After all, I was about to gamble my life – and Sir Quinton’s life – on it.
“As a matter of fact, for once I have a plan,” I said, with a grim smile. “Let me tell you exactly what we’re going to do.”
* * *
With an eye-searing flash of white, Sir Quinton and I arrived back at the cobblestone-lined square next to Master Dekanos’ house. As I had anticipated, my friends had returned there to await my arrival. Globes of weirlight danced above the scene like Christmas-y lanterns, throwing a festive glow upon those beneath.
Shaw lay curled in one corner like a sleepy lion, though he immediately sat up at the flash of the transport spell. Galen and Liam looked up from where they’d been chatting animatedly with several of the unicorns. Everyone quickly gathered around me, and I noted that the same nine unicorns I’d named as suspects were present.
No one wanted to miss the conclusion of the mystery.
“Excellent, our investigators have returned!” Master Windkey said eagerly. His expression quickly shifted to one of confusion. “Well, at least you have, Dame Chrissie.”
“You have swapped out your former companion for a human knight,” Master Wayfarer observed, as he came to stand at the marigold unicorn’s side. “Where is your pooka?”
“He’s on another assignment,” I explained. “For I did not find Master Dekanos’ murderer.”
My three friends traded glances at the news, trying to figure out what I was up to. Masters Fey, Crystalline, and Enchanter blew a series of disgusted snorts at that, and Master Windkey stamped his hoof angrily at the news.
“What ridiculousness!” he whinnied. “What now? Shall we waste even more time on a second round of ‘suspect interviews’?
“Perhaps we should, as you put it, ‘waste more time’,” I said pointedly. “Or is there a reason you dislike the idea? What are you hiding, Windkey?”
The unicorn’s nose came up as his voice went down a notch.
“That’s Master Windkey to you, human.”
It was then I noticed Sir Quinton staring about dumbly in amazement. I suppose it was understandable. I’d briefed him on what to expect, but even a knight from the magical world of Andeluvia would be taken aback by the presence of so many unicorns.
I gave him a nudge with my elbow. He stepped quietly towards Master Windkey, angling to approach him from the side. I cranked up my rhetoric some more, to keep everyone’s attention riveted on me.
“Master Windkey? Master of what, exactly?” I demanded. “How is it that you, who claim to be the most powerful of unicorn wizards, couldn’t even see Dekanos’ death coming?”
“Future sight is a gift your kind knows nothing about,” Windkey snarled back. The magical glow at the tip of his horn began to shimmer more intensely. “You are out of your depth!”
“Is that so?” I challenged him, as my hands came up, balled into fists.
My right forearm sent a bolt of pain all the way up to my shoulder in response, but I ignored it as best I could. Meanwhile, Sir Quinton approached Windkey’s flank, quiet and unobserved. Luckily, the unicorn’s proud temper was keeping everyone thoroughly entertained. The knight was at most two more steps from striking distance.
“And you are one to smear other’s skills!” the unicorn raged, even as the tip of his horn began to throw off stray sparks of energy. “What good did it do us, waiting to consult your useless forensics magic?”
“What good indeed?” I shot back. “You’d be surprised.”
Quinton finally got within range.
His sword hand was a blur as it snapped down to his side. A tinny schling! and his blade rested against a unicorn’s throat. Not Windkey’s, of course. Quinton had drawn his weapon on the unicorn that stood at Windkey’s side.
Master Wayfarer’s eyes went wide as he felt the cold bite of steel against his skin.
Chapter Forty-Three
The assembled unicorns let out whinnies of fright as Sir Quinton’s blade came to rest against Master Wayfarer’s throat, just under his jaw. Galen appeared dumbfounded. Shaw and Liam tensed for action, ready to move against anyone who challenged me.
“What are you–” Windkey began, but I spoke over him.
“I wouldn’t do that, Wayfarer!” I shouted, as the cream-and-lemon stallion opened his mouth. “You see, I noticed something interesting when I spent time among your kind. Unlike some magical creatures – like the fayleene, or the pouquelaye – it seems that unicorns can’t cast a spell unless they talk. So, if you try to speak, Sir Quinton will slash your throat.”
