Descent into the Depths of the Earth (14 page)

Escalla had dressed with care. She wore her slowglass
necklace to please her mother’s spies and wore a dress of white silk that fit
her like a second skin. She posed, feeling a shift in the air that told her that
her mother’s invisible spy was pleased. With a last moment’s thought, she picked
up the little painting she had made that morning and tucked it underneath her
arm.

The palace lay quiet—deliberately quiet. Mother had cleared
the way, using her own spells to shield Escalla’s tryst from view. Escalla
fluttered quietly onto her old balcony. Her sister’s room next door still showed
a little gleam of light. Escalla sneered, then quietly sensed the way ahead for
any spells.

From the gardens, Tarquil’s bodyguard saw her. The faerie
gave an oily smirk and deliberately turned his back, hiding his view of the room
and balcony. Escalla seethed then dropped lightly down to make her way into her
own loved and hated haunts.

The room had been repainted but remained the same otherwise.
A great arched mirror along one wall reflected the rock garden and a sumptuous
bed. Lying face down, Tarquil seemed to be sleeping rather easily for a man
about to be married, although the reek of alcohol in the room apparently told
why. If anyone expected much activity from Tarquil tonight, they had sadly
miscalculated.

Escalla looked at the figure sprawled unmoving on her old bed
and gave a laugh of contempt. She hung her painting above the balcony door,
looked at it, frowned, set it straight, then turned back to the bed. It was time
to get to business.

Escalla hung her slowglass necklace from a door handle where
it could overlook the bed. Mother must have her evidence!

Moving with a deliberate, slow sensuality, Escalla stripped
away her outer clothes. She started with her gloves, doing a little dance for
the inevitable audience. Next came her slippers, and then the dress. Finally,
she stood in stockings and sheer underwear. She whipped the gauzy curtains
closed over the balcony and walked sensuously over to the bed.

Escalla looked slyly back across her shoulder. The gauze curtains twitched
and parted as something invisible stole softly into the room behind her. BOOM!

Enid’s stun scroll, now framed and reversed with its back
turned into a bad watercolor landscape, blasted magic downward as the spy
crossed under it. A body jerked and thudded to the ground.

“Gotcha!”

Escalla laughed, jammed her gloves into the invisible spy’s
mouth, tied him up with stockings, and shoved him beneath a pile of Tarquil’s
laundry in the far corner of the room.

Tarquil was still asleep, and Escalla had thirty seconds to
spare. What girl could resist?

Escalla took position in the eye of the slowglass necklace
and gave a little wave. Whispering to the necklace, she slapped herself upon the
rear.

“Hey, Tarquil! Here we go. Look and weep into your damned
liquor!” Escalla made a face into the slowglass gem, gave a traditional sign
with her finger, then threw her dandelion flower at her old mirror.

The mirror flashed, shimmered, and a new gate opened into
another world. Escalla took a running dive at the mirror and disappeared, the
gate closing an instant after she plunged through.

This was the route she had used for countless secret trips to
the Flanaess in her teenage years—a route her mother had never been able to pin
down. Escalla emerged half-clothed in a stream. It was pitch dark and cold as
ice. The girl screeched, sending bubbles to the surface, then turned herself
into a very long and wriggly eel.

A pipe still led down into old irrigation drains. The eel
sped along the waterway, stopping only to snatch a copper coin from a pile
hidden in a sunken flowerpot many years ago. The eel whirled, sped past a row of
sunken archways, and reached a deep, dark pool inhabited by a giant pike. The
pike made a lunge, but Escalla the eel sped nimbly away. An archway of fallen
rock stood out in the filtered underwater light. The eel used its copper coin as
a pass. The coin flashed and disappeared, the gateway opened, and the eel sped
through—

To find itself falling freely through a forest sky.

The gate exited from the arches of an ancient aqueduct.
Escalla’s body flashed as she shifted shape. An instant later a rather large and
fluffy owl flapped its way into the cold night air.

To the south lay the seashore with its towns and boats and
taverns—the world Escalla had spied upon as a little girl. To the north there
lay nothing by the empty forest. With a smirk, the owl sped northward, scanning
downward for a landmark it might recognize.

