Eight Kings (The King's Watch Book 6)

by Mark Hayden

  That was the first question I asked Eseld when we dismounted. I looked longingly down the trail for a second, expecting Scout to emerge. I still ached from the loss of his presence. He was down at Pellacombe, being a dog and doing doggy things.

  ‘Do you fancy it?’ I said.

  ‘Fancy what? Or should that be who?’

  ‘Knock it off, Eseld.’

  ‘Force of habit. Talking of habits, give us a fag. Are you driving? I’ve got a hip flask.’

  ‘Just a nip. I wondered if you fancied being staff queen of Kernow.’

  I took a nip from the flask and passed it back to her and she lifted it to her lips. They were still purple. Some things didn’t change. ‘Cheers. There’s no chance of me being staff queen. We’ll get Kenver elected and Ethan’s going to act as local regent until he’s twenty-five. We’ll let the chips fall where they want over the rest of Wessex.’

  We enjoyed the view for a moment. I could just make out the Smurf on Lamorne Point.

  Eseld hadn’t finished. ‘It was all so easy before, Conrad. Follow Dad round the country. Lots of hookups and tasty weekends, then back to Predannack to chill out. That’s all gone now. Even if I could recreate it, I wouldn’t want to. What do you think I should do? You seem so … sorted, somehow. Rooted. Happy.’

  I blew out smoke. ‘Do you want to start a new branch of the Mowbray clan at Predannack? Settle down, have children and make it a stronghold that you’ll pass on to them?’

  ‘Hey! Give me a chance. I’ve only just sworn off one-night stands. I’m not even sure whether I want a wife or a husband. Or both.’ She grinned. ‘I’ll tell you what, though, I’m giving Saffron a free pass.’

  ‘I’m sure she’ll be relieved. Have you taken against blondes all of a sudden?’

  The grin turned to something drier. Still a smile, but with half a frown thrown in.

  ‘She’s like you, Conrad. Hardcore. I couldn’t believe it when she broke Morning’s neck without thinking and then got up for more. I think you’ve already figured out that I’m not as tough as I pretend to be.’

  ‘If you don’t fancy Cornish domesticity, why not go to London? Get a visiting lectureship at the Invisible College while Kenver is studying with Chris Kelly. You can do that work on Mowbray House for Cador while you’re at it.’

  She opened her mouth and closed it again. Then she frowned. ‘Would I really get a lectureship at Salomon’s House?’

  ‘Warding is a very specialised skill. Most of the really good Mages work on their own account. The salary at Salomon’s House is pretty rubbish. I can put in a good word for you with the Dean if you like.’

  ‘I like the sound of that. You know, Cador’s already asked me to make an offer on the house. He doesn’t fancy it, really. It would save me a lot of trouble.’ She gave me her sunniest smile. As sunny as it was going to get for a while.

  ‘I owe you, Conrad. I know that Dad paid you well, but this is personal. Would you like the Smurf as a gift? Free and clear. Fly it away today. I’ll even pay for a new paint job. I believe that Mina wanted a more royal blue…’

  I was so tempted. It was a beautiful, well-maintained and powerful machine. Reluctantly, I shook my head. ‘I’m not in your league, Eseld. The Boss would never pay for me to use it on Watch business, and I can’t justify it. Thanks, but I’ll have to pass. Will you keep it?’

  ‘No. We’ll sell it for now. Kenver might get another one when he’s ready. And don’t worry, we’ll keep Leah Kershaw on the payroll as long as she wants.’

  ‘Good to hear.’

  I was about ready to re-mount, but Eseld hadn’t finished.

  ‘If you won’t take the Smurf, please take Evenstar. She was Dad’s horse and Kenver doesn’t want her. I know you’ll look after her. You can have his saddle, too. It’s enchanted. And a horsebox to take her home.’

  That I could sign up to. The lease on the five acre field behind Elvenham is on a one-month notice. I grinned and held out my hand. ‘Uther can have first dibs on covering her,’ I said. ‘And I’ll offer the foal to Izzi.’

  ‘Deal.’

  ‘Deal.’

  ‘There’s one more thing I have to say,’ I said. ