by E. A. Copen
A bell went off in my head. “Fae can’t die in Faerie.” I said it as a statement, but Kellas still nodded to confirm the point. “Then why try to assassinate the Summer Princess?”
The cat-man went very still as if he were getting ready to do the butt wiggle and pounce on his prey. “That is the question.”
I started down the hall with renewed determination. I was looking at this all wrong. Whoever took that shot at Odette hadn’t meant to kill her. She couldn’t die, which meant William wouldn’t die. He’d just be laid up a while. Think, Lazarus. What’s the worst that could happen if that shot had hit Odette? Death was off the table, so maybe the assassin had only meant to incapacitate her. Why though? What would someone gain from keeping her off her feet and out of action for a time?
Unless the goal wasn’t to harm her. Cause enough trauma to the body, and she’d be beyond Beth’s healing skills. The child, which was only half-fae, was mortal as far as I knew, which meant…what exactly? I felt like I was on the edge of a huge discovery, but I was missing something important. I needed to talk to William. Hopefully, he was able to speak.
Kellas led me around a corner and down another hall before we stepped into a small, covered courtyard. The fabric canopy flapped in a light breeze, and the outside air had taken on an ozone scent. A storm was coming.
“Sir Knight.” Kellas pulled open the door on the opposite side of the courtyard and held it.
I was still wary of giving Kellas my back. Now that I knew he was a Cat Sìth, I was even more concerned. In folklore, the Cat Sìth were powerful witches that could turn into cats nine times. In other stories, they lived on a steady diet of souls. I didn’t know how much of that was true, but I knew I didn’t want to find out.
“Age before beauty,” I said, stopping just short of the door.
He grinned, bowed, and stepped through the door muttering, “And pearls before swine.”
The inside of the next room was a single open space with several beds, only one of which was occupied. William lay in a twin-sized featherbed with big, fluffy pillows. A white washrag rested on his forehead. On a table at his bedside rested a silver tray with an untouched bowl of broth.
A nurse busied herself with folding linens on the other side of the room. She stood when we entered, and I caught sight of fluttering silver wings on her back. “Sir Knight. Lord Kellas.”
“The interim knight had some questions for your patient,” Kellas said stopping by the door to close it.
“Afraid he’s not in much of a position to speak. The spell that struck him did significant damage. It will be some time before he’s healed enough to leave the infirmary. I was about to give him something to help him sleep.”
“I told you I don’t need it,” growled William’s gravelly voice. He moved an arm as if he were trying to sit up, prompting the nurse to rush to his side.
“You mustn’t move too much, sir,” she exclaimed. “You’ll tear the wound open again.”
“Let it tear. Help me out of this bed. I can’t protect Her Majesty and Her Highness from this bed!”
“You don’t have to worry about them.” I stepped over to the other side of the bed.
William was exactly what you’d expect the Summer Knight to be. Perfect, sharp features, long blonde hair, the kind girls fawned over, and plenty of muscle. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he bested a grizzly bear in a fight.
Hard eyes fixed on me, and his jaw flexed. “I remember you. You were in the garden.”
I wiggled the staff in my hand. “Hi. I’m your temp.”
William looked to Kellas as if he’d explain, but Kellas just shrugged.
I sighed. “I’m filling in for you while you recover. Queen’s orders. You don’t have to worry yourself over Odette. She’s in good hands.”
“You’re the father.” His tone was accusatory. “How?”
“Well, when a mommy fae and a daddy necromancer love each other very much—”
“Don’t patronize me, human. I know how. I meant to point out that you’re far below her station and not worthy. How you managed to win her heart is perhaps the great mystery of our time.”
“I’m wounded.” I pressed a hand to my chest in a mock gesture. “Where I come from, my roguish good looks are legendary.”
William raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, fine. It’s a long story, but let’s just say I’m as surprised as anyone else. I’m not here to vie for power or to try and interrupt the wedding. I just want to find whoever was taking pot shots at my ex, cure what ails me, and skedaddle back to Earth where I belong.”
