by Helen Harper
‘Integrity!’
I turned to see Lexie jogging towards me, her blue hair swinging in the breeze. ‘That was brilliant! Did you know the Polwarths were going to do that?’
I waited until she caught up. ‘Not a clue,’ I admitted.
‘Maybe they’re one of the decent Clans,’ she said. ‘They can’t all be bad, right?’
I thought of the MacQuarries and smiled. ‘No, I guess not.’
‘Did you…?’ Her voice faltered slightly. She pointed at the dead flowers.
I pushed back my hair. ‘Yeah,’ I said reluctantly. ‘Not the destructive part. I took the growing part though. I didn’t mean to. It just … happened.’
She nodded. ‘We all saw the old woman pause.’
I sighed. ‘I’m going to have to learn control. I can’t just steal from people whenever I see them use their Gift.’
Lexie blinked. ‘Why ever not?’
I considered her question. ‘Their Gift is not a thing,’ I said finally. ‘It’s not a cold, hard object. I’m taking away part of them and leaving them weaker because of it. It just feels … wrong.’
I could see she was about to start arguing but then something caught my eye. ‘Look,’ I said suddenly.
‘What?’
I bent down, my fingers lightly brushing the ground. ‘Here. They tried to obliterate all those flowers but there’s one left. One survived. You can try to destroy everything but it’s a lot harder than people realise.’ I grinned. ‘After all, I’m still standing. Maybe the will to survive is greater than the will to destroy.’
Lexie looked at me. ‘Tell that to the dodo,’ she snorted.
*
By the time we made it to the main tent and caught up with Speck, Brochan and Taylor, drinks had been distributed by tartan-clad servants. Taylor was staring morosely at his glass. ‘All that money they put into these Games,’ he muttered. ‘All that time and effort and they couldn’t even get hold of a decent malt for their guests.’
I laughed. He gazed at me balefully. ‘I mean it, Tegs. I’m thrilled you managed to get the three votes you needed, but seriously.’ He held the glass up. ‘It’s been months since I had a decent whisky.’
Brochan rolled his eyes and looked away. ‘You shouldn’t be drinking anything that doesn’t belong to us.’
‘It came out of the same bottle as everyone else’s. I’m not entirely without wit,’ Taylor answered benignly.
‘Sorry, Taylor. I did try to get you something better beyond the Veil,’ I said. ‘I found an old dusty bottle of something called Auchen…’ My brow furrowed, as I tried to remember. ‘Auchen-something. I had to use it to save that Fomori demon.’
Taylor stared at me as if I were mad. ‘You used malt whisky to save the life of a Fomori demon? Malt whisky from the Lowlands? That would have been more than three hundred years old? That no-one has drunk in ten generations? You used that to save a demon who tried to kill you?’
I shrugged. ‘Yep. Sorry.’ Clearly I wasn’t.
‘What was the name of it?’ Brochan asked. There was an odd tone in his voice.
This time I managed to wrap my tongue around the name. ‘Auchentoshan.’
‘You’re sure?’
I nodded. ‘Yeah.’ Brochan looked troubled. ‘What?’ He didn’t answer. ‘Brochan, what is it?’
His gills, visible on his neck, tightened. ‘When I was stuck out at sea, I used to try to calm my nerves by drinking.’
‘Well,’ Speck said, ‘you were surrounded by liquid.’
‘Leave the jokes to Tegs,’ Brochan growled.
I brightened. ‘Really?’ At the looks on their faces, I returned to the subject at hand. ‘Sorry, Brochan. Go on.’
He exhaled. ‘The point is that I know a lot about whisky. There were only five Lowland whiskies in production before the Fissure and I can assure you that Auchentoshan, whatever it is, wasn’t one of them.’
Lexie shrugged. ‘So?’
‘So someone’s been brewing.’
‘The Fomori are probably bored. There can’t be much fun to be had across the Veil.’
‘No,’ Speck said, shaking his head, ‘Fomori demons don’t drink.’
Lexie stepped backwards. ‘What? Never?’
‘How do you know that, Speck?’ I asked quietly.
