Street Fair (20 page)

“Excuse me,” Cassia said to the woman, smiling in a very Cassia fashion. “Are you Xurde?”

The woman blushed. Megan assumed that was what she was doing, at least. What it looked like was some unknown hand etch-a-sketching pink roses across the woman's cheeks as she smiled demurely.

“No,” she said. “He's inside.” She looked at the half-map Cassia was carrying. “That looks a little like his work, though. Let me show you in.”

In contrast to the tent Ashling had described, this tent was far larger inside than out. It was as wide as the teahouse tent had been, but much more open, and was deeper and higher as well. A good third of the huge space was simply to accommodate the bulk of a brownish-red dragon, who lay on the far end of the tent, focusing most of his attention on writing on a map that was tiny compared to the creature, with a similarly miniscule stylus, clutched delicately between the tips of two claws. The booth had four more bright-eyed, golden-haired women, one of them laying on her front near the dragon, with a pile of maps in front of her, while she drew on the mostly complete-looking maps.

"So, a dragon who makes maps?" Megan whispered.

"With a little help," Ashling said.

"What's she doing?" Megan asked, as they approached.

"Drawing the bridges in. It's still a bit of a sore subject for some dragons," Ashling said.

That was all the whispering they got in, as the woman from the front announced them. The fact that she announced them as "Princess Megan and entourage" drew a smirk from Lani and a blush from Megan.

"Oh yes?" the dragon rumbled, looking up, squinting at the group. At first, Megan thought that smoke was rising from his nostrils when he spoke, until she studied the dissipating mist long enough to notice faint ice crystals in the breaths, disappearing not long after coming into contact with the warm air.

Megan did her best to curtsey, feeling like it was probably the appropriate gesture, though it felt awkward. Lani did it far better, and Justin, as usual, had no problem pulling off a very formal-looking bow.

The faeries and animals were less formal, though Ashling seemed quite pleased, waving enthusiastically. “Afternoon, Xurde.” Megan wondered how she managed to pronounce the name so easily, but she was not going to ask and hear Ashling take five minutes to explain that obscure Spanish dialects are easy because they're so similar to Corvid.

"You seek a map? There is little time left, but perhaps something remains in stock. The girls can help you,” the dragon suggested.

Megan was grateful, both for the sake of her voice, and so she could continue marveling at looking at a real, life dragon, when Lani stepped up to answer. "Actually, we need to see some records. We have half a map. We're trying to find out where the original was purchased from, and find out who it was that bought it."

"Show us the half-map,” the dragon said.

Cassia drew out the torn map, holding it up.

Xurde was silent for several seconds, finally responding, "We sold that map. A very old one. Before my egg-time, even. It was not cheap."

"We figured out some of that. But we need to know who bought it, originally," Lani said.

The dragon turned his attention back to the map he was drawing, and one of the other girls spoke up. "I'm very sorry. We don't give away customer information. Store policy." As she spoke, Megan's heart fell. They'd come all this way, and it seemed like such a good idea.

Undaunted, Lani continued speaking to the dragon instead of the shop girl. "Oh, we don't want you to give it to us. We want to buy the information."

The dragon looked back up. "That's another matter entirely. What do you offer?"

Megan fished out the silver dollar, holding it up while Lani explained. “We need to look into your purchase records or something for the map. Find out who he was, what he paid, something."

Xurde looked to the girl who'd spoken about customer information, and nodded. She fetched a wooden box, opening it up to reveal three stacks of tattered, soiled $20 bills, bound together with twine.

“The guy paid in twenties at a place like this?” Megan asked, a little surprised.

"D.B. Cooper's lost ransom money is always welcome in this establishment," the woman explained. "It was sufficient to pay for
that
map."

Lani missed it, but Megan caught the emphasis the woman put on the word 'that'. "Wait, what do you mean that one? Just the half, and he paid for the other half with something else, or..." she interrupted.

"No," the woman explained, glancing at the dragon with a questioning gaze. Xurde studied the silver coin, when another of his hoard of girls held it up for him, then he nodded, apparently finding their payment sufficient for full disclosure. "The Cooper money paid for the marked map of the wights of Mag Tuired. This—" she dug to the bottom of the stack and pulled a folder from the box. She opened the folder and took a piece of paper from inside, showing a doctoral certificate for a Brian Angus O'Neill "—covered the payment for the map to Falias."

Chapter 29: Fal Stone

Once they verified that the cartographers had told them everything they knew about Dr. O'Neill, the group left the tent to discuss their next moves.

“Don't understand,” Megan said a little hoarsely as they walked.

“Care to narrow it down?” Cassia asked.

“Why would one secret map cost a historic treasure stash, and one just cost a copy of his PhD papers?”

“Oh, I'm sure it didn't just cost the papers,” Lani said. “Any more than that goblin doctor just had you sing a note once. Whatever academic career was based on that PhD has likely been eliminated from all human records.”

Megan was trying to listen. She was. She'd taken her medication that morning and everything. But the morning was a long time before, and the emptiness-singularities of torn-down tents caught the corner of her eye more and more.

Ashling was just as bad when unable to verify for herself that her favored floral haberdasher was gone.

Lani noticed. “Cassia, why don't the five of you go check out the clothing section just in case? We'll go to the picnic area so Megan can have a snack and her meds.”

While they were gone, Lani sat down with Megan on the grass and handed her another bottle of water. Megan drank, ate some granola, and took her multi-colored pills, wondering if doing so in the Market would affect things. Justin stood next to them. The sword wasn't in the instrument case, but he kept it in its sheath, at least, his hand still going to it occasionally as he kept a very careful eye out.

