The Faerie Queen (The Faerie Ring #4) (5 page)

Chapter Ten

It was still light
in London when Dain shimmered into the foyer of Grosvenor Square. Storm clouds gathered overhead, however, and long shadows stretched through the empty rooms, giving the townhome an unnatural vacant feeling. Dain hurried to William’s study where Tiki had stored the Cup of Plenty when they’d left the previous day. Perched on a bookshelf and glamoured as plain green glass, Dain marveled at how something so powerful could appear to be so insignificant.

“
A lesson, I suppose—” he muttered to himself as he reached for the Cup— “much like Tara. The world is not always what it seems.” He carefully cradled the vase in his hands as he twisted the cup to examine the piece, but the glamour hid the iridescent swirls of colored glass that normally adorned its sides.  “Healing, sustenance, inspiration and wisdom,” he whispered, “you are a powerful little piece of glass. How do we get what we need from you?”

A
pounding sounded from outside the room and Dain jerked around in surprise. He placed the goblet back on the shelf and hurried to the door and peered down the hallway. Shamus and the others had left for William’s estate in Richmond yesterday. Had someone remained behind? The pounding sounded again and this time it was obvious that the noise came from the front door.

C
uriosity got the better of him and he slipped down the hallway and into the foyer. Standing to the side so he wouldn’t be seen, he moved the curtain shielding the sidelight ever so slightly to view the street. An ornate carriage stood before Number Six.  There was no mistaking the gold and red colors, nor the liveried footman who stood at all four corners of the coach. Someone from the palace was calling on William.

Dain stepped back and stared at the door as if he might be able to see t
hrough the wood to determine who stood on the other side.

The pounding was replaced
with the sharp rap of the brass doorknocker.

“
Wills!” A familiar voice called in a muffled tone. “Are you home?”

Pure instinct fueled Dain’
s reaction and he yanked the door open.

Leo stood frozen with his fist in the air, poised to pound on the door one more time.
“Oh. You startled me. I thought everyone must have gone.” He dropped his hand and tugged on the bottom of his jacket.

“
Prince Leopold.” Dain gave a sharp bow. “How nice to see you again. I’m William’s cousin, Dain. We met on a very wet and stormy night not too long ago.”

“
Yes, hello Dain. I remember—nice to see you again. Is Wills about?” Leo tilted his head to look around Dain’s broad shoulders.

Dain stepped back
and swept his arm out with a flourish. “Would you like to come in, Majesty?”

“
My mother is the Majesty—not me. Friends call me Leo. It would please me if you would do the same.” The young prince stepped over the threshold and looked up and down the hallway with obvious familiarity. “Where’s Wills? I need to speak to him immediately.”

“
I’m afraid William isn’t here at the moment.” Dain edged around the thin prince to shut the door, the skin on his arms prickling. “Has something happened?”

“
No. Yes.” Leo shook his head. “I must speak to Wills. I have information he needs.” The prince focused his gaze directly on Dain. “Where is he?”

Dain
hesitated. How much of the truth should he reveal?  William had turned to Leo when they needed to hide from Donegal in those last hours of Samhain, so clearly his brother trusted the young royal, but to what degree? How much did Leo really know about the Otherworld? About the threat that Donegal posed? Dain drew a deep breath. If William trusted Leo, so would he. “I’m afraid he’s on his way to Scotland,” he said quietly.

Leo looked stricken.
“Scotland?” he said in horrified whisper. “Why would he go
there
? Is Tara with him?”

There was something about the prince’s manner that struck
a warning note with Dain.  “I can take a message to him, if you’d like. I’ll be joining him soon.” It wasn’t the absolute truth, but the statement held a sliver of fact. Eventually, he would see William again—he just wasn’t certain
if it would be this month or next. Assuming he survived Donegal’s attack.

Leo went silent,
indecision evident in the frown on his face. Dain took a chance.

“
Does this matter have something to do with—the
Otherworld
?”

Leo’s gaze shot to
Dain’s face. “You know of that?”

Dain nod
ded. “William has confided in me. What have you learned?”

Leo hesitated.

Dain leaned closer. “It’s a very dangerous time between the worlds right now, Prince Leo. If you’ve learned something you think might help William, best to share it with him straightaway.”

“
How long will he be gone?” Leo asked.

“
It could be months.” Dain motioned to the empty townhome. “The entire staff has departed—for their own safety. I’ve just stopped by long enough to gather something William needed and then I’ll be joining him.” He stared hard at the prince, willing him to do his bidding. “What information can I pass on to him?”

Leo took a quick glance around the dim foyer
. “You swear on your mother’s head you will tell no one but William or Tara?”

“
I do.”

The prince took a deep breath.
“There is a very special ring—it holds a truce between our world and
—that
world.” Leo’s expression grew intent. “William guards this ring with his very life.”

“
The Ring of
Ériu
.” Dain nodded. “I’ve heard of it.”

A look of relief shot across Leo’s face.
“You have? Excellent. I’ve learned there is other—” he hesitated— “
information
—in the ring. Important secrets that William and Tara need to know.”