‘It was one of the many reasons they gave for the Fissure. They didn’t want to be near heathens such as ourselves who partook of such evil substances.’
‘The evil Fomori demons brought war against Scotland and stole half our country because of the demon drink?’
He look at her, exasperated. ‘Hardly. But it was one of their excuses for what happened.’
Lexie blew air out through her pursed lips. ‘ ‘Excuses’ is right. Evil substances! Honestly!’
I nibbled my bottom lip. Speck knew his history. All the same… ‘It was three hundred years ago, Speck. The Fomori might have changed their attitude towards booze.’
He shrugged. ‘Sure, they might have. But put that into context with the message you found on the wall of that house and…’
‘And there weren’t just people trapped on other side of the Veil immediately after the Fissure. Their descendants are probably still there now.’
‘Or their descendants at least.’
I tugged at my scarf, suddenly feeling hot. ‘Everyone assumed the original inhabitants were all slaughtered when the Fomori demons invaded.’
‘Yeah.’
‘I didn’t see anyone when I was there, only the demons. If there are still humans, pixies, even Sidhe beyond the Veil, then…’ I couldn’t finish the sentence.
‘Then,’ Brochan said grimly, ‘they’re probably being kept as slaves.’
Lexie’s hand grasped at her throat. ‘That’s awful,’ she gasped.
‘What do we do about this?’ Speck finally asked. ‘We can’t just leave them there. If they are there.’
My gaze flitted towards Aifric Moncrieffe. He caught me watching him and beckoned me over. I sighed. ‘In an ideal world, I would tell the Steward and he’d deal with it.’
Brochan followed my gaze. ‘Except the current Steward is him.’ His voice was laced with disgust. ‘He’s not going to care.’
‘He might. Just because he wants to kill me doesn’t mean he won’t want to know about the Lowlands.’
‘You can’t trust him, Tegs.’
There was a glimmer of irritation from Aifric that I hadn’t immediately jumped at his command. ‘I know.’
‘And how are you going to explain to him that you visited the Lowlands? If you tell him about Dagda’s harp, he’ll probably make the Carnegies introduce a new rule to prevent you from using it.’
‘I think the fate of thousands of people who might be held in subjugation and slavery is more important than winning these Games, regardless of what I could do with the prize.’ I wrinkled my nose. ‘And I don’t have to tell him the whole truth, do I?’
I walked over to Aifric, weaving in and out of the packed crowds. Most people saw me coming and leapt out of the way – they were probably still afraid I was going to boost all their fine jewels and fripperies. I had half a mind to make notes so that I could stalk them once the Games were over and do just that. It would serve them right. There again, I probably didn’t need any notes; Speck, Lexie, Brochan and Taylor had probably already made a comprehensive list all on their own.
‘Steward Aifric,’ I said when I reached him.
He deliberately took several moments to react, focusing on the conversation beside him. It was a childish manoeuvre to make me understand that if I was going to keep him waiting, he’d do the same to me. I wondered idly if that meant he was dropping the ‘friend’ act but when he finally turned to me with a beatific smile, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen.
‘Integrity,’ he boomed. ‘I’m so pleased that you’ve made it through and that you’ll compete.’
Yeah, yeah. ‘Me too.’
He took my hand, drawing me to the si
de. I felt a shiver of revulsion at the touch of his skin on mine but I could dissemble when I needed to. If I could walk into a gambling den filled with trolls and Bauchans and stroll out with all their hard-earned cash, I could handle Aifric Moncrieffe.
‘I must apologise for not speaking up to endorse your bid to compete in the Games,’ he said quietly. ‘I thought it would look better to the rest of the Chieftains if you had support from others rather than me. After all,’ he added, squeezing my fingers, ‘everyone knows how highly I regard you.’
The man had no shame. ‘Oh,’ I said, the very picture of innocence, ‘so you knew that Polwarth, Scrymgeour and MacQuarrie would give me their votes?’
‘Of course! I’m the Steward, I know everything that goes on.’ He lowered his head. ‘Between you and me, I did encourage the Bull to add his voice to the others. It was the least I could do.’
Oh, you stupid, stupid man. ‘Thank you,’ I murmured. ‘It’s much appreciated.’
