The Rival (37 page)

" … Pa … ," Sebastian said softly.  He pointed again.  Nicholas squinted.

A tiny Fey sat above the wings of every bird.

Nicholas backed away from the window, nearly tripping on the other chair in the room.  Sebastian caught it before it fell, a fast move for the boy. 

"What is it?" Nicholas whispered.  "What are they doing?"

" … I … don't … know … ," Sebastian said.

"How did you know they were there?"

" … Magick … ," Sebastian said.

Nicholas nodded.  That didn't surprise him.  Sebastian had sensed magick before, most notably the day Arianna's grandfather arrived to steal her.  Sebastian had been three then, and more terrified than any living being had a right to be, at least according to Solanda.

But Sebastian didn't always sense magick.  Something was different.

"Is this dangerous?" Nicholas asked.

Sebastian brought his head up once, then down again.  The boy seemed distracted, as if part of him were concentrating on the birds and not on Nicholas.

The door to Sebastian's room opened, and Arianna came in.  Her hair was down, her feet were bare, and she wore her thin night robe.  Half a dozen guards trailed her.

"Daddy?" she asked, worry in her voice.  She let out a sigh when she saw him.

"I know, Ari," he said.

"They've all got tiny Fey on them."

He knew that too.  He also knew what it meant.

It meant the Black King wasn't going to negotiate. 

"You," Nicholas said to one of the guards, "I want you to get all the servants to close the tapestries and bolt the doors.  I want guards posted on each window.  If there aren't enough guards, post male servants.  I want the most experienced guards on my children, and make certain they are armed."

"Holy water, Sire?" the guard asked, his gaze darting to Arianna before he looked directly at the King.

Nicholas hesitated, and as he did, he remembered seeing Fey die, even when the holy water didn't hit them directly.  "No," he said. "Swords will have to do."

"Aye, Sire," the guard said.  He bowed, turned and left.

"We'll be all right, Daddy," Arianna said.  "I can protect Sebastian."

"You have no idea what you're up against," Nicholas said.  He wasn't even certain he did.  He raised the tapestry, and peered out the window again.  The birds blacked the area around the palace for a long distance.  He didn't even try to count them; he suspected there were more birds around the palace than had been in the entire first invasion force.

Then he raised his chin, looked beyond the beautiful sunrise, and stared into his city.  He couldn't see movement from this distance, but smoke was coming from an area west of the river.  A lot of smoke.

He had to think.  The Black King had come for his great-grandchildren.  Nicholas had to hide them until he knew the Black King's intentions.

Jewel had known of the war room and some of the tunnels.  She had seen them long before she and Nicholas were married.  She might have reported their existence to the other Fey who now might be part of the Black King's force.

The only place he could think of were the dungeons.  Jewel had never seen them, and Nicholas had never used them.  His father had only once, when the Fey invaded the first time, and that hadn't really worked either.  The Fey hadn't made it that deep.  The prisoner had killed the guard before they reached the dungeons.

He took Sebastian by the hand.  "You're both going to have to come with me," Nicholas said.

Arianna planted her feet.  "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you somewhere safe."

"You're hiding us."

Nicholas suppressed a sigh.  He didn't have time to fight with her now.  "That's exactly what I'm doing."

"I won't hide," she said.  "You need me."

He had said those same words to his father during the first invasion.  He suspected now that it had something to do with being young and thinking oneself immortal.

"I need you alive, Arianna," he said, "and I need you to guard Sebastian."

"You can't hide us just because  — "

"I can and I will," Nicholas said.  "The Shaman told me to keep you safe."

"But I can hide in plain sight," Arianna said.

He grabbed his daughter and pulled her away from the guards.  Then he lowered his voice.  "First of all, I need you to protect your brother.  But secondly, you've never faced Fey.  Real Fey.  They're used to your magick.  The people here are not.  You might think you can hide in plain sight, but not from them."

"I could hide from Solanda.  She was a real Fey.  She was the same as me."

"It's not the same," Nicholas said.

"It is," Arianna said.

Nicholas's stomach turned.  She was his daughter, Jewel's daughter.  She wasn't going to hide.  He wouldn't have hidden at her age.  He had yelled at his father for trying to make him hide.  Arianna had an even greater imperative.

