Shadows in the Smoke S1E32 - "I Wish to Watch"

Shadows in the Smoke S1E32 – “I Wish to Watch”

Kim
Shadows in the Smoke is intended for mature audiences and may contain material that some people find disturbing. Please see the episode description for content warnings, and listen with care.

[Shadows in the Smoke theme]

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson.

[An eerie tone]

Kim
You see Ms. Jenny Johnston. She is carrying a large umbrella. She is gloved, wearing sunglasses.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Hello, sir. Could I please come in?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Jenny, that you?

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Yes, sir. Apologies for the disguise. I did not wish to be seen visiting Hargrave House. You understand, Scotland Yard is still poking about Limehouse.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Of course, of course. Come in, come in.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Thank you.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Can I get you anything? We apparently got a new servant. She doesn’t smell too ripe, but she should know her way around tea. She manages with coffee.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Some tea would be wonderful, thank you.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Of course. Have a seat in the parlor there. I’ll find her, I guess, and join you? I don’t really know how this works... Merricat!

Kim
You hear a little rustle of feathers as Merricat’s head pops out from around a wall.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Uh… Green tea, if you please.

Merricat Ovelia (Kim)
Yes, sir.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
And some white for me.

Merricat Ovelia (Kim)
Yes, sir.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Hope that’s alright. I don’t know much about teas, except for the three colors.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
It’s perfectly alright, sir. Please, do sit. I’m afraid I’m not here for a social call.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I figured you wouldn’t be, but there’s a certain amount of respectability and pleasantries that got to be observed, regardless of the nature of the business.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Yes, of course.

Kim
A few moments pass, and Merricat brings out a little tea service.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
If you want, now you’re inside, you can disrobe.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Apologies, sir. I have not been feeling terribly well. I have not been sleeping that much. The light, it’s a bit harsh on my eyes.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I understand that. I went through a similar spell none too recently.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
I came to ask how your hunt of the creature in Limehouse was progressing. It has been some time since I have seen anyone from Hargrave House about those streets.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I’m embarrassed to say I have been neglecting things on that front. I was following a lead down at the Dog and Whistle when events beyond my control whisked me away, and my attention was drawn elsewhere. I do apologize, Jenny. I owe you better than that. I should have done right by you. Please know it’s no reflection on my opinion of your character. I… Well, I stopped thinking with my head so much, is all I’ll say about that.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
I regret to tell you that the situation in Limehouse has worsened.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
What happened?

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
I myself was attacked by the creature.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You alright?

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Oh, I’m perfectly fine, sir.

Kim
And she smiles, and reveals sharpened fangs.

T.
As I’m taking a sip of tea.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well, I don’t… [Sputters] Well, I had no doubts about that. If anybody could handle herself in Limehouse, it’s you Jenny.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Apologies, sir. I don’t believe this tea is to my taste.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I knew I should have gotten that – it’s oolong, right? That’s the other one?

Kim
She lunges across this small table towards you.

T.
As she lunges toward me, hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I roll backwards, kick the chair toward her, and then grab the leg of the other chair. And with a wrenching, twisting motion, break it off so I now have a wooden stake.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
Little hunters were far too slow…

Kim
Jenny Johnston leaps and situates herself in the high corner of the room near the ceiling.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well Miss Johnson, what big teeth you have.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
I believed in you. I trusted you.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
It may not have been your first mistake, but it was high up on the list.

T.
I would like to huck this stake toward her heart.

Kim
Sounds like a Night Move to me. What are you afraid will happen if you fail?

T.
I mean, I’m afraid she’ll bite me and turn me into a vampire.

Kim
It’s worse than that. Mr. Hutchinson, you will turn. You will bite Merricat, who will turn. You will wait for the rest of your hunters to return to Hargrave House, and turn them.

T.
Well, that ain’t gonna happen.

Kim
This is with Vitality.

T.
4+1 is 5, +3 is 8.

Kim
Miss Thanero, holding Mr. Higgins by the throat, pressing this heel into his temple. You start to see a line of blood trickling down his forehead. And yet despite this, Mr. Higgins remains cool, and he sneers coldly at you.

Mr. Higgins (Kim)
Miss Thanero, why do you concern yourself with me when you have far worse things to be worrying about?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh, I don’t ‘know. You seem to have taken a rather special interest in me, and I don’t like people looking too far into my affairs.

Mr. Higgins (Kim)
Can’t you see all will be revealed in due time? Now, why don’t you turn your attentions to the ballet? Haven’t you heard that the Royal Ballet is planning a final performance on Christmas Eve at St. Paul’s? Oh, I wonder what will happen if the hunters of Hargrave House let that come to pass…

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
You needed worry so heavily toward the hunters of Hargrave House. I’m sure whatever party that is, we will attend and take care of whatever might lurk in the shadows there.

Kim
Miss Thanero, that is a Clue for the Nutcracker.

Mr. Higgins (Kim)
Now, Miss Thanero, I am so sorry that I was unable to help you, but will you see yourself out? Or must I get someone to help you find the way?

Cassandra
I think in response to this, as Ena is still holding this heel to his neck, she just pokes it in ever so slightly and just twists it a little, so that he has to take a moment to go away and deal with this.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Please hold your questions. And yes, I’ll se myself out.

Cassandra
And she turns and she leaves this stupid little shoe shop.

[A London street]

Kim
As you leave, you see several dangerous looking men loitering out front of the cobbler shop. And a couple snigger at the damage that you’ve done to their employer, and look at you with some newfound respect.

