“Drink, girl! It’ll warm you! Good for the blood, theadventuring blood!” Polk pulled the bottle free as Escalla turned green andgasped for breath. “Amphisbanae double-snake’s head whiskey! That pixie bottleof yours is a gem!”
The faerie coughed as though trying to wrench her esophagus out of her throat. With tears in her eyes, she gave a thumbs up to Polk and Enid. Purring like a cage of satiated lions, Enid paced about in the background putting out fires and cleaning up the camp.
Jus handed Escalla her cherished leather clothes, her battle wand, and her books of spells.
“How long have we got?” he asked.
“Maybe an hour-until morning, tops.” The girl dressed swiftlyand efficiently, keeping one eye on the sky. “There’ll be faerie dragons, elfhounds, and faeries. Mother will probably summon eagles and stuff.”
“What do we do?”
“We head for a bolt hole and sit tight for a week.”
The group walked out of the castle and followed Escalla toward the old moat. The girl hummed happily, hugging her ice wand tight against her heart. Behind her Enid politely fluffed her wings.
“We’re terribly glad to have you back. How did the weddingpreparations go?”
“Oh, pretty good. Shame to miss it. They made a cake andeverything!” Escalla turned and eagerly waved her hands. “You should have seenthe dress! Pure white and bigger’n a landshark!”
Walking at Escalla’s side, Jus flicked her a glance brightwith secret delight. “A white wedding dress?”
Hovering indignantly, the girl bridled. “Hey! I’m entitled!”
“Oh?”
Everyone turned to stare in amusement at Escalla, who instantly panicked as she felt her reputation fall to pieces.
“N-n-not to say that I’m not experienced!”
Jus’ teeth gleamed. “Yeah, how about with another person?”
“Keep it up, baldie!” The faerie had turned a shade ofscarlet. “Right now I’m thinking you’d look pretty good as a size eleven frog!”
Flying haughtily on her way, the faerie swept down to the castle moat, trying to ignore the amused looks from behind her. She tugged her clothing into place, sniffed importantly, and hovered beside the pond.
“If you people are quite finished, shall I show youhow a true masters escape is done?”
Cinders looked at her and sniggered happily. Funny!
“Cinders, I don’t think a hearth rug with teeth has any callto be mocking my love life!” Escalla shook out her wings “Right. Now canwe please get going?”
Jus looked up at her and stroked his chin. “The faeries canfly, have magic faerie hounds, and use scrying spells. What’s the best way toevade them?”
“Dunno.” Escalla gave a happy shrug. “We’re lucky! They’llmiss us somehow. Don’t worry about it.” The girl snapped her fingers. “Trust me.I’m a faerie!”
Polk, Enid, Jus, and Cinders all simply looked at her. The Justicar sucked on a tooth and said, “Trust to luck? That’s your whole escapeplan?”
“Look. I just escaped from the whole Seelie Court! I can’t beexpected to handle everything!” The faerie waved her hands in indignation. “Someof the details I have to leave to you!”
The Justicar looked at the forest and gave a tired sigh. “Areall your escapes like this?”
From a tree overhead, there came a sudden weary sigh. “Mostof them.”
Jus whirled, his hand on his sword.
Escalla’s father sat on a tree bough, looking old, tired, andglum.
Everyone stared up at the faerie lord. An uncomfortable silence reigned for long moments. Putting on her best innocent grin, Escalla gave him a timid little tinkle of a wave.
“Hello, Dad. Ah…” Escalla gave a hopeful little flip ofher antennae. “Why all the excitement in the forest?”
“My dear, I believe they have come to ask you why youmurdered Tarquil.” Lord Charn looked at his daughter and gave a heavy sigh.“This time you’ve really managed to outdo yourself.”
9
When you wanted a fire in a hurry, Cinders was always readyto oblige. Sitting happily in the cellar of the ruined castle, the hell hound breathed little licks of flame from his nostrils to warm Jus’ battered old campkettle. The brew steamed, and Jus loomed above the kettle to pour himself another serving before seeing to his guests. The Justicar patted Cinders on the head as he passed, making the hell hound thump his long tail against the floor.
“Thanks, Cinders.”
Welcome!
Above the castle, an illusory light blinked and flared. It matched the movements of real faeries searching for the fugitive Escalla. For a while at least, the magic would keep the faerie hunt at bay.
Deeply annoyed by events, Escalla sat high up near the ceiling on a jutting stone, her knees beneath her chin and a look of total annoyance on her face. She was in a magnificent sulk, seething and muttering as she shot clandestine looks at her father.
Answering the implied question, Lord Charn snorted as he settled by the fire. “It’s my realm, girl. I picked it because of all thedamned gates I found here.” Frowning in annoyance, the faerie lord sipped teafrom an old tin mug. “I just thought of what route I’d take if I was trying toavoid the wife. The pike fish told me the rest.”
Finding a stone big enough for him, the Justicar sat down. “Pike? What pike?”
“Carnivorous fish. Big one. Wife can’t stand them.” LordCharn made a face as he tasted Jus’ abominable tea. “I put no end of thingsnear gates to stop the wife going through.” The faerie lord gave a snort. “Ihave to have somewhere quiet to go.”
“You stay in the woods here?”
“Rather than the palace? When I can. Lets me get a bit ofpeace.” Carefully setting his tea aside before it could poison him, Lord Charnfluttered his wings. “Now there’ll be no damned peace till all this nonsense isdone.”
Perched upon her stone, Escalla shot a petulant look at her father. “Dad, I did not kill that stupid cavalier!”
“Don’t be dense, girl!” Lit by the hell hound’s nostrilflames, Lord Charn’s face took on sharp, wicked shadows. “If I thought you’dkilled him, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you drinking tea!”
Tired and annoyed, Lord Charn made the mistake of sipping the tea again. Wincing, he put the cup far away and turned to carefully regard the Justicar. The faerie lord’s eyes sparked as he measured the big warrior acrossthe fire.
“You went to White Plume Mountain? You were the one who didin Keraptis’ disciple?”
“Escalla, Cinders, Polk, and myself.”
“Yes.” The faerie lord sipped tea again, which distinctlytasted of the onion soup that had been made last night in the same pot. “Is mydaughter any good?”
Jus made a gruff noise, shifted his dire shadow in the gloom, and said, “She’s damned good, one of the best I’ve seen.”
Above them, Escalla beamed.
“Well, she’ll need to be.” Charn gave another sigh, thenkicked irritably at a pebble. “She doesn’t belong with us.” The faerie lordspoke a spell, opened up his hands, and provided bottles of decent wine. “Here.It’s not faerie wine and certainly not the sixty-three.” That particular vintageseemed to have scarred some lives forever. “Sit, drink, and let me tell you atale or three.”
Polk immediately shot forward, ignored a glass and took a bottle for himself. Enid the sphinx sat down to clumsily nurse a glass between big furry paws, sneezing as the bubbles tickled at her nose. Jus waved the wine away and contented himself with his awful tea.
Lord Charn swirled his wine inside a tiny thimble glass and began.
“We need to come out into the world. My daughter is the test.Faeries could be an instrument for good or bad. I suspect we might verge toward the bad. We’ve spent too long looking after our intrigues.” Lord Charn heaved asigh then leaned toward the Justicar. “Intrigues have a way of excusing evil.Tarquil’s dead, and in my own house.”