by Helen Harper
There were several murmurs of agreement and a few scattered claps but several of the higher-placed Carnegies cast anxious looks at Aifric. The good old Steward was very, very unhappy but he wasn’t about to let this lot see his distress. He pasted on a beatific smile and strode forward.
‘What a good idea! I agree wholeheartedly. We should let people watch. The Games are entertainment, after all.’ He slapped the Bull’s back and resolutely refused to look in my direction. ‘What say you, Clan Carnegie?’
There was a brief, awkward silence. The Carnegie Chieftain, a thin wiry man, pushed his way forward. ‘We can do that.’ He paused. ‘If the Steward demands it.’
Aifric laughed heartily. ‘Oh, I’m not demanding anything. The Games are yours to run. It’s merely a suggestion.’
‘Then that is what we shall do,’ Chieftain Carnegie said. ‘As always, Steward, you are very wise.’
The weak applause started again but soon changed into something louder and more enthusiastic. I didn’t know or care whether it was forced or genuine; I’d got what I wanted. With people watching my every move, I’d be as safe as I could be. It would be blatant dishonour for the Carnegies – or anyone else – to harm me.
I turned on my heel and walked out again, passing closely by Aifric. He didn’t say a word but I could feel his anger. I’d have enjoyed letting him believe that I’d fallen for his lies for a while longer but, let’s face it, the truth was going to come out at some point.
The chill night air was pleasant and briskly reinvigorated both my body and my mind. I didn’t pay much attention to where I was going; I was too busy working out what Aifric’s next move might be.
I was lost in thought, my head down and my attention elsewhere, when a cold voice emerged from the darkness. ‘Look who it is. The girl who’s too good to fight.’
I looked up, seeking the voice’s owner, and made out two shapes at the top of the hill. Tipsania and Byron. A flash of bitter jealousy zipped through me. For two people who were apparently faking their relationship, they spent a lot of time together. Did she know he’d kissed me? Or that he’d been alone with me a couple of hours ago when I was almost naked?
‘Having a little moonlit dalliance, are you?’ I called out, an edge to my tone. It annoyed me that I was annoyed; I could deal calmly with Aifric Moncrieffe who was trying to destroy me but, when it came to his son, my emotions overtook my rationality and sense.
‘We’re discussing strategy,’ Tipsania returned coolly. ‘If one of us beats you tomorrow, you’re going to lose. That’s what happens when you’re too afraid to fight. If you’d beaten that giant and passed Angus MacQuarrie, you’d be in a better position.’
I marched up to her. ‘I’m not afraid to fight,’ I said, getting in her face. ‘I’m just too good for it. I don’t have to throw my fists around to win these Games. When I’m standing on that dais and getting that prize, you’ll see exactly what I mean.’
‘Never going to happen,’ she sniffed. ‘Tell her, By.’
‘Tipsy…’
She threw up her arms. ‘Now you’re on her side? Why am I surprised?’ Her shoulders slumped. ‘This is important. We can’t let her win. You know that.’
There was such an air of dejection about her that I felt a ripple of sympathy. ‘You know, Tipsania,’ I said softly, ‘if you don’t win the Games, you could just ask your father to give you what you want. He does love you. I’m sure he’ll do whatever he can to keep you happy.’
‘And what would you know about it?’ she snapped. ‘Besides, it’s not up to him.’ She gestured at Byron in frustration. He looked away and she hissed at me, ‘Just because you don’t care what others think of you doesn’t mean the rest of us can afford to be like that.’ She picked up her skirts and walked off.
I sighed, sat down on the wall and watched her go. Byron sat next to me. ‘You know, she’s not as bad as she pretends.’
‘She was a real bitch to me when we were kids.’
‘I know. But kids can be mean.’
‘She’s not particularly nice now,’ I pointed out.
He sighed. ‘She has her reasons. You two hate each other for what happened when you were kids but don’t you think her father should be the one to take the blame?’
Everyone seemed to blame their parents for their woes and my father, Gale Adair, received far more censure than the others when he probably deserved it least. I exhaled. ‘The sins of our fathers should not be ours to bear.’
