The Seven Year King (The Faerie Ring #3) (30 page)

“You’re wrong, Larkin.” Tiki replied, through clenched teeth. “Now is
not
the time, because I refuse to be intimidated by your schemes any longer. What we
will
do, is call a meeting of the Court in the High Chamber in thirty minutes. You may share what you’ve learned with all of us at that time and together we’ll formulate a plan.” Tiki slipped her hand through Rieker’s arm and turned away.

“Is that so?” Larkin’s voice was deadly. “Even when it involves your precious Clara?”

Tiki jerked around—but Larkin had vanished.

Chapter Forty

“M
amie.” Arthur pushed himself out of the armchair, where he sat reading by the fire, to greet the older woman. “What a pleasant surprise to see you. It’s been much too long. Are you well?”

“I’m fine, dear boy, just fine.” As a lady-in-waiting to Victoria since she had ascended to the throne at age eighteen, Mamie had known Arthur and Leo all of their lives and the Queen of England for over thirty-five years.

Arthur held his arm out, beckoning the older woman. “Please come in. I’ll ring for tea, but I’m afraid Mother has gone to Windsor with Baby.”

“I’ve not come to see Victoria or your sister,” Macha Gallagher said. A diminutive woman, with a cloud of white hair wreathing a face soft with wrinkles, her voice was strong and her eyes snapped with intelligence. “It’s you and your brother I’ve come for. Where’s Leo?”

“Oh.” Arthur stepped back in surprise. “Best to have a seat then, while I round him up. I don’t know where he’s got off to at the moment, but he can’t be far. He’s still not himself since the attack.”

It was only a few minutes before Arthur returned with his younger brother.

“Mamie?” Leo entered the room, his brow drawn down in a frown. “Is everything all right?”

“Leopold.” The elderly woman held her hands out to the prince. “There you are. I need your help, young man.”

Leo knelt down next to her chair. “What is it?”

“Your pretty friend? The one with the mark on her wrist? Tara Dunbar?”

“Yes?”

“We need to find and warn her. She is in terrible danger.”

Chapter Forty-One

“Y
ou play a dangerous game with Larkin,” Rieker said quietly as they walked to the High Chamber of Lords and Ladies, half an hour later.

“I’m sick of her manipulations,” Tiki retorted, but a wisp of fear burned deep inside her. Why was Larkin bringing up Clara again? The faerie had mentioned she ‘knew about Clara’ last April, when they’d been at Buckingham Palace and she’d wanted Tiki to go to the Otherworld with her. Another scheme, Tiki tried to tell herself, but the faerie had seemed awfully sure of herself. When it was difficult, if not impossible, for faeries to lie, did Larkin possess the ability to sidestep the truth so convincingly? Or was she speaking some form of the truth?

“Are you sure now is the time you want to introduce me to Court?”

“Yes,” Tiki said. “Especially now.”

The guards swept the doors open at Tiki’s approach and announced her with a stamp of their staffs. Beside her, Rieker inhaled sharply as he viewed the forest-like chamber for the first time. The room was cool as though the breath of Fall hung in the air. Sunlight cast shafts of light through the trees, lighting the gold and amber leaves that carpeted the floor. Birdsong floated in the distance, more sparse today than the previous times she’d been in the room, as if the birds had flown south before an early winter.

“Thank you.” Tiki nodded at both guards as she passed through the door. “I’d like another chair brought next to mine for my advisor.” She paused to make eye contact with the first guard.
“Now.”

“Yes, Majesty.” He bowed and hurried off to do her bidding.

“Majesty.” The group murmured, as they climbed to their feet at the sight of Tiki. Larkin was seated at the far end of the table, opposite from where Tiki’s chair sat.

“Thank you.” Tiki inclined her head. “Please be seated.” She stifled a cough and took Rieker’s hand to pull him forward until he stood next to her side. “I’ve brought my most trusted advisor with me today.” Her voice was beginning to turn hoarse and she had to strain to be heard. “Allow me to introduce William of London. He will be accompanying me to Court in the future.” Tiki stood next to her chair, trying to manage a serene look, but she could no longer hold back the coughing spasm that stormed in her chest and she had to turn away as her shoulders shook with the attack.

Whispers filled the room as the men and women seated along the table discussed the news and covertly glanced at Rieker from the corners of their eyes.

“Pardon Majesty—” Fintan McPhee leaned forward so he could see both Tiki and Rieker— “is he fey?”

“We haven’t inducted him into Court,” another man harrumphed. “Highly irregular.”

A woman’s voice could be heard to say, “We don’t even know who he is.” The buzz in the room grew louder and more discordant.

“How do we know if we can trust him?” Someone else called out. “These are dangerous times. Spies could be anywhere.”

“Silence.” Larkin’s voice rang through the room. She pushed herself to her feet and the talking subsided as abruptly as it had started. All heads swiveled toward her. “I will vouch for William.” Her gaze swept those seated at the table. “I attended his birth, here in the Otherworld. I know his brother well. A braver Seelie does not exist.” She motioned at Rieker. “William has much to learn of our ways, but he can be trusted.” She shifted her gaze to Tiki and her expression grew cold, as if the ability to trust the queen was in doubt.

Tiki hadn’t noticed the Jester when they’d entered the room, but now, the gaudily-dressed man jumped to his feet from where he sat in the corner.

