“Yes.”
“Can you get it for me, please.” She tried not to snap at him. It was not his fault.
The glass made a huge improvement. Her guess at two letters had been wrong. She tried again.
By my wisdom and power, I, Mathanwy, have called forth a new world, for the glory of my name.
He certainly had not suffered from excessive modesty. Lori was about to continue when a click made her jump. She twisted around, almost falling off her seat. The scroll slipped from her hand and rolled under the table. One of the bookcases had swung out, revealing a dark opening in the wall. A frigging secret passage. I don’t believe it. She eyed the new entrance nervously, waiting for Rianna to appear. What did the queen want, and why come to the study this way?
But she was wrong. Gilwyn was the one who emerged, looking less angry, but no cleaner than the last time she had seen him. He froze, clearly as surprised as she was, although he recovered quicker.
“Two of my aunt’s pets.” He snapped his fingers. Gaius immediately slumped forward over the table, unconscious.
“What have you…” Lori slipped off the stool and backed away.
Doubt flickered across Gilwyn’s face, quickly hidden by a sneering smile. “Or one pet and one lackey.” He sidled cautiously around the edge of the room, his eyes fixed on Lori’s throat. The bookcase swung closed behind him. “I don’t suppose there’s any point me asking you to take that thing off your neck?”
“None whatsoever.”
“I thought as much.”
Gilwyn had not expected to find an unenthralled human in the study, that much was clear. He was trying to act nonchalant, but there was no missing the way he maintained his distance from her and the iron torc. For Lori’s part, she was more than happy to keep the table between them.
“Aren’t you going to ask what I’m doing here?” Gilwyn asked.
“I assume you’re trying to escape.”
“Ooooh. I see my darling aunt picked you for your brains as well as your beauty.” He tugged on the cabinet door. “Unlocked. That speeds things up.” He smiled at her. “Do you want to know how I escaped from the dungeon?”
“How?”
“I’m Morgaine’s true heir. Tell my aunt that when you see her.”
Lori had no intention of finding out how Rianna would react to his claim.
“Caersiddi is mine by right. I know every secret hidden in its stones. My mother wasn’t as gullible as my aunt thinks. She could see what was coming and made sure I knew the escape route from the dungeon. One of my ancestors had the foresight to think it might be needed. My aunt isn’t the first usurping traitor in Annwyn’s history. My mother’s biggest mistake was in assuming she would be questioned before being killed.”
While talking, Gilwyn transferred the scrolls to a small sack. Once the pigeonholes were empty he tightened the drawstring. “Unfortunately for my mother, my brilliant aunt wasn’t clever enough to work out that ‘kill first, ask questions after’ only works when you’re not bothered about getting answers. She must have been so upset when she realised she’d murdered the one person who could tell her how to decode these scrolls.”
Did that mean Gilwyn did not know either? “What do you want them for?”
“I don’t want to leave them with my aunt. Not that she’d have a clue what to do with them.” Gilwyn glanced at the table. “Though I can see she’s been trying. It must be giving her a headache, poor dear. No wonder she’s left the tidying up to you and has gone to bed.”
Lori decided not to enlighten him.
“My aunt is not just a usurper, she’s a stupid one as well. My mother should have executed her, first chance she got. I won’t make the same mistake. You can tell my aunt that as well.”
Another message Lori would not be passing on.
Gilwyn picked up a small cloth bag from another shelf and closed the cabinet. He continued edging around the room.
Lori wanted to keep the table between them, but dared not get too close to Gaius, just in case Gilwyn could control thralls well enough to have him attack her. The iron torc clearly unnerved Gilwyn, but the only way to use it as a weapon was to take it off and throw it at him, which definitely fell into the category of last resort, and she was not there yet.
However, Gilwyn’s goal was not her, but the door to the gallery. That was fine. Lori was more than happy for him to leave. But instead of going, he took a pinch of powder from the pouch and threw it at the door.
“I don’t want you raising the alarm.” Gilwyn spoke as if it was an explanation.
What had he done?
“And now, I’ll be on my way. Good night.” He gave an ironic bow and backed onto the balcony.
Gilwyn again opened the pouch, this time sprinkling powder from it over his own head. It sparkled in the starlight, like glitter. As Lori watched, his figure changed, becoming shorter, squatter, darker. His chest ballooned out. His legs shrunk. His arms flattened and twisted back flat along his sides. His face pulled out into a point, a beak.
A huge raven stood on the balcony.
Lori watched in amazement as the bird hopped onto the balustrade and opened its wings. The raven launched itself into the air. By the time she had scrambled onto the balcony, Gilwyn was gone, a black bird, lost in the night.
Rianna was not going to be pleased, and Lori did not want to be the one to give her the news. Back in the study, Gaius was still sprawled across the desk.
Lori put a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle shake. “Gaius. Are you all right?”
He was not. His body flopped sideways off the stool and crashed lifeless to the floor—utterly lifeless. She did not need to search for a pulse to know he was dead, although she tried, and even put her ear to his chest, listening for a heartbeat.
What reason did Gilwyn have to murder him? She shook her head in disbelief. As if the fay needed a reason to kill. Gaius was dead, and Lori was certain the only thing that had saved her own life was the iron torc around her neck.