Cassandra
Ena looks at each of them. Smirks. It’s kind of an invitation. Like, “try me.” And then slowly starts to walk on up the street to go and flag her carriage somewhere not in front of the shoe shop.

Kim
Miss Douglas and Mr. Lloyd, I believe that your little luncheonette has concluded. Where would you like to go for the rest of your day, either separately or together?

Robert
I think I’d actually like to go back to the ballet, have a little conversation with that director.

Kim
Miss Douglas?

Natalia
I am gonna go talk to Greco, I think, and try and gain some insight to the hypnotic dream state that I was under at the ballet.

Kim
I love this. Yes, hunters! Thank you for remembering that Greco exists!

Natalia
[Laughs] I was going through all of the custom moves, and I was like, “What could I do today?”

T.
Shout out Nat, remembering yet another custom move that we all forgot about.

Kim
Let’s begin with Miss Douglas. Now, I have a question for all of you. When we took Greco as a reward, it says Greco becomes a Resident of Hargrave House. Now, this can be literal or metaphorical. But tell me, has Greco moved in –

T.
Yes.

Kim
Or has he – [Laughs]

Natalia
I think so!

Kim
Alright. I love this.

[A London street slowly fades into Dream]

Kim
Then Miss Douglas, you leave Rabbit at the club and head back towards Hargrave House. The walk takes longer than it should. As you walk, the signs along the street start to blur until they’re nigh unreadable. They look like they’re in a strange language that no one has ever spoken. People pass you, and their faces are blurred. And eventually  you come upon, in the middle of the street, a grand throne room sitting in the middle of this strange, warped Belgrave Square. And sitting atop this throne is Greco, the Dream Sovereign, presiding over this grand court of mist and madness.

Paint the Scene, everyone. Greco’s courtiers are Lost Ones, condemned to endlessly petition their Dream Sovereign for a place in his gossamer realm. Describe one. Based on their appearance and mannerisms at court, how do they suffer in the real world?

T.
One of them is Clara Barton, the young nurse. And as she approaches the Dream Sovereign, she is in her infirmary uniform. Her clothes plain, simple linen. But in this dream manifestation of herself, her hands seem to glow with this radiance of her healing capabilities. And her eyes are two wells, empty voids with deep, deep sagging bags underneath them. She comes looking for the true morphine – something that can finally alleviate pain once and for all, for her patients and for herself.

Robert
There’s a man there. His arms and legs are clad in manacles, and a metal mask is bolted over his face. But if you look closely, it’s not iron that these are made out of, but gold. For this is a man who, though he has all the wealth in the world, feels empty and hollow inside, shackled by his wealth and unable to dream properly.

Natalia
There is a young woman with long dark hair, dressed all in white. Her skin very, very pale. Absolutely drenched in water, constantly dripping. The fallout of having chosen to drown herself, and at the last moment deciding this was not the fate that she wanted, and instead asking Greco for a place to continue living. But forever caught with water in her throat and in her lungs, and in every pore of her being.

Cassandra
There’s a young woman who’s clearly worked many a night in the brothels of London, where she would be tattered and worn out in the real world. Here in this dream, she looks softer but still tired, just kind of enshrouded in a very, like, weary grace. And she would kneel before Greco, and the air shimmers around her with the scent of perfume, and maybe a wet, rainy night. And she would ask him to let her sleep, without needing to be anyone else. Because she has spent too many nights being wanted, and too few being seen.

Kim
Maesie, these courtiers all stop and bow as you approach, and Greco extends his hand to you from atop this throne.

Greco (Kim)
Come, child.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Where are we?

Greco (Kim)
We are in dreams. We are in my realm. Apologies. There are matters at the house that I thought best not to involve ourselves in. No worries, it will be sorted shortly.

Natalia
Maesie starts hyperventilating at, once again, being drawn into a dream that she did not ask for, that she did not intend to be in. And crumples at the bottom of the stairs, in front of this entire court.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Ah, Greco, um… That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. How are you doing this?

Greco (Kim)
It is as easy as breathing for one such as I.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I feel like everything is out of my control, and it is caving in, and I can’t do anything to stop it. And Rabbit has offered to help me with magic and things, but I don’t think I even begin to understand what it is or what to do.

Kim
Greco, who moments ago was towering above you atop this grand throne, is instantly by your side. And the courtiers have disappeared, and you find yourself sitting on a beach.

[Ocean waves crash on a beach]

Greco (Kim)
I’m sorry, Miss Douglas. I did not wish to distress you. You say you don’t understand magic, but I have seen you wield it. Seen others dream of you wielding it. You have power.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Yes, I have power over this.

Natalia
She takes her hands into the water of the surf.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
But this is real, and this is here. This is tangible. This is not a fabrication.

Kim
Greco waves his hand and the ocean briefly turns to mist, then to wine, then back to water.

Greco (Kim)
No, child. This is dream.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
How can someone like you do this? I want to know how someone at the ballet could have done this to me.

Greco (Kim)
Pull you into a dream?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Yes.

Kim
Miss Douglas, make the Information Move. With Presence. I’m trying to see if Lost Girl is at play, here. I kind of feel like it is still.

Natalia
Every day, my life is a nightmare.

T.
Aren’t they literally called the Lost Ones?

Natalia
Yeah. [Laughs] Here I am, among my people.

Cassandra
Wow, thanks for helping!

Natalia
Okay, that’s a 6. Okay. Okay. Here’s the thing. I wanna mark The Cosmic Passage, because I wanna unlock my further magical abilities, and I do feel like this is an appropriate time to do that, if I’m further asking for information about magic. So we’re gonna do that.