A vague sense of disappointment washed over Dain. The prince didn’t have any knowledge of value after all.
“Is that the message you’d like me to relay? There are other secrets in the ring?”

“
No. I suspect Wills and Tara already know that much.  What they don’t know—” he glanced up and down the hallway before he lowered his voice to a whisper— “is they need a mirror to decipher the secrets.
That’s
what I need to tell Wills.”

Dain’s brows pulled down in a frown.
“A
mirror,
you say? Are you quite sure?”

Leo nodded.
“But not just any mirror—a special mirror—one that hangs in Buckingham Palace. My mother refers to it as the Faerie Queen’s mirror.”

LESS THAN TWENTY minutes later Dain and Leo arrived at Buckingham Palace. The carriage driver stopped in the inner Quadrangle and the two young men rushed from the vehicle into the palace.

“
Mother said it hangs in the White Drawing Room,” Leo said over his shoulder as they hurried along the corridor. Elaborate gilded designs covered the soaring walls, interspersed by large, oversized pictures of royal ancestors. Their footsteps echoed on the stone floors as Dain followed the prince, scarcely able to believe the turn the evening had taken.  A mirror needed to decipher the secrets in the Ring of
Ériu
? If what Leo said was true, that in itself, was a well-kept secret—no doubt another layer of protection by Eridanus and Finn to guard the ancient power of the Seelie Court.

“
The mirror is very distinctive.”

“
How’s that?” Dain looked over at Leo.

“
She said the top of the frame bears the carved head of a faerie queen.”

“
Really? I’m looking forward to seeing this.”

Leo stopped before a pair of immense
maroon and gold carved doors inlaid with huge rectangular mirrors. With a tug, he pulled one open revealing a room that seemed to have been spun from gold sugar.  The White Drawing Room was one of the most opulent rooms Dain had ever stepped inside. Lavish gilding dripped from square columns and carved ribbons of gold stretched around the room. Light from floor to ceiling windows, as well as from the glittering cut-crystal chandeliers, was reflected in the elaborate gold-framed mirrors that lined the walls, making the room appeared to be drenched in sunlight.

Dain tipped his head back to gaze in awe at the
intricate design of the breathtaking domed ceiling. Gilded circles with triangles embedded in their centers, supported a shelf where rows of winged cherubs were carved. Faeries, perhaps? His lips twitched in amusement. Diamond-shaped embellishments decorated the arches leading to the center square of the ceiling far above their heads. Not an inch of the immense space was left unadorned. In a way, the room reminded him of the Palace of Mirrors when the Seelies were in control.

Dain
dropped his gaze to look about the room in amazement. “There are mirrors everywhere—do you know which one we’re looking for?” He pointed toward a grand mirror that sat atop a fireplace, its frame decorated with a lavish amount of scrolled gold carvings.  “Could it be that mirror?”

“
No. That one is much too big,” Leo said. “And do you see a faerie queen on that frame? The mirror we’re looking for is hidden.”

Dain shifted his gaze to the prince.
“Do you know where?”

In response, Leo
hurried to the end of the spacious room and stopped before an ebony-veneered cabinet with a tall mirror stretching high above it.  He reached behind the gilded edge and to Dain’s amazement the entire cabinet and mirror swung away from the wall as one.

Leo glanced over his shoulder with a wicked grin.
“In our secret passageway.”

Dain’s jaw dropped in surprise.
“Where does that lead?”

“
To our private rooms. We use this drawing room for state receptions and the like. This hidden corridor is a way to come and go discreetly.” Leo’s voice became muffled as he disappeared into the passageway behind the cabinet.

Dain
followed the young prince through the opening into a small hallway. At a curve in the passageway Leo stood before a small round mirror that hung upon the wall. Dain hurried to his side.

The mirror wasn’t large. At its widest point it couldn’t have been more than twelve inches.
What had once been a gold frame was now aged to a mottled green-blue patina. But most interesting—at the top of the intricately carved frame was a woman’s face, with wings on each side.

Leo
motioned toward the carved figure. “Now this is a Faerie Queen.”

“
Indeed.” Dain said in a low hush. His eyes caressed the mirror, for he knew innately that this mirror was connected to his world. The design, the detailing, the age—this was another piece to an ancient puzzle. His gaze halted on the figure located at the bottom of the mirror. The image was that of a man with ram’s horns protruding from each side of his head. An arrogant expression twisted his features and he wore a headdress with a golden jester’s mask at its crown.

At the same moment, Leo pointed to the figure at the bottom.
“Who do you suppose that is?”

Dain answered with
uneasy confidence. “The UnSeelie King. The dark to her light.”  He motioned to the mirror. “May I?”

Leo moved aside and Dain shifted position
so he stood directly in front of the frame, but instead of reflecting his image, the surface of the mirror shifted and undulated until it looked like a fire burned within the glass.

“
What could be the purpose of a mirror like this?” Dain mused as he examined the piece.  “One that does not provide reflection, but instead shows us something not in this room.”

“
I don’t know—” Leo reached for the frame and lifted it from the hook from which it was suspended— “but there’s only one way to find out.” He proffered the mirror to Dain. “You must take this to William and Tara—they’ll know what to do.”