Dragon Noir (Pixie for Hire Book 3)

by Cedar Sanderson

  The Wendigo had come Underhill for some reason. When, I wasn’t sure, but it couldn’t have been too long, or we would have heard of the sickening deaths it wrought before this. Dion had taken a century to get where she wanted to be. No… halfway to where she wanted to be. What she really wanted was what Bella was going to accept in little more than a day, now.

  Night was falling, and I was glad of it. Dark was better for sneaking and peeking. Some of the things in Low Court were nocturnal, sure, but I was a shadow in the shadows with my bubble. I kept hopping. One thing about this errand, it was telling me where my limits might lie. In some ways it was good to know I had limits. I didn’t want to be super-powered, and I didn’t think I was. If you know where your limits are, you can avoid hitting them when it comes to the sticky end of things.

  I found them out much further than I’d expected. If they were traveling by ground it would take them a week to get to High Court. Their camp was chaos, fires blazing and a madhouse of creatures having a party, it looked like, around them. I circled the perimeter and looked again, then went away. I was sure I hadn’t been seen. No one was looking.

  I sent message spells, and then sat on a rock and thought some more. I’d have bet money Dionaea wasn’t traveling with this lot. There was no red tent or grand caparisoned contrivance for her. Which didn’t mean much, as she could always come in later, to give them a pep talk or instill fear, whichever worked for her. I also didn’t think the Wendigo was down there with them. The atmosphere was too happy. Everything I’d spoken to before this had been in abject fear of the spirit.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder, and then Daffyd was crouching beside me, looking down into the dimly lit hollow where the camp was. I didn’t mind him sneaking up on me that was his job.

  “What do you think?” I asked him, not bothering to keep my voice down. We could barely hear them, and they were screaming and cavorting.

  “I think this is a diversion.” The slender archer looked at me, and I could see the flickering light reflected on his eyes. “This is not serious.”

  I nodded. It was good to hear what I’d been thinking. “What are we going to do about it, spank it and send it home to mommy?”

  His teeth flashed white in the night. “Not tonight, perhaps.”

  I shook my head. “No. Tomorrow night. After the coronation, which they are in no danger of disrupting. Can you and a few of your boys keep track of them? I’d hate to be wrong.”

  “Yeah. No problem watching this lot, like a wounded bear in brush. Dangerous, but noisy.”

  I clapped his shoulder. “I’m off to report in, then. Thanks, Daff.”

  “My pleasure. You do find the best fights.” He settled on the rock I’d just vacated, and I wearily wrapped a bubble around me and went home.

  Queen of Fairies

  Home was surprisingly empty. There was no one in the kitchen, although I found my plate of dinner in the usual enchanted cupboard, fragrant and warm like it had just been served. I sat at the table, and had a serious moment of dissonance. Here I was peaceably masticating, while relatively near, there was a blood-mad army out for death and destruction. I’d been working myself to the bone, escaping death and worse. But here I am having a workingman’s meal, with the hope of a warm bed with a warmer woman in it.

  I went up the stairs to that promise, and didn’t come down until morning. The house was considerably fuller.

  “Morning, Alger.” I sat down at the table with my coffee in my mitt. Ellie was conspicuously absent. We’d fetch our own breakfast, the women were up to their necks in clothing and doo-dads.

  “You found the army?”

  “Daffy’s keeping an eye on it. I don’t think it can possibly make it to Court within a week. We’ve already started calling up troops.”

  “Why did she even bother?” He was wearing a thunderous frown and gazing so hard at his plate I expected his food to shortly become cinders.

  “I think it’s a diversion.”

  “Diversion from what?” He chased his egg around the plate with a bite of toast.

  “I don’t know, and it worries me.”

  He looked at me. “You lost a lot of time.”

  I nodded. “I have to be here today. After… she knows I’ll be back at it. I have a bad feeling, and she agrees with me. She’s mad as a wet hen she can’t go with me.”

