The Faerie Ring

by Kiki Hamilton

  Rieker reached inside his jacket. He pulled out a worn pink puppy that looked as though half of its stuffing had been removed.

  “Doggie,” Tiki cried. She reached out to take the little stuffed animal from Rieker. The toy’s black button eyes were askew, but his felt mouth smiled at her. A pang of sadness welled inside her. “Clara can’t sleep without Doggie,” Tiki whispered. She took a deep breath against the helplessness that threatened to overwhelm her. Maybe Larkin had left Doggie behind just to taunt her.

  Rieker reached out to comfort her, but she shied away, turning so he couldn’t see the anger in her eyes. He dropped his hands to his sides and stared at her, sadness etched across his face. “We’ll find her, Tiki. I promise.”

  Tiki couldn’t bite back her words. “If she’s still alive.”

  “She’s alive. But we need the ring.” His words were firm.

  “What time are you going to the palace tonight?” Tiki watched him with wary eyes, Doggie clutched to her chest.

  “Leo said to arrive by eight.” Rieker stood with his arms folded across his chest, his lips pressed tight at the corners. “If I don’t show up, I think Leo will hunt me down so he can drag some answers out of me. He’s very suspicious of the beautiful Elizabeth.”

  Tiki ignored his compliment. Just another lie. “And what will you tell him?”

  “At this moment, I have no idea.” Rieker turned back to face her. “But this is probably my only chance to reclaim the ring to negotiate with Larkin.” His smoky eyes shifted to her face. “Will you tell me where it’s hidden?”

  Tiki chewed on the corner of her lip. She had to tell him, to play along with the charade of trusting him, yet it was a secret she hated to share. What if Rieker and Larkin disappeared together once he had the ring? Perhaps they would never return Clara. Tiki pushed the thought from her mind. She couldn’t allow herself to think of things like that. First, she had to get the ring out of Buckingham, and Rieker was going to do that for her.

  “It’s hidden on a piece of wire behind the painting of the faerie on the second floor.” Tiki said the words quickly, before she changed her mind. Once Rieker got the ring, she would be one step closer to stealing it back.

  “Sir Thomas’ Folly?”

  “Pardon me?” Tiki squinted at him, unsure of his meaning.

  “The painting. Is it the piece of art that you and Leo were discussing when I interrupted the other day? In that alcove that looks out to the back gardens?”

  “Yes.”

  Rieker laughed. Not just a chuckle. He laughed until his sides heaved with his exertion. Finally, he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and heaved a deep sigh of delight.

  “I’m afraid I missed the joke,” Tiki said in a cold voice.

  “The painting,” Rieker explained, “behind which the ring of the truce is hidden is quite aptly titled Sir Thomas’ Folly. The canvas is named after a play where a prince falls in love with a faerie and loses his kingdom to her deceptions.” He eyed Tiki. “Or perhaps you already knew that and just have a vicious sense of humor.”

  “I had no idea that was the name of the painting,” she said. “It appeared to be a good place to hide the ring where it wouldn’t be found.” Tiki turned away and stared at the glow of flame flickering through the vent in the box stove. How was it possible to love someone one minute and then hate him the next?

  “So you and Leo stood a foot away from the very ring he has sought so desperately?” Rieker chuckled again. “Ah, if only Leo knew. He would probably laugh, too.”

  “Amusing, I’m sure, but do you think you can retrieve the thing without being caught?”

  Rieker sobered. “Which side of the canvas is the ring on?”

  “On the lower right,” Tiki snapped.

  He wasn’t smiling now. “Yes. I can get the ring.”

  * * *

  TIKI sat on the bench outside Mr. Potts’s bookstore and nervously flipped a coin across her fingers. Rieker had been brusque when he’d left. Perhaps it was in reaction to her mood, or perhaps it was because he didn’t need to pretend to care anymore.

  She had desperately wanted to follow him, to keep her eyes on something, anything, that would lead her to Clara. But she had forced herself to stay seated as he’d walked out the door with the knowledge of where the ring was hidden. She had given up everything to save Clara. She prayed that it worked.

