A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness #1) - Joe Abercrombie Page 0,37

you recall? Both keels and colliers! We’ll put coal in every household, however humble. Coal is the future!’

‘My surveys show the hills near Rostod are riddled with copper, Lady Savine – why, you could scoop it up with your hands! Metals are the future!’

‘I only need to convince the owner of the land, a relative of Lord Isher, and I know you are a close confidante of his sister …’

Savine might wear a sword, but on this battlefield she fought with a fan. A conspiratorial tap with it, closed, could coax out smiles more surely than a witch’s wand. Snapped open with a flick of the wrist, it cut fruitless conversations off more sharply than an executioner’s axe. Deftly raised, with a curl of the lip and a turn of the shoulder, it buried men deeper than a spade.

‘Salt is the thing now, Lady Savine. Salt in quantity, for everyone. A partner could triple her money, within months, positively quadruple it …’

‘Clocks are the thing! Accurate clocks! Affordable clocks! The potential, Lady Savine, you cannot be blind to the potential …’

‘Why, a single word in the right ear at the Patent Office …’

One by one, she brought them forward with their schemes, their dreams, the light of certainty bright in their eyes. Her slightest smile lit their faces with delight. Her slightest frown doused them with horror. When she ended each interview with a snap of her fan, she thought of all the refusals she had endured, and relished her power.

‘With your contacts in Styria, your patronage could make all the difference …’

‘With your friends in the Agriont, it would only take an interview …’

‘The one thing I need is investment!’

‘Quintuple her money!’

‘Lady Savine?’ A woman, young, red-wigged, freckle-shouldered, with a way of peeking over her gaudy fan that was meant to be winsome but to Savine looked merely sly. ‘I am – forgive me – a tremendous admirer of yours.’

Savine had a whole queue of tremendous admirers, and no idea what gave this girl the right to jump it. ‘How charming.’

‘My name is Selest dan Heugen.’

‘Boras dan Heugen’s cousin?’ Self-important oaf that he was. It appeared to run in the family.

‘Only my second cousin,’ simpered Selest. ‘I fear I’m nothing but a tiny twig at the furthest reaches of the family tree.’

‘A prize bud just blooming, I am sure.’

Selest blushed in the manner of an innocent country girl out of her depth in the big city. It made Savine think of a bad actress in a bad play. ‘I knew you would be beautiful, but never dreamed you might be so kind. My father left me some money and I intend to invest it. Might I ask whether you have any advice?’

‘Buy things that go up in value,’ said Savine, turning away.

‘Lady Savine dan Glokta.’ A small man with curly hair and clothes that advertised both money and tasteful restraint. ‘I had been hoping to make your acquaintance.’

‘I believe you have the advantage of me.’

‘Certainly not in beauty.’ He was unremarkable, it was true, apart from his bright eyes. They were different colours, one blue, one green. ‘My name is Yoru Sulfur.’

It was rare indeed for Savine to hear a name she had not heard before, and it always made her curious. New names meant new opportunities, after all. ‘And what is your business, Master Sulfur?’

‘I am a member of the Order of Magi.’

Savine was not easily surprised, but she could not stop her brows lifting at that. Zuri usually shepherded the cranks away, but she seemed for once to be elsewhere. ‘A wizard at a meeting of investors and inventors? Are you scouting the enemy?’

‘Say rather that I am seeking new friends.’ His smile was full of clean, sharp, shiny teeth. ‘We magi have always been interested in changing the world.’

‘How admirable,’ said Savine, though in her experience, when men spoke of changing the world, they always meant to suit their own interests.

‘There was a time, in the days of Euz and his sons, when magic was the best way to do it. But that time is long past. These days …’ And Sulfur glanced about the heaving foyer and leaned close as if to share a secret. ‘I begin to think this is better.’

‘You go where the power is,’ murmured Savine, touching him gently on the wrist with her fan. ‘I am just the same.’

‘Oh, you should meet my master. I have a feeling the two of you would have a great deal in common. He is