She should tell someone what had happened. Rianna would undoubtedly want to question her, which was unlikely to be a pleasant experience. Gilwyn’s escape was hardly her fault, but Rianna was going to be furious.
However the door would not budge. After several fruitless tugs on the handle, Lori looked more closely. The join around the sides was gone. Gilwyn had transformed door and frame into a single piece of wood, in the same way that he had transformed himself into a giant raven.
It would take similar magic to change it back, and Lori had no other way out of the room. A hunt for the opening mechanism on the bookcase got her nowhere. There was nothing to use as a rope for reaching the other balconies, so it was irrelevant to wonder whether she would have risked it. She had a good head for heights, but the sea was an awfully long way down.
She was stuck in the study with Gaius’s body until someone rescued her. How long before anyone came? Hammering on the door was pointless. Nobody would be walking around at that time of night. She should wait until the morning before bruising her hands, or until someone emerged on another balcony and she could call to them.
She positioned Gaius flat on his back and arranged his limbs with dignity, folding his hands on his chest. His eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. She would not have thought it possible, but they were even more empty than in life. Getting his eyelids to close was not as easy as TV shows made it seem. Why had Gilwyn murdered him? But maybe it was a kindness. What would Gaius have wished for, back when he was able to make his own decisions?
She had to get home to Earth, and Gilwyn had unintentionally done her a favour, as long as she survived the interview with Rianna. Nothing remained for her to decode, except the one dropped scroll, missed by Gilwyn and forgotten by her, until now.
Lori reached under the table. Why not get rid of it? Throw it out the window and say Gilwyn had taken it with all the rest. But supposing it landed on another balcony? Burning it was more certain, and the lanterns would provide her with a flame.
Lori unrolled the scroll. The first king of Annwyn had thought its contents so important they needed to be kept secret. Dammit. I want to know.
If Rianna kept her word and sent her home tomorrow with her weight in gold, she would be able to decode the scroll at her leisure. And if Rianna tried to keep her in Annwyn, the information in the scroll might be the only thing that could help her. She needed to hide the scroll, and she knew just where.
Lori stripped off her ancient jeans. The stitching on the waistband inner seam had pulled loose at one spot. The parchment was as thin and light as tracing paper, and when rolled lengthwise, was small enough to feed in through the hole in the seam. Lori massaged the wad of parchment around to the back, where the faint bulge was hidden by her belt. She pulled the jeans on again.
With luck, the scroll could stay there until she was back home in England. She just had to remember to take it out before she put the jeans into the wash.
* * *
“Did he say how he escaped from the dungeon?” Rianna’s high, tinkling voice was a screech.
Midmorning sunlight fell through the large stained glass window. Reversing Gilwyn’s magical sealing of the door had not been quick.
“No. Not really, Your Majesty.”
“Not really? What do you mean?”
“He was talking just to hear his own voice. He didn’t make an effort to explain anything, and he didn’t ask me any questions. He made it clear he didn’t think I was worth speaking to.”
“What did he say? Did he name anyone? Another traitor who helped him?”
“The only person he mentioned was his mother. He said she’d told him about the secret passage.”
“Why didn’t you try to stop him?”
“I was taken by surprise. I didn’t know where he’d come from, or why. He’d just murdered Gaius, and I didn’t know what else he was capable of.”
Rianna looked as if she was also ready to commit murder. She launched herself from her throne and paced the room, then rounded on an attendant. “Summon Captain Tamsin. My nephew may run, but he will not get far.”
“Yes, my queen.” The flunkey scuttled away.
Rianna returned to Lori. “And he stole all the scrolls?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The urge to adjust the set of her jeans almost overwhelmed her, but fidgeting would make her look nervous and guilty.
“Did he say he knew how to decode them?”
“No, Your Majesty. In fact, he said his mother was the only one who could.”
The answer took the faintest edge off Rianna’s anger. “Which is something. You may go.”
Lori did not hang around, in case the queen changed her mind.
* * *
Lori waited with her shoulder against a tree trunk and her eyes fixed on the gateway to the inner bailey. All night, she had been locked in a room with a corpse. Did that justify the inane way she had cheered herself up with happy thoughts of going home? It was not going to happen. Maybe Queen Bitch was too wound up over Gilwyn’s escape to worry about anyone else right now, but it would not last.
It was a dead certainty that the Silver Ravens were going after Gilwyn, and Tamsin would not have any time for escort duties until he was recaptured. How long this would take was anyone’s guess. The same went for how long it would take Rianna to calm down enough to think about other things. But when that time came, Lori wanted to be far away. Rianna no longer had a reason to leave her brains in functioning mode.
Tamsin appeared in the gateway. Lori moved to intercept her.
“Can I talk to you?”
“If you don’t mind doing it while we walk. I have messages to pass on.”
“That’s all right.” She fell into step beside Tamsin. “Is Queen Rianna sending you after her nephew?”
“Yes.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Straight after lunch. Are you…” Tamsin looked apologetic. “I’m sorry. I know I said I’d take you home. But it’ll have to wait. We can’t have Gilwyn running around, causing havoc.”
