The Faerie Queen (The Faerie Ring #4) (16 page)

“
Give me one of those,” he said, reaching for the meat.  The dogs paused long enough to sniff the jacket before they turned their glazed red eyes on Rieker and Tiki.

“
Here goes,” Tiki whispered.  One of the dogs lifted her snout and sniffed the air, her gaze locked on Tiki. “Let’s hope they’re hungry.”

With a wild bark, they both
dropped their heads and took a giant leap toward Tiki and Rieker. Tiki shook the meat she held, green blood splattering the floor. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it was going to burst right out of her chest.

“
Ready—now!” Rieker cried. As one they threw the bloody meat into the room and ducked behind the door. The dogs never broke stride. They raced into the room and dove onto the meat in a wild frenzy of snarling growls as Tiki and Rieker pushed the door shut behind them.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Time ceased to have meaning for the Jester. There was no natural light to discern morning from night, no schedule by which to measure the passage of days. He faded in and out of consciousness, awakening mostly from the excruciating pain of his battered body, only to wish he could lapse back into oblivion again to escape the agony.

But a terrible sense of urgency kept him awake, prodding him to take action—but how? He
stared at the slatted bars that covered the small window in the wooden door, wondering what stood between him and freedom. He raised his cupped hands to his lips and breathed flame into his fingers, then rubbed his hands together. When he opened his palms, another small white dove flew free and circled the room.

“
What are yer doin’ in there?” The guard shouted through the barred window. “There’ll be no magic in here—”

The guard
yanked the door open and was across the room in three steps, grabbing the Jester by the neck with a meaty paw. “NO MAGIC—you hear me, Fool?” He stretched his arm across his chest and swung the back of his fist into the prisoner’s head. The crunch of the Jester’s nose as it broke was audible in the small room.

Brilliant lights
exploded in front of the Fial’s eyes followed by a curtain of red pain. He flew backwards and hit the wall before everything went black.

Behind the guard, the small white dove flew
out the open door.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rieker used Tiki’s jacket to wipe the blood from the floor and they hid the coat in a large pot near one of the columns that lined the hallway before they hurried toward the High Chamber.  Tiki’s face fell as they rounded the corner and she spotted two soldiers standing in front of the entrance.

“
Guards,” she whispered as they backed up and hid behind one of the giant fluted columns. “I forgot. They’ve been there every time I’ve attended a meeting.”

Rieker leaned around the column to assess the situation.
“What’s in that room that needs to be guarded?” he mused. “It’s nothing but a woodland.” He jerked back sharply when one of the guards glanced down the hallway in their direction.

“
I don’t know, but we won’t get in there until we figure out a way to get rid of those guards.”

THE FESTIVITIES WERE in full swing in the Great Hall as Tiki and Rieker entered. N
o one spared them a second glance. They’d decided there would be a better time to try and gain access to the High Chamber, perhaps when Larkin or Dain could help them distract the guards.

“
The dove is pure white—it should be easy to spot,” Tiki said softly as she scanned the ceiling. “I wonder if Donegal would recognize it as the Jester’s magic?”

“
I doubt the Jester conjured anything white for Donegal. Everything about his world seems to be dark and evil. I wonder where Fachtna might be?” Rieker mused, his gaze moving from one face to another.

“
I was watching her when the dove flew by. I think she saw it too.” Tiki searched the paintings that filled the ceiling, looking for a flash of white. She paused at the image of the Jack-in-Irons. From this distance the stained-glass looked like another painting, its dark colors and somber content not revealing the secret room above the window. Tiki followed the line of paintings and wondered if there were other secrets hidden in that ceiling not revealed to the casual glance.

A
flash of white flickered in the corner of her eye and she jerked her head to the left just in time to see a snow white dove collide with a column then disintegrate in a puff of smoke.

“
Oh no,” she cried. “It’s gone.”

“
If the Jester sent one, he’ll send another.”

“
I hope so. I don’t know how else we’re going to locate him.”

Rieker steered Tiki to the opposite end of the room from where Donegal presided.
“There’s Dain.”  Rieker’s brother was drinking wine and chatting with a strange creature that looked to be a faun.

Dain
glanced in their direction then raised his cup to the half man, half goat before walking to join them. “I’ve been looking for you two. Anything?” He glanced hopefully from one to the other.

“
No. You?”

“
No. I’ve found nothing and no one even willing to talk about the Jester. Everyone is afraid to speak of him.”

“
We did see something that we think might be a clue.”

What’s that
?”

Tiki told
him about the bird.

“
Yes, I’ve seen the Jester create those doves before during the summer months. If he’s sending a message like that he must believe Larkin will come for him.”

“
That’s a good point,” Rieker said.  “Who else would dare attempt to rescue one of Donegal’s prisoners?”

Dain glanced over his shoulder toward the Dragon Throne.
“It’s risky to stay in the Great Hall where the mirrors may reveal we are wearing glamours.  Let’s go outside and see if there is anything to be found there. Perhaps they’ve converted the zagishire?”

Tiki frowned and was about to give a sharp answer when she realized Dain was
serious. Only Donegal would think to change a hospital to a prison. “We also thought we might check the High Chamber but it’s being guarded.”

“
Come.” Dain headed for the door. “Let’s discuss this outside.”

