“Jealous, are we?” Grim followed her line of sight and slowly turned back to face Amie. “But this will never do, my dear bauble. He can sense your dark emotions, is drawn to them like a troll to unicorn scat.”
“Are you sure you aren’t the jealous one?” Even though Amie knew Grimwich spoke the truth it still hurt. But she knew enough about Rumplekins to know one must always keep a step ahead. “Morcant must be a kind mistress, but I have heard of her fickleness,” she said, hinting of what Emrys had betrayed to her.
Grim’s eyes lit blue as the summer skies, delighted rather than repulsed. “Oh, they really have you on a leash, don’t they? Feeding you lies of my mistress’ affections? Have you not noticed the intent of her eyes this night? Fantasies of him make her live and breathe, and he gives into her mad cravings just to appease her appetite for destruction.” Sure enough, Morcant was staring at Uncle Henry as he spoke to…oh crap…
What does Faye think she’s doing?
Faye looked up the moment Amie’s eyes found her and chanced a wink before leaning on Henry’s arm. Why was Faye suddenly so willing to blow their cover?
“Quite honestly, milady, I would have thought you of all people would have learned by now, nothing here is as it seems.” Grim’s twirl was accompanied by another flash of his hidden self, his glamour removed solely for her benefit. She could see why he kept it hidden, for his skin had taken on an indigo shade, contrasting with the pale tribal tattoos covering his body. His eyes too had taken on a different, alien shape, giving him a more frightening air.
As the second dance ended and hands arose to applaud, Amie asked, “What are you really?”
Bowing graciously low, he pressed something into her hand as he kissed it. “Where would the fun in telling you that?” Drawing her closer so she could smell his elderberry breath, he whispered, “A family heirloom for your collection, my dear.”
With a flurry of his cape he was gone and Amie left befuddled by the object fisted in her right hand. She rushed to escape the dispersed crowd before another dance and unwilling partner arrived to claim her attention, only to be blinded by a sea of peacock feathers and jewels as Morcant Hogswillow arrived to greet her. Amie might have been forgiving had it been Morcant alone, for the power-hungry Sidhe was no better than the popular high-school chicks. She might have been able to blow her off alone, but not with Emrys attached to her hip.
Once again, against her will, Amie saw the world through a brief flash of red before clutching the object even tighter. Gathering her skirts in said hand to hide it further she took the hand proffered her and placed a pleasant smile on her lips.
“I see my tastes are spot on as I predicted. This dress makes you look positively grown up! Emrys, is she not frazzleging?”
Amie refused to meet her protector’s eye and instead deepened her smile. “And I had no idea how many years your dress would knock off you either, madam.”
Morcant’s honey eyes flashed all the fury of a dark angel before a shrill laugh escaped her painted lips. Clapping her hands together, and thus dragging Emrys’s trapped arm in several rough jerks, she crowed, “Holy wicklewashers! Your darling bride-to-be is not without her wits, milord. Hopefully she shall take my advice and be mindful of the path before her.”
Bride-to-be? What the flipping crap!
The dark wight looked on the cusp of fury to Amie’s satisfaction, his lips set in a tight line, eyes boring holes into her forehead. Still she refused to look at him, gripping her skirt tighter, reminding her of the object hidden in her hand.
“There has been no acquiescence on her ladyship’s part, Morcant. And I believe you’ve had quite enough fun at the lass’ expense,” Emrys said with a glower.
Holy crappola, he’s not kidding, is he?
“Oh, I have only begun. And I think the Princess may decide what is and isn’t best for her, wouldn’t you agree, Myrddin?”
“Lord Emrys has been a most valiant protector and nothing more, Lady Hogswillow,” Amie said with a saccharine grin.
Think whatever you want to, Phoebe Halliwell.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Lifting her skirt with her other hand Amie inclined her head and turned to leave. A group of admirers led by Grimwich Rumplekin arrived in the nick of time.
Amie listened to Emrys’ protests as he tried to follow her. “Excuse me! Pardon but I really must go… Jessamiene!”
