Eight Kings (The King's Watch Book 6)

by Mark Hayden

Ethan held his ground, well into Mowbray’s personal space. He’d also run out of words again. Mowbray took half a step towards his daughter and Ethan lifted his hand.

  ‘Not looking good,’ I whispered to Saffron.

  Morwenna/Medbh reached out and touched Ethan’s sleeve. ‘Please. Uncle Ethan. Please. I shouldn’t have come. I’ll go.’ Ethan lowered his hand, but he wasn’t moving. She shivered and looked down. ‘Tell him. They both have a right to know.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ said Mowbray.

  She nodded.

  Mowbray sighed heavily. ‘It was mostly true, but it didn’t happen in the Lab. Aisling drowned. Her own creatures did it.’

  Ethan’s nostrils flared. ‘How?’

  Morwenna made a grab for his hand and held it tight. ‘He’s not lying. She died saving me. I’d gone too close to the pens and fallen in. When it happened, I ran and ran. I thought it was my fault, you see? I just kept running. All night. When the sun came up, I hid. Then I ran again. A policeman found me.’

  Ethan seemed to find that the most unbelievable fact of all. ‘A policeman? A mundane one?’

  She smiled. ‘Well, it wasn’t the King’s Watch, was it? I said I’d run away from home and hidden on a train down from London. I gave the police Granny’s number and they didn’t know any better. Granny was in Britain at the time and she took a leaf out of Dad’s book. She hired a helicopter and came to fetch me. The police patted themselves on the back and didn’t notice that by the time I’d left, they’d forgotten all about me.’

  Lord Mowbray chipped in. ‘Don’t forget, Ethan, we thought Medbh had been eaten alive. Aisling’s mother rang me two days later, when they’d already left the country.’

  ‘What happened to you?’ said Ethan, finally talking to … Damnit. I’ll call her Medbh. It suits her better.

  ‘That really is a story for another time,’ she said. ‘And not here. We have an audience, Ethan, or had you forgotten?’

  He turned and glanced at me. ‘I hadn’t forgotten. As soon as I heard that it was Saffron outside, not Conrad, I decided that now was the best time to talk.’ He saw the phone in my hand and made magick towards the door. ‘Tell her to come in.’

  The door burst open and Saffron burst in. She ran forward and saw that I was safe, then slowed down.

  ‘What are the Army doing here?’ said Medbh.

  ‘It’s the new designer look for the King’s Watch,’ said Ethan. Was that a joke?

  Mowbray pulled himself together. ‘Where do we go from here, Hawkins?’

  ‘I, erm, I’ll call Conrad. Sir.’ She fumbled with her phone for a second, then stopped when she heard a whistle from outside. Scout bounded out, suddenly happy again.

  Medbh looked at her father. ‘Can this guy really send me packing?’

  ‘No. But he can pull the plug on the conference.’

  ‘And he’s not the only one,’ said Ethan. ‘So can Mina.’

  ‘How come?’

  Ethan smiled.

  I suppled the answer. ‘Because Conrad always does what I tell him, that’s how come. Here he is.’

  It was a big door, so for once he didn’t have to duck when he came in. I stood that little bit taller. Not much, just a few millimetres. He looked at Saffron first, who nodded to show she was okay, then he looked at me. ‘Everything under control?’

  ‘I’m fine. I think they have a lot to talk about. Medbh has given them all a shock,’ I said.

  ‘Medbh?’

  ‘A lot has changed since my daughter was last here,’ said Mowbray. ‘Including her name.’ I was watching Kenver, and he didn’t seem happy that his sister was no longer Morwenna. Mowbray continued, ‘Have you spoken to the Daughters, Clarke?’

  ‘I have. To say that they are surprised would be an understatement. As things stand, they are content for … your daughter and your younger son to join the party eventually. If you still want me to collect the Eldest and her colleagues, Medbh and Kenver will have to wait over the water, with the Peculier Auditor to keep an eye on them.’

  Mowbray rubbed his chin. ‘Let me guess. That’s a take-it-or-leave-it offer.’ Conrad nodded. ‘Typical. Just to prove a point. Fine. I’ll take it.’ He turned to his children. ‘If you’re happy, of course.’

  ‘As if that leaves us a choice,’ said Medbh with a sigh. ‘I suppose it was a bit dramatic, coming over like this. Perhaps I’ve got more in common with Eseld than I thought. How’s she taken it, Mr Clarke, if you don’t mind me asking?’

  Conrad glanced at me. I know when he’s laughing inside because his nostrils contract a tiny fraction. He thought all this was very funny, given what happened with Sofía last month. He put on his driest voice and said, ‘Eseld doesn’t know yet. She’s grooming the horses. Or something. Cador took charge of keeping her out of the loop for the moment.’

  ‘She’s not that bad,’ said Mowbray.

  ‘Yes she is,’ said Kenver with more sibling bitterness than I expected.

  ‘Right,’ said Mowbray. ‘You two get back on the ferry and I’ll go see Eseld. And Cador.’

  He started moving and then Ethan spoke. ‘I’m going with Kenver and Morwenna. It’s not just Eseld and Cador who need to hear the whole story. As far as I’m concerned, the Agreement can go fuck itself.’

  Mowbray stopped in his tracks. He opened his mouth, then closed it. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his frock coat and bounced on his feet. ‘You’re right. It’s up to you. They may not want to talk, but I can’t stop you going with them. And do you really want a complete stranger to hear what’s being said?’

  ‘If you’d been here, Mowbray, you’d know that Mina isn’t a stranger.’

  I wouldn’t have gone that far. Nice of him to say it though.

  Mowbray shrugged, and moved towards the door. Conrad came over and held out his hand to me. In the centre was an egg. A small blue egg. Don’t ask me what species, because I don’t care. He glanced right, then bent down and kissed me quickly on the lips. He straightened up and said, ‘Raven gave me this. It’s like a magickal attack alarm. If they give you any trouble, crush it and run.’

  ‘An egg? What if I break it accidentally?’

  ‘It’s stronger than it looks. Let me.’ He took my scarf, placed the egg near one end and tied a quick knot. ‘There you go. And you’ll have Scout.’

  ‘Be careful in that helicopter.’

  ‘I will.’ He spent a few seconds talking to Scout, then left with Saffron.

  I turned to the Mowbrays. ‘Shall we go?’ We walked to the pier, and everyone glanced at the buildings. The audience had all gone inside. ‘It’s a shame the ferry doesn’t have a café,’ I said. ‘I don’t know about you, but I could do with a cup of tea.’

  ‘Sorted,’ said Medbh. ‘Not the tea, we can get that at the cottage, but I do have cake. I think we need a moment, don’t you, Uncle Ethan?’

  He grunted. Back to normal, then.

  And while we enjoy some tea, Conrad can take over again.

  20 — Yet More Sisters

  The first thing I did when Saffron and I left the boathouse was to get a full report. I only asked one question. ‘What did you do you do when you found that the door was locked?’

  ‘I checked the walls. They’re only metal. I found a place with minimal Warding and I was getting ready to blast it open when Mina called. Once I knew she was safe, I stood ready.’

  ‘Excellent. Well done.’

  She grinned. ‘Thanks, sir. It means a lot that you trusted me to look after Mina.’

  ‘As it should be, Saff. Guess whose idea it was to send them over the river with Mina.’

  ‘Alys. Got to be.’

  ‘Correct. And there’s more. They wanted you to do the job.’

  She stopped. ‘Why aren’t I? Doesn’t this put Mina at more risk?’

  ‘Mina can cope. She’ll come over all Rani on them.’ Saffron’s eyes bulged. Wisely, she said nothing. ‘Besides, I need you with me in the Smurf.’

  ‘Is that for my s
kills with the radio?’

  ‘That’s a bonus. You know full well that I’d feel naked turning up to collect the country’s senior Witch on my own.’

  ‘So long as you’re not actually naked, that’s good.’

  ‘Not likely to happen today. We need to get back in the air as soon as possible and get everyone together before something serious happens. Come on.’

  We got up the hill as fast as I could manage. Michael’s father was casting his eye over the Smurf’s vital signs. He pointed to a pickup at the far edge of the lawn. Behind it was an aviation fuel bowser. ‘I’ll fill her up when you get back from Glastonbury,’ he said. ‘Saves going over to Lamorne.’

  ‘Thank you.’ His son was finishing the windows with a polishing rag. ‘Michael’s doing a good job there.’

  ‘Do you think he’s really cut out for the Navy, then? Big difference to life in Pellacombe.’

  ‘Not really. He’ll fit right in. Let’s get going.’

  While we waited for the engines to warm up, I asked Saff to check the manifest again.