She was feeling ready to talk when Cassia, Ashling, and their boys returned. "So, I'm guessing Falias is sort of like Findias?"

"Sort of like it, yeah," Cassia agreed. "Except that where Findias used to be a place full of art, and music, and bright stuff, Falias started out all kinds of dark and gloomy."

"I thought you kind of liked that stuff?" Megan said.

"Violent dark, sure. But I'm not a real fan of necromancy. Undead just kind of ruin the party."

"So, it's full of undead things? Is that why you all left?"

Ashling made a number of attempts to clarify for Cassia, including covering the fact that party hats didn't help the festive spirit of skeletons and wights at all, and describing bits of the city, but Cassia interrupted again before she'd gotten off on too many tangents. "Once it got out of hand, sort of, but there had always been some nasty things there. The Sorcerer Kings of Falias were supposed to use all their dark power to make sure the restless dead stayed quiet and underground. Someone needed that kind of magic, so the Gods sort of put it in their hands. Records say that they actually did just that at one time, but in most of the stories the folks old enough to have lived there tell, occasionally those dark powers were put to use making wights police the city and walking bones deliver their tea.

"Okay, so that might explain the wights a little, if he has something to do with that. So he's trying to raise an undead army or something, you think?"

"Maybe," Cassia said. "Which would suck, but we've dealt with a few undead before."

"Or he could be trying to upgrade from Doctor," Ashling suggested.

"That whole line is either dead, or so diluted it doesn't matter," Cassia said.

"What whole line?" Megan asked.

Justin said "I think I understand. You're talking about the Lia Fail, right?"

Ashling pointed at Justin, putting one finger from her other hand on her nose, in a mixture of 'right on the nose' and obscene gesture. Megan was pretty sure the pixie would either claim it was an accident, or probably meant to simultaneously tell Justin he was right, while giving her opinion on O'Neill.

"What's the Lia Fail?" Megan asked.

Lani said "An artifact that was enchanted in Falias, hence, Fal Stone. Supposedly, when the true King of Ireland... or possibly Scotland; there's been some debate... stands on it, it will sing or call out his name or something. But I thought that was in Ireland, where it was brought thousands of years ago."

“Unless one believes those Scots who say the Stone of Scone is the Lia Fail,” said Justin. “Then England took it in the war, last I heard.”

“Yeah, you're a little behind on that, Justin,” Ashling said. “But the replica at Tara is better than the replica at Scone, I think. Even if they propped it upright where it's pretty hard to try to stand on. Doesn't matter, though. Brian Ard-Ri-Wannabe O'Neill needs the original.”

“There were copies?” Justin asked.

“Well, yeah,” Ashling said. “You think they were just going to leave the original mystical artifact around to get busted in half by 6th-Century temper tantrums or fouled up by 21st-Century vandals? That's why there was discrepancies in the legends and arguments as to which was the Lia Fail. Both are and neither is. But the one that does the singing is in Falias."

"That would do the singing, if the true Ard Ri ever stood on it,” Cassia said. “But he won't, because after Daithi, there were no more. Not real ones, anyway."

“And an Ard Ri is...?” Megan was trying to keep everything straight.

“High King,” Ashling answered.

“Okay.” Megan thought for a moment. “...This might explain the 'mortal majesty' thing that Robin said. I mean, what if someone did have the right lineage?"

Lani nodded. “And with a well-connected last name like O'Neill...it's enough to worry about, at least.”

“But what harm can actually being king be?” Megan asked.

“...well, the Ard Ri was what they call a sacred kingship.” Ashling explained. Megan suspected there was something to what she was saying, because Cassia didn't interrupt her this time, on a topic Cassia obviously considered important. "Sure, he can't just show up and disband the government because he claims a rock sung when he tap danced on it. These days, people would laugh at him. But, see, then he'd call a lightning bolt on their heads, or have a giant serpent eat the laughing people. Because a lot of really ancient, really powerful things listen to the Sorcerer Kings if they know the right spells."

"Like wights and other undead things?" Megan asked.

"Well, those specific wights followed the Fomoire, so they were technically on the other side. But on general principle, sure," Ashling said. "Especially if he decided to rule from Falias."

"And you said sacred kingship. So, what Robin was saying about needing sacred things to wield sacred power...?”

"Yeah, he did say that, didn't he? Huh."

“He said it about the Balor-shrouds.”

“Yeah.”

“We're in trouble, aren't we?”

“We so are.” Lani said.

Chapter 30: Gods and Monsters

They sat in silence for just a moment before Megan heard footsteps.

“If I may make a suggestion, dearest,” said her father, as lightly as his rich, dark voice would allow, “You could use a rest. According to what I've heard from your chef friend and a few others, you've had a busy day.”

“It's worse than they think, Dad.” She told him everything. Ashling occasionally tried to out-talk her, but Lani would help steer things back when the pixie went overboard.

Megan's father listened to this all intently, jotting a few notes on a scrap of paper. “You definitely need some honey tea, a hot bath, and a good night's sleep. Ashling, Counts-to-18, please take this—” He handed the scrap of paper to the mounted pixie. “—to the Ballroom at An Teach Deiridh. Cassia, I would suggest you return to Fremont immediately and check on your friend the art model. Miss Kahale, Sir Justin, you'll probably want to join us as we get started on that honey tea.” And Riocard started walking

“Okay, Dad, I just want to check,” Megan said as she followed him to the tea stand. “Are you not talking about it because you don't think the guy who might have the wights might be trying to make himself king so he can have a zombie army, and he might be doing all kinds of weird stuff with Balor's shrouds so that he'll have something kinda-sorta-but-not-divine to draw his king-stuff from? Or are you not talking about it because you want to encourage random people to go King of the Zombies hunting?”