Fey 02 - Changeling (112 page)

"Near the Coronation Hall?"

"Aye, Sire," she said.

"And now where is he?"

"I dunno," she said.
 
"Soon as he left, I come to you."

They weren't communicating.
 
He found that so frustrating.
 
"Where did he go?
 
The courtyard?"

"Up the stairs," she said.
 
The urgency that had brought her was in her voice again.

"The stairs?"
 
His heart was pounding very fast.
 
"The stairs near the Coronation Hall?"

"Aye, Sire.
 
I thought mayhap he come for you.
 
Thought twas the Rocaan with a knife, but twas a Fey.
 
And I canna for the life a me unnerstand that."

But he could.
 
He could see it as plain as anything.
 
The Shaman holding his squirming daughter in the air.

I want the child,
Rugar had said.

Then what had the Shaman said?
 
Something about stealing Arianna?
 

He had sent a Fey for Arianna.

Nicholas made a small cry.
 

His daughter.
 
They were going to take his daughter from him too.
 
They would take her mind, like they had taken Sebastian's.

He yanked open the door.
 
"Get a contingent of guards and bring them to the nursery," he said as he passed the guards.

"Weapons, Sire?" the guard asked.

A shiver ran through Nicholas.
 
Suddenly he saw Jewel's face, melted and twisted beyond recognition.
 
"Swords.
 
But no holy water.
 
If I see any holy water, I'll kill the carrier myself."

Charissa followed him to the door.
 
She was asking something, but he no longer heard it.

A Fey was after his daughter.

He headed for the stairs in a sprint.

No one, absolutely no one, would take Arianna from him.
 
The Shaman said she had to stay in the palace, and she would stay.

Nicholas would do whatever he had to in order to guarantee that.

SIXTY-SEVEN

After the nurse left, Solanda paced the room.
 
The lump continued his odd crying.
 
He hadn't even made that noise when Jewel died.
 
Then he had been sobbing — a dry, almost silent sound — but this was the cross between a wail and a scream.

Arianna was sobbing.
 
Solanda had placed her back in the crib and every time Solanda passed, Arianna raised her tiny hands, begging for comfort.

Solanda had none.

At least, not yet.

She wasn't quite certain what to do.
 
The guards would bring weapons, but if the foe was magical, that might not be enough.
 
She could get into her cat form and hide, but that might not allow her to protect Arianna.

She did take off her robe.
 
Sometimes during a quick Shift, clothing buried her.
 
She couldn't afford to lose her vision for one moment.
 
She was at least that prepared.

There were no weapons here except the fireplace equipment.
 
The tongs, the poker, and the wood itself.
 
Those were stored high enough so that they wouldn't be a danger to the lump.
 
Everything else was soft and comfortable because this was a nursery.

Sebastian let out a loud scraping cry.

Arianna shrieked.

Solanda turned as the door opened.

An Aud stood in the doorway, his hands in his pocket, his cowl draped over his face.

Solanda grabbed a blanket and threw it over Arianna.
 
It wouldn't be much protection against holy water, but it might be enough.
 

The Aud brought his hand out, threw back his cowl and grinned.

Rugar.

Solanda's entire body became very cold.

Sebastian stopped screaming.
 
He rolled himself up as tightly as he could, his head buried in his knees.
 
He looked like the rock he had been formed out of.
 
He blended into the wall.
 
If Solanda hadn't known he was there, she would never have seen him.

Rugar came into the nursery and closed the door.
 
"I need the child."

Solanda swallowed.
 
Arianna was silent too.
 
Solanda wanted to lift the blanket, to see if Arianna had Shifted, but she didn't dare.
 

"The Shaman said the baby is supposed to stay here."

"The Shaman is wrong."

Solanda shook her head.
 
"She's happy here.
 
Let her be."

"We need her, Solanda.
 
The Fey can't survive without her.
 
She's the only viable heir to the Black Throne."

"What about Gift?"

Rugar made a dismissive gesture with his hand.
 
"Gift is a traitor."

"Gift is a child.
 