It remained deathly quiet in the Glade as I finished.
Master Wayfarer’s eyes fairly blazed at me.
But he did close his mouth.
“Galen,” I called. “Remember that spell you cast on Magnus, when we fought him at Grauman’s Chinese Theater?”
“Yes, I do recall it,” the Wizard said. He raised a hand and chanted, “Magia enim ultra tibi.”
The glowing tip of Wayfarer’s horn guttered out. The unicorn wobbled on his feet, then sank to the ground as if exhausted. I nodded to Sir Quinton, who took a few steps back, lowering his sword, but keeping the blade out and ready.
“Master Wayfarer has been deprived of the use of his magic,” Galen stated. “At least for the next twelve hours.”
“I don’t understand,” complained Master Windkey. “You said that you hadn’t found Master Dekanos’ murderer.”
“I hadn’t. I found his murderers,” I said. “My forensics report determined that Dekanos was killed using a poison that’s only found in a part of my world that Destry had visited just recently. Unfortunately, the pooka was present when I figured everything out.”
Shaw let out a squawk of outrage as he connected my words with my bandaged arm.
“Dayna! Thou hast been wounded by that fell beast!”
“He didn’t take being found out all that well,” I admitted. “But he did tell me what happened before he fled. Wayfarer had been looking for someone who could phase through walls to kill Master Dekanos. All he needed was a way to bring the pooka inside without arousing suspicion. I’m afraid that my arrival here was the event he was looking for.”
“No wonder you didn’t object to our admitting Dame Chrissie!” Master Conjurer spat. “I should have known you were up to something, Wayfarer.”
“And yet, I want to hear the confession from his own lips.” Master Celestial insisted.
But the unicorn sitting on the ground remained stubbornly silent.
“You know what magics we possess,” Master Summoner said, his wheezy voice taking on an unmistakable tone of menace. “We know spells that can pack an eternity of suffering into a few minutes. That should loosen your tongue, don’t you think?”
Wayfarer blanched. He didn’t look up as bitter words fell from his mouth like drops of hot tar.
“I am older than any of you. I know more magic than any of you. I was one of Master Dekanos’ teachers. And how did he reward me? By making me the doorkeeper, the one who greeted lesser beings or swept the debris from our woods! Not once over the decades did he deign to give me my own field of study.
“Oh, I planned to show you all that I could be the next Senior Archmage when he passed away. Only, he didn’t. He kept living. On…and on…and on. An insane thought grew in my mind: that he must die. We unicorns have never murdered each other. But if I could not…perhaps another being could.”
“That would have been our friend, Destry,” Liam gritted. “You twisted him, forced him into participating in your vile plan!”
Wayfarer finally looked up. His eyes focused on Liam with razor-sharp intensity. Those same eyes streamed tears as he made that strange coughing sound that the unicorns used for laughter.
“I…twisted him?” he said incredulously. “You are much too innocent to be the Protector of the Forest, fayleene. Upon hearing of my woes with the Senior Archmage, the pooka was the one who suggested what poison to use on Master Dekanos. He also suggested how I coul
d get him inside to do the horrible deed.”
“Yes, he told you about me,” I said flatly. “And as far as the poison used, it was perfect. Destry knew that it would rob Dekanos of his voice first, then his life.”
“That does explain why the Senior Archmage couldn’t use his magic,” Galen agreed. “Either to cure himself, or seek out help.”
Windkey snorted in disgust.
“Murder. Not out of rage or anger, but planned and calculated. It sickens me.” He lowered his horn and spoke a magic phrase. “Quia non adiciet ut resurgat.”
Wayfarer’s head dropped to the ground. His eyes closed as the wavy form of a stasis field shimmied into place over his body.
“We must have time,” Master Enchanter said, her voice wavering as if near breaking. “Master Wayfarer’s insanity has shaken me to my very core. It has made me question our very existence as the teachers of magic.”