Kim
Alright!

Robert
Join me!

Kim
Miss Douglas, could you read The Cosmic Passage for us?

Natalia
You can move and control sources of water within eyesight. Near large bodies of water, such as a river or well, you can move enough water to flood a room. When you channel the sea and tides, take your next roll with advantage. If the next roll results in a miss, you take the Condition: Exposed in addition to any other consequences.

T.
So just a little light hydrokinesis. That’s chill.

Natalia
Hell yeah.

Kim
Alright, so mask spent, that will bump you up to a mixed success. And now you know hydrokinesis. That is super cool.

Natalia
Maesie the waterbender.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, paying a visit to the ballet. So what’s the approach here?

Robert
I want to surprise the director, Zelia Gagnon. And so I think I’m going to use my custom move, The Weirding Way, to appear in her office, her study, whatever. What does her study look like?

Kim
I imagine that while Ms. Zelia Gagnon demands perfection and order from her corps de ballet and from her theatre, I like to imagine that her personal private space is tiny and cramped with paper. Like, it’s just an explosion of documents.

Robert
Cool. Then I am going to try and appear behind her, come out of the shadows or something to surprise her. Let me roll my new move. Let me roll The Weirding Way.

Kim
Oh yes, your custom move!

Robert
Alright, that is a 10 overall.

Kim
Alright, so what do you get on a full success?

Robert
You get where you want to go, with no problems.

[Mystical ambient tones]

Robert
As she’s sitting at her desk, one of the shadows from like a pile of papers and books in the corner of her office grows longer and longer. And a figure steps out of it, the shadow falling off of his back like a cloak as Rabbit suddenly appears in a room where there is no way for him to appear.

Kim
Ms. Zelia Gagnon barely looks up from her post.

Zelia Gagnon (Kim)
We are not holding any more auditions. And anyway, you do not have the legs for it.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
That’s quite alright. Wasn’t exactly looking to audition for your show. In fact, I was coming here… Well, on two matters of business. One personal, and one professional. If the professional one merits, we might be able to ignore the personal one altogether.

Zelia Gagnon (Kim)
State your business.

Kim
She says, still not looking up from her letter.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Your practices have put a friend of mine into a situation I would rather them not be in. And you are lucky that it is me and not one of my other friends coming to see you. Because I’m talking with you right now. If it were one of my other friends, your face might already be against a desk or a wall. You see, one of the things that I’m good at that my colleagues are not so good at is recognizing fear. I’ve seen enough of it in my profession, and I see it behind your tyrannical little eyes. You may be a monster, but you are not the big monster here. You’ve got a man, this Sculptor, this Nutcracker, who is mutilating your dancers. And I think it would be just as easy for you to get rid of that Nutcracker as it would be to get rid of those who are poking their noses into what’s going on in your ballet. So I’m here to strike a bargain with you. You tell me what I want to know, give me some good information, and maybe I forget about the harm that you’ve caused to my friend and your other dancers.

Zelia Gagnon (Kim)
So I take it you know one of my dancers?

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Like I said, that doesn’t need to be important at the moment.

Zelia Gagnon (Kim)
Well, I do not appreciate someone throwing around talk of abuses, of mistreatment of my dancers. We expect perfection, and that is what we get out of them. We mold them. We sculpt them.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well, it seems to me that we’re at a bit of an impasse here, so let me let you in on another thing that I’m good at, thanks to my profession.

[The mood in the room grows more sinister]

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
I’m not just good at recognizing fear. I’m very good at causing it.

Robert
Rabbit pulls his knife out of his little belt and stabs it directly into her hand, pinning her to the desk. He then starts to use the blood that comes out of her hand, and draws upon the energy within it to cast a spell.

Kim
Alright. This sounds like Rites of Salt and Smoke to me. Go ahead and roll +Sensitivity.

Robert
Okay. That is an 8 on the dice, +3 for an 11.

Kim
So on a full success, choose an effect.

Robert
We are going to observe another place or time, but we’re going to be a little poetic in that. In that, we are going to observe Zelia’s worst nightmare.

The pain in her hand is unbearable, but all she can focus on are the two green eyes that are staring her down. And everything else seems to sort of fade away into darkness, just sort of like dissolving like smoke, as everything except for Rabbit’s eyes go dark. And we are suddenly in another realm. We are in the realm of dream, but we are specifically in Zelia Gagnon’s worst nightmare. So Kim, what is this ballet director’s worst nightmare?

[A slow, haunting “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” plays]

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, you and Zelia Gagnon are now center stage at the Royal Opera and Ballet, in a production of The Nutcracker. Except all of the dancers are frozen, posed just as they would be in Act Two of The Nutcracker. We see this giant Christmas tree that is dwarfing all of the dancers on stage. A dancer is being tossed – impossibly. Who could toss them? Everyone is frozen. And instead of landing gently with a soft plop onto the stage, they shatter into thousands of pieces as the ice hits the floor and cracks. But it’s the tree, the horrible tree. Monstrous, enormous, set ablaze, and crowned with a human star. This is the Nutcracker of the Sculptor’s dreams.

Robert
The sound of a slow clap comes from the stage as Rabbit walks towards Zelia, past the frozen and, in some cases, shattered dancers.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Truly, a terrifying world. As you can see, you and your friend are not the only ones who can employ people’s dreams as weapons against them. Now, I’m going to make this a lot more simple for you. If you would like to resurface, if you would like to join us in the living world once again, all you have to do is give me a little hint. A little clue, some way in which I can take him down. And if I do, I will forget about all of the horrors that you’ve put upon those poor innocent little dancers.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, make the Information Move with Presence.