  ‘Oh. There’s been an addition. Zoe is joining us. Isn’t she …?’

  ‘Alys’s twin sister. Yes. She must have used Morwenna’s arrival as an excuse to add one to their number. I wonder if she’s as a bad a flier as her twin.’

  ‘They’re fraternal twins, so probably not. We’ve now got six adults, like last time, but minimal luggage. Why aren’t we flying them back tonight?’

  ‘My flying hours will be up by this evening. Mowbray offered to let them stay another night, but they preferred other arrangements. Some are going back by coach, some are visiting covens nearby.’ The readout showed that everything was ready. ‘Here we go.’

  I landed in the same spot at Home House and the same minibus bumped over the grass. We got out and Saff muttered something about banning mobile phones to avoid embarrassing pictures. When the Daughters came to meet us, she kept her shades resolutely in place.

  First was the Eldest, Hedda, accompanied by her daughter, Signe (pronounced sort of like Seenyer). Hedda was everything you’d expect a powerful Swedish Witch to be, but much much older. She wasn’t going to bother getting changed and wore her pale yellow robes with great dignity. She carried a staff of oak and managed not to look as if she were leaning on it. Her daughter walked exactly one step behind and looked as if she’d been doing it all her life. The only surprising thing was that Signe had brown hair and brown eyes. She was about my age.

  I bowed low, as did my comrades. Hedda held out a hand to be shaken, and I felt nothing of her power. That says a lot about how great it must be. I was about to say something suitable when she got in first.

  ‘Good morning, Watch Captain. Is everything well? Good.’

  She walked past me, and I motioned for Michael to help her. He’d already lowered the step and handed her on board like the young professional he is. Signe followed behind.

  The other four Daughters were an assorted bunch, but none of them stood out like Raven did. For one thing, they were jostling for position. Subtly. The two with the brown cords of Oak Coven won out.

  ‘Good morning,’ said the one who got to me first. ‘Where do we sit?’ She hadn’t offered to shake hands. Her problem.

  ‘Good morning, ma’am. Could you identify yourselves for the manifest?’

  From her reaction, you’d think I’d insulted the Goddess. She actually flinched back, and that allowed the other woman with the brown cord to take over. She offered a smile and a handshake, both of which I took.

  ‘I’m Kiwa, 4th of Oak,’ she said, and went on to introduce the others.

  Kiwa, 4th of Oak (the same Coven as Hedda) is the Traveller, and her role sits awkwardly with Síona’s. The Traveller visits the covens which are affiliated to Glastonbury and makes sure they’re behaving themselves, whereas Síona’s job is to represent their interests in Homewood. According to Rick, Kiwa gets on well with everyone. That surprised me, because if she’s supposed to be an inspector of some sort, you’d have thought she’d be rather unpopular.

  In person, she was in her forties or fifties and would double the non-white contingent at Pellacombe. Rick said she was born in Jamaica but grew up here. Any trace of a Caribbean accent had long gone. Her hair was in a Goddess braid, but only just.

  The Witch who’d refused to shake hands with me was Georgia, 2nd of Oak and Keeper of Homewood. She was the one who’d been on duty when Raven descended from the skies and would be about sixty now. She had a round face and light brown hair. I’m sure I could detect a hint of Geordie in her voice. Her robes were immaculate and cut lower than the others at the front. I could see a heavy chain of Artefacts round her neck.

  The two Daughters from Willow Coven were happy enough to shake my hand, but neither said more than hello. Zoe, 5th of Willow and the Daughters’ Treasurer was very obviously Alys’s sister. Her taller, thinner sister. She stood as far away from Georgia as she could.

  That left one of the few Witches I’ve met who wears glasses. Morning, 6th of Willow, is the Dame of Homewood. That rather bizarre title means she’s in charge of magickal education. I’d put her as the youngest of the four, early forties, and she matched her name – pale and intense.

  When the introductions were finished, I turned and looked Georgia in the eye. ‘To answer your question, ma’am, you can sit anywhere on the sides except the seat by the door.’

  Saffron was making faces at me. I think she was trying to tell me that Georgia was one of the Witches who were less happy dealing with men. Georgia ignored what I’d said and ignored Michael when he offered to help her up. There was only one seat left, jammed in the corner, facing backwards and opposite Michael. It was where Raven had sat, and she’d chosen it for the legroom and filled it as if she were on a throne. Georgia huddled against the pillar and snapped at Saffron when she pointed to the seat belts.

