Clambering over Enid’s head to fetch a glass of wine, Escallashot another angry look at her father. “I told you, I didn’t kill the bugger!”
“But there’s evidence enough to slam you right into the handsof the Faerie Council.”
Jus leaned forward, listening. Polk leaned forward, thieving more wine. Sitting beside the Justicar, Lord Charn laid out the situation for his daughter’s companions.
“Lord Ushan’s valets came to Tarquil’s room to summon him.Tarquil was discovered dead, lying on the bed. There was an empty cup-looks likethe man was poisoned. When the palace was searched, it was discovered that Escalla had gone. My wife’s maids knew that Escalla had arranged a secret trystwith Tarquil in his room.”
Jus stroked at the harsh stubble of his chin. Beside him, Cinders listened with pointed ears, his red eyes gleaming.
“No spies in Tarquil’s room saw anything?”
“His own alarm spells had been disabled. However, Escalla hadapparently spent at least two days making sure that she would be unobserved. Scrying shields in place, careful blanking of spying spells… Her mother hada spy following her. Escalla knocked him out when he tried to follow her into Tarquil’s room.” The faerie lord leaned closer. “What’s more, Tarquil’sbodyguard saw Escalla sneaking into the room just before the body was discovered. He remembers that she seemed stealthy.”
Escalla remembered the bodyguard and gave a vicious curse. “He knew why I was supposed to be there!” Escalla leaped to the ground and pacedin anger. “That bastard! I’ll-!”
“In good time.” Her father turned to the girl. “Did you seeanything? Any evidence you can remember?”
Escalla planted her hands against her heart and squawked in indignation. “I didn’t do it!”
“That’s not going to be much of a defense.” Father glared atdaughter. “You had motive. You had opportunity. You blanked out scrying spellsand knocked out the spy who followed you, then you fled off into the wilderness to escape!”
Escalla sank into nervous anxiety, then suddenly shot up, filled with energy. “Ah! The slowglass! I hung the necklace from a door handleoverlooking the bed!” Escalla smacked her fist into her palm. “Ha! There you go!It’ll show him alive and me leaving-everything you need to know!”
“Just what we need,” Lord Charn shrugged, “but no onereported seeing a necklace in the room. Still, we can search for it and see.”
“What about spells?” The Justicar’s meat and bread came frominvestigating injustices and crime. “Can you speak with the deceased?”
“No ghost is present. It must have already fled.”
The faerie lord rose to his feet and paced in agitation, his head level with Jus’ thigh.
Escalla sat irritably down by the fire and cursed. “Poop.”
“Poop indeed.” Lord Charn made a rock float over to serve asa chair for the girl, bringing her to sit between himself and the Justicar.
“Now listen. Your mother is going to use you as a sop to ClanSable. They want a murderer, and by slinging you to them, she will be able to save her ambitions. Through sacrificing her own daughter, she shows that she is a true member of the court, and she will still have your sister to marry off to the Sable Clan.” Charn’s antennae slanted. Apparently there was no love lostbetween himself and his wife. “Your sister and mother have great plans. This isalmost better for them than having you and Tarquil safely wed. Meanwhile, Clan Sable screams out murder and assassination, calling for our eternal barring from the Seelie Court.”
Jus thought upon the situation, his face its usual mask of sharp intelligence. “You want Escalla’s name cleared.”
“Of course I do! She’s my girl. My girl!” Theresemblance between father and daughter in mind and spirit was certainly remarkable. “I let her go to the world because it was what’s best for her.”
“Ha!” Escalla gave a sour sniff. “Don’t talk rubbish! Ifyou’d known I was skiving off in the first place, you would have stopped it.Mother must have given you hell.” The girl gave a sniff and sipped her tea“ Probably took you a whole week to realize I was gone.”
“By failing to pay attention, I was obeying unconscioushigher motives.” Lord Charn clearly shared a heritage of glibness with hisdaughter. “I knew it was right and proper that you take your place within theworld.”
“Oh bosh!”
“Bosh yourself.” Charn dusted imaginary crumbs from his tunic.“Who was it that showed you where the dandelions grew in the first place?”
Miffed, Escalla sat cross-legged on her stone. “Fine! So I’mtoo incompetent even to run away from home by myself, and my own mother is conspiring to have me executed. Anything else?”
Speaking for the benefit of the ever-patient Justicar, Lord Charn refilled his glass.
“Lord Faen is with us. He is chief advisor to the Erlking andis in charge of the investigation. He will let us clear Escalla’s name if it canbe done. If we show a love of justice, that will be better evidence of goodwill to the court than throwing a scapegoat to the dogs.” The anxious father glancedat Escalla, running his fingers through his hair. “Justicar, I know you haveexperience here. I am at a loss! As you love and value my daughter, please help us clear her name!”
Jus nodded slowly and thoughtfully. Rising from his seat, his vast bulk loomed like a giant above the faeries. “Is it possible for me to seethe body and the murder site?”
“It can be arranged, but it must be now, before thefaeries return to the palace from the first hunt!” Lord Charn rose quickly fromhis seat. “There is a gate at an archway high above, but we’ll have to run!”
Escalla, Polk, and Enid all rose together. Lord Charn looked at them in alarm.
“No! Escalla, stay hidden. This must be fast. If your mothersspies see visitors, she’ll follow you and strike. I’ll take the Justicar alone.If we’re not back here in an hour, then go wait for him in your spider bubble inthe pond!”
Lord Charn kissed his daughter, gripped her shoulders, and then whirred up into the air, his wings sparkling. Behind him, the Justicar seated his sword in his belt. Cinders swept about him like a cloak, the hell hound’s grin gleaming as the creature was fastened in his rightful place.Following him to the cellar door, Escalla anxiously wrung her hands then came to hover in front of Jus face.
“Jus, I didn’t do it.”
He looked into her frightened green eyes for a long moment, then reached out to touch her cheek. “I know.”
He nodded, then turned and walked away. Once he was gone from the room, Escalla’s night seemed suddenly frightening.
The ruins of the keep yielded an arch, and the arch had longbeen overgrown with ivy. Lord Charn hovered nearby as Jus hauled his powerful frame up the sheer stonework toward the magic gate.
“There are gates everywhere, of course, sir Justicar. Peoplejust can’t see them. This forest is a nexus, a place where dozens of themcongregate. It’s why we settled here in the first place.” The faerie lordplucked a sprig of fennel from his purse. “There! This should be the one!”
Hanging from a sheer stone wall thirty feet above the ground Jus paused while searching for a handhold.
“Fennel?”
“A key for the gate.” Charn put his other herbs away. “Eachone is triggered by a different herb or token. A copper coin, a dandelion, splash of wine… You can trigger them by accident if you’re unlucky enough.That’s why mortals think the whole forest is haunted.”
As Jus reached the rough stone precipice below the ancient stone arch, Lord Charn gestured toward it with his herbs.
“This gate leads to the palace lands, but I don’t quite knowwhere. Stay hidden until I can find Lord Faen, and we’ll bring you to the murdersite.”