Robert
Alright. That is a 3 and 4 on the dice, +2 is 9. So that is a mixed success. I think I am going to go ahead and bump that up to a full success, using one of my Masks of the Past.

Kim
Alright. We’ll hear that mask shortly.

[Tense, dreadful ambient tones]

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson. On a mixed success, the stake that you threw splinters against the wall next to Ms. Jenny Johnston – or what was once Ms. Jenny Johnston. And she leaps from the wall and tackles you, and her fangs sink into your neck.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
[Cries out in pain]

Kim
She whispers in your ear, the words thick as she’s trying to move her tongue through all of the blood.

Jenny Johnston (Kim)
You needn’t worry yourself about a vampire in Limehouse. There are dozens. More than that, every day.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well, you’re right about one thing.

T.
and I wrench her head off of my neck. I snap it ever so slightly, so that she loses feeling in her legs and arms.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I don’t have to worry about one vampire in Limehouse.

T.
And I lift her over my head and march over to the chair where I had broken the leg off, and the jagged other end is still remaining.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You fuck something up in your territory? That’s on you. Not on me. I adhere to the Monroe Doctrine. What’s mine is mine. What’s yours is yours.

T.
And I piledrive her down on to the spike, so it lands through her heart.

Kim
Jenny Johnston’s body explodes in this mass of blood and tissue and sinew. Mr. Hutchinson, how are you feeling in this moment.

T.
As I spit some of that blood out of my mouth, noting that it tastes better to me than tea… I’m feeling guilty. Despite what I just told her, I did get distracted by my other pursuits. If I acted more quickly, Jenny might still be alive, let alone the rest of Limehouse.

Kim
Take the Condition: Blood On Your Hands.

T.
[Laughs ruefully] Oh, you’re really good. I hate it, but that’s real good.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Merricat!

Kim
Merricat cautiously pokes her head around the doorway once more.

Merricat Ovelia (Kim)
Yes, sir?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Don’t’ let anybody else in if they don’t already live here. And you might want to tidy up before the others get home. Sorry.

Merricat Ovelia (Kim)
No need to apologize, sir. It is an occupational hazard.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You can say that again. I’m going out.

Merricat Ovelia (Kim)
You’re going out like that, sir?

T.
I look down at my clothes and shrug.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Honestly, I consider it something of an improvement from my usual looks. I’ll try and be back before sundown.

Merricat Ovelia (Kim)
Very good, sir. No need to worry. This will be our secret.

T.
I give her a nod. Like, okay. Maybe you are somebody that I can think of as more than fetching tea.

Kim
Where are you off to, Mr. Hutchinson, and in such a state?

T.
Mr. Hutchinson is feeling out of sorts, and is in need of just a little company from somebody who doesn’t have anything to do with vampires or ice sculptors or cannibalism. He’s seeking a sit down with a fellow countryman, and is going to visit James Whistler in Cheyne Walk.

Kim
Miss Thanero, what about you?

[A London street]

Cassandra
Ena is annoyed over this experience that she’s had with Mr. Higgins, with all of these men standing outside, eyeing her. Too much interest! There’s been too much interest in Ena Thanero at the moment! So she’s going to flag her carriage down, and I think it’s time for her to go and have some tea with Theodora Brathwaite, to see if we can get some answers toward all this interest.

Kim
Let’s take you to Mrs. Theodora Brathwaite’s little pied-à-terre.

[The Sapphire Woman’s theme plays]

Kim
This enormous townhouse in London that she jokingly refers to as her little apartment. Much of it done in sapphire blue, of course. As you enter, a young footman takes your coat, takes your things, and puts them safely away.

Young Butler (Kim)
Yes, madam. I will let Mrs. Brathwaite know. She’s been expecting you.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I’m sure she has.

Kim
And stepping into the sitting room is Mrs. Theodora Brathwaite, dressed a bit more casually than you’ve seen her. She is wearing a simple blue gown. Her hair is loosely pinned around her face. But still, as ever, that enormous sapphire choker at her throat.

I have a Paint the Scene for all of you. Mrs. Brathwaite’s city home is decorated in the height of luxury, a flex of her immense wealth. But looking around, she has included several nods to her past as the famed Pirate Queen of Barbuda. What do we see?

Cassandra
As we look into the sitting area of this townhouse, there is a large round bay window. And at the center of it is a magnificent wooden captain’s wheel. It is polished to a beautiful shine, and on each of the handles, there is a large sapphire on the end of it. You see that it’s also gilded in gold, and there’s a large sapphire right in the center of the wheel. And I would like to think this is from one of the ships that she captained during her years of piracy.

Natalia
The tablecloth decorating the dining table in this home is unobtrusive in the sense that it fits right in with everything else in its detail, and the richness of the textile. And it would not seem out of place if not for the extremely nautical theme that decorates the embroidery along the edges of the lace, including at the very corners a woman in a flowing dress holding a sword, the same design that was found on Theodora Brathwaite’s pirate flag.

Robert
There are skulls hidden in the crown molding amidst the eggs and darts of her ceiling. And while that’s not incredibly unusual – Victorians did love a good memento mori – if you look very closely, under each skull there are three letters written: either A-B-H, or A-M-H.