“A consort!” he cried with delight. “Tell us—who might William’s brother be?”

A sudden suspicion filled Tiki that the Jester knew perfectly well who Rieker’s brother was but was trying to divert the group’s attention.

There was a long moment of silence before Larkin turned from her perusal of Tiki and answered the older man. “Dain O’Brien and our William—” she nodded at Rieker— “are twin brothers. Sons of the late Breanna and a mortal lover.”

The Jester clapped his hands together in delight. “Ah, another sordid tale of decadence and star-crossed love.”

“Lady Breanna of Connacht?” Fintan McPhee asked in surprise.

Beside Tiki, Rieker stiffened at this additional clue to his mother’s heritage.

“The same,” Larkin replied. “Dain was raised by Kieran McPhee.” She raised her eyebrows and gave the man a pointed look. “Your brother, I believe.”

“Yes, Mum,” the man mumbled, suddenly looking unsure. “I know Dain well—but a brother? It’s the first I’ve heard of this…”

“Shortly after his birth, William was sent to London with his father by the order of Eridanus, ruler of the Seelie Court at the time. In his infinite wisdom, Eridanus could see the advantage of William’s dual citizenship, if you will.” Larkin looked from one faerie to the next, a challenge in her expression. “I’m sure each of you can appreciate the benefit of having one of our own within the inner circle of Buckingham Palace?”

Gasps of disbelief filled the air. “Buckingham Palace?” Their attention swung back to Rieker, eyeing him with a new level of curiosity. “He knows the Queen of England?”

“Well, William?” Larkin raised her hand to him. “Do you know Queen Victoria?”

Rieker nodded. “I do.”

“Would she trust you, do you think—” a smile played at the corners of Larkin’s lips— “with the secret of our alliance? Perhaps as a liaison between our worlds?”

Rieker’s lips curved in a charming smile, as beguiling as his good looks. “I believe she would.”

“Yes.” Larkin shifted her focus back to the group seated around the table. “I think so, too. As you know, Dain has been captured by Donegal and at this very moment is being held in the White Tower, in an unknown location, doomed to be the sacrifice of the Wild Hunt on Samhain. I think it is to our advantage to have William work with us to free Dain before that date.”

Larkin stared at Rieker for a long moment and her voice softened. “Donegal has murdered the rest of William’s family. We can rest assured that he seeks the Winter King’s demise as much as we do.” With a flourish, she sat back down. “I vote to induct him.”

Heads leaned together. Conversation buzzed around the room like a swarm of a thousand bees. After a few moments, Levi MacLia, a tall, handsome faerie with brown wavy locks and aristocratic features, stood. “We agree to put it to a vote.”

Tiki tensed. What if they voted no? What would she do then? She needed Rieker by her side. Could she demand that he be present?

The discussion flew back and forth across the table so fast it was hard for Tiki to follow. There was a chorus of ‘ayes’ and Levi spoke again, this time his tone more formal.

“William of London—”

“Lord
William,” Tiki interjected. A few eyebrows raised around the table before Levi continued.

“Lord William of London, son of the late Lady Breanna of Connacht, we issue you a formal invitation to join Queen Tara MacLochlan’s Seelie Court. What say you?”

Rieker gave a short bow. “Thank you very much. I accept.”

Levi nodded at Tiki. “Majesty, would you like to preside over his induction?”

Tiki blinked in surprise. She’d missed the induction for Fintan McPhee. She had no idea what the ceremony entailed. “I bow to your greater eloquence, Lord MacLia.” Tiki inclined her head. “Please proceed.”

The induction was swift and simple. The Jester pulled something from his vest and handed it to Levi. Everyone stood. The faerie slowly unfurled a flag that appeared to be a colorful map of silk with three symbols drawn on different sections. Tiki spied a crown, a harp and what looked like a wing before the faerie attached the flag to a standard and rested the fabric upon Rieker’s left shoulder.

“With this flag, we tie you to the five corners of the Otherworld, upon which you pledge to protect and defend to your dying breath, all things Seelie and blessed.” He moved the flag to Rieker’s right shoulder. “You swear to guard and preserve The Plain of Sunlight and those who inhabit that space, as well as our most blessed queen whether she occupies the Plain of Sunlight, the Palace of Mirrors or any other place.”

Rieker stood tall and strong. “I do.”

“By your bequeath, we shall mark you as a Lord of the High Chamber and from this day forward, you shall bear the mantel of the Seelie Court.”

Someone produced a cape, the same rich burgundy color as those which the other lords and ladies wore, and affixed it around Rieker’s neck.

“Henceforth, you shall be known as Lord William of London, Advisor to the Queen.” Applause spattered around the room and a few banged their cups against the wooden table. Almost immediately, the guard appeared with the chair Tiki had requested some thirty minutes previously.

Tiki looked around the table. “Thank you,” she said. “Welcome Lord William.” Clutching her skirt she finally sat. Everyone in the room followed suit.

“Now, let us begin.” Tiki tipped her head in acknowledgement to Larkin. Once again the faerie had surprised her, providing critical support when Tiki needed it most, at a time when she had expected it least. “Lady Larkin has news of Donegal and his threats. Please share with Court the knowledge you’ve gained.”