  Saff closed the doors and took out her phone. She went away from the Smurf to make a couple of calls while I got the engines going. She waited until we were in the air and protected by the roar of flight to report back.

  ‘No answer from Mina. Probably not surprising. Lena says that it’s all gone quiet now, and that Eseld didn’t seem too bothered when she got back from the stables with Mowbray. I can’t wait to find out what the story is with Medbh.’

  When we got back to Pellacombe, Lord Mowbray was on hand to welcome the Eldest Daughter, as you’d expect, and Saff led them across the lawn to the reception committee. There were now eleven of the thirty-nine Homewood Coven members in Pellacombe. Only one of the most senior Witches had stayed behind – Verity, First of Willow and Daughter of Memory. She is the chief priestess and leads the religious ceremonies.

  I finished handing the Smurf over to Michael’s father and headed straight for the dock. The return of the Smurf was the signal for Mina’s party to cross back over the river. I couldn’t wait to see her and hear Morwenna’s story.

  Sorry. I mean Medbh’s story.

  21 — Out of this World

  The Ferrymistress delegated her older daughter to drive us up the hill in the buggy and to make the tea. I was dying to have a look in the gorgeous little cottage, but she showed us to the garden instead and rejected my offer of help in the kitchen.

  Ethan, Medbh and Kenver had already sat down at an outdoor table under a parasol, and Medbh was looking for something in her bag. ‘Go away, you hungry hound,’ she said.

  There was no way that I was going to miss this story. On the other hand, they did need a little family time. I called Scout and walked round the beautiful garden for a few minutes, admiring the way it had been terraced to maximise views of the river and of Pellacombe opposite. Scout left his mark in a few places and I had to warn him off drinking from the bird bath. Ugh. When I went to get him a proper bowl of water, the tea had arrived and Medbh was handing out slices of cake.

  ‘It’s barm brack,’ she said. ‘Irish tea bread. I made it myself two days ago. It’s at its best now.’

&nb
sp; It was good. Not as good as Myvvy’s cakes, but very nice. ‘Did you make it in Ireland.’

  ‘I did indeed. Just before I got the plane over from Shannon to London.’ She looked at Ethan. ‘I caught the Night Riviera sleeper train to Penzance and Kenver picked me up yesterday morning.’

  It is brave of a woman with red hair to wear a red dress. I don’t think it would have worked without the denim jacket, even if she did look rather hot. She lifted her hair away from her neck and shook it looser, then turned back to me.

  ‘He’s a tall one, your fella the Watch Captain.’

  ‘Height is just one of his many qualities,’ I replied. ‘But don’t let him hear that.’

  ‘How did youse two meet?’

  ‘Now that would be a long story, Medbh. A lot longer than yours, I imagine.’

  Ethan looked from me to Kenver and then to Medbh. ‘Which name would you honestly prefer?’

  She took it in her stride. ‘You mean the one I was born with or the one that got thrust on me? Ach, sure I don’t mind. Honestly. I think Dad’s set on Medbh, though.’ She turned to her brother. ‘Sorry, kiddo. I know you want me to be a Mowbray through and through, but I’m not.’

  Kenver looked down. ‘You’re here. That’s what matters.’

  She squeezed his arm. ‘And I’m here to stay. I’m done with Ireland now. Except for holidays, of course.’ She gave a forced smile. ‘Only Dad knows the whole story, and you know nothing, do you Mina?’

  I nodded. ‘Forget I’m here.’

  ‘It’s hard to ignore someone with a permanent Ancile. A bit like wearing body armour to dinner. Do you not feel a thing?’

  Now that was interesting. Only Sorcerers can sense my Ancile without looking hard, and Vicky says she tunes it out. Either Medbh is very sensitive or she’s not fully in control of her powers. I gave her the standard answer. ‘Only when someone shoots at me. Please don’t do that.’

  She laughed. ‘I’ll do me best. You do know that my Ma was a Zoogenist?’

  ‘I did.’

  Conrad has a low opinion of Zoogenists. They are the Mages who can use magick to change and adapt animals. One of them created the Lord Mayor of Moles, whose memorial plaque Conrad erected. He shot her in the end, and after she died he discovered worse crimes. When it comes to magick – like my Ancile – I am like a blind person in a picture gallery. I have to rely on what people tell me. I did not like the sound of this.