T.
In a corner tucked away, but balancing the rest of the feng shui of the parlor is a simple wooden lectern, atop which rests a book of knowledge.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Ah, Miss Thanero. It is so good to have you. I’m so glad you could fit me into your busy schedule.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh of course, darling. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see your simple abode here in town. I see you’ve kept the furnishings a little on the lighter side.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Miss Thanero, I grew up with nothing. Let an old woman enjoy her hard-earned wealth.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh, I wouldn’t dare to advise you otherwise. What’s the point in having it, if not to have nice things?

Kim
A butler in sapphire blue livery sets down the most elegant of afternoon tea service.

Cassandra
Ena grabs this man’s arm.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Do you have anything stronger?

Young Butler (Kim)
Yes, madam. What is it you might like?

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I think a whiskey might be in order. Would you care to join me, Theodora? I hate to drink alone.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
I knew you would be most agreeable company. Yes, Oliver. Two whiskeys, please. Apologies for his nervousness. I did tell him not to touch you.”

Cassandra
Ena takes this in and gives Theodora an appraising look, that she’s aware of this information.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Most wise of you, honestly. So few people actually realize what the consequences for that action are.

Kim
The young butler sets down two crystal glasses and a decanter of whiskey. Mrs. Brathwaite pours for both of you.

Cassandra
Ena takes the glass in her hand, smells it approvingly, then raises her glass to Theodora in a toast.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Here’s to a very, very long life, well-lived.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Salud.

Kim
She clinks her glass.

Cassandra
Ena takes a sip of it. It’s very good. The finest whiskey one could have.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
My my, this is delightful. Wherever did you get it?

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
I acquired this. I’m a merchant. Well, not originally, but ever since arriving in London at 26. Decided to turn my piracy to legitimate enterprise. I went on quite the buying spree. I myself was already fabulously wealthy, buying up real estate, businesses, distilleries.

Kim
She sips her whiskey.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Yes, there was a time when all of London raised a cup to me, even dear Victoria.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
You were in her court for a time, were you not?

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
My dear, I was not just in her court.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Now now, don’t be coy. What was it like being around her and all of those fabulous courtiers?

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
It was great fun. Victoria wasn’t always such a stick in the mud. Not always so severe. Yes, she was quite passionate in her younger days. Quite beautiful. It was difficult, avoiding Albert, but we managed.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Albert, truly one to always be in the way, wouldn’t you say?

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Victoria loved him dearly. She just had lots of love to share.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I wonder what might have happened when that love ran out? You certainly don’t seem to be taking too kindly to her these days.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Ah yes, we enjoyed several years of happiness, me being her favorite sapphire, her pirate queen… But as she grew older, she grew…

Kim
She scoffs.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Moral.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Oh dear, not moral. Oh, the death of any good time.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
She decided she needed to set an example for the wicked London, embracing a program of piety, and morality. Indeed, she even threatened to seize my very own Brathwaite Hall if I insisted on throwing any more of my debaucherous masquerades. I refused, of course, and, well… the two of us do tend to hold a grudge.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
A grudge seems like the least you would hold against her, you being self-made as you are. I can’t imagine someone threatening to take everything I’d worked so very hard for over something as simple as morality.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Oh, Miss Thanero… That was years ago. And as you can see, I remain quite wealthy and quite secure. And dear Victoria just grows old and reclusive and frail. I’d say I’ve come out quite on top, but I do believe in teaching lessons.

[Ocean waves crash on a beach]

Kim
Miss Douglas, Greco regards you with curiosity, especially at hearing that someone else possesses some of this power of dream.

Greco (Kim)
Someone in the ballet, you say, pulled you into a dream without you knowing?

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
I was performing this audition to dance for the ballet, and I don’t know if it was a dream, but I was seeing things that were not real, and I ended up hurting someone.

Greco (Kim)
I am very sorry to hear that. I have felt a disturbance among the dancers in the ballet. They sleep very little. Their dreams are fragmented, messy, often violent. I have heard tale of rehearsals performed at odd hours of the night. It’s possible that those are linked to that waking dream you found yourself in.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
If someone there is capable of altering reality seemingly when I am awake, then I would be unsurprised if they’re able to do it when someone is asleep and at their most vulnerable.

Greco (Kim)
Miss Douglas, I do not delight in hearing of others wielding power that they do not understand, nor are they sovereign of. Especially when it hurts my roommates.

Kim
He smiles kind of distantly at you.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Welcome to the house, by the way.

Greco (Kim)
Thank you. If you find yourself in such a dream again, I bid you call to me. I will listen and help, If I can.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
If I’m able to recognize it in the future, know that I will.

Greco (Kim)
Good.

Kim
The beach and the water around you starts to shift, and indeed transforms to the stone steps leading down into the garden in the backyard of Hargrave House. Greco just sits next to you.

[Birds chirp faintly]

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Right. Well, do you reckon the occurrence that was happening in the house is over?

Greco (Kim)
Oh yes, all is well.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
Well, that’s a matter of opinion.

Greco (Kim)
As well as it can be, in these halls. Keep yourself safe, Miss Douglas.

Miss Douglas (Natalia)
You too, Greco.

Kim
Maesie, how do you feel?

Natalia
Hmm… Maesie feels, I think, out of her depth. I think she’s starting to dabble in things that she doesn’t know much about, doesn’t know how to control, and feels the need to rely on other people a lot, which she doesn’t like.

Kim
Miss Douglas, take the Condition: Dependent.

Mr. Lloyd, spending a Mask of the Past. Please read the prompt for us, and begin.

Robert
Narrate a flashback to your young adulthood that shows a time when you used your supernatural affinities for selfish purposes.

