Wyln broke off as we became aware of a disturbance outside the common room, moving towards us. He dropped his hand and we all shifted to face the doorway just as the curtain parted and Harbormaster Lin stepped into the room. Her wings, which had been pressed together as she moved through the doorway, spread out behind her. Eyeing the butterflies resting in her hair and on her shoulders, I realized that Lord Commander Thadro’s question of who’d want to be a butterfly had just been answered: faeries.
Two butterflies took off and headed my direction as Wyln sighed again. “This is becoming a habit, Harbormaster. Why aren’t you out looking for the escaped vicar?”
“Because we found Commander Pellan first, honored Enchanter,” Lin said. “Or rather, he and his City Watch have found my wardens and your guards. I just managed to escape.”
“What?” Wyln asked, frowning.
“A quorum of the High Council is assembled, and they’ve ordered His Grace the Fyrst held—”
Wyln stood up, knocking his chair over.
“—to answer charges of sheltering one human accused of the rape and murder of a fae—”
Groskin gasped and jerked as if he’d been hit.
“—of taking as Cyhn another human accused of practicing dark arts—”
“What?” I whispered as the wind rose to a shriek, banging on the windows.
“—of offering Hospitality to those who are guilty of running and slavery—”
“Why should we be left out?” Javes murmured.
“—all the while being aided and abetted by Laurel of the Black Hills clan, who not only has failed in his duty to the Council, but has turned reprobate, violating his Faena oaths.” The harbormaster turned her head to watch as the butterflies landed on my shoulder, their weight connecting me to the earth. She then raised her violet eyes to mine. “The Council has sent Commander Pellan for all of you. He should be here any moment.”
Chapter Sixty-four
“Commander Pellan is coming to take us into custody?” Captain Suiden asked, as we quickly moved from the sleeping chamber to the outer room. Wyln looked at the faerie with flame-filled eyes.
“Yes, Your Highness,” Lin said, watching the haunts surround me. “He was the one who delivered the Fyrst to the Council. As Laurel Faena has discovered, trust is a potent weapon.” She didn’t wait for a response, but nodded at the butterflies resting on my shoulder. “Two of my sisters, son of Lark and Two Trees. They followed the Magus’ messenger bird and so found you in the Royal City.”
“Why?” I managed to get out, still working on Pellan’s betrayal of his Fyrst.
The fae’s wings rippled with her shrug. “Dragoness Moraina isn’t the only one who can do farseeing, and we were both curious and wanted to make up our own minds.”
“Curious about what—” Javes broke off as the common room doors opened and Commander Pellan walked in. He stopped short when he saw us facing him, unsurprised at his appearance. Captains Suiden and Javes shifted to stand in front of us and were joined by the Enchanter, while Laurel and Groskin moved to my side.
“What are you doing here, nephew?” Wyln asked, his face calm but his eyes still ablaze.
Commander Pellan lifted a hand and several elves from the City Watch came through the open doors. He pulled a pouch from his belt, his face expressionless. “You all have been summoned to the High Council—”
“Before their appointed time,” Laurel said, his tail lashing. “Without all the Council members.”
“A special session has been convened—” Pellan began.
“Oh,” Esclaur said. “I know all about those. Done in secret with no witnesses—I mean audience.”
“—to address accusations of murder, slavery, the practicing of dark arts, and other charges,” Pellan finished.
“Did you truly deliver His Grace over to them, Pellan?” Wyln asked, sounding as if he really wanted to know. The two castle guards joined him.
Pellan met his uncle’s gaze for the first time since entering the room. “What else could I do? It’s by the Council’s orders.”
“I see,” Wyln said. “So you, who are the Fyrst’s kin, felt no compunction in betraying him, while Harbormaster Lin, who isn’t even of the same race, held true to her oaths.”
Reminded of the diminutive faerie, I started to look around for her, but was distracted by the wind howling and slamming against the windows. I turned my head to them and the windows shook harder, the latches rattling, and I frowned.
“You think I betrayed my oaths?” The commander gave me a cold look, and the haunts pressed closer until they were a dense ring about me. “The Fyrst made a human Cyhn, a descendant of the same one who murdered our families and stole our birthrights. Do you remember, my mother’s brother? The flames and soldiers and anguished cries as our blood was spilled? How no mercy was shown and even the smallest was slain?”
“Pellan was a child when we left Morendyll,” Wyln said to the rest of us, “but he remembers our leaving very well—and the fact that his parents did not.”
Pellan indicated the Watch standing behind him. “Not just my parents,” he said, “but their mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, uncle. Just as your wife and children. Even the Fyrst’s daughter. His only child killed, and yet he takes a son of Iver Bloody-Hand into his household.”
Wyln smiled at the commander. “Tell me, did you ask His Grace why he’d done what he had?”
“I didn’t need to,” Pellan said. “I heard the Faena—cousin to a human king he says looks elfin.” He shrugged. “Her Grace Molyu is unable to bear more children, or perhaps the lack is with His Grace himself. So he seeks to continue his line with human filth.” He indicated the Watch again. “You can see that the city is not too happy about it.”
“So they’ll be happy with you, kin-betrayer, as their new Fyrst?” Wyln asked.
Pellan gave the same gentle smile as his uncle. “Those who matter.” He gave a signal and the Watch surrounded us, two going into the doyen’s chamber. “You are summoned to stand before the Council,” Pellan said once more.
The city guards returned to the common room, pushing the doyen before them.
“My lords, what’s happening—” Doyen Allwyn broke off as a guard shoved him hard between his shoulders, causing the doyen to stumble against the table. He muffled a cry as one of the chairs caught him in the ribs.
“Any resistance will be severely dealt with,” Pellan said.
Doyen Allwyn started to straighten but the second guard knocked him down on his hands and knees. The guard drew back his booted foot to kick him.
Hearing scabbards rattling, I glanced over my shoulder to see Javes, Esclaur and Suiden all holding their swords as they advanced on the Watch. Groskin stood with a knife in each hand. “Come on, boyo,” Groskin murmured to the city guard facing him. “Please.”
I pulled my own sword but the city guards paid no attention to me. The windows rattled again in a gust of wind, and I turned completely to face them, taking a couple of steps in their direction.
Laurel stalked over to the doyen, his rumbling growl echoing in my bones, while Wyln, bracketed by the two castle guards, moved towards Commander Pellan, his long fingers tracing fire in the air. “This will cease now—”