  He nodded. “I promised I’d take her to the library, but it will have to wait until this fracas with Low Court is settled.”

  “I don’t think this little playground tiff is going to settle it.” I really had a bad feeling growing in the pit of my stomach like poison.

  Devon walked into the room, and I got up to clasp forearms with him. I squeezed his shoulder and looked at him for a long minute. He was thin, but brown as a nut.

  “Been working hard?” I asked him. I hadn’t seen him since I’d set out after his mother’s killer.

  “Work keeps me from thinking.” He smiled. “Glad to see you back.”

  “Glad to be back, even if I didn’t know I was gone.”

  “Any news?” His voice was diffident, but his eyes were intense. It had to be rough on him to have been held at the manor, with me missing and no work being done on his mother’s murder.

  “I know what did it. I know more or less where it is. But we still need to tie it to Dionaea, and lay it before the Hunt. It will take time.” I kept my tone serious and held his eyes with mine. I didn’t need him taking off on a wild hair and getting himself in trouble.

  He nodded. I let go of him, and he made a beeline for the food. Teenagers, if you could harness that energy you’d go broke feeding it. Alger got up from the table and followed me out of the kitchen.

  “I’ll be in the audience with the Council today.” He told me.

  “I’ll be in the anteroom. I’ll watch without being watched.”

  He nodded. “I’d rather, myself. See you later.”

  Alger vanished, and I stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked up the gentle spiral. I didn’t know that I wanted to go up there. Bella was trying to choose a color, last I’d seen, and my eyes were beginning to threaten to bleed as she magically kaleidoscoped her dress fabric. She hadn’t been this nervous on our wedding day. It had probably helped when we’d been married more than once, of course. I turned and retreated to the Armory.

  I wound up going to court without Bella. When I’d come up from the Armory Ellie had been waiting for me.

  “She’s gone ahead.” The tiny elf was all but tapping her toe in impatience on the floor.

  “I got distracted, sorry.” I did feel bad, I knew how wound up she’d been.

  “She said to meet her in the usual place.”

  I nodded, and got there quick. She was pacing, her dress rustling. I stopped to watch her for a second, and then whistled low and long. Bella’s face lit up.

  “You look ravishing.” I took her into my arms and could feel her trembling with tension.

  “I look fat. But thank you, dear.” She relaxed into me.

  “You only look more beautiful than ever, with our children there.” I cupped one hand around the curve of her belly, which was covered in green silk. She’d gone with a dark, sedate shade, a more modern cut of dress than most women in Court favored. Underhill lagged more than a century behind Above, and like my mother, seemed to think Queen Victoria (the younger version) was the arbiter of fashion.

  “You’ll knock ‘em dead. Just smile and look regal. That’s all you need to do.”

  “Lom, this is… I never wanted this.”

  “You never wanted what?” I knew, but I also knew she needed to talk.

  “Never wanted to be a queen. Or even a princess.”

  “I know. I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

  She chuckled, a little gurgle of amusement. “There is so much responsibility, Lom. I’m supposed to be taking care of, somehow, all these people. I can’t possibly…”

  “No one expects you to watch over every sparrow.
You’re just supposed to be wise and good…”

  She pushed at me, but I kept one arm firmly around her. “You’re not making it any better!”

  “Bella my love, you already are those things. No, you’re not perfect, but you’re not alone, either. Stop being so afraid of screwing it all up.”

  “I am very afraid.”

  “I’ll always be in the shadows. And you have many who love you for you. Already, my egalitarian American girl, you have a salutary effect on Underhill, which you might not see. The ripples you started began with your arrival. They are becoming waves with your coronation.”

  “You are being quite poetic.” She kissed me gently and we parted. “I have to go.”

  “I will be watching through the screen in the anteroom.”