[Trickling, magical ambience]

Robert
While only a year or two has passed in London since the Storyteller joined the Unseelie court, time moves differently in the other kingdom. Especially in the court of the Lady of Dreams, where every night can last lifetimes. And no one who spends that much time in faerie remains unchanged for long.

During his stay, he has earned many titles. The Dreamkeeper, the Fatherless Son of Night, Hand of the Whispered Monarch, the Master of Nightmare, Consort of the Queen of Air and Darkness, the Shadowed Prince, and The Tale that Tells Itself. They are masks. Costumes that he changes as the occasion demands. And the more masks he puts on, the more the young man once called Morgan disappears into them.

He is The Shadowed Prince on this night, a wickedly handsome man in soldier’s garb whose dark cloak dissolves into a flood of mist that follows him and moves with a will of its own. An ornately patterned circle drawn on the floor in red wax prevents this fog from filling the small dormitory room.

[A fireplace crackles]

Robert
“Oh, it worked! Ahem, Shadowed Prince, Laird of the Ganchanach, I have called and bound you, and now demand my boon.”

The blond man standing outside the circle beams with the confidence of youth.

“I wish to take you as my familiar and travel to the other kingdom.”

By all rights, this should be the end of that story. The boy had summoned the prince using a title, not his name. And the binding circle was overly designed, could be easily escaped. And more importantly, he was rude, demanding that which must be given as a gift. The Unseelie delight in giving cruel rewards to the overconfident and the arrogant, and the boy certainly fits that bill.

Yet, there is still a sliver of Morgan within the Prince, and so he takes pity – and in doing so, seals both of their eventual fates.

“Yes, I will take you with me tonight, and show you the wonders and horrors that dwell in the domain of the Queen of Night. You will be under my protection, but I cannot promise safety. If you pay attention, you will learn a great deal. And I ask of you is to release me, and a name to call you. Do we have a deal?”

And so the compact is struck. And true to his word, the Prince brings Percy through the hedge and into Mab’s realm, and to dream beyond.

There they explore and adventure through every dream, sampling the finest of the crop before harvesting them to bring back to the Queen. They hunt down the wild nightmares, capturing the most terrifying of them, and the Prince shows Percy many secret workings. Tricks at most, but very real magic.

After what seems like lifetimes, and no time at all, it is time for the feast. All the lords and ladies of the Unseelie gather in the moonlit hall, in their most resplendent titles. Along with guests from every mortal realm and several of the better pantheons, they dance and mingle, waiting for the main event. And the Prince guides Percy, introducing him to all sorts of powerful beings. But the time has come for him to play another part.

“Sorry, pet, it’s time for me to change my face and take the stage.”

The Prince removes his jaunty shako, and the Consort of the Queen of Air an Darkness makes the appearance. Dressed in a loose blouse and tight breeches, swirling with the colors of twilight and aurora, he strides into the center of the black marble floor and the crowd parts for him. He raises a sword in salute to the elaborate throne room that dominates one end, and a smile that isn’t quite Morgan’s shines like the moon.

Several svartelves drag a nightmare to face the consort, releasing its silver chains. And the squamous beast squares itself. The fight that follows moves like a dance. The consort flows like tide around the thrashing monstrosity, dodging its enormous talons with seemingly no effort. He makes no real attempts to harm the beast, allowing it to tire itself out, teasing it with backhand strikes.

And then it is over. The sword forged from forgotten stars and honed to a gleaming edge comes down, snicker-snack.

The Consort pauses for a moment as a new tattoo comes to life on his pale skin, and a cheer bursts from the crowd.

Blood having been spilled, the party now dissolves into an orgy. Bodies writhe allegro to the music. Nectar, lotus tea, and other intoxicants flow from goblet to lip. And every sort of pleasure is put on proud display.

A truly unmeasurable amount of time later, the Consort awakens Percy from the dying embers of his revelry.

“And now the morning has come, my promise fulfilled. For now you will awaken, and this will all fade like the dream it was.”

“No! No, you cannot! To show me all this and then take it away. I must see more.”

“Are you certain? I can take you as my companion and student, but there will be a price.”

“Anything!”

“Dear Percy, you are so very lucky that you are so handsome. Very well. All I require is the answer to a question, given truly and completely from your own lips. But that’s a concern for a later day.”

The Hand of the Whispered Monarch smiles.

“Let’s dispense with titles and honorifics. You may call me Morgan.”

And the deal is sealed with a kiss.

Kim
Mask spent, Zelia looks at you, still in this grotesque dream.

Zelia Gagnon (Kim)
I do not like you, but I like the Sculptor less.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
That’s all I need.

Zelia Gagnon (Kim)
A word of warning. He has eye everywhere. If you speak of him in his theater, he will know.

[Distant orchestral music]

Kim
And as she says this, the dream shifts to earlier in the theatrical season. The opening night of the ballet, in which a grand fete was held. We see couples dancing, holding crystal champagne glasses, exquisitely arranged dishes and desserts. And in the center of it all, a grand centerpiece delivered by The Sculptor himself. An ice sculpture of a polar bear, its mouth open in a roar.

[Ice cracks, a distant roar]

Kim
And then gradually we see that ice melt and crack, as a live polar bear leaps from the table and rushes at the both of you. And then the dream fades, and you’re back in Zelia’s office. That is a Clue for the Nutcracker.

Robert
Rabbit takes his knife and, using a handkerchief, cleans the blood off of it before putting it back in its sheath.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Well there now, that wasn’t so hard was it? And if you’re lucky, and your lead turns out to be promising, you’ll never have any excuse to hear or see from me ever again.