“I realise that.” Lori took a deep breath. “Can I come with you?”
“What?”
“You said you needed a sniper. If I’ve got to hang around in Annwyn, I might as well see more of the world.”
“It isn’t a game.”
“I know. But I’m serious. There’s nothing more for me to do in Caersiddi, since Gilwyn stole all the scrolls.”
“Join the Iron Ravens. It’s less risky and their entrance qualifications are easier. All it takes is being human and getting to Annwyn. You pass.”
But it would not get her out of Caersiddi. “I’ve done the army training course. I want to see if I can put it into effect.” The argument sounded decidedly weak, even to her own ears. What would Mum say? “There’s a whole world here, full of amazing things I’d never thought I’d see outside of a game. I don’t want to end up at home, regretting not taking advantage when I had the chance.”
Tamsin came to a stop. “You really are serious.”
“Yes.” She met Tamsin’s eyes. “What are your requirements for a sniper?”
“Hit three, head-sized targets at half a mile.”
Ouch. Once the range went over six hundred yards, her accuracy dropped rapidly. This would be more than eight hundred. Lori looked up. Visibility was perfect, there was hardly a breath of wind, and she could forget any thought of the Coriolis Effect. She was never going to have a better chance.
“Do you have the Leupold scope for the M24?” Another scope might make little difference, but that was the one she was familiar with.
“Yes.”
“I can take a couple of practise shots to set the range?”
“Of course. Though if ever you find yourself gunning for a dragon, it might not be so obliging.”
“Okay. When do I give it a go?”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Tamsin was clearly torn between surprise and amusement. “All right. I need to pass on the message to the others. But then I’ll meet you at the armoury in the outer bailey. We’ve got the distance marked out on the beach. There isn’t room in the castle. I’ll be spotter.”
Could she do it? Lori clenched her hands into fists. She did not want to question whether they were shaking. She had to match her best ever shooting. Dwelling on thoughts that her life and sanity might depend on the outcome would not help.
* * *
The crack of her final shot echoed back from the castle walls. Lori flipped the safety and got to her knees, while brushing sand from her shirt. She kept her eyes in the direction of the distant targets, not daring to look Tamsin’s way. “Well?”
“You did all right.”
“I did?”
“Don’t sound surprised. It gives the wrong impression. Come on, let’s look up close.”
She matched her stride to Tamsin’s as they crossed the hard packed sand. This was the first time she had been outside the castle walls since her arrival. The chance to stretch her legs was good. She had spent too much time cooped up in a small room—not that long periods indoors normally bothered her. A strange thought, but what she had said before was not a total fabrication. If she made it home safe and had missed out on seeing more of Annwyn, she really would kick herself. Mum and Dad would be so proud of her.
“I’ll have to clear it with Queen Rianna, of course,” Tamsin said.
Of course. “Do you think she’ll approve?”
“She wants Gilwyn taken alive. You’re the best person to put a silver bullet through his knee, if he tries to run.” Tamsin grinned. “I think she’ll be happy for you to join us.”
“Aren’t silver bullets for werewolves?”
“They’re for anything here you don’t want to kill outright. Any wound from a normal bullet is fatal to Annwyn natives, both fay and boggarts.”
“Lead as well? It’s not just iron?”
“All base metals are harmful to them. Copper won’t kill fa
y, or bronze so long as there’s not too much tin in it, but it can give them a nasty case of hives. Lead isn’t as poisonous as iron, but has unpredictable effect. A steel tipped bullet though…” Tamsin shook her head. “One scratch and it’s over.”
“Are there really werewolves here?”
“Were-everything. I told you about transmutation.”
“Oh, yes.” How could she forget watching Gilwyn turn himself into a giant raven?
They reached the targets. Her first shot had clipped the edge, but was a hit nonetheless. The other two were central.
“You did well.”
“Thanks.”
Tamsin placed a hand on Lori’s shoulder and turned her so their eyes met. Lori felt a flutter in her stomach, but Tamsin’s expression was stern. “So, you’ve proved you can do it. I want you to stop and think very carefully. Take a minute—take two. Annwyn is dangerous. Anything can happen, and probably will. There’s no guarantee of safety. Are you absolutely sure about this?”
As if anything could be more dangerous than staying in Caersiddi. Still, she made a show of thinking. “Yes. I’m sure.”
“Then you can come along and see how you do. Afterwards, when we get back…if we get back, you’ll be free to say it’s not for you and you want to return to Earth.”
“Perfect.”
Tamsin started towards the castle gates. “I’ll send a message to Rianna. Then we need to eat lunch, pack, and leave. You’ve got two hours.”
“No problem.” She did not have much to pack.
* * *
Lori put a hand on the horse’s flank. It was solid—surprisingly so given its phantom-like appearance, although it felt more like clay than flesh.
“What are they?”
“Flying horses,” Hippo answered. “Have you ridden before?”
“Not ones that levitate.”
“These aren’t so different. Easier in some ways. Less risk of being thrown off when you go over a jump.”
“Right. But no getting straight back in the saddle if you are.”
Silver Ravens Page 16