  A long sigh escaped her lips. The constant worry about the little girl was draining her energy. And then there was Larkin. A jealous twinge went through Tiki as she envisioned the other girl’s exquisite looks. It was no surprise that Rieker wasn’t immune to her unearthly beauty.

  Tiki searched the station. Even now, travelers hurried back and forth as the bellowing gusts of steam and the shrill whistles of the trains coming and going echoed through the cavernous room. Things wouldn’t be the same without Clara. There was something so endearing about the frail little girl, something so compelling, that Tiki couldn’t imagine life without her. For a second, she allowed herself to consider the worst: What if Larkin didn’t return her? What if Clara died?

  Tiki took a deep breath, trying to hold back the sob that tore from her throat.

  If Clara didn’t come back, it would be like losing her parents all over again. She didn’t know if she could go through it another time. There was no place she could run to escape that kind of pain. Or guilt. Because this time she would be responsible. For not taking better care of Clara. For not saving her from Larkin. A crushing ache formed in Tiki’s chest.

  Frustrated, Tiki jumped to her feet and headed for the main part of the station. Traffic picked up as she got closer to the loading ramps. She watched the crowd as she walked, fighting the sense of desperation that threatened to engulf her. By tomorrow she would have the ring again and could make the trade with Larkin.

  A voice whispered in her ear, “Your little girl is sick.”

  Tiki jerked around. Larkin gave her a guileless smile. The other girl’s blond ringlets hung in perfect sausage curls and her beautiful face was serene, as though she were asking the time of day.

  “How sick?” Tiki forced herself to remain calm.

  “Well, I don’t normally deal with children, but I’d say she’s not doing well at all. She seems to sleep most all of the time, and she’s coughing up a lot of blood.” Larkin’s blue green eyes gazed at Tiki without emotion. “I’d suggest you bring me the ring tonight as you promised.”

  “I don’t have it. Yet.” Tiki wanted to throttle the girl and cry at the same time. “But I’ll have it tomorrow. Let me have Clara and I promise I’ll bring it to you tomorrow.” Longing tore at Tiki’s heart, and she clenched her fingers so tight that she could feel her fingernails biting into the palms of her hands.

  Larkin laughed, her eyes crinkling at the corners as her lips curved in a dazzling smile. “It’s a terrible thing to want and long for something you can’t have, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, but I’m concerned about a person. You want a thing,” Tiki snapped. “Why do you want the ring so much? Just to destroy the truce?”

  The other girl’s eyes narrowed. Her voice was cold when she spoke. “I live in a world that you can’t even begin to comprehend. A world of battles and oaths and passions that bind us for a thousand mortal lifetimes.” For a fleeting moment, there was something in Larkin’s expression that Tiki had never seen before. Bitterness? Or was it sadness? The faerie’s voice came out in a whisper. “Of loss that is beyond your ability to understand.”

  Then Larkin’s lip curled in disgust, her voice tinged with anger. “It’s taken me a very long time to find the one I love. And I’m risking my own life to be with him. Nothing is going to stand in my way. With the ring of the truce, we’ll be free of those who pursue us.”

  “But who is after you?” Tiki tried to think of something, anything, to keep the faerie talking. To stop her from disappearing before she could find out more about Clara.

  “Donegal.” Larkin spat the name out. �
�The high king of the UnSeelie court is displeased with me.” She glared at Tiki. “The power held within the ring will buy my freedom. I’ve tried for a very long time to get the ring. And it’s finally in reach. If Wills doesn’t get it tonight, then you had better have a plan to bring me the ring tomorrow. Or your little girl is dead.”

  Tiki stood stunned as Larkin stepped into a group of people and disappeared into the crowded station. Larkin knew Rieker was going after the ring tonight. Had he told her? Tiki hadn’t considered the ring might have value to Rieker beyond the reward. But now that she thought about it, why would he need the reward? He was already rich. He’d tricked her into revealing its hidden location so he and Larkin could run away together. The ring must offer them the power to escape.

  Even now, Rieker could already have the ring. Had she just sabotaged her one chance to reclaim Clara?