Kim
Ms. Gagnon reaches into her drawer and pulls out some lengths of pink satin ribbon, which she is now wrapping around her injured hand.

Zelia Gagnon (Kim)
I cannot say it was a pleasure, Mr…

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Now don’t think you’d get me with that old one, do you?

Zelia Gagnon (Kim)
Please get out of my theatre.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
Gladly.

Robert
Rabbit exits not the same way he entered, but through the door of her office, like a normal person.

Kim
Mr. Lloyd, as you are leaving the Royal Opera House, you’re passing by the bare stage, past the fly rigging. And then you hear a crash as a sandbag is dropped, inches away from your body. And attached to the sandbag is a note that reads, “Get out of my theatre” – underlined.

Robert
Rabbit looks up to the flies, presumably doesn’t see anyone up there.

Kim
You sure do not.

Robert
But gives a very big, broad, and cruel smile.

Mr. Lloyd (Robert)
You’re going to have to do better than that if you want to give me a fright.

[A quiet London street]

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson, you arrive at the flat of one James Whistler.

T.
I, uh, smooth out my blood-stained clothing. Uh, notice that I’m uncharacteristically nervous. Or at least, my heart rate’s a bit elevated. But you know, there was a lot of adrenaline this afternoon, so that can be written off. And, uh, knock on the door.

Kim
The door pushes open.

T.
Hackles immediately up.

Kim
And inside you see James Whistler, in conversation with a young woman. Looks as though she is buying some of his art – a charcoal sketch of Cremorne Gardens.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Pardon my interruption.

Kim
James Whistler clocks your most unusual attire.

James Whistler (Kim)
I hope that’s paint…

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
It is, yeah. I’m working on a study in red. Sort of building my way up to my blue period.

James Whistler (Kim)
I see. A moment, sir. I will be with you shortly. I am just wrapping up this gift for this young woman.

Kim
She is dressed in riding togs. Looks as though she’s perhaps recently been hunting.

The Young Woman (Kim)
Hello, sir. Sorry. Did you have an appointment with Mr. Whistler?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Fellow countrymen of mine are hard to come by in these parts. Just thought I’d pay a visit while the rest of our friends and neighbors is at tea.

Kim
Mr. Whistler says…

James Whistler (Kim)
So sorry, my manners. Mr. John, this is Tatiana Brathwaite.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Enchanted.

Kim
She extends a hand to you, blood and all. She does not seem to mind.

Tatiana Brathwaite (Kim)
The pleasure is all mine, sir.

T.
Then I clasp her around the forearm, Roman gladiator style, and pull her into an embrace, clapping my hand and pressing her against what remains of the fabric. And I growl in her ear…

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I don’t think I’m the one that’s being hunted. Watch your back around Belgrave Square.

Tatiana Brathwaite (Kim)
I do love it when they put up a fight.

T.
I release her from the embrace.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
And please do give my best wishes to your baby brother. Let him know I ain’t forgotten about him.

Tatiana Brathwaite (Kim)
I’ll let him know. Be well so. And thank you so much, Mr. Whistler, for the beautiful piece of art. I will treasure it.

Kim
And she leaves.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Well, I don’t think I could have made that more awkward if I tried.

James Whistler (Kim)
Are you going to explain a bit of what that just was?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
To be frank with you, Mr. Whistler, that woman means to kill me. I don’t have proof. I can’t go to Scotland Yard, but I know it for fact.

James Whistler (Kim)
Oh, my… If only I had know. Apologies, I don’t know her that well. She just expressed interest in my sketches of Cremorne Gardens. Should we call someone?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
No. Not at all. Put her out of your mind. I can handle a little girl. [A pause] I meant that to be…

James Whistler (Kim)
Yes, of course.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Sorry. I didn’t expect to see… Well, anyone besides yourself here, so… I’ve had a fucking day, James, if you don’t mind me calling you so.

James Whistler (Kim)
I do not doubt it, sir.

Kim
And he fills your glass, and fills his own.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Fancies herself a big game hunter. Well, she’s gonna find some game. Dangerous game, at that. Fucking… Fucking chess. Fucking backgammon.

James Whistler (Kim)
Well, I certainly would not want to go against you, sir. You seem like a fearsome foe.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I don’t know. I can’t tell whether I’m getting harder, or softening up as I’m getting older. I used to be… Well, there was no adventure I wouldn’t throw myself into. Had something of a death wish, I guess you’d say. And, well… I’d wrassle with the most dangerous animals that our country ever produced.

Something’s changed about me, and I… Well, I find I’ve got a keener interest in self-preservation than I once had.

How about you? Here I am talking about myself, I’m darkening your doorstep. Uh, how long you been over here?

James Whistler (Kim)
Several years.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
You ever miss the States?

James Whistler (Kim)
Mmm. Very much.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
From, uh… From Massachusetts, right?

James Whistler (Kim)
I am, sir.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Could not take the winters up there.

James Whistler (Kim)
They are formidable.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Inclement, by no mistake. People forget that word means merciless, not just inconvenient. The winters fix to kill in Massachusetts. No, I’m a Southern boy. I think I’ve told you. From Georgia.

James Whistler (Kim)
Can’t say I’ve been down there.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I recommend it! If you get the chance, now that the war is settled and things are returning back to… I don’t know if there ever was a normal back home. But something resembling balance, at least.

I haven’t thought about this story in I don’t know how many years, but between the would-be huntress in here and thinking of home… I must have been 10, 11 years old. My mother, she was a painter herself.

James Whistler (Kim)
Really? Would I know her?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
No more than I know yours.