‘You’re welcome.’ He smiled at me magnanimously.
‘There is one thing I need to talk to you about,’ I said, treading carefully.
‘Oh yes?’
I bit my lip. ‘I recently had cause to pass through the Veil.’
Whatever Aifric had been expecting me to say, it obviously wasn’t that. He blinked several times and stepped back. ‘You…’ He shook his head. ‘Why would you do that?’
I thought about what Taylor had said. There was no reason not to live up to expectations. I shrugged. ‘Oh, looking for riches that I could sell on the black market.’
His mouth tightened. ‘That was … unwise, my dear. It’s a very dangerous place.’
‘Oh, so you’ve been there too?’
‘Goodness gracious, of course not. I don’t think anyone has visited the Lowlands in generations.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Did you find anything of value?’
‘Nothing to speak of,’ I demurred.
‘And did you see any Fomori?’
There was something in his eyes which made me pause. It wasn’t eagerness exactly, but whatever it was put me on edge. ‘No,’ I lied. ‘I didn’t stay long and there was very little to see.’ Which was sort of true; it had been very dark.
If I hadn’t been watching him so closely, I’d have missed the flash of relief. ‘That’s probably for the best, my dear. I dread to think what those vile creatures would have done if they’d spotted you.’
‘Indeed. Anyway, I did see something which you should know about.’ I explained about the message written in blood and the bottle of Auchentoshan whisky, although I didn’t say where I’d found it.
‘And do you have this whisky now?’ he inquired.
‘Er, no. I left it behind.’ In a manner of speaking.
‘I wouldn’t worry about it,’ Aifric said, patting my shoulder and setting my teeth on edge.
I pressed ahead. ‘But it could mean that there are people there. Not just demons but humans and Sidhe and...’
‘If that were the case, we’d know about it.’ He smiled. ‘The youth of today. I was the same at your age. I remember I went to my father and asked to lead an expedition into the Lowlands to see if we could negotiate with the Fomori. They can’t be reasoned with, though. And there’s no one of our kind there, I can assure you of that.’
‘But…’
‘Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. Concentrate on the Games, my dear. Who knows? You may acquit yourself well enough to place.’
I opened my mouth to argue further but he’d caught someone else’s eye and was moving away. He strode off and I stared after him. He may not have given the reaction I wanted but I’d certainly learned something from our little chat.
I twirled a curl of my hair round my little finger. Aifric was right about one thing: I had to concentrate on the Games for now. Once they were over, however, I reckoned I’d be making another visit beyond the Veil. I didn’t need his help.
Chapter Eleven
The five of us stood in the main hall, eyeing the gigantic board displaying the Games’ league table. Every Clan was listed there, along with each competitor’s name. Not only was I down at the bottom but there was no denying how insignificant Clan Adair was compared to the others.
‘Look on the bright side, Tegs,’ Lexie told me. ‘At least you don’t have to compete against people you actually like.’
Someone jostled me sharply from behind. I spun round to see a MacBain competitor giving me a shrug in a vague – and obviously faked ‒ apology. I narrowed my eyes. Whether they had proof or not, they clearly still believed I had stolen their Chieftain’s necklace.
‘You know,’ I said loudly, ‘I had a great joke about fighting.’ The MacBain guy stiffened. I glanced at Lexie. ‘Except all I can remember is that it had a good punchline.’
‘Keep that up, Tegs,’ she growled, with a toss of her blue hair, ‘and I’ll be the one punching you.’
I grinned. Brochan and Taylor rolled their eyes. Speck didn’t seem in the slightest bit interested. ‘This board is running off a simple interface,’ he said, oblivious to everything else. ‘I could easily hack it and…’
‘Let’s not do that, Speck,’ I interrupted, before someone overheard him and mistook his techy musings for a plan to cheat. ‘We’re doing this by the book, remember? It’s the only way I won’t get thrown out.’
‘I’m just saying,’ he mumbled.
‘It won’t matter,’ I said decisively. ‘Once I play Dagda’s harp, my name will be at the top of the board. And it’ll stay there.’
