The Solstice Cup (8 page)

“Of course there's a way out,” said Mackenzie. “We're on our way out right now.”

“Listen to me—I couldn't get this far earlier,” Breanne insisted. “Where we turned the corner just now, behind Nuala? It was a solid wall.”

“What? What's wrong?” Breanne asked as she caught the expression on Mackenzie's face.

Mackenzie couldn't answer. She was transfixed by a pair of glowing eyes just even with Breanne's shoulder. She shrank back as a leathery creature with dark cavities where its nose should have been emerged from the shadows. The creature crept closer, hissing and licking its lips with a pointed tongue. It came so close she could smell its breath, like a dead animal after a day in the sun.

Breanne joined Mackenzie against the wall. “Oh God,” Mackenzie said, grabbing her sister's arm and shutting her eyes.

She was praying for a quick and painless death when she heard an explosion of sharp clicks and hisses nearby.

“That's right, they're under protection,” said a familiar voice. “Off with you.”

Mackenzie opened her eyes in time to see the hunchbacked piper shooing the ugly creature away. The creature wasn't happy. It gnashed its teeth angrily as it edged slowly backward.

“Go on, quickly,” said the piper. “Unless you want me to tell our friend Nuala that I found you salivating over her guests.”

“Thank you,” Mackenzie whispered. She was still clinging to her sister's sleeve. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

The piper acknowledged them with a curt nod, his arms crossed. “Lucky for you I was in the neighborhood, wasn't it? That Pooka would have made a meal of you in no time, and he's not the worst thing about. What possessed you to wander off by yourselves?”

Breanne didn't say anything. Mackenzie could feel her sister's anger radiating from her in waves.

The piper's eyes narrowed. “You've given your mistress the slip, haven't you?”

“What's it to you?” said Breanne.

“Breanne!” said Mackenzie. “Maybe he can help us.”

The piper snorted. “Nay—I couldn't, even if I wanted to. Finian the piper has been seen with you now, hasn't he? Of all the faeries in the world below, you've managed to fall in with one of the most dangerous. Nuala is not the forgiving type. If you disappeared now, she'd have me roasted and fed to the wee creature I just chased away.”

“What are you doing?” Breanne demanded as Finian took hold of each sister by the arm.

“The only thing I can do in the circumstances. I'm escorting you to the banquet.”

“No way,” Breanne said as she tried to wriggle free.

The piper tightened his grip. He was a strong man, in spite of his deformity. “Shhh. Haven't you already drawn enough attention to yourselves?”

Mackenzie felt a small package being thrust into her hand.

“Bogberries,” Finian explained tersely. “Eat a handful before I start playing tonight. They're as sour as anything this side of the grave, but they'll help keep your mind from traveling too far.”

“You knocked over that stool deliberately last night, didn't you?” Mackenzie whispered.

The piper didn't answer. “Come along,” he said, urging them forward. “Quickly, before your mistress works herself into a temper.”

C
HAPTER
S
EVEN

N
uala's eyes were the color of angry seas when they caught up with her by the giant doorway. She acknowledged the piper with the briefest of nods, then turned her back on him.

“Where did you disappear to?” she demanded peevishly, her hands on her hips. “I told the two of you to stay close!”

She didn't wait for a response but took the sisters by their wrists and hurried them across the courtyard. She had their seats rearranged so that they were on either side of her.

Mackenzie accepted small amounts of everything that was offered to her over the course of the evening, conscious of the faery's watchful eyes. She picked at the food without pleasure. Most of it remained on her plate.

“No appetite tonight?” Nuala asked as the dishes from the final course were cleared away. “You barely ate anything, either of you.”

“What do you care what we eat?” Breanne asked sullenly. “Unless you're trying to fatten us up.”

Mackenzie stopped breathing, her eyes fixed on the tablecloth in front of her.

“You're in a strange mood,” the faery said coolly. “Did something happen to you when you wandered off?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Mackenzie saw her sister shrug.

“Hmm,” said Nuala. “Perhaps a little music will improve your disposition.”

Mackenzie's heart was already beating fast, but it sped up even more at the sight of the piper moving toward the center of the courtyard. The package of bogberries he'd given her was still concealed under a fold of fabric in her lap. With the faery sitting between her and Breanne all through dinner, she'd been unable to get any of the berries to her sister. She fingered the package anxiously as Finian sat down on his stool and prepared to play.

She acted on impulse, pouring a few berries into her palm and leaning forward as if to grab hold of her cup. She knocked it over instead. Nuala hissed as the crimson liquid streamed toward her.

“Oh, I'm so sorry!” Mackenzie cried as the faery pushed away from the table. “I'm so clumsy!” Mackenzie leaned across with a napkin in her hand as if she was going to wipe up the spilled drink. Instead she pretended to stumble, and her hand landed in her sister's lap. She released the berries she'd been clutching into her sister's palm. “Eat them, please!” she whispered.

