The Midnight Cleaning Company

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Two vacant looking Human thralls led us back inside the manor house and up the curved staircase to the first floor. We followed down a long corridor of Imperial era paintings of wooden battleships and uniformed men on horseback. The thralls pushed open a set of cream double doors to reveal the central room of a lavish guest apartment with corridors leading off to multiple bedrooms. The two eerily silent young men turned and left us alone.

Vincent strolled across the polished floor and reclined onto one of the long white sofas positioned around the focal point of a huge marble fireplace. Tables carved from pale elm were placed around the room and an antique piano stood by the tall window. He poured himself a glass of port from a crystal decanter on a side table and evidently quite pleased with himself settled in for a comfortable recess until negotiations continued. Josephine could not have been a more striking contrast. She stormed over to Vincent, snatched the glass from his hand and swallowed the contents in a single gulp. She was shaking violently.

"Z'at was 'im", she said, refilling Vincent's glass from the decanter.

"Who?" asked Vincent.
Josephine ignored him. She grasped George's forearm and looked deep into his eyes. He said nothing but I could see from his change in expression that he understood. George's eyes softened as he looked back sympathetically and removed Josephine's hand from his arm to hold it gently in his own.

Josephine snatched her hand away. She did not want sympathy, she wanted action.

"Who was him?" Vincent asked again.

Josephine was too shaken to answer so I did.

"Verenious is the Elder who ordered the purge at the end of the war", I said.

Vincent looked back blankly.

"He did z'is!" Josephine screamed, sweeping her wild red hair from her face to point at the scarred and paralysed half of her face.

Visibly conflicted, George had begun to pace back and forth in front of the ostentatious fireplace. He lusted after freedom from the servitude of the last century, wanting nothing more than to disappear and live quietly with his long lost wife. But he knew that Josephine could not be content before she had revenge on those who had separated them and destroyed her face. He knew that she had to kill Verenious, but that her revenge would obliterate any chance of a peace treaty with the Elders. Vincent read their intentions and came to the same conclusions as me.

"No," he gasped.

"Yes", Josephine growled. "'e made us kill everyone we knew. 'e used us as 'is weapons".

"He took everything from us", said George.

"It was not just Verenious, you are projecting your anger", Vincent protested. "You are so close to recovering all that you lost, do not let petty revenge ruin everything now".

"Petty revenge?" George roared.

Red in the face and with both hands balled into white-knuckled fists, he quickened the speed of his pacing.

I walked wearily over to the piano, perched on the elm and white leather stool and played a few chords to obscure the noise of the argument from the inevitable eavesdroppers. Vincent, George and Josephine continued to bellow at each other, but like the eavesdroppers I could not pick out distinct words over the tune of the piano.

I had no idea what song I was playing. It had been a century since I had played the instrument yet my fingers found their way among the notes as if I were still fourteen and sitting at my mother's piano. I looked down as my fingers on the piano keys in an attempt to recognise the tune. I noticed that my hands were shaking. I too was conflicted.