Foul is Fair (21 page)

"There's still half of the album to go. This is really, really good stuff," Lani protested, but didn't try to stop her.

"I know. We can listen to all of it. I just wanted to hear the Jumping song again. There's just something on the tip of my brain, and jumping helps."

Lani looked confused, Justin looked even more confused. But Ashling was grinning. "That's my girl," the pixie cheered, starting into the dancing before the music even began.

And so the tone shifted again, moving away from the workday lament, and back into playfully making fun of fluffy pop music and encouraging jumping and bouncing around. Megan didn't hesitate this time, grabbing for her friends' hands and leading them through jumping and weaving around the room to the music.

By the time it ended and they paused the music again, she was thoroughly out of breath, staggering over to flop onto Lani's bed. Megan stayed there for a moment, breathing and thinking. She sat up and looked at Lani intently. “Get Cassia. I have a plan.”

Chapter 34: Implementing the Plan

Most of Friday night and much of Saturday morning was spent in preparation. Lani stayed up past when the rest went to bed, working with various springs and an old alarm clock, managing to finish the project in time to get a little sleep.

Kerr showed up right on schedule on Saturday morning, with breakfast for everyone in hand. Convincing Kerr to take part took some doing and involved bringing Mr. Kahale in on the effort. He wasn't happy that the girls and Justin were putting themselves back into danger, but he also couldn't come up with anything better and agreed that both they, and Kerr, would have the menehune contingent's support.

After breakfast, they set out, following Ashling's lead. Kerr took the first step in the plan, moving to convince the other brownies to see that Megan and the rest would have assistance and messengers anywhere, even if they needed to come and go quietly. Additionally, Kerr moved to deliver a message to a few of Cassia's friends, despite some nervousness at doing so. Thus a few of the Unseelie knew they were coming, but the group wasn't met by Orlaith's guards and escorted into any sort of 'protective custody' until the Dance. So across the green lawn, in the chilled but gold-suffused air, they walked. Cassia and Justin simply wore their armor, but Lani was decked out in her mechanic's costume, and Megan was Red Riding Hood.

The walk through the halls of An Teach Deiridh were different from the last trip. From the start, the place was ridiculously crowded. Faeries of sorts she hadn't even seen yet were crowded in alongside even more of the population she did recognize. There were guards posted at the ballroom doors and those of all major rooms. Pixies and sprites flitted about over the heads of the bigger folk, delivering messages or keeping an eye on things. With all of the pixies flitting about, Megan knew they had to move fast. They were met by some of Cassia's friends, who, along with the satyress and her leopards, helped clear a path through the halls until they were in the distinctly Unseelie wing. From there, Megan headed for Riocard's room.

Once they were into the darker halls, various groups of Unseelie tried to approach them. Some looked especially threatening to Megan, though she didn't know whether they were aware of the Queen's plans and blaming Megan for her help with the sword, or just interested in the taste of princess. Thankfully, between Cassia and her friends, none of those got particularly close.

The second group seemed to be wanting to offer help with whatever she wanted to do. Rumors were circling, and in the Unseelie ranks, that made for a lot of anger at the Queen, but no real unity or organization regarding doing anything about it. Some just wanted someone to take their frustrations out on, others were clearly ready to do something, but had no plan for what that something should be. She guessed that the dungeons were full as well, until after the Dance, at least.

Cassia warned away a few of those seeming to want to offer aid, while telling others to come talk to her and where she'd be. Megan wasn't sure of the difference between who she told what, but Megan felt that Cassia could navigate this better than she would herself.

Regardless, they were able to get to their destination, her father's room. Just before she entered, she noticed a will o' wisp floating nearby. While she was pretty certain that the Queen and her guard weren't going to approach them in Riocard's room, she was far less certain of the Gray Lady. Likewise, she knew that even among the Unseelie, the Queen had her contacts and allies. Likely as not, some of them would be pretending to oppose the Queen's plans but would sabotage anything Megan tried to do.

