The Faerie Queen (The Faerie Ring #4) (13 page)

Chapter Twenty
-One

It was Tiki and Rieker who went to Buckingham Palace the next day to retrieve Johnny. At Rieker’s suggestion, Leo invited them for tea giving Tiki the opportunity to visit with Fiona, Toots and Clara.

“
Teek, we’re havin’ so much fun stayin’ with Leo,” Clara bubbled, her eyes dancing with excitement. “We get to play in the park behind the palace and feed the ducks and there are swans—some are white and some are black—”

“
—And I’ve been learning how to train Molly, one of the dogs,” Toots exclaimed. “They’ve even let me help brush down the horses!”

“
It seems you lot have been busy.” Tiki smiled. It was reassuring to see the children safe and happy, though Fiona looked half-sick with worry. “Perhaps you’ll have enough skills to get a job when you come home.”

“
If it’s workin’ with the animals, I wouldn’t mind a’tall,” Toots said with a wide grin. “James told me I’m a natural.”

“AND HOW HAVE your travels been?” Leo asked Tiki. “Safe, I presume?”

“
Safe enough,” Tiki said. “And enlightening, thanks to the gift you sent with Dain. Thank you.”

Leo’s eyes lit up.
“It was helpful, then? You’ve unlocked its secrets?”

“
Rather the other way around,” Tiki said with a smile. “The mirror provided an essential bit of information that allowed us to solve some unanswered questions.”

“
Really? You were able to figure out its purpose. I knew it was meant for you.” Leo was like a puppy wagging its tail. “Are you better able to protect yourselves?”

“
There’s more work to be done, but we’re on the right track.”

Leo’s shoulders sagged ever so slightly, as if the air had been let out of a balloon.
“I so hoped that you’d conquered whoever threatens you there—that you’d be able to return home again soon.”

“
We’ll be back, Leo, don’t you worry about that.” Rieker said, giving Tiki a meaningful look. “Just not quite yet.”

TIKI PULLED FIONA aside as they made ready to leave.  “You do know where we’re taking him?” she asked gently.

Fiona nodded
, her angular face drawn. She didn’t look like she’d been eating either. “It seems the only way to save him.” A light flared in her eyes and she clutched at Tiki’s arm. “Can I go too? I could care for him there.”

Tiki
slowly shook her head. “No, Fi. You’d be putting yourself at risk. Before, Larkin was careful that you were only provided with mortal food and drink, but that can’t be done forever and right now Larkin is too distracted with other matters to care for you.  Let us take him and get him well. After that, we’ll figure out what to do.”

THEY ARRIVED AT the Plain of Sunlight with Johnny just as the sun was setting behind Wydryn Tor. They stood before the stone entry to the Seelie headquarters and gazed toward the border.

“
If you ever question why we’re doing this—” Larkin pointed to the grisly silhouettes in the distance— “look at those dead bodies impaled on stakes. Donegal has no respect for any of us. He wants to eradicate those who resist him. He will continue to murder until there are no Seelies left. It is only about power for him.”

Tiki stood next to Rieker who cradled
the wraith-thin Johnny in his arms. The muscles in Rieker’s jaw flexed as he gazed at the view before them and he cursed under his breath before he ducked his head to follow Larkin through the stone entry into the Seelie headquarters.

Tiki remained alone on the Plain. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the seemingly endless row of staked bodies that circled her like some ungodly chain of prison bars.
A cool wind whistled across the valley and raised the flesh on her arms as if Death had blown his cruel breath in her direction. Tiki shivered and turned to follow the others. It didn’t seem possible they could survive the Winter King’s relentless pursuit.

THEY DELIVERED JOHNNY to a nurse and Larkin called for Toran as soon as they reached the gathering area. “What have you learned of the Fool?” she demanded. But the guard had no further information on the Jester.

“
No one knows where he’s being held. The last anyone saw of him was when Donegal had him arrested.”

“
And where was that?”

“
In the Great Hall at the Palace. Olcán said the Jester was entertaining Donegal and his guests, levitating a great ball of white light, when something went wrong and somehow the Winter King was burned.”

“
On purpose, I’ll bet,” Dain whispered.

Tiki peered
at him out of the corners of her eyes. “What?”

Larkin shushed them.
“And then what happened?”