A chorus of murmurs came from the rest of the unicorns.
I question these things too.
This is terrible, what are we?
I feel the same!
“Dame Chrissie,” Windkey stated solemnly. “You and your friends must leave now. Let us grieve, let us figure out what to do with Wayfarer, let us find our way anew.”
“We had a bargain,” I reminded him. “Knowledge, in exchange for my services.”
“And you shall be paid!” the unicorn shot back. “We shall summon you in the next few days, a week at most. Only go. We wish to be left alone!”
I wanted what Windkey knew, but I didn’t want to press the unicorns any further. I gestured to my friends, and they gathered around me. Taking out my medallion, I held it in my hand, fixing my destination in my mind.
The flash of the medallion’s spell wiped clean the snow-gray world of the Everwinter Glade before shading into the dark wood tones of the empty antechamber to the throne room. I barely had time to get my bearings before Shaw turned and examined the bandage on my arm. He growled his discontent.
“I smell blood upon thee,” he said. “Truly, how bad is thy wound? Speak plainly to this old warrior!”
“It’s not that bad,” I insisted. “A couple of deep puncture wounds, that’s all.”
“Did the blasted pooka bite thee?”
“No, he didn’t touch me! What happened…look, let’s talk about it later. We have something else that needs to be done before the night is up.”
As I spoke, Liam came around to my other side. The Protector of the Forest touched the tip of an antler to my arm and it glowed faintly for a moment. Then he raised his head and gave me a nod.
“I sense no corruption within,” he announced. “Your life force remains strong and untainted.”
“Thou hast better be correct,” Shaw grumbled. “Already, I wish to shred the pooka’s body between mine own talons!”
“That shall be quite a challenge,” Galen observed soberly. “Given that he can phase into ethereal form.”
“Guys, let’s put that aside for a moment,” I said, raising my voice to cut off my friends’ conversation. “The Royal Court is in a special evening session right now. Two of Lord Alvey’s brood are causing trouble for us by demanding changes to how debts are paid off. And I’m going to put a stop to that once and for all!”
Centaur and fayleene stamped a forehoof in agreement at that. Shaw let out an avian chirrup of approval. The Protector raised his proud stag head as he spoke.
“We are all with you! What is it that you would have us do?”
I pursed my lips. What I needed was a dash of pomp and circumstance. Just so the court knew that I was about to do something important.
“I need you three to proceed me,” I informed them. “The same way you did when I was raised to Damehood during my investiture.”
“What duty shall I perform, Dame Chrissie?” asked Sir Quinton.
“Oh, you’ve got the most important job of all,” I said. “You’re going to head over to Parliament and speak with Albess Thea. We’ll need her presence when we speak to the Royal Court.”
He blinked. “Will she come?”
“Yes, so long as you tell her that Dame Chrissie needs her services. She’ll wing her way over as quickly as she can when she hears your summons.”
The young knight cleared his throat. “Dame Chrissie, I may not be the best choice, given that I cannot run.”
“Running isn’t required,” I assured him. “Just limp as best you can.”
“Do try and limp quickly, though,” Liam put in. “The court under Magnus is feistier than I would like.”
Quinton dropped a half-bow to the Protector before turning about and limping off at a reasonably fast manner. While he did so, I checked my pocket and felt a reassuring lump inside, right where I needed it.
“All right,” I breathed. “Gentlemen, precede me to the Great Hall.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Galen came to stand at my left side, Grimshaw at my right. Liam moved so that the Fayleene Protector of the Forest took the lead. We walked down the long, darkened corridors at a stately pace, accompanied by the flicker of candlelight and the growing murmur of voices raised in discussion and argument.
One voice, which seemed to be doing most of the speaking, caught my attention. I recognized the arrogant tones as belonging to the older of Lord Alvey’s sons, the blowhard Sir Kagin. Kagin had been set against me from the start by his father, though he had avoided coming to court until now. That probably had little to do with me and more to do with his recent near-loss in the Spring Tournament to Galen’s little sister, Rikka.
