiled ruefully. Thoth was protecting Seshet, just as she was protecting her family by working at the Library. No matter how tempting, it seemed she couldn’t walk away from her responsibilities. It had been a terrible first week at the Library, though. Hopefully it would never be that bad again.

What to do? For now, perhaps the best thing was an early night. And as for tomorrow, she had already promised to spend it in her usual Saturday way: slaughtering monsters and plundering hoards with Matty. Her thirteen-year-old brother, in constant low-level discomfort from his damaged bones, loved losing himself in fantasy board games. Elizabeth had to admit they were a welcome distraction for her, too.

Removing her contacts and climbing into her favourite hieroglyphic-print pyjamas, Elizabeth returned from her ensuite to find all four cats strewn across the bed. Fending off gnawing uncertainty over the motive for Mai’s attack, Elizabeth crawled into their purring embrace.

—

By ten o’clock on Sunday morning Elizabeth ensured she was seated in the conservatory along with Taid, Sam and Matty. Every Sunday started with the Full Pimms Breakfast – or else!

As usual, the conservatory and kitchen courtyard looked elegant. Inside, sunlight played on every surface, glinting off the chandelier, shining on the silverware, and gleaming along four cats’ backs as they vacuumed up Sunday-morning treats. Outside, bright-yellow roses clung to the courtyard’s walls, glowing above bee-laden lavender. The house was very beautiful, Elizabeth reminded herself, and worth saving.

As the house’s inhabitants settled in – humans at the table and cats in supervisory cane chairs – Grandmère Maddie and Nainai Cho ferried in the feast. The table’s legs creaked beneath heaped platters as conversations erupted all around.

Struck with sudden hunger, Elizabeth piled her plate with bacon, eggs and buttery toast. She contemplated leaving room for a round of Nainai’s freshly steamed dumplings.

‘Nín hǎo, Nàinài. Your robe is a lovely colour today, very pretty,’ Elizabeth said.

Nainai looked pleased.

‘What fillings did you put in the jiǎozi this week?’ she continued. ‘They look delicious.’

‘Níhǎo, xiǎo Yīlìshābái. These are pork and chive,’ Nainai said, indicating one of the steamer baskets. ‘These are fennel,’ pointing at the other one. ‘Sam did a good job of folding the skins, don’t you think?’

Sam, looking hungover as usual, seemed pleased with the compliment.

Keeping her expression neutral, Elizabeth nodded at Nainai and turned to talk to Matty, who was slurping on one of his infamous bacon-and-egg sandwiches.

‘Morning, Matty. Recovered from your death in the dungeon last night?’ she asked.

‘Morning, Lizbet. Of course. Same again next week?’

‘Mathieu, your shirt,’ Grandmère Maddie admonished in her soft French accent.

Matty rubbed at the egg yolk and chilli sauce dripping down his front. ‘Sorry, Grandmère.’

She brushed his cheek with the back of her hand. ‘Ensure you soak it straight after breakfast. Now, Elizabeth, please tell us about your important first week at the Library.’

Elizabeth glanced at Taid. He winked reassuringly.

Elizabeth told her family about the other graduates, Monday’s tour, and meeting a woman who seemed to be like Nainai, only she wasn’t. She explained her work in the Maps wing, and told them about Lynton and Nathan, and Andrew the peacock.

Taid interjected with his own memories of working in the Library. As he explained how the historical research area worked, again, Elizabeth noticed that this week’s version of his ‘traditional Welsh breakfast’ was a massive construction, a veritable castle on a plate.

Taid’s breakfast consisted of a foundation of bacon, layers of fried mussels and laverbread, turrets of fried eggs and buttresses of toast. This was accompanied by a small vat of stand-a-spoon-up-in-it tea made with sweetened condensed milk. Elizabeth suspected that Taid’s version of the Welsh breakfast wasn’t entirely traditional. His second course of lime marmalade on inch-thick toast certainly couldn’t be. Limes weren’t widely available in medieval Wales, for one thing.

‘Why did you say that woman at the Library wasn’t like Nainai?’ Matty asked suddenly.

‘Well, she’s Chinese too, and at first she reminded me of Nainai. I thought maybe her family comes from the Harbin area, too.’

Momentary sadness flickered across Nainai’s normally composed features.

‘Yes. William mentioned the same young lady to me,’ Nainai said. ‘He said she reminded him of me. He said she was very pleasant company.’ How strange. Given the way Mai hissed at Elizabeth, she had assumed Mai detested her father and was horrible to him as well.

‘I also assumed she would be nice like Nainai, but I was definitely wrong about that,’ Elizabeth continued her explan­ation. ‘I wasn’t well the first time I met her. We were standing at Dad’s desk, and it made me feel very upset.’

Everyone around the table quietly nodded.

‘I ended up fainting, which was embarrassing.’ Matty reached over and patted her on the arm. ‘But she must have somehow taken my reaction personally because the next time I saw her she was nasty. She seems to hate me for no reason at all.’

‘I like her already,’ Sam said, just loudly enough for every­one to hear.

Elizabeth’s heart skipped a beat. She scowled at Sam, heat rising in her limbs.

‘What?’

‘You heard me,’ snarled Sam, pushing back her chair and standing. ‘Since you hate me for no reason at all, except that I’m your little sister, I think it’s justice that someone out there hates you for no reason!’

A wave of resentment roared up from Elizabeth’s stomach. She stared at Sam, rising from her chair to meet Sam’s brown-eyed glare. Silence fell over the room, the only sound the soft padding of sixteen paws slinking away from the conflict.

Elizabeth tried to deny Sam’s accusation. ‘I don’t hate you because you’re my little sister,’ she stammered. ‘I don’t hate you at all.’

Sam’s face shouted her contempt and disbelief.

The wave broke, sweeping away all restraint, engulfing Elizabeth in anger and frustration. ‘I just wish you’d stop ruining my life!’

Elizabeth regretted her words immediately.

Sam’s face bloomed bright purple. She turned and ran from the room, wailing.

Elizabeth stood motionless by the breakfast table, her heart pounding in her ears, as four pairs of incredulous eyes bored into her.