“Why should I?” Breanne whispered back.

“We have to trust someone,” Mackenzie said under her breath.

Two servants had stepped forward to clear the mess. “I'm so sorry,” Mackenzie repeated as Nuala dabbed at a stain on her dress. While everyone was still distracted, Mackenzie slipped a few bogberries into her own mouth.

She felt her entire face pucker as the berry skins dissolved on her tongue. With an effort, Mackenzie managed to swallow the fruit, but the sourness in her mouth was still overpowering. Immediately the sounds around her were muffled, as if the effect of the berries had overflowed into her eardrums as well. She was only vaguely aware that the piper had begun to play. It was like being under water and far away from everyone else. The pipe music was haunting, but it didn't take hold of her the way it had the night before. She could still think. She was still conscious of where she was.

Mackenzie glanced at her sister out of the corner of her eye. It was impossible to tell if Breanne had eaten her berries too.

The music went on and on. Mackenzie lost track of time. Eventually the tiny lights that hovered over the courtyard faded and went out. In the torchlight that remained, Mackenzie watched a procession of faeries in scarlet cloaks approach from the other side of the courtyard. The first faery carried the two-handled cup that she remembered from the night before. He led the procession to a flat stone a few yards away from the piper and set the cup down. Then he joined the others in a circle around the stone.

Finian was still playing. Mackenzie could just hear his music spiraling up into the night. There was a flicker above her head, and a sheet of pale green fire ignited across the sky. The cold flames grew brighter as the piper held one long note. Without warning, the sky exploded in a flash of blinding light.

Several seconds passed before Mackenzie was willing to open her eyes again. The music had stopped. The sky was dark, and everything around her was in shadow. A faint light came from the surface of the solstice cup, which was now in the hands of a tall faery at a nearby table. Mackenzie watched helplessly as the faery presented the cup to a young girl dressed in white. Without hesitating, the girl raised the cup to her lips. Mackenzie held her breath as the girl drank. A tremor passed through the girl's body, and then she was still again.

The solstice cup was offered to two more girls and a boy before it reached Mackenzie's table. She glanced anxiously at Breanne while Nuala's attention was diverted. “Pretend,” her sister mouthed. Mackenzie nodded, feeling a wave of relief that her sister was still alert.

Nuala presented the cup to Breanne first this time. Breanne lifted the cup to her mouth, but it was impossible to tell if any of the pale liquid passed through her lips. The silver-eyed faery took the cup back and turned to Mackenzie. Mackenzie accepted the cup with shaking hands, conscious that she was being watched. Somehow she managed to get it up to her lips without spilling anything. She tilted the cup and then brought it down quickly before any liquid could reach her mouth.

When she had the cup back again, Nuala raised a jeweled finger. Instantly two attendants stepped forward to escort the sisters back to their chamber.

“Tell me you didn't drink any of that stuff,” Mackenzie demanded the second she and Breanne were alone in their room.

Breanne unfastened her white gown. “It wasn't that bad. Kind of bland, like sugar water.”

“Breanne!” Mackenzie raised her hands to her mouth. “How could you?”

“Oh, stop freaking. Of course I didn't. I'm not an idiot.”

Mackenzie grabbed a cushion from the nearest chair and threw it at her sister. “You're going to give me a heart attack one day, you know that?”

Breanne was not in the canopy bed when Mackenzie woke up the next morning. She wasn't anywhere in the room. Mackenzie threw aside the covers and hurried to the doorway. She drew back instantly at the sound of tiny bells coming down the corridor. When Nuala and one of her attendants entered the room, Mackenzie was sitting nervously on the unmade bed.

“You're up,” said the faery. She sounded surprised. “Where's your sister this time?” she asked, glancing quickly around the room.

Mackenzie bit her lip. “I-I'm not sure.”

Nuala's eyes darkened instantly. She said something sharp in her own language to the attendant beside her, and the girl curtsied and backed out of the room.

The faery took a deep breath and shifted her attention to Mackenzie again. “Your sister is a hard one to keep track of, isn't she?” she asked as her eyes returned to their usual color. “It's too bad she's not here. I wanted to show you both something this morning. But I can still show you, can't I?”

Mackenzie tensed as the faery came across the room and sat down beside her, taking her hand. “I-I think I should wait for Breanne. In case something's happened to her…”

Nuala sighed impatiently. “You really have to stop worrying about your sister. She doesn't worry about you, does she? She ran off without you. She didn't even tell you where she was going this time.”

Mackenzie didn't meet the faery's eyes.

“Oh, come on,” said Nuala. “Don't let her spoil everything for you. Get dressed—we'll only be gone for a few hours.”

Mackenzie's hand began to burn under the faery's fingers. “I guess I could go—if we're only going to be gone for a little while.”