  She walked out the door, and I wondered if she had any inkling yet what it meant that she was about to assume the Queen’s Crown. She was not a pureblood fairy, being part human and part dragon, although that last wasn’t something the Court knew about. Speaking of dragons…

  I went out the back halls, which were full of bustling servants, and made my way to the main gates, where Beaker was resting his massive head on the ground and eyeing everyone who passed through them with suspicion. I slapped his jaw, and he greeted me in return with a toss of his head which nearly knocked me over.

  “Mreep.” He remarked, almost conversational.

  “Good to hear it.” I thought he meant that no one had gone by him with ill intent. Being able to almost understand him was a bit disconcerting. I dealt with it. He was an asset.

  “Meep, meep… memeep?”

  “Sorry, old man, there’s just no room in there.” I pulled a mustache whisker. “I’ll tell her you asked, and tonight we’ll see you in the garden, eh?”

  He nodded, and went back to watching all and sundry. He was making people nervous. I didn’t care. He was making me feel much better about the people who would be streaming before the new Queen at her presentation. And it was time for me to take my place in that.

  Like actors in a play, they were all taking their places. The Council, standing in a semi-circle around Trytion. Bella, standing outside the chord of their arc, facing him, her face serene. She didn’t show the nerves I knew she was feeling. I couldn’t see the faces of the Council, but Alger, leaning on his staff near the end of the line, was in profile to me, and I could see his bright grey eyes darting from face to face. He would see much, as the ceremony preceded.

  Trytion was wearing his crown, and holding the one he would place on Bella’s head in both hands. I’d never seen this ceremony, but I had read along with Bella as she was prepared for it. He turned, took three steps, and handed the crown to the councilor on the far end from Alger. A dumpy little Duke whom I knew only by his title, Newington, took it gravely.

  “We approve the King’s choice of queen,” he intoned, “and grant her the power of High Court.” He passed the crown to the next person.

  Lady Waecra, who was a friend of my mothers, said simply, “I approve.”

  The crown proceeded slowly along the Council. It came to Buckingham, and I know I wasn’t the only person who could see and feel the tension in the room. His head had been bowed, but as he took the crown he raised his head up and spoke so his voice rang through the room. “I challenge the right of Belladonna Traycroft Mulvaney to claim this crown.”

  Bella paled a little, but stood still. This was something we had known might happen.

  Trytion spoke, his voice calm, “Do any second this motion?”

  Lady Laenven spoke up, “I stand with Buckingham.”

  She stepped forward, one pace, breaking the rank of the Council. Alger was glaring at her, but stayed still. Buckingham, with a sideways glance at her, followed her lead. I hadn’t thought he was the brains behind this, and their movement had just confirmed that.

  “Are there any others who would challenge the consort-elect?” Trytion still sounded placid. I knew him better than that. This was rage, icy and deep.

  “I join them.” The voice almost squeaked with nervous tension, and the flutters of her movement as she stepped forward told me that Lady Willington was not as sure as she wanted to sound.

  Three, against the other twelve of the Council, and Trytion. Not an overwhelming majority, or even minority. I wondered why they had chosen to reveal themselves, here and now. Drama? That seemed unlikely, as I knew Buckingham had been resistant to Bella from the beginning. No, something else was going on, and I felt the hackles on my neck begin to rise as I scanned the audience.

  The huge room was by no means full, we simply hadn’t the populace to fill it any longer. Perhaps, in the distant past, before Low and High Courts split, that had not been the case. All those present were riveted on the small group standing on the dais, and at Bella, who had her back to the audience for the moment. The script said she would turn to face them as part of the formal presentation by Trytion after the crown was placed on her head. All very symbolic and as choreographed as a ballet.

  Now, the choreography had stopped cold. The entire room seemed to be holding their breath. Trytion spoke into this deep silence, his voice booming by contrast.

  “What grounds do you challenge the consort elect from?”