And indeed, just as they'd gotten everyone into the room, the figure came in the doorway. Tarnished silver hair, pearl-streaked skin, empty eyes—the Gray Lady stared.

“I wanted to tell you…I am sorry your quest…backfired,” the wisps whispered.

“Yeah,” Megan said. “It did.”

“I also simply wanted to…let you know something,” the whispers continued. “Sometimes it is better to wait things out. Rash action could endanger my people.”

“Our people,” Megan interrupted. She may have accepted that she probably should try not to fit in all the way, all the time, but if she was going to be hearing creepy veiled threats, she wasn't going to let herself be painted as just a foreigner, too.

“Our people. I would advise against endangering them further. Waiting…one gets used to it.”

“I'll keep that in mind, thanks,” Megan said blankly.

The pearl-mottled face lowered in a nod, and the tarnished figure and adjacent points of light withdrew from the closing doorway.

After that, they settled into the room. There was occasional commotion at the doors, and Cassia moved to meet with some of her friends, assuring them there was a plan, and either making sure they'd know when to help Megan and company get out of An Teach Deiridh, or telling a select few that they'd be welcome to go along to help in the eventual effort. Regardless what else she told them, she wouldn't tell anyone the plans or where they were going. While Cassia tended to the door, Lani went searching through the room for anything potentially useful for the trip. “Justin,” Lani said as she pointed to one of the swords on the wall. He nodded and took it, slipping it into the ornate sheath of the Claiomh Solais.

Megan and Ashling were going through papers around the piano, seeking more clues and useful songs, when nervous-looking brownies arrived with lunch and, as requested, extra food. The group packed up as soon as they felt as equipped and ready as possible.

On cue, selections of Cassia's associates caused small disturbances throughout the castle, drawing guards. Only then did Cassia and the chariot come barreling out of Riocard's room, followed closely by Justin. It wasn't long before they developed a following. Some of those who gathered up around them were those Cassia invited. Others quickly took up the cause, or just started running along out of curiosity or the odd spirit of the mob.

Regardless, by the time they reached the front doors, they had a chaotic momentum that the handful of guards left weren't going to stop. There was a bit of scuffling, but Cassia, Justin, and most of the Unseelie mob reached the doors and began the rush towards the wood where the sword was held. Pixies and other winged things rushed above them, some following the mob, some racing ahead of it to warn and reinforce the defenders.

As soon as the rushing footfalls, shouts and chariot wheels were off in the distance, Ashling peeked her head out the door. She finally gestured. "Come on, I know a back way out. Just keep it quiet." She jumped onto the Count's back, and the crow took off through the twisting hallways.

Space-mechanic Lani and Red-Riding-Megan followed, hugging the walls as best they could while keeping pace. "Are you sure the compass is going to work?" Red-Riding-Megan asked, while trying to keep the crow in sight.

"Between this and a pixie guiding us, we should be able to find him, no matter what enchantments and illusions are up around that cave, yes."

"Did you find anything in the room in case we run into guards? The Queen will be watching the cave, too."

"Not that either of us could use. We'll just have to be sneaky and hope Justin and Cassia buy us enough time."

Chapter 35: Charge for the Sword

It wasn't long before Cassia and Justin hit resistance. The Unseelie had a knack for chaotic charges, but there was a lot of ground to cover, and by appearances, the Queen had been prepared for just this. As soon as they hit covered ground, bands of soldiers appeared to engage them, or to trap one or two stragglers and fall back into the woods. Sometimes sheer numbers and enthusiasm fought them off, sometimes they thinned the pack a small amount with success, and sometimes, members of Cassia's troop gave chase, lowering her numbers more. It wasn't long before the woods rang with the sounds of battle.