  Tiki ran for home. She needed to talk to the others. They needed to get in position to steal the ring from Rieker. They couldn’t take any chances that he could slip away.

  * * *

  TIKI was breathless as she stood in the shadowed candlelight of their little room and told the others of her encounter with Larkin. “She knows Rieker is going to be at Buckingham tonight. She knows that he’s going to get the ring. They’ve been plotting to run away together.” Her words came out in a hurried rush. “We’ve got to make sure that we follow Rieker from the palace. We’ve got to make sure that he doesn’t run away before we have a chance to get the ring. It’s the only way we can save Clara.”

  “Slow down, Tiki,” Shamus said in his steady voice. “It’s not even seven o’clock. Rieker hasn’t gone to Buckingham yet. We still have time.” He stood up from where he had been whittling by the stove. “Now, what are you thinking?”

  Tiki wrung her hands together, trying to calm herself. They still had time. “I think the three of you need to go to Buckingham. One at the front, one at the back, and one on the side near the Mews, so if he leaves, you can follow him. Just in case he doesn’t go home.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll still go over and sneak into his town house in Grosvenor Square and wait for him there.”

  “But how are we going to follow him if he’s riding a horse?” Toots asked.

  “It’s snowing outside. Hard,” Tiki said. “It looks like it’s going to snow all night. Which means he’ll take a carriage to the palace tonight. If someone spots him, they can hop the boot and follow him. If he doesn’t go to Grosvenor Square, then whoever is following him”—she looked around at their solemn faces—“it will be up to you to steal the ring from him. Any way you can.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  LEO stared at Wills over his cards. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

  The three other men at the table turned in surprise. As one, their eyes shifted from the prince over to Rieker, who stared at his cards, unruffled by the question.

  “To whom are you referring, Leo?” Rieker asked as he threw two cards facedown to the side. “Two.” With a sardonic half-smile on his lips, he lifted his eyes from the cards to the young man sitting across from him.

  “Wills, in love?” Arthur echoed in disbelief, gazing at Rieker as if for confirmation. “You’ve got to be joking.” The other two men guffawed along with Arthur, aware of Rieker’s dislike of romantic entanglement.

  “I can see it in his eyes,” Leo said. Curiosity burned liked a flame in his gut. He turned to Rieker. “I can see it when you look at her, when you talk about her. But I feel compelled to stop you, Wills. There’s something amiss. How well do you know her background?”

  “She must be something special for Wills to fall,” retorted Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Leo and Arthur’s older brother. “What’s her name? Do we know this amazing creature?”

  Rieker was expressionless as he shook his head ever so slightly, but Leo wasn’t sure if it was in disbelief or in silent warning.

  “Come on, Wills, it’s us,” Leo said. “We’ve never had secrets before. Tell the boys who she is.”

  Rieker picked up the two cards dealt to him and leaned back, sliding his cards into a stack and setting them on the table. He cocked his head as though measuring Leo’s determination.

  “You seem to be enjoying this more than me, Leo, and since I’m not even sure of whom you’re speaking, why don’t you tell them and then we’ll all know. Perhaps it’s your own desires to which you’re referring.”

  The others laughed as Leo colored slightly. He should have known better than to verbally ambush Wills. The man had a tongue like a viper when he was mad, though one would never know by looking at his expressionless face.

  “Why, it’s Elizabeth Dunbar, of course,” Leo said. He hated to admit he enjoyed the sound of her name as it rolled off his lips. “No need to be coy, Wills.”

  Arthur’s head jerked up in surprise. “The enchantress from the masked ball? The girl you drenched with wine?”

  “The enchantress,” Rieker repeated with a chuckle. “So enchanting that she can steal your heart from you when you’re not looking, Leo?” He grinned as he waited for Leo’s response.

  “Not m-me, you,” Leo stuttered, suddenly aware of the four sets of eyes laughing at him.

  “Hmmm, so Leo’s in love, again.” Alfred chuckled as he shuffled the cards. “And it sounds like the young miss must only have eyes for Wills.” Alfred grinned over at Rieker and winked. “Not the first time that’s happened, eh?”

