Page 22 of The Dragon and the Dove

She felt his eyes on her back as she left, but they soon shifted to the black birds gliding on the wind.

Chapter 5 Seraphine

Down in the cloakroom, the Versini boys were so engrossed in their work, they didn’t hear Sera’s impatient knocking, or the door slamming shut behind her.

‘Uh, hi?’ she called out.

‘Don’t bother,’ Val said from the windowsill, where she was reclining like a lazy cat. ‘They’re in their own world. I’ve been firing paper darts at them for the last hour.’

‘So that’s why you missed breakfast.’

Val shrugged. ‘I went looking for you. Found Pip all alone in your bed, so I took him instead. Honestly? Better company.’

Fair. ‘I was on the roof.’

‘Normal behaviour.’ Her voice dripped with sarcasm. ‘Does your weird excursion have anything to do with the unhinged amount of gargoyles I counted on my morning walkabout?’

‘Somewhat.’ Sera wriggled onto the windowsill beside her. ‘How’s it going down here?’

‘Hard to tell…’

Twin silvered heads bowed over the workbench, which was scattered with jars of Lightfire. The rest of the gold dust sat in crates along the wall.

‘Steady. That’s too much gunpowder,’ Theo snapped at Tobias. ‘Are you trying to make this whole place explode?’

‘You said heavy-handed pour.’

‘I didn’t say dump the whole jar in!’

‘Quit sniping at me,’ grumbled Tobias, reaching for a spoon. ‘I’m trying to keep up.’

‘Not metal!’ Theo knocked his hand away. ‘You’ll ruin the compound.’

Tobias’s eyes flashed. ‘Do that again and you’re getting an anvil to the face! I don’t care if you’re older than me!’

‘My money’s on mini Versini,’ said Val under her breath.

Theo stood back from the bench. His grey shirt was soaked through with sweat, and his hair was unusually unkempt, messy silver strands plastered to his temples. When he lifted his shirt to wipe his face, Sera glimpsed the golden sheen of her handprint on his chest.

The mark of a saint.

And yet…

‘Hey,’ she said again.

Theo looked up, at last noticing his audience. Dropping his shirt, he raked his hair back from his face. ‘When did you two sneak in?’

‘A thousand years ago,’ said Val. ‘We could have blown this place up and you wouldn’t have noticed.’

‘How’s it going?’ asked Sera.

‘Good. I think.’ His smile was tight. Beckoning them over, he turned his notebook around to reveal sketches of weaponry. She jabbed a drawing of a fancy-looking longsword. ‘That looks familiar.’

‘It’s based on the sword of Saint Cadel,’ said Theo. ‘It’s in the archives at the Appoline. Cadel donated his weaponry and armour to the university after his death.’

Sera recalled reading that in one of Mama’s history books.

Cadel, Saint of Warriors, had died on the battlefield in a bloody war between Valterre and Urnica. It had taken an entire army to bring him down, but even a thousand years couldn’t diminish the tales of his prowess in battle.