James Whistler (Kim)
Did she show?

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Nah, nah. She did it mostly to have something to keep her hands busy. My father wanted her to have something he could brag about. But now and then, you know, folks would come by and they’d pose for her. And I was just a boy when the King of the Frontier himself done showed up on our doorstep. Davy Crockett, on his way to Texas.

James Whistler (Kim)
No!

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
It’s true. By this red right hand, I swear to the almighty.

He was making a tour of the different forts we got, making sure that they were secure against any indigenous forces might be making their way, trying to take their land back. We were going to Fort Jackson, right there on the banks of the Savannah. Maybe it was just me being bright eyed and bushy-tailed, but he took a shine to me and took me out turkey hunting one morning.

We were out there, down on the banks, poking around in the brush. And, I shit you not, the King of the Frontier himself, Mr. Cumberland Gap, fell into the river. Lost his footing on the banks. Well, I grabbed him as best I could, but… You gotta understand, I didn’t have the musculature I do now. I was a scant thing, a twig of a lad, all done up in silks and finery.

I’m holding onto him as best I can, the water threatening to take him out into the bay and drown him in the Atlantic. And I feel something in my nethers, a sharp twist and a pain, and that pain gave the strength to haul him out of the water, soaked as he was. I turned around, and saw no grizzly bear, no copperhead rattlesnake, but a goat. Some goat wandered off a farm, fit me in the ass.

T.
I undo my trousers and show him my bare ass, where there is the dentition of a… could be anything, but let’s call it a goat.

James Whistler (Kim)
[Laughing] Oh, my…

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
We gave up on turkey and killed that sucker right then and there. And he took the horn and that night at my father’s house, fashioned it into a handle for this.

T.
And I show him my ivory-handled dagger.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I carried it around all over this great United States of ours.

Kim
Mr. Hutchinson, roll Tall Tales.

T.
Yes, please.

5 and 3 is 8, +2 is 10.

Kim
On a hit, the individual falls for your charm and does as you wish, or they reveal a clue. Your choice.

T.
Well, I have something that I would like him to do.

Kim
Okay then, proceed.

T.
And I hand him over the knife as proof of the tale. Kind of hold it there, so our hands our nearly touching.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I work with Scotland Yard sometimes. I can’t go to ‘em right now, but I’ve done heard of artists that work with the mutton shunters that can draw someone without having a model. You know, just based on description-like. Do you think that might be something you’d be up for?

James Whistler (Kim)
Assuming you provide a good enough description? Yes, I reckon I can draw anyone.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Hah. Well, there’s the rub.

[Serene music]

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
I guess you artist types would call her a classic beauty. Eyes are green with flecks of gold in it, like a California stream. Hair is black as the mining hills of the Dakota. She’s athletic. Not corded with muscle, but, you know, there’s a strength in her. Statuesque. She got skin the color of olives, and a nose that looks like she’s spent her whole life looking down it, because she has.

Usually she’s dressed in some extravagant frippery, but I think this one ought to be a nude. The way I see it, she’s setting her foot in the surf, letting it kiss her feet and lap at her ankles. And strewn about her in the water-like: a helmet, a spear, and a shield. Not abandoned… What’s the word? Forsaken.

Her arms are down at her sides. She’s approaching the sea not as a warrior, just as a woman. Defiant, yeah. But also trusting.

I don’t think you can whip up something like that?

Kim
He shows you his sketchpad where he has blocked out the figure that you are describing.

James Whistler (Kim)
It might take me a day to refine it, but I’d say I could make this for you.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Take all the time you need. She got kind of more of a smirk to her. Like she knows something you don’t.

James Whistler (Kim)
You know this woman. This is not a dream girl.

Mr. Hutchinson (T.)
Why can’t it be both?

Kim
Miss Thanero. Mrs. Brathwaite stands.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
What about some dessert? I’ve prepared something special for you.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
Well, I can hardly say no. It seems you’ve spared no expense.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Come.

Kim
And she leads you into another room of her pied-a-terre.

Cassandra
Do I see anything as we’re, like, walking through the house? Is there anything that would stand out about why she has taken a particular interest in my immortality?

Kim
Not as you’re walking. But as she leads you into this sapphire-blue guest bedroom, there stands Oliver, the young butler.

Cassandra
Ena is on alert at this point. Because she does not understand why we would be taking dessert in a guest room. So she –very subtly, discreetly – starts to remove the glove that has the tattoo of Aegis on that hand.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
You asked as to my interest in you, Miss Thanero.

Miss Thanero (Cassandra)
I did. And I can’t see what that has to do with a guest bedroom. If you are eyeing me to take another lover, I’m afraid I will not be accepting that offer.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Don’t be crass, Miss Thanero. Oliver, you did very good work. I will send your final payment to your family.

Kim
And she reaches into her boot and pulls out a long dagger and cuts this young man’s throat. And then she turns to you, wipes the blood off of the dagger with a blue silk handkerchief, and gestures to the man who is now sputtering and bleeding out on her oriental rug.

Theodora Brathwaite (Kim)
Comfort him. I wish to watch.

[Shadows in the Smoke theme]

Kim
Shadows in the Smoke is a Kitten Marlowe production. This episode was edited and produced by Kim Dalton, and featured a theme song by Jake Pierle. You can find out more about us by visiting KittenMarlowe.com, signing up for our newsletter, or following us on socials. For Discord access, an exclusive behind-the-scenes show, and more, visit Patreon.com/Kittenmarlowe and join our cats, Virgil and Dante, in supporting artist-driven storytelling. Thanks for listening.