“
Olcán said Donegal went crazy. Ordered the Jester stripped and flogged on the spot. But when the guards pulled the shirt from his back and were tying the Jester’s wrists to a wooden pole that lay across his shoulders, the Winter King started choking. Told them to stop and ordered Sullivan and Cruinn to take the Jester away.”

“
Are you sure it was Sullivan and Cruinn?” Larkin asked.

Toran nodded.
“That’s what Olcán said. And that’s the last anyone saw of the man. The next day Donegal announced the Jester was a traitor and that he was going to feed him to the hounds at the full moon.”

“WE’LL GO TO the White Tower first,” Larkin said as they stood in a small antechamber off the gathering room. It reminded Tiki of the room where she’d shed the glamour she’d unconsciously worn since being left in London as a baby. In a strange reversal of that moment her current appearance looked dramatically different than the beauty revealed that day. Larkin had taken charge of their glamours, explaining that she knew best which types of creatures wouldn’t draw unwanted attention in the UnSeelie Court.

She had glamoured Tiki
to look like a small UnSeelie male. Her nose was large, with a substantial hook to the bridge and white hair was held back by a band behind her neck. Her eyes were black rather than vibrant green and her shoulders bore a slight hunch, as though she hid something within the folds of her worn jacket. She’d gone from strikingly beautiful to hideous. Dain looked like her older brother and Rieker had metamorphosed from a handsome young aristocrat into a rail-thin man with a pock-marked face. His greasy, black hair was tied behind his head and reached his shoulders. In some ways, he looked like an eerie, younger shadow of Donegal.

“
You look dangerous,” Tiki said to him as she searched his face for a familiar feature.

“
I feel dangerous,” Rieker said. “I’m ready to fight this battle.”

THE RIDE FROM the Plain of Sunlight to the northern part of the Wychwood where the White Tower lay hidden behind a glamour was uneventful. Larkin was surprisingly reclusive during the trip, keeping her distance as they rode, unwilling to answer any additional questions.

The air became
bitterly cold the further north they went and ice coated the trees as they turned on the trail that led to the overlook. A mist threaded its fingers through the trees as if to grab them as they rode by.

“
I swear it burns when I breathe,” Tiki choked as she fought another coughing spasm. “And that smell—”

“
It’s smoke. There’s a fire burning nearby,” Larkin said.

“
Here.” Dain rode close to Tiki and handed her a section of grey cloth that looked like it had been torn from his shirt. “Tie this around your nose and mouth—it should help filter some of the smoke.”

Tiki nodded gratefully
as she accepted his offering. “Thank you. I thought I’d finally gotten rid of this cough until we started this trip. Maybe it’s my new nose.” She pointed at her glamoured beak of a nose and smiled, revealing shark-like teeth. Then she coughed again and focused on the task of folding the fabric. Once she had the material in a triangle shape she tied it over her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.

“
You look wicked—” Dain teased, pulling back on the reins to keep his horse side by side with hers as Larkin and Rieker rode ahead— “like a goblin highwayman.”

Tiki laughed.
“Would I steal your blood or your gold?”

“
I’d be happy if you wanted either.”

“
You’d give up so easily? What happened to the brave knight of Court I’ve come to know?”

“
You bewitch me m’lady—”

“
Be quiet back there and stop your nonsense.” Larkin muttered in their direction. “We don’t need to let the entire Wychwood know of our presence.”

Tiki and Dain smiled
at each other but they remained silent as they continued to ride north through the smoky forest.

LARKIN AND RIEKER
had already stopped on the overlook when Tiki pulled up next to them. It was hard to read their expressions given the glamours they wore, but even so, she wondered at the grimness of their features as she reached the crest of the rocky outlook.  Unsure of what to expect, she gazed out over the panorama. Where before the water had reflected the verdant trees that ringed the lake and the gathering of buildings at the far end with an almost mirror-like image—now there was nothing to reflect except smoking ruins. The entire north end of the lake had been burned to ash.  Funnels of smoke rose into the air from the blackened and charred stumps of the devastated forest. Every tree and bush had been eradicated in a fire that had swept through the area.

“
What happened?” Tiki cried.

“
It appears to be part of the fire the Winter King used to oust the hobgoblins,” Larkin said.

Dain
pulled up next to Tiki and let out a snort of disgust. “Only Donegal would destroy the forest that sustains our world.”