Byron’s hand touched mine lightly. ‘What your father did had nothing to do with you.’
I straightened and pulled away. ‘My father didn’t do anything, no matter what anyone else says. I wasn’t talking about him.’ I was talking about you, I added silently.
He didn’t answer, simply squeezed my hand and then let it drop. I was painfully aware of his proximity.
‘You’re going to marry her, aren’t you?’ I said. ‘If you don’t win the Games.’
For a long moment, he didn’t say anything, then he spoke heavily. ‘The Scrymgeours have a lot of money. The Moncrieffes don’t.’ He sighed again. ‘What are you going to ask for?’
I pressed my lips together. ‘The Adair lands,’ I said. ‘They were confiscated after what my father did but I’m still here. The Adairs aren’t dead and buried just yet.’
‘That’s noble of you.’
‘Is it?’
‘You could ask for money.’
I laughed softly. ‘I might be a thief but I know there’s more to life than gold.’ Byron grimaced.
‘There’s always another way to get what you need. Your father could resign the Stewardship,’ I said. ‘Concentrate on building up your Clan again.’
‘He’s too big hearted for that.’
I almost fell off the wall. Big hearted? Aifric Moncrieffe?
Byron sighed. ‘I’ve suggested it to him several times, but he takes his responsibilities as Steward too seriously. He won’t relinquish that position just for personal benefit.’
Because personal financial benefit didn’t come close to whatever other benefits he received from being Steward. When it came to his father, Byron was blind.
I took a deep breath. ‘He tried to kill me.’
‘Who?’
‘Your father.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Integrity.’
I sought his eyes. ‘It’s true,’ I said simply. ‘Lily MacQuarrie died from drinking poison that was intended for me.’
‘Integrity, I understand you think we might have a future together but attacking my father isn’t going to achieve that. Besides, you said William Kincaid tried to poison you.’
I pushed off from the wall and backed away. ‘I lied. And this isn’t about you and me, it’s about your father. You can’t trust him, Byron.’
‘He is a good man. He has a lot of honour.’
Fucking honour. ‘Smoke and mirrors. He’s an evil bastard and you need to open your eyes to the fact.’
‘Now hold on a minute…’ he said, obviously upset.
‘Stop shouting!’ came a shaky, high-pitched voice from the darkness on the other side of the hill. ‘You’re scaring the snowdrops!’
We both fell silent as Morna Carnegie appeared, taking small unsteady steps towards us. ‘This is a very important time for the flowers,’ she admonished. ‘It’s touch and go and they’re very sensitive.’
I stared at her but Byron gave a tight smile. ‘I apologise,’ he said.
She sniffed. ‘I don’t need you to apologise. I just need you to keep the noise down.’ She looked at me. ‘You’re the Adair girl.’
Bloody Carnegies. ‘Integrity,’ I said coldly.
‘Pfft! No need to get the hump. When you get to my age, everyone is either a girl or a boy.’ Her pupils dilated. ‘I knew your father, you know. He had respect for his environment.’ She cocked her head. ‘Don’t believe everything you hear about him.’
I drew in a breath. ‘Do you mean…’
Before I could
finish my sentence, she jerked back. ‘It was you,’ she whispered suddenly. ‘You took it. I can see it in you.’
Oh shite.
‘Took what, Morna?’ Byron asked.
‘My Gift. You stole my Gift.’
I shook my head. ‘No, no, no, I didn’t.’ My voice faltered. I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed. ‘I didn’t mean to. And I didn’t take all of it.’
‘You have no control!’ she snapped. ‘You can’t just go around stealing others’ magical powers!’
‘Integrity,’ Byron said slowly, ‘what is she talking about?’
‘I don’t know.’ I looked at him. He backed away as comprehension sank in.
‘Kirsty,’ he said. ‘It was you who did that to her.’
‘It wasn’t deliberate! I didn’t mean to, it just kind of happened.’
Even in the darkness, I could see his face grow pale. ‘You took my Gift too, didn’t you? Not all of it but you took some. Ripped it from me. That was why it felt so strange in the Artistry challenge. Are you really that desperate to win?’