She had the blood of two warriors running through her.

"You can be smart and fight," she said.

He crossed his arms.  "Is that what you did when you nearly killed your real brother?"

"That isn't the same," she said.  "He was trying to get Sebastian."

"What do you think these Fey want?" Nicholas asked.  He put his hands on the window. The birds below looked up at him.  Their Fey counterparts did as well.  He grabbed the tapestry and pulled it over the window.  "If they had wanted to slaughter us, they would have done so already.  Look how many there are, Arianna.  More than we have.  And those are just Beast Riders.  There have to be Infantry and Foot Soldiers and all other kinds of Fey on this Isle.  There are fires in the west.  What do you think caused that?"

She swallowed.  "You're saying they're guarding us?"

"I'm saying they're being cautious.  They know that there is Black Blood in this palace, and they're going to wait until they know who it belongs to before slaughtering everyone else."

"Sebastian isn't flesh and blood," she said.

"They don't know that."

"They might."  She glanced at her brother.  His head was tilted, his eyes empty.  It was almost as if he were listening to faraway music.

"It doesn't matter.  You have Black Blood."

She touched her brother's cheek.  He started, looked at her, and frowned.  "Then hiding us will make no difference," she said. 

Nicholas watched her.  It didn't matter to her that Sebastian wasn't her blood kin.  It didn't change her behavior at all.  She loved him with a fierceness that Nicholas had never seen in anyone.

"If they know we're here  —  and they do  —  then they'll hunt for us until they find us.   They'll look everywhere.  Putting us in the dungeon, or down in the tunnels will just prolong the search."

She sounded like he had when he was young.  And she was right.  The Fey were ruthless.  Once they started to fight, they wouldn't stop.  Once they searched the palace, they would search until they found Arianna and Sebastian.

He took a deep breath.  He didn't want to risk his daughter or his son, his Sebastian.  His children were everything to him. 

The problem was they had been at risk from the moment they were born.

"So what do you suggest?" he asked.

"I don't know yet," Arianna said.

He didn't know either.  Beast Riders outside, the city on fire, and he couldn't use holy water for fear of hurting his own children.

He was surrounded and outnumbered.

But he had assets.  He just had to find them.

"You won't put yourself in jeopardy," he said.

Arianna laughed.  "I can't promise that, Daddy."

"You're the future of Blue Isle, Ari.  You."

She shook her head, her eyes sad.  "You have two children, Daddy.  If something happens to me, you'll have to trust Sebastian."

" … Three … ," Sebastian said.

They both turned to him.  Nicholas hadn't expected his son to speak. 

"You … have … three … child-ren," Sebastian said.  " … Ari, … me, …  and … Gift."

"Gift was raised by Fey.  He'll help the Black King," Arianna said.

Nicholas grabbed her arm.  He wasn't so certain that his son-by-blood would help the Fey.  The boy had come here, to save Sebastian, or so he claimed.

The boy was Jewel's son.  Jewel's and his.  That had to count for something.

" … No … ," Sebastian said.  "Re-mem-ber … the … Link … "

"The Link?" Arianna asked.  "You're Linked with him now?"

"Al-ways," Sebastian said.

Nicholas frowned.  Sebastian knew what Gift was doing?  "Has he joined up with his great-grandfather?"

Sebastian disappeared from his eyes.  So that was what it looked like when he checked his Link.  When his life force returned, his eyes filled with tears.  "Gift … is … a-lone.   … No … Black … King …    … But … some-thing … is … wrong.   … Gift … hurts."  Sebastian sank to his knees.  " … He … hurts."

THIRTY-NINE

He did not consider himself a courageous man.  In fact, as he walked down the steps from the Rocaan's suite, Reece thought himself one of the greatest cowards he had ever known.  His hands were shaking and his mouth was dry.  He wasn't certain he could get two words out at one time.

But the Rocaan, as a boy of fourteen, had faced the Fey alone.  He hadn't even had holy water with him when he went into the Fey's magick circle. 

Reece could match a boy of fourteen.

He hoped.