“
I don’t see how anything could survive that.” Tiki whispered. “Do you think the White Tower is still there?”

“
No,” Larkin said flatly. “A glamour cannot be sustained through a fire like that. We can only pray that Fial didn’t perish along with the forest.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Their ride
back through the Wychwood to the Palace of Mirrors passed far too quickly for Tiki’s liking.  The sun had barely reached its zenith in a hazy, smoke-filled sky the next day when they arrived at the base of the Tor.

They were
still hidden among the trees when Larkin pulled to a stop. “We’ll need to release the horses here. We can’t be seen riding up to the Palace.”

“
Is Donegal here?” Dain asked as they dismounted.

“
Yes.” Larkin’s response was terse. “Word is that Donegal has remained at the Palace since the capture of the Jester. He’s probably afraid to leave. Fial knows far too much magic and too many of his secrets to be left at the mercy of the guards.

Tiki
gave Larkin a sidelong glance.  The glamour with which Larkin had chosen to disguise herself had been a startling choice.  Tiki couldn’t decide if the mercurial faerie looked more like a witch or a dryad.  Her fingers were extended and knobby, like long skinny branches, and her eyes were little more than dark hollows in her face, eerily similar to a knot hole in a tree trunk. But her nose was long and hooked like a witch’s and rust-colored hair, the color of dead leaves, hung long down her back, a distinct departure from Larkin’s normal silky blond strands.

She
reminded Tiki of the Elder Dryad, the volatile creature she’d bargained with that day in the Wychwood when she had been so desperate to find where Donegal’s men had taken Rieker.

“
If Donegal is here, what will you do?” Rieker asked as he climbed down from his horse. “Surely you don’t mean to just walk into Court.”

“
Actually, I do,” Larkin said with typical fearlessness. “Donegal captured the Jester here at the Palace and I don’t think he would take the risk of transporting him to the Plain of Starlight. Fial is too clever not to escape and Donegal knows it.” Her voice dropped. “I think the Jester is here, hidden somewhere in the Palace.”

“
But won’t the guards want to know who we are?” Dain asked, motioning to Tiki and Rieker.

Larkin let out a dark laugh.
“What makes you think Donegal and the UnSeelie Court don’t know who we are?”

Tiki jerked her horse’s head and the beast let out a sharp whinny in protest.
“Explain yourself.”

Larkin
spoke softly, though her sarcasm was still easy to hear. “You do know what I’ve been these many years, correct?”

Tiki gave a hesitant nod.
“A spy.”

“
And you’re not possibly naïve enough to think I was able to infiltrate the UnSeelie Court successfully for decades by using the same identity throughout that entire time?”

Tiki slowly shook her head.

“Exactly. In this glamour I’m known as Fachtna among the UnSeelie. A witch from the—”

“
You
are Fachtna?” Dain stared at Larkin with a stricken expression.

She tilted her head at him
, looking pleased. “You’ve heard of me?”

“
We’ve all heard of Fachtna. She’s practically a legend—”

“
An evil legend, no doubt,” Rieker muttered.

“
Are the rumours true?” Dain whispered. “Do you make soup with the bones of mortal children?”

Tiki’s jaw sagged.
“
What?”

Larkin scoffed
. “Dain, you, of all people, know how it works. To make people believe you are UnSeelie you must be perceived as UnSeelie. I have simply played my part over the years.”

A familiar twinge twisted Tiki’
s stomach as she noted Larkin had not answered the question. Where did the truth stop and start with the enigmatic faerie? Would she ever know?

“
That’s true,” Dain said, “but
Fachtna
?  Even I would never have guessed. You would have had to create that cover—” he paused to think.

“
Before you were born,” Larkin said dryly. “As I’ve said before, I have committed my life to this Court, though at times, I wonder if the sacrifice has been worth it.” She looked up at the outcropping of rock that jutted into dark clouds overhead. “When we get inside the Palace we’ll split up. That’s the only way we’ll be able to find the Jester. Somebody has to know something.”

“
If you are this Fachtna, who are we?” Rieker asked.

Larkin’s expression
was inscrutable as she gazed upward. “My servants, of course.”

THE CLIMB UP to the peak of the Tor was less arduous than Tiki expected. Instead of the secret, practically vertical trail that Dain had taken her down when they’d escaped from the Winter King before, this time they followed a well-worn road that wove back and forth up the sloping side of the mountain.