  “And hardly the last,” Arthur chimed in, gazing at his cards. “But Leo, maybe that’s the hook, eh? The chase of unrequited love.”

  “It’s not me, I tell you,” Leo sputtered.

  “I’ve noticed a pattern over the years, dear brother.” Arthur grinned. “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s not a successful business model.” They all laughed as they laid their cards down and Arthur lifted his gaze to Rieker. “And what do you say of the fair maiden, Wills? Do you find her as enchanting as Leo, or just a passing fancy?”

  Rieker’s lips lifted in a small half-smile as he took his turn shuffling the cards. “Arthur, you know it’s not wise to speak of these matters. You can never be too careful about what you say, or be sure who is listening.” He scooted back in his chair. “But I need a break from this enlightening conversation. Somebody keep him here”—he pointed at Leo—“so he can’t follow me and make other outrageous accusations until I return and have the support of your voices of reason.”

  The others laughed as Alfred reached over and clamped a firm hand on Leo’s wrist. “We shall keep him here if we have to wrestle him to the floor. Hurry up and get back, though, or the cards will go cold.”

  Rieker snapped off a smart salute and, with a wink at Leo, walked out of the room.

  * * *

  “ARE you sure you don’t want to stay? It’s past midnight.” Leo stood on the steps with Rieker as they waited for his carriage to be brought around. The snow was still falling, the ground and trees covered in a frozen layer of white that sparkled as the temperature dropped.

  “I’ve taken your money, Leo. I hardly want to push my luck with your hospitality, too.” Rieker laughed. “Besides, the snow is still falling. If I want to get home, I should go now.”

  “Not just my money, but everyone else’s, too. Do you ever lose at cards?” Leo grumbled good-naturedly. “But, seriously, you do know you’re always welcome here. I miss having the chance to talk with you.”

  “You’ve had all night to talk to me. What more could we talk about?”

  “You’re not telling me something, Wills. I can feel it. And I suspect it involves Elizabeth.” Leo slid his hands into his pockets and raised his chin. “I don’t know what it is, but I will find out.”

  “Well, let me know when you do. For now, I’m going home.”

  Leo stood on the steps, watching the coach roll away into the night. Damn Wills anyway. He didn’t know any more now than when the evening had started. He crossed his arms against his chest to ward off a cold breeze and tapped his fingers
as he thought. Ever since that bloody ring had gone missing, things had not been right.

  Whether Wills liked it or not, he was going to get some answers.

  Chapter Thirty-five

  TIKI stood hidden among the trees in the center of Grosvenor Square. She shivered again, whether from cold or fear, she wasn’t sure. The snow, which continued to fall in a thick blanket of white, had quickly soaked through the thin soles of her boots as she’d walked from the station. Her feet ached from the cold. It had been easy to find Number 6 again, she’d just counted down the row, but it was hard to believe that Rieker owned such a magnificent home.

  Across the street, the white brick town home stretched up three stories, its imposing entrance decorated with black columns and railings. The house looked like a fortress. Reluctantly, her eyes swept up to the two brick chimneys that stood on either end of the roof. She shivered at the thought of having to climb down into that small, dirty dark space. There had to be another way in.

  The main entry was at street level, with four black steps leading to the front door. Stables were housed in the back of the building, and Tiki guessed that the kitchen was located between the two. The servants probably lived below the ground level in the basement. She eyed the second and third floors. Rieker’s room must be on one of those upper floors. That was where he would most likely pull the ring from his pocket.

  A small wrought-iron gate enclosed the front courtyard of each home, since the buildings shared common walls and were joined together in a row down the street. She couldn’t just walk in the front door. She would need to go around the back and try to get in that way.

  A clock chimed the hour of midnight in the distance. Rieker would surely be home soon. She needed to hurry.

  A shred of doubt crept in. Maybe Rieker wouldn’t come home. She pushed the thought away. She needed to find a way in to wait for him. Whether it was tonight or tomorrow, or the next day, she would be ready.