Children can't be traitors."

"Children that brilliant can," Rugar said.
 
The pale robe made his skin look dark, almost black, and his eyes glint evilly.
 

"How do you know then that Arianna won't turn out the same way?" Solanda stayed beside the crib.
 

"Because I'll raise her," Rugar said.

"Where?" If she stalled long enough, the guards would arrive.
 
Rugar had no magical defensive powers.
 
A knife, a sword, a blow to the head would stop him as quickly and easily as the poison would.

"In Shadowlands."

Solanda shook her head.
 
"The Shaman said she must not go to Shadowlands."

"The Shaman."
 
Rugar's voice had a sneer in it.
 
"When did you start listening to the Shaman?"

Solanda licked her lips.
 
"When it became clear that she was the only one remaining with Vision."

"You're fickle, Solanda."
 
He inched closer.

"It's my nature," she said.
 
She had a tight grip on the edge of the crib.
 

He glanced at her hand.
 
"Right now you look like a lioness guarding her young."

"Apt," Solanda said.
 
"Arianna is my sister under the skin.
 
I care for her."

"You can care for her in Shadowlands."

Solanda shook her head.
 
"She stays."

Rugar walked toward the crib.
 
"You can't disobey me," he said.
 
"You owe me."

"I have paid my debt to you," Solanda said.

Rugar smiled.
 
It wasn't a friendly smile.
 
"You haven't paid until I say you have."

Solanda was shaking.
 
She had given him her word so long ago that it felt normal to listen to him.
 
But Arianna had no one.
 
Nicholas couldn't help her.
 
The Shaman didn't want her in Shadowlands.
 
Rugar only wanted to use her.
 
Solanda knew that.

She took a deep breath.
 
"The Shaman says I never owed you.
 
The Shaman says you set the entire attack up.
 
She says you had those people, those dogs try to kill me so that you could save me."

He blinked, then frowned.
 
"That's silly," he said, but his tone was off.
 
He had planned it.
 
He had used her all these years.

Made her feel a debt to him that she had never ever owed.

All these years of running, of spying, of using her talents for petty theft instead of being a Shifter, one of the greatest of the Fey.

"You're not taking Arianna," she said.

"Yes," he said.
 
"I am." He moved twice as fast as she expected, shoving her out of the way with such force she lost her grip on the crib.
 
She tumbled toward the fireplace, grabbing at anything to stop her fall.

The lump looked up, his empty eyes filled with terror.

He picked up the baby along with the blanket.
 
For a moment, Arianna looked like herself.
 
Then she Shifted, a full-strength Shift that happened rapidly.
 
One moment she was a Fey baby, the next a tiny white kitten.

Rugar dropped the kitten.
 
It mewled all the way down and landed with a thud.
 
A kitten only a week old was blind.
 
She had given herself movement, but not the vision.

He crouched and grabbed for the kitten, but Solanda flew at him and knocked him out of the way.
 
He grabbed her upper arms, pinching the flesh, and pulled her down with him as he fell.
 
He landed on his back, grunting as the wind was knocked out of him.

Solanda wrenched her arms free.
 
The pain was excruciating.
 
She looked for the kitten, but instead saw the lump crawling across the floor.
 
He scooped the kitten in his right hand and, cradling it gently, returned to his corner and his former position.
 
Solanda almost cheered, but Rugar grabbed her and tried to throw her aside.

She kneed him in the groin and he cried out with pain.
 
Then she rolled away from him, and grabbed the poker, holding it like a club.
 
He rose to a sitting position, one hand up as if to block her.

"You can't hurt me," he said.

"You stay away from Arianna."

"Solanda, you know this is best for the Fey."

"I know that you taking her is wrong.
 
The Shaman told me that.
 
I listen to the Shaman.
 
She has Vision.
 
You don't."

"You don't know that."

"No," Solanda said.
 
Her arms ached from holding the poker in the ready position.
 
"No, I don't know that for sure.
 
But it seems obvious.
 
You're pathetic, Rugar.
 
You want a power you'll never have."

"Give me that child."