The higher they climbed, the darker it became.  Black clouds, heavy as though weighted with ink, pushed down on the mountain, encasing the top in a dark mist.  Lightning forke
d in the near distance, followed by the rumbling boom of thunder, causing Tiki’s arms to crawl with goose flesh. The storm seemed an inescapable omen. She tried to push away the sensation that she was marching to her own death.

THE NIGHT GARDEN of the UnSeelie Court had grown even more macabre since Tiki’s last visit. The brambles and thorns were as razor-sharp as ever, but now, it appeared shreds of flesh dangled from their murderous tips, as if scraped from their prey’s bones in the plant’s hurry to consume their victims.  The flowers that flourished among the skeletal branches were glorious—brilliantly vibrant—reds, oranges, yellows, blues and greens—softly glowing and enticingly fragrant—so alluring it took great will power not to lean close and absorb their magnificence. A lovely melody wafted through the garden, cajoling them to come closer, yet beneath the sweet scent lay a bitter stench of blood and death.

“
Of course you remember the garden sings to its prey,” Larkin said over her shoulder as she led the way across broken stones that had once been a path. “Don’t touch, don’t look, don’t smell. The flowers want only for you to become their next meal.”

Tiki tried to reconcile the darkness and evil that surrounded her with the
sunlit, bountiful sight this same garden became when the Seelies were in control of Faerie. There was such a dichotomy between the two images that she couldn’t superimpose one over the other. It was impossible to imagine that the space she stood in now could be anything other than evil, dark and deadly.

She
heaved a sigh of relief when they were past the garden and stood before the entry to the Palace of Mirrors. She stopped next to Larkin and stared at the sight before them. Guards lined the entire front of the Palace, armed and watching. Bonfires were lit on each corner of the building, their flames crackling and throwing sparks into the air like hungry jaws snapping to be fed.

“
Donegal is expecting something to happen,” Larkin said. “Look there.” She pointed to an area past the palace where black-suited guards trained in various formations.

“
Is he expecting an attack?” Rieker asked.

“
It appears that way.”

Dain frowned.
“From the Macanna?”

“
Who else would dare to attack him in the Palace?”  Larkin moved forward. “He knows we’re plotting. Let’s see what we can find out.”

“
Stay close to me,” Rieker murmured in Tiki’s ear as they followed Larkin.

With every step, Tiki’s heart reverberat
ed a little harder in her chest, like the strike of a bell clanging from side to side. She silently counted the guards who stretched from one end of the columned portico to the other. Seventeen. Even if they found the Jester, how would they possibly get him out of the building alive?

As they approached
, the guards closest to their group dropped their spears to block any passage.

“
Halt,” barked the tallest of the four who had taken a defensive position.  “Name your business.”

Larkin
stepped ahead of the others. “Donegal seeks my counsel. Tell him Fachtna has arrived.”

One of the guards dashed into the palace while the ot
hers remained frozen, blocking their way. Tiki could feel the weight of their dark eyes boring through her as surely as if their claws touched her flesh. A flash among the blackness that engulfed the palace caught her eye but as she shifted her gaze to look, the flutter of white disappeared amid the dark smoke.

The runner returned and whispered into the fo
remost guard’s ear. The burly man raised his hand and as one the spears snapped upright and the guards shifted to the side to allow entrance.

“
Donegal awaits your arrival in the Great Hall.”

“
Come,” Larkin said as she swept through the line toward the entrance to the Palace.

T
he building was intimately familiar to Tiki, having just lived within its walls for the last six months, yet in its present state, the space looked distinctly different. What had once been light was now dark. Black had replaced white, night had replaced day, evil had replaced goodness. It was as though they strode into the depths of hell.

Larkin went directly to
ward the hall where Donegal liked to command from the golden Dragon Throne. The towering pair of doors lay open and as before when Tiki had visited the Palace of Mirrors during Donegal’s reign, the room was filled with party-goers in a wide array of opulent dress. Now, however, there were also black-suited soldiers armed with a variety of weapons—somber and menacing.

Larkin paused
in the hallway. “We part here. Split up and see what you can learn. The Jester will be guarded so watch for soldiers who appear to have no purpose. And remember—” she held up a finger— “Fial is extremely ingenious. If he is still alive he will find a way to give us a sign.”