The Malice Read Online Free

the south, Vesper. The Seven feel it in their sanctum, and we’re sure Gamma’s sword feels it too. We need your father to take up the sword again, and when he does, I intend to make sure he isn’t alone.’
    Vesper is quiet while clouds flit by, fluffy, incongruous. ‘Is it dangerous?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘What if he doesn’t want to do it?’
    ‘It doesn’t matter if he wants to or not. There is nobody else.’ He takes his gaze from the sky and turns it on her. ‘What I really want to do is burst in there and order him to help us. But your father is chosen of The Seven, it puts him beyond my authority. I need him to come of his own free will. I need you to talk to him.’
    She gets up. ‘My father is a hero. When he realises how bad things are, he’ll help, I know he will.’
    ‘So you’ll talk to him?’
    ‘Yes.’
    He waves to her as she runs back up the hill. ‘Winged Eye watch over you.’
    At dinner, the scrape of knife on plate sounds sharp in the ear, the noises of eating too loud. Harm’s banter is subdued and her father’s attention fixed on food barely touched. Vesper glances at the two of them, uncertain of her chances. She tries anyway.
    ‘I was thinking, now I’m older, it might be time to see more of the world.’
    A frown appears on her father’s face.
    Harm reaches for her hand, finds it and gives it a squeeze. ‘Your father and I were talking just the other day, about how fast you’re growing, every time we turn our backs it seems!’ Her father’s frown deepens. ‘But to be safe out there–’ he nods towards the Shining City ‘– we feel there are still things you need to learn. To be safe—’
    ‘What if you came with me? Both of you. We could go to the Shining City. It isn’t far. That way I could see things and you’d know I was safe.’
    Her father gets up, collecting the used plates, and Harm replies, ‘Now isn’t a good time.’
    Vesper’s face darkens. ‘It’s never a good time.’
    ‘I know it feels that way.’
    ‘I’m not a child any more.’ Her father looks round at that, an eyebrow raised. ‘I’m not! I know something is going on! And I want to help.’
    She feels the weight of their attention, hesitates. ‘A man from the Lenses spoke to me today. He said things are getting bad. He said they need you to be a hero again, like you used to be, and this time I want to come with you.’ Her father shakes his head and she falters. When she finds her voice again it is small. ‘You’re going to leave me behind.’
    ‘Don’t worry,’ Harm soothes. ‘We’re not leaving you behind. We’re not going anywhere. Everything’s fine.’
    ‘That’s not what the man said.’
    Harm nods sadly. ‘Things out there are never fine. Even before the Breach there were wars and plagues and floods, and goodness knows what else. We can’t look after the world.’ He glances at her father. ‘We’ve learnt that the hard way. But we can look after each other.’
    ‘He said father had to do it. He said there isn’t anyone else that can bear Gamma’s sword.’
    ‘That sword can speak for itself. If it wanted to be used again, we’d know about it by now.’
    ‘But it does!’
    ‘I doubt that.’
    ‘I’ve heard it and so has he.’
    ‘That’s enough,’ warns Harm.
    She looks at her father for confirmation but sees only his back as he does the dishes. A frown of her own appears, a tiny mirror of her father’s. Tears of frustration build, and the discussion ends, abrupt, unsatisfactory, with no mention of Genner or the threat to the Shining City.
    The frown stays with her for the rest of the day, a constant companion.
    Vesper snaps awake, heart pounding. She sits up, peering into the comfortable dark of her room. She is alone. This surprises her. She was sure of the opposite. Bare feet slip onto cold floor and she pads to the window. Outside, the only lights are distant, unable to penetrate the moat of darkness at the base of the hill.
    The house seems quiet. Vesper