The elf knight huffed, then winced. His nurse reached for the bowl I’d taken to be broth, but William waved her away. “It’s not so bad.”
“At least let me check the bandages, Sir Knight.”
He frowned and focused on the staff in my hands. “Apparently, I’m no longer the Summer Knight. If it pleases you to fuss over the bandages, Willow, then go ahead.”
Willow, the nurse, pulled the blankets back to reveal William’s whole midsection had been wrapped in thick gauze. Rust colored stains coated the outer layer. I winced at the sight of it and turned away. With a wound that big and that bloody, he had to be a tough son of a bitch to still be up and talking.
“I would ask how you came to be in your position,” William said as Willow cut through the bandages with surgical scissors, “but I know Titania. I can guess.”
I didn’t raise my eyes from the floor, mostly because I knew if I saw the open wound I’d have to revisit what little I’d gotten of the feast. “The last court knight I met wasn’t a willing servant. You seem pretty invested in the job.”
“Titania is not like Nyx. She’s devious and petty, as all the queens are, but she recognizes that a servant who serves of his own will is much better at his job.”
I chanced a look up and saw that William was focused entirely on Kellas. Kellas barely seemed to notice and instead pretended to examine the stones on the wall. By the look he was giving him, I could guess that there was history between the two of them, some definite unresolved tension.
I cleared my throat. “I came to ask you about the attack. You jumped in front of Odette, which means you saw the attack coming. Did you see the attacker?”
William shook his head. “I only saw and felt the magic. Whoever it was, they were obscured by the trees.”
“The shot was this far from my head.” I measured the distance with a few fingers. “And he had to have a clear line of sight. Any idea if there are any blind spots in the garden?”
William’s jaw clenched and held for a few seconds before he answered. “I’m sure there are some, but very few. The guards patrol the walls and the gardeners don’t allow branches to grow low in the garden for that very reason. No one should be climbing trees. I have no idea who made the attempt, and I don’t know from where any more than you probably do.”
I tapped my chin with a finger. That was a bust. I’d hoped William had something useful. Maybe I just wasn’t asking the right questions. “Speaking of gardeners, what do you know about an oak Dryad named Athdar? I ran into him, and he was pretty reluctant to talk to me.”
“You spoke to Athdar?” He moved as if to try and sit up again only to have Willow push him back down.
“Is that weird?” I looked from him to Willow and back.
“No one has seen Athdar since Titania announced the wedding between Princess Odette and Prince Roshan,” William explained. “He and the princess were close once. I don’t think he approved of the match.”
“Close? How close?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” William closed his eyes and relaxed.
“Athdar was raised here,” Willow said. “And the princess has always had a fondness for the oak grove. It’s a secluded place, far from the main thoroughfare. She spent a lot of time there.”
“Until the queen forbade it and ordered me to accompany her. The poor girl never had a moment’s peace. I told Her Majesty
that she’d only push Odette away with her constant surveillance. It’s why she ran to Earth. Even a princess needs companionship.”
“Wait a minute.” I held up my hands, leaning my staff against the crook of my arm. “You’re not suggesting they were lovers?”
“Goodness, no!” William opened one eye. “The princess may have been willing to dip below her station with you, but with Athdar?” He shook his head. “How can I put this so you’ll understand?”
“He loved her,” Willow said. A sad smile touched her lips. “Athdar loved her fiercely, but it was a love she could not and did not return.”
“Friend-zoned. Ouch.” I frowned. That could be a motive. Maybe Athdar wanted to hurt Odette because she’d hurt him. Since he was a Dryad, he could turn into a tree at will, giving him the ability to disappear among the trees. He wouldn’t have had to run or escape, just shift into his tree form. I didn’t know him well enough to know if he was the vengeful sort though. “Any chance Athdar could’ve been behind this?”
William shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. He was distraught when she left, enough so that the leaves in the oak grove turned red and fell to the ground. And he disappeared when the announcement was made, but he’d never hurt Odette. Athdar treasured her.”
“He would if she hurt him,” I said. “I don’t care who you are, that stings.”
“Not Athdar,” William insisted.
Arguing the point with him wasn’t going to get me anywhere, so I decided to change the subject. “Who else in the Summer Court has enough magic to do this?”
“Barring those gathered in the garden when you arrived?” William pressed his lips together in thought. “There’s Kellas.”
We both looked at him.
The cat-man turned away from the wall with a shrug. “I was napping in a sunbeam until Her Highness woke me.”
I shifted my grip on the staff. “Can anyone confirm that?”
“Unfortunately, no, but what motive could I possibly have for harming the princess? I’m her step-father. The queen would murder me in my sleep if she thought I had something to do with it. I like living.”
He had a point, and I didn’t like him for the attack. He struck me as slimy, but smart. Not the kind to carry out the sentence himself. “Could’ve used a cat’s paw.”
“Cat’s paw?” Kellas tilted his head to the side.
“A middleman, someone you hired to do it for you.”
His mouth spread into a grin. “Cat’s paw. I like it. But no, if I were to make a move against Summer, I wouldn’t trust an underling to do it. That’s the sort of thing that gets most villains in trouble. They trust too much. I don’t trust anyone.”
“It wasn’t Kellas,” William said, sighing. “Despite his loyalty to the Shadow Court, he’s got no reason to hold a grudge against Odette.”
“Except for the fact that the child she’s carrying could bring Death to Faerie.”
The room went eerily still at my observation. William studied Kellas, looking for any betrayal of emotion.
Kellas didn’t so much as twitch. “My dear knights, if I wanted to murder the princess’ unborn child, there are more surefire ways of achieving that. A little rue in her tea. A dose of poison. Even a more direct spell would be more effective than the clumsy thing that was used earlier today. And I would not miss.”
The way he said it sent chills down my spine. I believed him. Kellas was one creepy cat.
“Okay then.” I turned back to William. “Who else?”
“There are a dozen wizards at court. Any of them could have made the attempt, but I don’t see what they stood to gain personally. The misguided idea that the birth of this child would bring Death to Faerie aside, that is.”
“Self-preservation is a strong motivator,” I said, nodding. The move made me dip my gaze, and I accidentally looked straight at the exposed wound in William’s stomach. A big, angry red line stretched across the lower portion of his midsection. Stitches held him together. If he moved wrong, it looked like they’d pop right open leaving his guts free to spill out. The sight made my stomach turn, and I had to look away.
As I stared at the floor, trying not to throw up, I thought about the placement of the injury. I didn’t think that’s where I’d seen him get hit. The shot had seemed to strike him much higher. “Willow, is this his only injury?”
She nodded. “Aside from some impact bruising on his chest. I believe the spell struck him and traveled through his body, exiting here.”
I steeled myself and looked back, trying to match parts of the body up between him and Odette. When I finally worked it out in my head, the purpose of the spell became much clearer. “If this had hit Odette, what would have happened?”
Willow met my eyes and shook her head. “It’s hard to say.”
“You’re a doctor, right? Guess.”
She huffed and studied William’s wound. “When the spell exited William’s body, it cut its way out with near surgical precision. He’s very lucky his intestines were intact and were only partly outside the body when he was brought here. If the magic would’ve behaved the same way with Odette, it’s very likely the child would have been cut in two.”
Bile stung my tongue at that description. I swallowed it. “I thought there was no death in Faerie.”
“The child’s survival would be very dependent on many factors, but when children are born misshapen or with severe injuries in Faerie, they’re…dealt with.”
“Dealt with?” I stared at her, trying to catch her eye. “How?”