An Aud had offered him a vial of holy water, but Reece had refused.  He would go out to speak with the tiny Fey unarmed.  He would show them that the Tabernacle wasn't afraid of them.  He would show them that the Tabernacle would speak to them in good faith.

That was why he had chosen to go, why he had spoken up before the Rocaan appointed someone else.  Reece was frightened, yes, but he knew that his duty to the Tabernacle was greater than his duty to himself.  He also knew that many of the other Elders had yet to make that realization.

The Tabernacle seemed oddly dark with all the tapestries drawn over the windows.   Someone had lit the candles and the torches on the main level.  It looked like a storm had hit mid-day, and the Tabernacle itself was preparing for an eternal darkness.

He clenched his fists to stop his hands from shaking, but he knew it would do no good.  They would smell the fear on him, all those animals.  He could only hope their Fey masters were able to keep the animals reigned in.

"Respected Sir?" one of the Danites bobbed beside him. Reece, who normally remembered everyone's name, couldn't recall this Danite's, even though he knew the man.  Reece's mind was so focused on those Fey, there wasn't room for anything else.

"Not now," Reece said softly.

"You need holy water, Respected Sir," the Danite said.

Reece shook his head.  He would get that offer all the way to the door if he didn't stop it now.  "I choose to go out empty-handed."

"Respected Sir  — "

Reece patted the Danite on the shoulder and continued forward.  Several Danites stood near the main doors.  They watched him, their eyes wide.  He nodded to them, wishing they weren't taking this with such solemnity.

It made him even more nervous.

Then he gripped the golden handles and pulled both doors open.

Sunlight flooded the room, nearly blinding him.  The Danites stood back.  Reece stepped into the brightness, closing the doors behind him.

The only Islander among hundreds of Fey. 

The stench hit him first.  Overpowering, wild, the musky scent of fur mixed with that of particular animals: the sharp smell of male cats; the furry body odor of dogs; the pungent odor of wolves.  His stomach turned, and bile rose in his throat.  He had never smelled so many wild things so very close.

He swallowed, willing his stomach to remain calm.  They were only a few yards from him.  Most of the tiles on the courtyard were uncovered, the scenes from the Roca's life glistening in the sunlight.  The animals surrounded the Tabernacle like a wall of fur.  Their eyes were hollow, intense, focused on him.  One wolf directly across from him opened its muzzle, revealing sharp, yellowed teeth.

A small cat drooled.

He made himself take a step closer to them.  Even this close, he couldn't see the Fey on the animals' backs.  It looked as if he were alone in a forest, with wild creatures and nowhere to go.

"I would like to speak to the head of your troop," he said in Nye.  His Fey was poor  —  he knew only a few words.

"You're not the head of yours."  The voice that responded was female.  She spoke Islander.

"No, I am not the Rocaan," Reece said. "I am an Elder, one of the next in line."

"We only speak to the leader."

It wouldn't work.  Reece wouldn't see the Rocaan down here, not for anything.  "Forgive me, ma'am," he said in Islander, "but you are not the leader of all Fey either.  I am the best you can do."

A dog growled to his left.  Reece refused to look at it.

"Good point," the woman said.  "So speak."

"I cannot see you, ma'am." He had to speak slowly to keep from stuttering.  He concentrated even harder, controlling his voice as well as his body.  "Please let me see whom I am addressing."

One of the dogs came forward.  It was larger than any dog he had ever seen.  It had short brown fur, and muscles that ran along its forelegs.  Its head came up to Reece's shoulders.  The Fey woman sat on the flat place where the dog's neck met its back.  She was tiny, about the size of Reece's hand.  Her hands clutched the dog's fur, and her legs  —

She didn't have any legs.  She seemed to be a part of the dog, her torso sliding into its body.

"You are addressing me," she said.  "I am Onha.  I head this troop."

"Onha."  Reece bowed slightly.  The Fey's practice of allowing women to lead, even though he had been familiar with it for nearly two decades, still startled him.  "I am Reece, an Elder in the Tabernacle."

"Well," she said, her voice amazingly strong for her size.  "Now that we have completed the pleasantries, how about some lunch?"

The laughter behind him told him that she had made a joke, presumably at his expense.  He didn't like the implication.