She found the space behind the thick curtain unoccupied, and after taking a final peek at the other side, reveled in the privacy. After enduring the scrutiny of hundreds she felt gloriously alone. Her fingers reached to pry open Grimwich’s gift when a ruby-dressed figure ripped aside the curtain’s edge and darted inside.
“Amie?” Faye hissed, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Not interrupting anything, am I? But this is disappointing really. You could have at least found a hot guy to make out with back here or something…”
Stamping her foot onto the tile, Amie quickly hid the parchment in her fist. “Faye! Now is not the time! And what happened to a covert operation anyway? You were over there flirting with my…Henry, half the night.” Faye smiled and up close Amie saw how her teeth too had a faintly pointed end, a Seelie trait, she supposed.
“I couldn’t resist. Do you have any idea what he’d have done if he knew I was from the outside?” A devious chuckle escaped her waif-sized proportions, spiked hair shivering with every bob of her head.
Amie sighed and said, “Faye, I really don’t have time for this. Can you give me another minute? I haven’t been alone all night.”
“Yeah, we saw.” Faye’s wide mouth twisted in disgust, shivering as though she had touched a gremlin. Which was really unpleasant, Amie knew first hand. After waiting one solid, thoroughly awkward moment, Faye broke her lapse in concentration.
“I almost forgot what I came back here for.” Gravity and a cold resolve which Amie had never seen before entered Faye’s very stance. “Ginuog passed along the word like five minutes ago. They’re coming.”
“When?” Amie felt very small, even though she knew the power of her father’s ring, her power.
“He’s already stationed on the roof with our supplies. Tell me again you have the defenses properly in place?” Faye’s assured confidence made her believe in the militant upbringing the twins had shared.
“It won’t budge unless I deactivate it.” Amie had switched the defenses of Wenderdowne earlier that morning so they could fire human weapons from inside but nothing could breach the wall from outside.
Faye nodded, a ghost of a smile tightening her angular cheeks. Reaching out, she clasped Amie’s clenched fist. “Don’t worry, little princess. We’ve always got your back.” As abruptly as Faye had arrived, soon only the swaying curtains gave evidence to her presence.
Amie threaded her fingers through the gap and watched her people mingle with a heavy heart. She wanted to stop the coming terror, wanted to warn them. But Dearg told her more than one traitor was waiting here in their midst. When the time for battle came, they too would attack. She only hoped Faye and Ginuog could help protect those she loved most dearly. In spite of her misgivings, she was worried about Henry and Emrys and was thankful none of her new friends were here. Neither her uncle nor protector would be giving her the answers they promised this night.
She froze when a space between shifting forms revealed Morcant now laughing away in Henry’s arms. Emrys watched from the shadows of the crowd, his expression taut with worry, eyes searching, searching…
Amie pulled back further into her retreat with a shake of her head. Now was not the time to deal with the Merlin’s drama. Frankly, she wasn’t thrilled about being compared to his dead girlfriend.
And my relative apparently, she thought, remembering Henry’s lessons.
Holding Grimwich’s present to the light revealed its textured surface. As she began to unfold its contents she noticed the archaic handwriting, the faded ink and parchment.
This looks so familiar.
It
was torn in half, worn nearly threadbare over misuse and time. The voices surrounding her faded until only the beat of her heart slowing resounded in her ears as she read what remained of it.
“...Should you fail to apprehend the girl, be certain my letter is brought to her. Should Drustan fail to let her come freely, you are to use any means necessary to persuade him. And should none of these efforts to reclaim my daughter Jessamiene succeed,
I,
Iudicael Oberon Wenderdowne, Prince of Silver Hollow,
do so issue this order of death to be carried out by one
Myrrdin Emrys, Dark Wight and King of the Dreade”
In the distance the centaurs unleashed whickers of deep laughter. Hooved men and winged women crowed in their unnatural voices. A great beast rumbled beneath the valley, from the caves.