‘It wasn’t like that!’ I protested, feeling the situation and my control slipping away. I was desperate for Byron not to think badly of me.
He gave me a long, cold stare. ‘You really are a bitch.’
‘Byron…’
He shook his head and stepped away. ‘Stay away from me, Integrity. I don’t want you anywhere near me.’
‘Wait, Byron.’
It was too late. He’d already whirled away and was striding back down the hill. My shoulders sank.
Morna Carnegie was still looking at me. ‘The truth will out, Integrity Adair,’ she said. ‘It always does.’
Her words were so similar to those that I’d snapped at Aifric that I froze and stared at her. She smiled then squeaked, ‘Excuse me.’ She reached inside her coat and pulled out a ball of brown fur. ‘I told you to stop doing that,’ she said sternly. I blinked. The fur quivered in her hands and she sighed. ‘Fine. But don’t go far.’
Morna bent down and released the ball. It wasted no time in scampering off, leaving behind a three-legged trail. My mouth dropped open. ‘Is that…?’
‘A haggis,’ she said dismissively. ‘Bloody things keep running off.’
‘Haggis? But…?’
Morna snapped her fingers in front of my face. ‘Focus on what’s important, girl! People your age get distracted too easily. No wonder you keep making such a mess of things.’ Before I could protest, she held up her hand. ‘Not everyone is against you,’ she said. ‘No matter what their fool Clan Chieftains are doing. Come and see me once all this is over. I can help you with your Gift.’
‘Gift?’ I scoffed. ‘Some Gift. Is stealing your magic a fucking Gift?’
She touched my arm. ‘The boy will come around.’ She watched me then said, almost to herself. ‘Maybe the prophecy is true.’
My eyes narrowed. ‘What prophecy? I keep hearing it mentioned but I don’t know what it is.’
‘You don’t know?’ She paused. ‘Then perhaps we should keep it that way. Knowledge is not always a good thing. You might kill yourself trying to fulfil it and then where would we be?’
In the ground most likely. The old woman was right though. I didn’t have time for mumbo-jumbo like this.
‘Come and find me,’ she repeated. Then she walked away.
Left alone on top of the hillside with nothing more than the haggis’s trail beside me, I felt more alone than ever. Morna could make all the overtures she wanted; whether I had my friends with me or not, Byron’s censure meant that the bottom had been ripped out of my world.
Chapter Nineteen
When day finally dawned on the morning of the last challenge, I wasn’t feeling any better. No matter what Lexie, Speck, Brochan, Taylor or Bob said, I just muttered dull responses. I was supposed to win this challenge for my father and my Clan, and to take the first step towards righting all the wrongs that had been done them, but I couldn’t muster the energy to care right now.
Taylor’s concern was palpable. ‘This challenge is as much about brain work and intelligence, Tegs. You need to snap out of this funk.’
‘Yeah!’ Bob agreed. He jumped onto my shoulder and started dancing. ‘No funk! Let’s get funky!’
I ignored him. ‘We need to go,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to be late.’
Lexie looked miserable. ‘Tegs…’
‘I’ll be fine,’ I told her. I lifted my head and looked at them. ‘I will do this. I’ve not come this far to fail at the final hurdle.’
‘That’s my girl,’ Taylor boomed but he still looked worried. My blues were dampening everyone else’s spirits. I took several deep breaths and focused.
‘Sorry,’ I said. I shook my head. ‘I’m letting everything get to me.’
‘Tell us a joke.’
I tried to think but even my cheesiest lines had deserted me. ‘I’m all out of them.’
Speck brightened. ‘Things aren’t all bad then.’
Everyone grinned and their warm camaraderie did its usual job. The tight knot inside me loosened and I smiled slightly. As they beamed at me like idiots, I started to relax and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning back. Brochan slapped me on the back in a gesture of solidarity. Unfortunately, he didn’t know his own strength and I went flying into Speck, who tried to dodge out of the way but ended up tangled in his own feet and crashed against Lexie. The pair of them went down in a mass of writhing limbs.