  “We challenge from the original Charter. The Queen and King are to be unblemished, of pure descent, and held worthy of high office by their peers. We claim the right to inspect the person of the consort-elect, and to see her lineage laid out. Finally, we put to you that she is not held in respect by her peers.” Lady Laenven had been stolidly expressionless during this speech, but at the last sentence I could see the sneer on her aristocratic profile. I was sure that I’d be able to see more emotion were I face-to-face, but I was not going to leave my place just yet. Disruption was going to cause more harm than good.

  Challenging from the Charter was an interesting approach. The original document had disappeared a thousand years before, it was said, and all that remained were copies of portions of it. Some of those were dubious. I was slowly getting pissed at the idea they wanted to inspect Bella like she was a prize heifer, and that her mixed descent was even a concern. The Court didn’t know about her dragon blood, yet, and I wasn’t sure how they’d react. Human blood was bad enough. Respect by those three… it was just as well she didn’t have that.

  Trytion raised one eyebrow slightly. “Are you sure you wish to do this, Lady Laenven?”

  She lifted her chin a little, making her wattles wobble faintly. “I challenge…”

  A sardonic voice from the audience broke in. “Aye, woman, dinna fash yerself aboot bluid. Fairies, pixies, hoomans… all alike. But whoe’er haird o’a half sprite?”

  The blood climbed up to her cheekbones, giving her a mottled appearance under her cosmetics. She ignored the sprite. I wondered about her own descent. Humans and fairies have a long history, and pixies were merely another clan of fairy, no more different than one brother to the next. Underhill, genetics were unknown. Lines, kept carefully in ancient, cracking books, were all that mattered. Unlike the human’s technology, the lineage could be distorted very easily. A bribe, a lie, an impotent husband willingly cuckolded…

  Maybe Bella should get some equipment installed at home and start a certain project… no, she wouldn’t have time. I wondered if importing a technician would go over. Mapping the fairy genome would be very interesting, and have repercussions over more than one kingdom. I brushed the thought aside and waited for Laenven to finish making a fool of herself.

  “As we cannot consult the original Charter…” she started again.

  Alger – twitched. All eyes turned to the old mage. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then with a pained expression, he spoke.

  “The Charter still exists.”

  Lady Laenven lost that blush the sprite had given her. She looked positively ghoulish, she was so pale. “How can this be?”

  Alger regarded her calmly, leaning on his staff. A moment ago it had been incongruous, now it bl
ended into his persona like it was one of his legs. I realized I’d never seen him without it at arm’s length away, at most. “I was never stricken from my appointment as Court Librarian, Esme.”

  She rocked back slightly, whether from anger at his use of her first name, or the realization that he had the upper hand, I wasn’t sure.

  “You can produce the Charter?” Trytion broke into this exchange.

  Alger frowned. “Once I would have snapped my fingers and had it in a trice. Now, the library is drifting, out of our plane and more inaccessible to me than ever before. I am not sure how long it will take.”

  Bella spoke for the first time. “Where in the library is it, Alger?”

  He looked at her. “Early history, Court, law documents…”

  She held up a hand. “Wait. You can’t… Alger, this place is such a mess!” Her voice went up slightly at the end as she closed her eyes in concentration.

  “This is a travesty.” Lady Laenven snapped. “These two can claim whatever they want, but until the Charter is verified and physically present, I will not accept their biased reports, and neither should anyone else!”

  Bella opened her eyes. “Alger, you need to take me to the library.”

  I stepped out from the alcove. There was a little wave of whispering in the audience. I ignored it. Last time many of them had seen me, I’d been carrying a brutalized body. Then I’d disappeared for two months. Now…

  “I am going as well.”

  Laenven sniffed loudly. “You will take an expert with you, who can be objective.”

  “You have one ready? I plan to leave now.”

  She looked wildly into the audience, then over to Buckingham, who took a hasty step backward. I looked at my mother for the first time and was surprised to see a faint smile on her face. She was… Something was going her way.

  “You!” Laenven pointed out into the audience. “I command you to come here at once!”

  An elderly fairy stood slowly. I didn’t recognize him. “Milady…”