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Prologue

It was the ed your mind,

And after set your heart to beat

--WB Yeats

London, Novee that Archer would soon end the life of another cut at his soul with every step he took The miscreant in question was a liar and a thief at best That the whole of the er fortune now rested at the bottom of the Atlantic did little to rouse Archer’s synited his fury A red haze clouded Archer’s vision when he thought about what had been lost Salvation had alone because Hector Ellis’s pirates had raided Archer’s ship, stealing that whichit away in their bloody dooround, refusing to drift off despite the crisp night breeze It never truly went away, ever present in London, like death, taxes, and s, whipping up eddies of the foul yellow vapor as his mouth filled with the acrid taste of coal, filth, and decay that was the flavor of London

Archer rounded a corner,away from the street lamps and into shadow The sharp staccato of his footfall echoed over the deserted cobbled streets Far off on the Tha But here all was quiet The constant clatter of coaches and the occasional shout of the night watch calling the hours had faded away Darkness sed his form, as it always did, both a cohborhood around him was old but fine Like all places that housed those whom fortune touched, the streets were eo tucked into their well-tufted beds

Ellis’s house was near Archer had walked the streets of London long enough to h its perverse network of twisted alleys and endless avenues Anticipation, cold and ue To end a life, see the incandescent light of a soul slip from its house--he wanted thatshook his core and his step faltered Never do harm It was every doctor’s creed, his creed That was before he’d forfeited his own life Archer took a cleansing breath and focused on the rage

A garden lay ahead, large and walled in, its pleasures solely for the benefit of those who had the key The seven-foot wall looht as well be only four feet He vaulted hirass beloith nary a sound

He rose, intent on his ainst steel stopped hi fallen out of fashion London fops now settled matters with law and courts He rather rievances had started with the slap of a glove and ended in first blood He gazed over the dark garden and found the swordsas la the central court

"Come on!" taunted the fair-haired one "Is that your best effort?"

They were boys Archer slipped into the deep shadows by the wall and watched, his unnatural eyes seeing as well as if he’d been ringside The blond could not be hteen Not quite a man, his lih and the timbre of his voice had dropped He was clearly the leader as he paced the other boy round the slate-lined court in the garden’s center

"Keep your arain

The younger boy was nearly as tall as his co out from an ill-fitted frock coat, were mere sticks A ridiculous bowery hat was crammed down upon his head, so low that Archer saw only a flash of white jaw as the pair sparred about ala ainst the wall He hadn’t seen such eloquent sparring in a lifetiood He had been trained by a master But the little one, he would be better He was at the disadvantage being lighter and shorter, but when the blond attempted a Botta-in-tempo while the youth was tied up in a bind, the little one sprang back with such quickness that Archer craned forward in anticipation, enjoying himself more than he had in decades They broke ain

"You’ll have to do better than that, Martin" The youth laughed, his steel flashing like ht

Martin’s eyes shoith both pride and deteret cocksure on me, Pan"

Martin thrust once then cut The youth, Pan, crossed to the right To Archer’s delight, the boy leapt upon the thin wrought-iron railing that surrounded the court and, in a little display of daring, slid along the rail a distance before landing just behind Martin He gave a swift poke to the elder boy’s backside before dancing away

"I airl’s "And if you don’t watch yourself, I’ll stickarse, ah--"

The silly boy toppled backward over the boxwood hedge he’d overlooked in his gloating Archer grinned wide

Martin’s laugh bounded over the garden The boy doubled up with it, dropping his sled to rise, holding his absurd hat in place while grousing about English hedges under his breath

Martin took pity and helped the boy to his feet "Call it quits, then?" He offered his hand once rumbled a bit then took the proffered hand "I suppose I must Take the sword, will you? Father almost found it the other day"

"And we mustn’t have that, hum?" Martin tweaked the boy’s nose

The two parted ways, each going toward opposite garden doors

" ’Night, Martin"

" ’Night, Pan!"

Sarden and then left

Archertoward the door where Pan had gone through Prickles of unease danced over his skin Fighter or no, the boy was too fragile to walk alone and unarht A rare bit of entertaine ho well behind The boy er in his step as he turned from the sidewalk into an alleyway

Thus his squeak of alarrimy older boys slipped out of the shadows and blocked his path

"An’ who’s this?" The felloas a big brute, short and wide The type, Archer thought grimly, for he was in no ht

"Hello," said Pan, stepping back one pace "Don’t mind hed, showing a large gap between his teeth " ‘Out for a stroll,’ " he parroted "Who you think you are? Prince Bertie?"

Pan was quick to rally "Eh? Can’ ainto street tongue as s "Especially when it helps wittoward the back of a large town house There lied safety, Archer realized It was the boy’s home It was Ellis’s home, he realized with a little shock Who was this boy?

"Them marks always appreciate a kind word," the boy went on

Archer had to appreciate the boy’s flair with the coue; he hardly understood a word But the lad was putting it on too thickly The young roughs knew it, too