‘Speck, darling,’ came Lexie’s muffled voice, ‘I know you’re hot for me but perhaps we should wait until we have some privacy. And until I’ve shaved my legs.’
The warlock extricated himself awkwardly, pulling back and glaring. She got to her feet, curtseyed and gave him a saucy wink.
Bob and I started to giggle. I clamped my hand over my mouth to try and stop myself. Speck continued to glare but his eyes flickered with amusement – and what I thought might be a tinge of longing.
I straightened up. I was going to win these damned Games and I’d worry later about what happened next. There would be time enough for apologies and recriminations once I had the prize in my hands. If could get back the Adair lands, I’d be making headway towards returning my Clan to where they deserved to be.
*
The remaining competitors congregated at a tent by the entrance to the main field, where we’d been a few days earlier for the opening ceremony. As we entered, we were patted down; we were not permitted to bring in anything for this challenge. I was searched more thoroughly than the others but I submitted without complaint; if they didn’t find anything on me now, they couldn’t plant anything on me later.
As I looked round, it seemed that the numbers were considerably depleted. Whether it was because of injuries sustained in the Adventure challenge or because some contestants knew that they’d never win, I estimated that we were now down around seventy in total - almost half the original number.
Just like last time, Byron and Tipsania hovered at the front. One of the Scrymgeours was patting Tipsania’s brow with a small towel, like she was some kind of prize fighter. I rolled my eyes. Ridiculous.
‘We’ve lost a lot of people,’ Angus murmured by my side.
I nodded. ‘But there are still too many more.’
‘I wouldn’t worry about it. You’re the only Chieftain competing so it stands to reason that you’ll beat everyone else. Besides, I caught a whisper that the number of competitors is about to dwindle even more.’
I frowned but he merely smiled and pointed to the front. Byron was studiously avoiding looking in my direction; his focus was fixed on the Carnegie official who’d just appeared from the tunnel.
‘Clan competitors!’ the official called.
It was difficult to hear him over the hubbub and he wasn’t throwing his voice. Byron held up a hand and everyone fell silent. I bit down the temptation to start chattering loudly to Angus, not because I wanted to annoy Byron but because the naughty child inside me would do almost anyt
hing to get his attention. What was wrong with me? I wasn’t a lovesick teenager; hell, I’d never been like this even when I was a teenager. I hated myself ‒ but I still wished he’d look at me.
‘To make the final round as fair and interesting as possible,’ the Carnegie official intoned, ‘we are going to weed out the chaff. Only the leading competitor from each Clan will be allowed to compete in the Acumen challenge.’
My brow furrowed. ‘Did he really just call almost fifty Sidhe nobles chaff?’ I murmured to Angus. ‘That’s brave.’
There were a lot of grumbles and hissed complaints. A lot of people were extremely annoyed and I didn’t blame them. If these Games were all about the honour of competing against your peers, a lot of Sidhe had effectively been tossed into disrepute.
The Carnegie official was oblivious. ‘Unless you are the sole Clan representative, you must leave the area,’ he said, without a trace of emotion.
I shook my head. They just didn’t get it. They harped on and on about honour and how important it was, and in the next breath they made it clear that unless you were in with a chance of winning, you might as well not participate. I was surprised that they didn’t chuck out everyone apart from me, Tipsania and Byron but perhaps that would be step too far even for this lot.
The discarded competitors filed out. When Jamie passed me, he raised his eyebrows and said, ‘Good luck.’
That was nice of him. Obviously, Byron hadn’t shared his insights about me with the rest of his Clan. Unfortunately Jamie’s friendly overtures were followed by one of the Scrymgeour competitors hissing something about wanting to see my entrails pulled out.
When the tent was empty, and there were only twenty-five of us left, the Carnegie Sidhe spoke again. ‘There are only three competitors whose accrued points put them in a position to win. If the rest of you want to drop out, go ahead. This is a short challenge and it won’t be long before we have our winner.’ No one moved. He shrugged as if we were all idiots and continued. ‘You will each take a number from this bag. The number you take corresponds to your assigned door. When the klaxon sounds, you will go through it. Your goal is to find the red button and push it.’ He stared at us. ‘Simple, really.’