Amie crushed the parchment in her fist, unable to focus, to think clearly or even begin to react. She was nearly ready to bury this revelation in the recesses of her mind, ready to fully embrace her dormant power and protect what belonged to her. Instead the world chose for her in the shattering of glass and eruption of screams and roars of fury and terror.
For tonight, chaos would reign.
Henry surrounded half the ballroom in an orb of glowing golden light. Standing upon the stage he shouted loudly for all to hear, “Everyone pour your source into the defenses!” A group of elderly-looking Seelie had gathered near the stage below Henry to follow his direction, while their family and attendants set a perimeter around them. Beams of light rushed from the elders’ arms and into her father.
Amie instantly felt the rush of foreign power filling her up and the brush of Iudicael’s dawning strength flooded her senses. Amie calmed the heart palpitating in her chest with several deliberate breaths. Two choices had presented themselves in front of her. She could rush to the stage, take his hands and help him fight the onslaught together, or keep her secret longer.
Trust no one you have come to believe in, Dearg had warned her. Tears welled in her eyes as she added a sliver of her own strength into the elders’ defense. She wasn’t ready to reconcile the truth just yet, couldn’t face it now. She was torn between the Henry she had come to know over the past several weeks and the interpretation everyone else gave her.
Beasts roared outside in a sudden foray of fight and flight. Some were desperately trying to enter the house and the centaurs and gryphons lined the border, bellowing their war cries.
Through the shattered glass Amie heard the rising answer of a thousand dark creatures gathering at the edge of the hill beyond the garden. Atop the slope they stood, throwing beams of their inner nixy at the invisible wall protecting Wenderdowne. As each lightning force met the wall it instantly rippled and then absorbed the gathering power that had made it. Each stroke was overwhelming to Amie who was taking most of the brunt of the attack.
Energy sparked and crackled in the air, leaving clouds of smoke in its wake. Seelie and Unseelie were revealed in the ballroom now as the enemy happily struck against their brethren. Children attacked parent and spouse against spouse. Still the number of the good outweighed evil and there were a few she had not expected to rush in and be the hero.
Any crossfire that dared to graze her skin was collected in the glowing silver light now trapped within. She glowed brightly as the moon keeping vigil above their land. Every step she took was agony, still she pressed on towards the elders and the platform. Some who saw her took hope and joined the conclave of defenders. Most of their guests ran away in terror from the house to take their chances with the night.
The roar of frightened horses and rumbling carriages faded into the forest. Some never made it past the outer gates. Gremlin, golem and worse that had fled with the Princess’s arrival months ago returned and waited in ambush to satisfy their hunger.
Amie forgot the fact she was too important to be revealed yet. They needed her to survive. Ginuog fought from outside, rounding up unruly creatures with short bullet bursts in the ears and throats. Faye had split her long skirt and was weaving in and out of the hysterical crowd in an acrobatic dance. She threw the Unseelie down with her feet and hands and threw in the occasional jab of her heel to the jugular. She was so much enjoying the fight she almost missed the objective of her training passing her by. Snatching Amie by the waist, she threw them both on the ground and shouted above the roar, “Are you crazy? What are you still doing here, Wentworth? You have to get out of here now!”
“No, I have to help them!” Amie blinked past the haze the ring had affected her mind with. The house’s voice in her head was too demanding, too strong for her to ignore.
Faye sliced the end of Amie’s finger with the tip of her long double-bladed dagger as a last resort. “No, you don’t, you idiot!”
“Ouch!” Amie hissed, looking at her maimed skin. “What’d you do that for?”
“Grow a pair, woman!” Faye rolled them to the side in time to avoid the purple blast of energy currently tarnishing the marble black. Without hesitation she pitched a dagger back in the direction of the blast. The white-eyed Sidhe screamed and fell a bloody heap onto the marble. Grabbing Amie’s hands, Faye jerked her up on her feet. “If you help them we all die! Now get up and get your arse out of here!”