As soon as I could make out the man’s words, I realized that we’d arrived just in time.
“…And so I see no reason not to put the question to this Royal Court,” Kagin concluded, in his brash voice. “No reason not to ask the people of Andeluvia whether I should be able to shift my debts in the same manner as the churlish, cowardly, backstabbing Dame Chrissie!”
A chorus of cheers and boos filled the room as he finished.
Now was as good a time as any to make my appearance.
Galen murmured a magic phrase and the doors to the Great Hall flung open with a BANG. That got everyone’s attention. The room went dead silent as I entered, along with the representatives of the three neighboring kingdoms.
It was a packed house tonight. Commander Yervan and the Lord of the Pursuivant stood near Regent Magnus along with the centaur’s two bodyguards. Lords Ivor, Behnaz, and Alvey were in attendance. Alvey’s wizened visage glared at me as his two sons, the brash Sir Kagin and the thick-bodied Sir Urson stood to address the court.
“You’re lucky I’m not a backstabber, Sir Kagin,” I quipped. “Otherwise, I’d have the floor to myself right now.”
That broke the ice as I’d intended. A chorus of nervous laughs arose from both sides of the table. The Regent sat up as he took notice of my companions. His deep, smooth voice filled the room.
“Dame Chrissie, your arrival is most welcome. Sir Kagin was just about to demand a ‘vote’ on whether he should be able to delay a debt payment to his brother.”
I raised an eyebrow. “My understanding was that debts are not ‘voted’ on in this kingdom. Otherwise, one could campaign to be released from one’s obligations.”
“That was before you came along, outworlder!” Alvey spat. “All the strife and chaos in this place is because of you and your strange ways!”
And what strange ways would you be referring to?” I asked, my tone icy. Both of Alvey’s sons sat down as I continued to speak. As for their father, he looked like he was having a tough time breathing hard enough to stay angry at me. “I’ve done nothing but support the rule of King Fitzwilliam. I’ve faced down battles and monsters just as any other knight here would.”
I got a jolt of satisfaction as several of the knights in attendance stamped their feet at that. At least I still had a little credibility at court. I’d paid for even that much in pain, sweat, and blood.
“What about your liabil
ities, eh?” Sir Kagin sneered, as his father sat back, gasping for breath. “You have little more than a week to tender a twelfth of your Order’s debt to the Exchequer. And we’ve seen nothing from you that proves you can pay it!”
“Then perhaps I can change that,” I said evenly. “And put your ridiculous nonsense about a ‘vote’ out of mind for good.”
Surprised murmurs ran through the room.
“Dame Chrissie,” Magnus’ voice rumbled from across the table. “Am I to understand that you are paying back the twelfth of debt owed by the Order of the Weasel?”
“I am not.”
That got the crowd really whispering.
Is she just toying with us?
There’s no way she could earn the crowns she needs!
What is Dame Chrissie playing at?
They’re going to welch on their debts, just watch!
Even as the whispers died down, a wave of surprised gasps filled the room as Albess Thea soared in from one of the open windows high above. The creamy orange-shaded owl circled the room on silent wings, coming to roost upon the provided perch to the left of the Regent.
“I have asked Albess Thea to join us,” I said, my voice ringing to the high rafters of the hall. “She is the leader of Parliament, the overseer of the Exchequer. I asked her to be here in order to stand witness as I pay back a twelfth of the debt owed…by the Order of the Ermine!”
That announcement brought forth a new wave of mutters and grumbles. The Albess raised one orangey wing, and the hall settled down again. Her voice was softer than mine, but no one strained to hear it.
“What payment do you bring before the Exchequer, Dame Chrissie?”
I pulled the lump of parchment I’d picked up in the Dame’s Tower earlier this evening from my pocket. I unfolded it and pressed the sheet against my broad-banded silver ring. The very one that the Regent had given me to transport messages.
The Conspiracy of Unicorns Page 24