Brochan rumbled, ‘We still don’t know if the harp will work. You’ve not tried it yet.’
‘Bob didn’t think it was a good idea to test it.’
‘I don’t trust that genie.’
‘It’s not as if we have any alternatives. If the harp doesn’t work, what am I going to do? Sing?’ Brochan’s answering look was enough.
‘If every competitor gets five minutes to perform and there are one hundred and twenty, not including you, it’s going to be an age before this first challenge is over,’ Lexie complained. ‘Do we have to sit through every single act?’
‘I certainly hope not. I was planning to do a little … digging while everyone else is otherwise occupied. I’ll watch the first couple then sidle out.’
Speck pouted. ‘But you told us we couldn’t nick anything!’
‘I’m not going to sneak out to steal. I’m going to spy.’
‘Like James Bond?’
‘Without the car chases. Or guns. Or explosions.’
Speck brightened. ‘Great! I’ll be Q. Taylor can be M.’
‘Who am I then?’ Lexie asked, her hands on her hips. ‘And if you say Moneypenny, I swear I’ll…’
‘Enough.’
Taylor arched an eyebrow. ‘Why are you bothering to watch the first few performances, Tegs?’
‘Because that’s when people will see me. They’ll pay attention to me sitting down and won’t notice later when I slip out.’
He nodded. ‘Right. I understand.’ His brow furrowed and he glanced at the others. ‘Which Clan is performing first?’
Lexie cocked her head. ‘I have no idea.’ She shaded her eyes and looked up at the league board. ‘Whose name is that at the top? My eyesight isn’t what it used to be.’
‘I think it starts with an M,’ Speck said slowly.
‘MacBain?’
‘No. Is it Moncrieffe?’
I sighed. ‘You lot are very funny. Not.’
They all ignored me, even Brochan. ‘So you’re saying that Byron Moncrieffe will perform first?’
Taylor made a great show of surprise. ‘I suppose he will. But Tegs wouldn’t be interested in watching him.’
‘No. She doesn’t go for pretty-boy types. Besides, there’s a good chance he’s working with his father and trying to kill her.’ Lexie grinned.
‘Guys…’
‘Not to mention,’ Speck said, ‘that sooner or later he’s going to notice that his G
ift has been, er, stolen.’
‘Only part of his Gift,’ I snapped. ‘And I didn’t mean to do it.’
They threw each other amused looks. ‘Don’t worry, Tegs,’ Lexie said loudly. ‘I have a lot of experience with men who are too sexy for their own good.’ She winked at Speck and he coughed, his cheeks turning scarlet. ‘I’ll hold you back if you can’t stop yourself from rushing him when he walks out with his gold hair ruffling in the wind and his kilt picking up ever so slightly to show off those muscular thighs.’
‘You are hysterical,’ I said flatly.
‘To be fair to Tegs,’ she mused, ‘his eyes are a wonderful shade of green.’
‘More emerald, I’d say.’ Taylor rubbed his fingers together.
Brochan winked. ‘And with that tanned skin…’
‘Hey,’ Byron said from behind me, ‘checking up on the competition, are you?’
I froze, my cheeks turning as red as Speck’s. I slowly turned, meeting those very same green eyes. Lexie stifled a giggle.
‘Hi,’ I said stiffly.
Byron frowned, obviously confused. ‘Are you ready for the Artistry challenge?’ he asked.
‘Pretty much,’ I muttered.
‘Hi, Byron,’ Lexie said coyly, hooking her arm through his and smiling up at him.
He scratched his chin. ‘Uh, hi.’
‘Don’t you think Integrity is looking rather wonderful this morning?’
I was going to kill her. Byron’s gaze flicked to me, seeming to understand what was going on. ‘I think she looks stunning. As always.’
‘Her hair is very soft,’ Lexie continued. ‘She has a new shampoo. Touch it.’ She grinned. ‘It smells lovely too.’
I cleared my throat. ‘I am going to get the harp.’
‘Aw, but Tegs, it’s only polite to reciprocate and tell Byron how wonderful he’s looking this morning too.’
I spun on my heel and walked away. Who needed enemies when you had friends like those? Honestly.
