The Unwanted Guest by Tamsyn Muir

Author:Tamsyn Muir [Muir, Tamsyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, fantasy, horror
Published: 2023-09-07T05:00:00+00:00

SCENE FIVE

The stage is back in neutral position once more, the attendants by their coffins. These have once again changed their order: 3, 2, 7, 4, 1, 6, 5.

IANTHE Tick, tock. Two minutes to midnight. Have any insights dawned?

PALAMEDES Question four. Back when we were at Canaan House... what did you make of Gideon Nav?

Ianthe tilts her head on one side.

IANTHE That's a curveball. I thought it was Babs you were trying to sniff out. Why the sudden interest in Nav?

PALAMEDES Well, I have a question spare. Thought I'd use it on idle curiosity.

Ianthe stares at him.

IANTHE Sextus! That was unmistakably trash talk. It's much too late in the game to become interesting, you know.

As she finishes speaking, the attendants start to move. They pick up the first four coffins in line– numbers 3, 2, 7, and 4– and place them on their sides in the middle of the stage, sketching out the sides of a rectangular open space: that is, two coffins running parallel to the front of the stage (the "long" sides) and two coffins running front to back (the "short" sides). Ianthe stands up and dusts off her trousers. Two attendants pick up the chaise longue and carry it upstage out of the way, placing it in front of the door; a third attendant brings an ornate rapier and a small golden bell from the wings and hands the rapier to Ianthe. She moves to stand in the "ring" created by the coffins, and gives the rapier a couple of desultory practice swishes.

Another attendant brings a second, less ornate rapier and offers it to Palamedes, who refuses it politely. The attendant pauses, as if thrown off, and then moves into the ring and faces off against Ianthe in a duelling stance.

IANTHE Well, then. Let us talk of sweet Gubbins. Where should I begin?

PALAMEDES First impressions?

The attendant with the bell rings it once. The attendant with the rapier makes a rather awkward lunge– a trainee's move, not a master's. Ianthe parries and touches her point to the attendant's collarbone without appearing to pay attention.

IANTHE (To attendant) You began in the wrong stance. Disqualified.

The attendant falls back, bows, and leaves the ring, handing the rapier to a second attendant, who enters in turn.

IANTHE I mean... I was intrigued. Everyone else was so... scripted. The Second were dull, the Fourth were stupid. The Fifth were dull and stupid. The Sixth... as expected. The Seventh were creeps; the Eighth were freaks. And then the Ninth: there's Harry, playing it to the hilt, swathed in black and glowering, and who's she got dawdling behind her but that creature– tugging visibly at her leash like an overeager dog. Very much not the brand.

PALAMEDES "Harry"?

IANTHE It's my little name for her, you know.

PALAMEDES I can't think of a single thing she'd hate more.

IANTHE You lack imagination.

The second attendant lunges. Ianthe sidesteps and prods them in the belly.

IANTHE Didn't wait for the bell. Disqualified.

The attendant falls back, bows, and changes places with a third attendant.

IANTHE Everything! The shades. The ludicrous vow of silence– the way she kept opening her mouth to say things and then hastily shutting it again.

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