Justin shouted a warning and raised his new shield, wincing only slightly. Pixie arrows mostly bounced off the metal, with a few sticking into it, hitting with more force than he'd have imagined possible for such tiny projectiles. Cassia growled off the words of a protective enchantment, not against the arrows themselves—those stuck neatly into her flesh in a few places, along with a number striking the cats. Her invigoration spell fought off the sleeping spells on the arrows, letting her and the cats keep moving through the hail of projectiles, all of the trio looking angrier than before the spell was cast.

Others in their force were less fortunate, with Unseelie falling around them. Some resisted as Cassia did, or dodged to cover, or had their own means of protection, but the numbers fell further still. By the time a host of the moth-winged sprites engaged Orlaith's pixies in a fierce aerial battle, Cassia had less than half of the people she started with.

Most of those remaining still made for a dangerous and enthusiastic band with no signs of pausing. It was all Justin could do to keep up with the crowd, doing his best to keep his shield at the ready and trusting in his armor's effectiveness against the tiny arrows as he raced along behind Cassia. He wasn't precisely sure of their directions, but thought the wood around them was starting to look familiar.

His suspicions were confirmed when sidhe knights emerged from cover at the edge of a clearing, forming up in ranks. More pixies and sprites emerged from the trees all around, aiming their bows at the oncoming mad rush. Cassia leaned forward, cutting the tethers binding the leopards to the chariot so they could maneuver and fight freely, while she just ducked down and rode out the wild ride, leaping out to engage a knight in close combat at the last second. Her chariot crashed into the assembled ranks on its own, and the leopards took up protective positions at their mistress's flanks.

The mob just behind her slammed into the ranks on the ground, while those suited to flight or climbing took to the trees to engage the archers. Justin thought he saw a weak point in the defensive lines and rushed for it, leading with the shield and battering a knight to the ground. As he did, he could see the sword and stone in the middle of the clearing, an honor guard, more decorated than most of the knights, standing around it on watch.

Before he could break free and rush them, the ranks closed, and he was forced backwards, only barely avoiding injury by spear. The faeries around him were nearly invulnerable, at least in the sense that they'd heal almost anything that wasn't made by cold iron—which no one here seemed to be using—but Justin had no such assurance.

He retreated backwards as his assailants were engaged by some sort of troll swinging a small tree like a club. He had to dive out of the way of the swinging tree himself, reminded that his allies had, possibly, even less regard for him in some cases than his enemies of the moment. He made his way back to Cassia and the leopards. The cats let him into their defensive circle, and the satyr, despite her wild, powerful fighting style and obvious rage, shifted to allow him to fight alongside her.

Even with all of his training, he had to admit that it was fortunate. Most of the sidhe clearly had many decades, if not centuries, of training behind them. Fighting almost purely defensively, and with the savage satyr and the leopards forcing opponents to be cautious, he was able to manage to protect himself, but unable to advance.

Cassia seemed to be having better luck. Even hit with several more pixie arrows and engaged by multiple sidhe knights, she managed to slowly force her opponents back. Just shifted after her, making slow progress, but progress towards the goal nonetheless. While some of the Unseelie horde were being pushed back, others, such as the troll who had provided him cover, were making similar steps forward, pushing the sidhe back bit by bit.

It was only once they'd broken past the treeline, forcing the knights fully into the clearing, that the situation became much worse. More sidhe emerged from the trees. Some of them were further knights, but these, instead of joining the ranks, protected individuals who were in lighter garb, and chanting. Justin stepped back on seeing them, taking cover behind a tree.

A blast of fire slammed into the chest of the troll, sending it flying back with a shockwave that followed. Bursts of light flashed all over the battlefield, emitting from behind the lines of the knights so only the attackers would be blinded. Justin hid his eyes only just in time. Numerous of the Unseelie weren't as fortunate. More fireballs launched into the Unseelie ranks, taking their own toll. Even when they missed their mark, the shockwaves that followed scattered the ranks of the Unseelie, forcing more of them to either retreat back into the woods or remain close to the ranks of the knights, which presented its own dangers.