There.

A road with big statue heads. Escalla swooped downward,
lofted over a village scattered with giants’ bones, and saw a distant castle
with a teetering tower.

Light glimmered beneath her as she turned a victory roll
above the castle courtyard. She changed into her normal form and streamed down
to be caught in a pair of waiting arms.

“Ta-daaaaah!”
Cradled in Jus’ grasp, Escalla threw her
arms out in triumph. “She’s back, and she’s here to
staaamwk—!”

Escalla felt herself crushed in a bear hug. Jus held her in silence with his
face pressed into her hair. Escalla felt her ribs creak but clung to him with
glad ferocity. Above her, Cinders’ white teeth gleamed, and his red eyes shone.
Hi!

“Hey, pooch! I’m back.” Escalla managed to make herself some
breathing room in Jus’ grasp. “I’m back.”

Jus and Escalla stood clasped together for a long moment.
Finally Escalla drew a breath and looked into the night.

Polk had warmed a blanket for her at the fire. The teamster
swept it around her, grinning like a maniac, and puffed with pride—clearly
giving himself credit for having arranged the entire escape. Escalla opened her
mouth to say hello and instead found Polk’s bottle jammed between her lips.

“Drink, girl! It’ll warm you! Good for the blood, the
adventuring blood!” Polk pulled the bottle free as Escalla turned green and
gasped for breath. “Amphisbanae double-snake’s head whiskey! That pixie bottle
of yours is a gem!”

The faerie coughed as though trying to wrench her esophagus
out of her throat. With tears in her eyes, she gave a thumbs up to Polk and
Enid. Purring like a cage of satiated lions, Enid paced about in the background
putting out fires and cleaning up the camp.

Jus handed Escalla her cherished leather clothes, her battle
wand, and her books of spells.

“How long have we got?” he asked.

“Maybe an hour—until morning, tops.” The girl dressed swiftly
and efficiently, keeping one eye on the sky. “There’ll be faerie dragons, elf
hounds, and faeries. Mother will probably summon eagles and stuff.”

“What do we do?”

“We head for a bolt hole and sit tight for a week.”

The group walked out of the castle and followed Escalla
toward the old moat. The girl hummed happily, hugging her ice wand tight against
her heart. Behind her Enid politely fluffed her wings.

“We’re terribly glad to have you back. How did the wedding
preparations go?”

“Oh, pretty good. Shame to miss it. They made a cake and
everything!” Escalla turned and eagerly waved her hands. “You should have seen
the dress! Pure white and bigger’n a landshark!”

Walking at Escalla’s side, Jus flicked her a glance bright
with secret delight. “A
white
wedding dress?”

Hovering indignantly, the girl bridled. “Hey! I’m entitled!”

“Oh?”

Everyone turned to stare in amusement at Escalla, who
instantly panicked as she felt her reputation fall to pieces.

“N-n-not to say that I’m not experienced!”

Jus’ teeth gleamed. “Yeah, how about with another person?”

“Keep it up, baldie!” The faerie had turned a shade of
scarlet. “Right now I’m thinking you’d look pretty good as a size eleven frog!”

Flying haughtily on her way, the faerie swept down to the
castle moat, trying to ignore the amused looks from behind her. She tugged her
clothing into place, sniffed importantly, and hovered beside the pond.

“If you people are
quite
finished, shall I show you
how a true masters escape is done?”

Cinders looked at her and sniggered happily.
Funny!

“Cinders, I don’t think a hearth rug with teeth has any call
to be mocking
my
love life!” Escalla shook out her wings “Right. Now can
we please get going?”

Jus looked up at her and stroked his chin. “The faeries can
fly, have magic faerie hounds, and use scrying spells. What’s the best way to
evade them?”

“Dunno.” Escalla gave a happy shrug. “We’re lucky! They’ll
miss us somehow. Don’t worry about it.” The girl snapped her fingers. “Trust me.
I’m a faerie!”

Polk, Enid, Jus, and Cinders all simply looked at her. The
Justicar sucked on a tooth and said, “Trust to luck? That’s your whole escape
plan?”