IT WAS A relief to leave the cloying black smoke, the nauseating smells and the chaotic music of the Great Hall even though the weather outside had deteriorated further and rain fell in a cloud-like mist that seemed to cover everything with droplets of water. The dark clouds that had settled on the Tor were even denser now, making the world feel small and claustrophobic.

They walked through the line of sold
iers who guarded the Palace and followed the path away from the grand building toward the small thatch-roofed structure that served as a hospital for the sick and dying. It was at the zagishire that Johnny had spent most of his time being cared for by Fiona after his attack by the
liche
.

“
Where do you suppose Fachtna could be?” Rieker asked again. “I’m beginning to—”

“
Worry?” A familiar voice spoke from behind them. Larkin in her glamour as Fachtna followed them on the trail. With her skin glamoured dark and woody, and her hair the color of a dead leaf, she blended so completely with her surroundings she was almost invisible. “How sweet of you. And here I thought you didn’t love me anymore.” She used one of her long branch-like fingers to stroke Rieker’s cheek but he jerked away with a scowl.

“
I’ve been to see Fintan McPhee,” she said in a low voice as she joined their group.

“
My uncle? Why have you gone to see him?” Dain asked.

“
Long ago Fial saved Fintan’s son from being drowned by a river hag and Fintan promised he would do anything to help him. The favor Fial asked was to swear Kieran was his brother—thereby giving Fial a way to legitimize this alter-ego and to make it that much more difficult for Donegal to track him down. The two men have remained close and I thought if anyone might have heard from Fial, or had news of his imprisonment, it would be Fintan.”

“
But?” Dain seemed to already know what Larkin was going to tell them. “What did he say?”

Larkin shook her head.
“He’s heard nothing.”

They arrived at the
zagishire, but one glance told them the building was vacant. No light shone from any window, no smoke billowed from a chimney to indicate a fire burned within and the door hung ajar, swinging back and forth with the wind.

“
I saw a white dove in the Great Hall—I’m sure of it—” Tiki said as they gathered in a circle— “before it dissolved into ashes. Only the Jester can create birds like that—isn’t that true?”

The dark hollows that were Fachtna’s eyes turned toward Tiki.
“I saw it too. If the bird is of Fial’s creation then it must have a way to get out of wherever he is being held. Those birds can’t go through solid walls or doors—they would destroy themselves.”

“
So he must be alive and he must be here,” Dain said hopefully. “But where could they have him hidden?”

Rieker spoke up.
“Tiki and I thought perhaps Donegal might be holding him in the High Chamber.”

Larkin shook her head, the rust colored strands shifting with the movement. 
“The Chamber only gives the illusion of being endless. Fial is far too clever to be hidden in a place like that. He would escape before they shut the door.”

Tiki wanted to stamp her foot.
“But where, then?”

“
Donegal knows the Jester too well. He has put him in a prison of some sort to contain him and any threat he might pose.”

“
But where could the Jester be?” Tiki finally asked. “You and Dain know the Palace better than any of us. Where could they possibly hide him?”

Larkin
crossed her branch-like arms. “I don’t know. Donegal could have the entrance to the prison glamoured. That would make it difficult to spot.”

Tiki nodded
. “The doors that open off the hallway outside the Great Hall are glamoured. They look like they open onto the Night Garden but they don’t. Or at least some of them don’t.”

The faerie swung around to stare at Tiki with her hollowed-out eyes.
“And what rooms did you find?”

Like usual with Larkin, Tiki sensed there was more
to the question and wondered what information the faerie truly sought.

“
We found the Jester’s spying post above the Great Hall,” Rieker said, “but only one entrance and exit.  Could he be hidden within that room?”

A frown creased Larkin’s
weathered face. “I’m surprised you were able to find that room. Fial had concealed those entrances with powerful magic. You should have been diverted to the Night Garden.”

“
Well, we weren’t,” Rieker said. “Perhaps there is an advantage to being the true Seelie Queen.”

Larkin gave a derisive snort.
“And being Fial’s son couldn’t hurt either.”

Rieker remained silent.

“What about the other doors in that hallway?” Dain asked.  “Where do they lead?”

Larkin flicked her wrist as if to dismiss his question.
“A variety of places. None are designed to hide a prisoner.”

Tension filled the air as they sought answers that eluded them.

“We’ve less than five days to the full moon,” Larkin said. “Donegal is planning to use Fial’s death as the catalyst to start the final push to claim the Seelie Court. We’ve got to stop him.”

Dain crossed his arms
in frustration. “Where could he be?  He’s valuable – where would you hide something of value here?”

Tiki caught her breath.
The leprechauns had talked of hiding something of value. “I know where he is.”

Larkin
, Rieker and Dain all swiveled to look at her.

“
You do?” Dain said doubtfully.

“
Teek, what is it?” Rieker said.

“
Spare us the drama, guttersnipe and just tell us,” Larkin muttered.

Tiki looked at Dain.
“Didn’t you say the Tor used to have a waterfall? That the mountain is riddled with caves?”

Dain nodded.
“Yes, but—”

“
Bury it deep in the earth where it can’t be seen,
” Tiki quoted. “
No one will find it that way.”

“
What are you talking about?” Rieker asked.

“
I think you’re right,” Larkin nodded, her rough voice tinged with excitement. “That makes perfect sense.”

Tiki smiled
. “Donegal has hidden the Jester in a cave beneath the Palace of Mirrors.”