Chapter 15
Julian sighed as the lights flickered. "Not the steadiest of generators, I guess," he said, looking over to the sconces.
"Not our circus, not our monkeys," said Alex, stuffing the last of their snack in his mouth adamantly.
Julian chuckled. "If they're magic generators, it might be."
Alex made a face at him, mouth too full for a retort.
Julian ate his own remaining portion more neatly, finishing off the pot of tea and putting it back on the bar with their cups. "I think we should switch to water for a while or we'll never sleep."
Alex sagged but nodded. "That's fair. I keep forgetting how late it is, with everything else going on."
"I suppose we should call for our next witness," he said, finishing off his last bite and putting both their plates up on the bar as well. "I'll go find Alice, you continue your sulk."
Alex huffed, but didn't deny that he was sulking.
Julian asked Alice to go find Lord Herbert and then sat, snuggling his grumpy husband while they did yet more interviews.
No one else, including Lord Herbert who'd practically been involved, had paid any attention to the gaggle of girls surrounding Wicket, and thus none of them had much to add other than to comment on the clumsiness of the move.
There weren't too many other people in the room at the time, as half the party had still been 'alive' and in the ballroom playing innocent murder games, rather than the more deadly one that had occurred in the drawing room.
By the time they got through the last person, Julian and Alex were both seriously lagging.
Alex tried one more time to get ahold of Murielle, but was thwarted again by the storm.
Julian led them into the parlour, where the rest of the party was now gathered, all the bright ballroom lights extinguished to save power.
"We're done for now," said Alex, less an announcement and more to Geoff and Lucas, who were hovering by the door. "Everyone should go to sleep, if they can."
"I suspect there won't be a lot of bed-hopping tonight," said Lucas with a wry look. "Though I wouldn't put it past Gallowglass, she seems like she's ready to take McGuinness for a ride."
Alex snorted a small laugh. "Yeah, well, more power to him."
"Not her?" asked Julian, eyes wide and faux-innocent.
"She's got all the power she needs, I suspect," said Geoff. He looked done in, wan and tired, and Julian wondered if he was having some misplaced guilt about not being able to save the late lord.
"Lucas, put your man to bed," said Julian gently. "Let everyone go to their rooms and rest, and we'll all join each other for a very suspicious sort of breakfast, with everyone guarding their drinks like a woman at a sleazy bar."
Alex snorted a much bigger laugh that time, and pulled Julian close. "You are tired, my love. Where did you even learn about that?"
"Murielle told me, of course," said Julian. "She said I should do it, too, because I'm pretty."
"That you are," agreed Chudleigh with a wide grin. "Alex, take your pretty boy to bed."
"As my host wishes," said Alex, taking Julian back out of the parlour, snuggled up and interfering with walking, but in a nice way.
Chudleigh, in the background, began to address the crowd, but Julian tuned him out. He'd had enough of that crowd for a good, long while.
They made it up and into their room before the first of the other nobles filtered in, at least, despite Alex's insistence on keeping him cuddled close.
The kittens had moved from basket to bed and were complaining sleepily, despite the evidence that the maids had kept the poor things fed while they were sadly neglected.
Julian and Alex traded off getting undressed with petting kittens and explaining that a bad thing had happened that they'd had to deal with, and also that it had been very boring.
The kittens agreed that it was all very boring, but accepted the pets well enough.
Eventually they were in pyjamas and tucked into bed, lights out and kittens snuggled between them for most efficient petting. They curled close, faces and knees together, with a space just for the kittens to be double-spooned, warm and spoilt.
"I don't feel right letting the kittens roam with a poisoner about," said Alex worriedly, scritching at whatever fuzzy part was presented to him, mostly cheeks and chins and little noggins. "But they're so bored."
"Better bored than poisoned," said Julian.
They both looked at the kittens and Alex said, "Someone got poisoned."
Julian sent images of bad drink and dying, and they all made ick-faces.
"We're worried for you," said Julian, kissing each little wrinkled nose. "We'd like you to stay safely in here, for now."
The kittens pondered whatever images they'd gotten off the idea of worry from both Alex and Julian, and then sent them agreement with a side of wanting extra treats to make up for it.
Julian laughed and promised, and they all settled in more comfortably, the kittens apparently intending to sleep close to their humans tonight instead of in their basket.
They radiated a sleepy, disconnected sort of concern, not wanting their humans to go out and be harmed any more than the people wanted the cats to get in trouble.
It was sort of charming, even if the reasoning seemed to have to do with them being providers of food and pets rather than anything a human would call love. But predators, even tame ones, were going to be what they were, and Julian found that a little comforting.
He let the hand buried in Nightshade's fur go still and slack and chased the feeling of sleep that was currently tugging at his consciousness. Ideas swam in and out, suspicions and mundanities alike, but Julian let them all go in favour of rest.