“Look. I just escaped from the whole Seelie Court! I can’t be
expected to handle everything!” The faerie waved her hands in indignation. “Some
of the details I have to leave to
you!”

The Justicar looked at the forest and gave a tired sigh. “Are
all your escapes like this?”

From a tree overhead, there came a sudden weary sigh. “Most
of them.”

Jus whirled, his hand on his sword.

Escalla’s father sat on a tree bough, looking old, tired, and
glum.

Everyone stared up at the faerie lord. An uncomfortable
silence reigned for long moments. Putting on her best innocent grin, Escalla
gave him a timid little tinkle of a wave.

“Hello, Dad. Ah…” Escalla gave a hopeful little flip of
her antennae. “Why all the excitement in the forest?”

“My dear, I believe they have come to ask you why you
murdered Tarquil.” Lord Charn looked at his daughter and gave a heavy sigh.
“This time you’ve really managed to outdo yourself.”

When you wanted a fire in a hurry, Cinders was always ready
to oblige. Sitting happily in the cellar of the ruined castle, the hell hound
breathed little licks of flame from his nostrils to warm Jus’ battered old camp
kettle. The brew steamed, and Jus loomed above the kettle to pour himself
another serving before seeing to his guests. The Justicar patted Cinders on the
head as he passed, making the hell hound thump his long tail against the floor.

“Thanks, Cinders.”

Welcome!

Above the castle, an illusory light blinked and flared. It
matched the movements of real faeries searching for the fugitive Escalla. For a
while at least, the magic would keep the faerie hunt at bay.

Deeply annoyed by events, Escalla sat high up near the
ceiling on a jutting stone, her knees beneath her chin and a look of total
annoyance on her face. She was in a magnificent sulk, seething and muttering as
she shot clandestine looks at her father.

Answering the implied question, Lord Charn snorted as he
settled by the fire. “It’s
my
realm, girl. I picked it because of all the
damned gates I found here.” Frowning in annoyance, the faerie lord sipped tea
from an old tin mug. “I just thought of what route I’d take if I was trying to
avoid the wife. The pike fish told me the rest.”

Finding a stone big enough for him, the Justicar sat down.
“Pike? What pike?”

“Carnivorous fish. Big one. Wife can’t stand them.” Lord
Charn made a face as he tasted Jus’ abominable tea. “I put no end of things
near gates to stop the wife going through.” The faerie lord gave a snort. “I
have to have somewhere quiet to go.”

“You stay in the woods here?”

“Rather than the palace? When I can. Lets me get a bit of
peace.” Carefully setting his tea aside before it could poison him, Lord Charn
fluttered his wings. “Now there’ll be no damned peace till all this nonsense is
done.”

Perched upon her stone, Escalla shot a petulant look at her
father. “Dad, I did
not
kill that stupid cavalier!”

“Don’t be dense, girl!” Lit by the hell hound’s nostril
flames, Lord Charn’s face took on sharp, wicked shadows. “If I thought you’d
killed him, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you drinking tea!”

Tired and annoyed, Lord Charn made the mistake of sipping the
tea again. Wincing, he put the cup far away and turned to carefully regard the
Justicar. The faerie lord’s eyes sparked as he measured the big warrior across
the fire.

“You went to White Plume Mountain? You were the one who did
in Keraptis’ disciple?”

“Escalla, Cinders, Polk, and myself.”

“Yes.” The faerie lord sipped tea again, which distinctly
tasted of the onion soup that had been made last night in the same pot. “Is my
daughter any good?”

Jus made a gruff noise, shifted his dire shadow in the gloom,
and said, “She’s damned good, one of the best I’ve seen.”

Above them, Escalla beamed.

“Well, she’ll need to be.” Charn gave another sigh, then
kicked irritably at a pebble. “She doesn’t belong with us.” The faerie lord
spoke a spell, opened up his hands, and provided bottles of decent wine. “Here.
It’s not faerie wine and certainly not the sixty-three.” That particular vintage
seemed to have scarred some lives forever. “Sit, drink, and let me tell you a
tale or three.”