Skulduggery Pleasant_ Death Bringer - Derek Landy [20]
“I’ve never had any children,” China said, “and I haven’t had a friend in centuries. To me, talking like this is wonderful. So tell me the truth now – have you committed the cardinal sin?”
“Uh, that depends,” Valkyrie said warily. “What’s the cardinal sin?”
“Have you told Fletcher you loved him?”
“Oh,” Valkyrie said, sagging again. “Yes.”
“Oh my.”
“It was ages ago, but… I didn’t mean it like that. Not really. But I said it, and he took it to mean that I’m in love with him. I haven’t mentioned it since. I just… I don’t know.”
“Are you playing with Fletcher’s heart, my dear?”
“I’m trying not to.”
“And this other man?”
“I’ve no interest in a relationship with him, either,” said Valkyrie.
“Either?”
“Sorry?”
“You said you have no interest in a relationship with him, either. Implying that you have no interest in a relationship with him or Fletcher.”
Valkyrie looked startled. “I… That’s not what I meant.”
“Is your relationship with Fletcher coming to an end?”
There was silence, and then, “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant… Oh, God, I don’t know. I like having Fletcher. He’s warm, and nice, and safe.”
“All good qualities,” China assured her, “in a puppy. You need someone smart, and strong, and capable. Someone assured. You need someone to challenge you. You need someone better than you. That’s what love is, you know. Love is finding someone better than you are, and holding on for dear life.”
“It sounds hard.”
“The good things in life always are. But you’re not looking for love, are you? Of course you’re not. What girl your age is? You want fun. You want someone… amazing. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you been going out with Fletcher?”
“A year and a half, maybe.”
“If you care for him, and I know you care for him, you won’t want to hurt him. But time passes and feelings deepen. And that’s when the real hurt will set in. Are you taking him to the Ball?”
Valkyrie blinked. “The what?”
“The Requiem Ball, dear.”
“Oh. Um, I don’t know. Am I even going? Skulduggery didn’t say anything.”
“Of course you’re going. You’ve saved the world, haven’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but the Requiem Ball is to commemorate the end of the war with Mevolent, and I had nothing to do with that.”
“Do you really think you’d be allowed to miss it because of a trifling matter of details? If you don’t go this year, you’ll have to wait another ten years for it to come around again, and that would never do. Oh, you’ll love it. The women dress in the most beautiful gowns, the men wear tuxedos and we dance the night away. It is quite the social highlight of the decade.”
“When you say ‘dance’,” Valkyrie said, “you don’t mean the way you’d dance at a nightclub, do you? Because that’s the only kind of dancing I know how to do.”
“It’s nothing extravagant,” China assured her. “A waltz or two. A tango. A minuet. Even a quadrille, if we’re feeling debauched. We’re going to have to get you into a gloriously decadent dress, I think, with gloriously decadent shoes that will make you even taller than you are now.”
Skulduggery knocked on the door, and China let him in. He was, as ever, impeccably dressed. “We were just talking about the Requiem Ball,” she said. “I assume the two of you are going?”
“Naturally,” Skulduggery replied, removing his hat.
“We are?” Valkyrie asked, clearly surprised. “You didn’t tell me.”
“Did I not? How unlike me. Still, I simply couldn’t deprive you of your chance to see me in a tuxedo. I wear it well, as you can imagine. Besides, it would be rude not to invite you. Technically, you own the venue where it’s being held.”
“I what?”
“It used to be held in a mansion owned by the late Corrival Deuce,” China said, “but your dear uncle Gordon has offered us the use of his house instead. Or your house. Whichever it is.”
“Ah,” said Valkyrie. “Well, it’s certainly big enough. I mean, it’s got rooms I never go into. Will I have to do anything? Like stand at the door and welcome people, or…?”
“Nothing like that,” Skulduggery said, sounding amused. “You’ll be treated as just another very important