Before Amie could protest Faye jumped over her head and landed on the back of a horned Unseelie. Her hands braced either side of his head and he screeched when a red-hot energy built and shone from beneath her palms.
Earth to Amie, snap out of it, kid!
“Okay, Jess, time to go,” she gasped as another shockwave of energy blasted her defenses. The house wanted her to stay and fight and it took everything in her not to turn around and look for Henry. But Dearg was waiting for her. To save them she had to be selfish. She almost felt the rip in her soul when she denied the house her sliver of protection. The walls had already been set in place by her earlier and would have to make do.
The one thing no one saw coming was the gryphon that came crashing through the glass windows and brought death to them. A high cackle filled their ears and then the rest of the glass was imploding overhead.
Amie screamed as the wall frame fell over Henry and Lewyon, her Feather, smashed lifelessly into the elders. The crowd panicked and she was shoved onto the floor. She might have stood up were she not covered by the woman wearing a sheer luminous violet cloak. Amie stared up at the golden, tear-filled eyes that leaked and wet Amie’s cheeks.
“Hang onto me,” Morcant keened before her wail overtook her, higher in pitch than any human voice Amie had heard. The cackle beyond their walls ceased and all Unseelie crumpled to the floor, covering their ears. All Seelie were unaffected. Once it was over Morcant stood, bringing Amie with her. Together they fled to the hall, nearly reached the doors when she stopped and released Amie’s hand.
“I must go to him!” Her beauty had been marred by pain, but it was clear Lady Hogswillow was not and perhaps had never been a true threat.
I so had her pegged wrong.
When Amie only stared, awestruck, Morcant shoved her further along with a pulse of her inner nixy. “I’m as much a prisoner as you are! Now go! Get out of here while you still can!”
Amie ran.
Alastair barreled past her in a berserker fury, quickly followed by a frantic Underhill. “Alastair, ye foolish oaf! Ye have no business fighting!”
“It’s my fight too, ye prickled female!”
Amie slowed and Underhill instantly saw her retreat. For a split second the hobgoblin was torn between whom to follow, then she snatched her skirts to reveal how high her stockings went, grabbed Amie’s arm and pulled her along.
“Milady, I don’t know what in Oberon’s night drawer is happening, but we better get you far from it!” Shoving Amie back into the kitchens, Underhill paused, the two friends sharing one last communion. Amie saw then how much her maid truly cared for her, but how she cared even more for the Cook, who was the love of her life.
“You need to look after him.”
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Underhill nodded, rubbing the tears from her eyes, and fluffed her skirts nervously. “Run to the stables as fast as ye can, lass! Eddie shall be waiting, I expect!” With a wink she was gone.
Amie jumped as the house shook to its foundations.
The defense is weakening. Please be strong!
Chapter 42
Unseelie Strike Back
The attack had not come without warning. Morcant had, in fact, been anticipating this day ever since her sources reported Jessamiene Wenderdowne’s return to Silver Hollow. She couldn’t look at the half-breed without a twinge of loathing and regret. The girl had been the illegitimate product of a human woman and the love of Morcant’s life. Certainly she had loved both Drustan and Iudicael equally when they were children. Either one of them might have done for her. As she expected, they did sit up and take notice later on, of the wrong woman.
Unfortunately for Morcant, Drustan only cared enough to satisfy his carnal hunger, and Iudicael would not touch the maiden betrothed to his brother. Perhaps it was because she could not have him that Morcant had tried too hard to win his affections. No matter, it was a fact she was in love with Iudicael Wenderdowne, no matter what name he chose to go by. And it was a universal truth she hated Dameri Hawkeye.
She half expected to hate Jessamiene as deeply as the mother, seeing her as a pawn to be removed from Henry’s life. But the moment Drustan’s eyes looked out from that heart-shaped face she knew she mustn’t allow Grimwich to follow through with her orders. It should have been simple that day in the market to lead her off alone and let Rumplekin handle the child. That day Morcant made the more difficult decision, to protect her. She would have done this and more if it secured her beloved’s happiness.
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