"I did what I could," Will replied.
It was only then that Nathaniel noticed Anne's glassy stare and the expression of abject horror that appeared to run so deep it would never be expunged. Without uttering a word, she trailed away from them towards the lych-gate, pausing briefly to stare into her father's empty grave.
Nathaniel's own father was deeply troubled in a manner that surpassed the curt dismissal of some Catholic sympathisers, even if it was on hallowed ground. He pulled Will to one side and engaged him in intense conversation for several minutes. It appeared to Nathaniel that Will was attempting to reject what was being said, but eventually he relented.
When he had finished the conversation, he took Nathaniel by the elbow and led him away. "Your father has found you a new appointment. "
"I have an appointment."
"And now you have a new one. You will accompany me to London, to the court, where you will be my assistant. "
Nathaniel didn't know what to say. He looked to his father, who wore an expression of deep relief.
"Gather your things and say your goodbyes," Will said. "We leave tonight."
"He is scared," Nathaniel said. "I can see it in his face."
"It is a dangerous world, and your father wants you safe."
"And you are supposed to keep me safe?"
At first, Will didn't respond. Nathaniel saw deep thoughts and emotions play out across Will's face that convinced him that here was a good man, as his father was good. Finally, Will said, "I can see, Nat, that you will probably be a terrible burden, with your worryingly quick mind and, I would wager, a quicker tongue. But it is too late to go back on my promise now. It seems we are stuck with each other for the foreseeable future. "
Nathaniel saw through the words. "And I would wager the burden will be all mine," he responded in kind. "But if nothing else I suspect there will be interesting times ahead. "
As Nathaniel headed to the cottage to collect his things, he glanced back and saw Will watching Anne with deep concern etched on his face. Nathaniel sensed dark currents that he didn't yet understand, but he was determined to learn all there was to know of the world; and of the world this brave, impressive figure inhabited.
CHAPTER 27
cross a desolate moor where the standing stones raised high by ancient people stood against a lambent moon in a starry sky, Will ran. The muffled sound of fiddles and pipes drifted across the gorse and sedge behind him, and a sickly-sweet smell of honeysuckle tainted the warm breeze. Under his feet, vibrations ran through the soft ground accompanied by a dim clanging, like a blacksmith's hammers, never slowing, beating out the shape of his past and his future in dark caverns far below. Then, behind him somewhere, a hunting dog howled, familiar and blood-chilling, and within moments the howl was moving towards him at great speed, and he knew he would never escape his fate ...
He woke in a cold sweat, tied to a chair in a shaft of moonlight breaking through a window. His hidden blade was useless to him, bound as tightly as he was. Beyond the dirty glass, he could see tall stone houses, the windows dark. The dusty boards under his feet were bare, the plaster on the wall crumbling. He could smell damp, and a hint of human decay, but also that familiar underlying scent of honeysuckle. He was in the Fairy House.
The last thing he recalled was standing on the upended side of the carriage, sword in hand, as the black dog attacked. He felt its hot breath, saw its teeth stained with the blood of the driver and horse it had slaughtered ... and then nothing.
As his senses returned, he realised he was not alone. Presences waited, unmoving, in the dark at his back; he couldn't estimate the exact number, but instinctively he felt there were at least three.
"You have me, then," he said.
After a moment of hesitation, the measured tread of boots revealed lion Alanzo, dressed as though for court, in a ruff, a linen shirt, a crimson and gold beaded doublet, padded breeches, and stockings, topped off by a velvet hat at a carefully positioned angle. He rested one hand on the pommel of his sword and studied Will.
"You cut a fine figure, Don Alanzo," Will observed. "If I did not know better, I would think you dressed for royalty."
"I return to Cadiz tomorrow," he replied in his heavy accent. "And then to glory, to the beginning of the end of England. With my prizes in hand."
"Not all your prizes."
"No, one evades me."
"And it will continue to do so."
"I think not." Don Alanzo examined his polished nails with theatrical nonchalance. "Already our agents close upon it. It is only a matter of time before your assistant is located and the Shield returned to us. Edinburgh is not a large city, and the people have no love of an Englishman."
Will stifled a pang of regret that he had placed Nathaniel in danger, and hoped that it was some previously unseen Spanish agents pursuing him and not the Unseelie Court. As he had always feared, his vow to Nathaniel's father continued to haunt him. "Nathaniel has a surprising degree of animal cunning. You may well be disappointed," Will said blithely.
Don Alanzo's lips curved with a faint, mocking smile. "You have not disappointed us yet."
There was much unsaid in the smile. "What are you saying, Don Alanzo?" Gently, Will tested the strength of the bonds around his wrists. As he had expected, they held fast; Don Alanzo would not make any mistakes.
"You recovered the artefact for us, where we and our allies had failed."
Will quickly assimilated Don Alanzo's implication. "You let me escape with Kintour and the cipher."
"Of course. Your reputation is well known. If there is one man in this world who could break a cipher, and overcome the traps of those Templar Knights, it is the great Will Swyfte." His mocking smile grew wider and stated, quite plainly, that Will was not at all great. "Reidheid, who plays both sides in this game, fed you the information we required about the existence of this house, and then it was only a matter of waiting for your arrival."
"A good plan," Will said. "One that I would have been proud to put into effect myself. Except ... one of your allies lies dead ..."
Don Alanzo's features remained unreadable.
"And you do not have the prize you sought," Will continued.
"As I said, only a matter of time."
"Which is what all failures say." Will was pleased to see Don Alanzo flinch. "Your allies are a poor choice, Don Alanzo, and do you no credit. Do you think they would not slit your throat, and every throat in Spain, once you have served their purpose?"
Don Alanzo's eyes flickered towards the unseen presences behind Will. "Do you think we are not aware of that? Shared interests cross boundaries of suspicion."
"Men are judged by the friends they keep."
Don Alanzo laughed. "And we should only ally ourselves with people we like? How naive! Why, Master Swyfte, if that were the case, I think you would struggle to find allies even within your own court."
"We are not talking about the French here, Don Alanzo. Or Venice, or Florence, or the Hapsburgs, or even that weak and feeble Russian, Feodor. The Unseelie Court is a half-starved wolf waiting in your parlour."
"And you think Spain is not? England is a corruption upon the world. Your arrogance spins out of control, standing against God and Rome, overthrowing laws and truces and order whenever it serves your purpose. You are despised by all freethinking men, and soon you will see black sails on the horizon. The dark ship that reeks of rot approaches your land, and it is already too late to turn it back."