“They’re taken to Earth where they’re left to die,” Kellas said. “We don’t allow flawed children to live. Too few resources and it’s unfortunately all too easy to breed them.”
“That’s sick.”
Kellas shrugged. “Selective survival has been our way for centuries. Didn’t you ever wonder why there aren’t any ugly elves or lame fae? Chances are, of course, much higher that something will go wrong when human DNA gets involved. It’s honestly quite surprising she’s carried the child this long. Several betting men in the palace have already lost good money over it.”
I thought I was going to be sick and the reason had nothing to do with William’s wound. “I think I’ve heard all I need to hear. Whoever did this didn’t do it to hurt Odette. They did it to kill her child. William, I’m going to need a comprehensive list of every wizard at court. Think you can write me one?”
He gestured to his bed. “It seems I’ve got nowhere else to go and little else to do.”
“I need to talk to Athdar again, but I couldn’t get through the grove. Anyone here know any way to contact him?”
Silence answered.
I had a way I thought would work, but I didn’t want to use it, not unless I had no other choice. Athdar would be a lot less inclined to talk to me if I followed through with what I was planning, but I didn’t know what else to try.
“Will he come if the queen summons him?”
Kellas shrugged a single shoulder. “He didn’t come the last time she summoned him. She was fuming about it for days.”
I sighed. Nuclear option it is, then. “I appreciate your help, William, Willow.” I nodded to each of them and turned to go.
“Sir Lazarus?”
I cringed when William called me that. “Just Laz if you don’t mind. I’m not big on formalities.”
“You didn’t ask about the staff.” He nodded to the long piece of wood in my hands. “Have you found it useful yet?”
My fingers buzzed, and I looked down to see the runes faintly glowing green again. They lit up briefly as if the staff itself responded and then faded. “Kind of. It seems to have a mind of its own.”
“It’s very old,” said the elf with a solemn expression. “The wood is from a very old oak tree deep in Athdar’s grove. Perhaps you’ll find that information helpful.”
I nodded my thanks and left.
Chapter Eight
It was late, and the castle was quiet. I figured I’d be
tter go relieve Declan and check in on Odette, but I had to make sure Kellas wasn’t up to anything either. Something about the Cat Sìth left me feeling uneasy every time he was near me.
He exited the infirmary and stopped beside me, folding his hands behind his back, eyes sliding along the garden wall where the guards patrolled. “Do you have any theories, Sir Knight?”
“Haven’t really narrowed the suspect pool much, have I?” I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. My stomach took the opportunity to growl.
Kellas cocked his head to the side, staring at my gut. “The feast wasn’t to your liking? Would you like me to have the kitchens send something to your room? Some of the leftover roast from the feast, perhaps?”
My mouth watered at the thought of a big, juicy hamburger. I didn’t know if Faerie cooks made hamburgers, but I imagined if they did, it’d be amazing. That made declining Kellas’ offer all the more painful. “No. No meat. Bread, cheese, and veggies only for now.”
“You don’t strike me as the vegetarian sort.”
“I’m not.” I took a step forward and stopped, glancing around. “Which way back to the princess’ room?”
“So dutiful. Even William didn’t spend the night with his charge.”
I scowled at his knowing smirk. “I need to go relieve the guy I left on guard duty.”
“So send a guard with a message. Or better yet, I’ll do it on your behalf.” He licked his lips, his eyes too eager.
I turned away from him. “On second thought, I think I’ll find my own way.”
He called after me after several steps. I stopped and turned around to find him pointing to a stone stairway I’d overlooked. “Through there.”
I stomped up the steps, wondering how long I would’ve wandered around lost if he hadn’t pointed me in the right direction. The palace was too damn big for one guy to know where he was going. Everyone else seemed to instinctively know which way to go. I’d probably need a guide to get from the bed to the bathroom.
At the top of the stairs, I found a door that led me into a hallway just like every other hallway. Except this one had a young elf standing guard at a door about halfway down.
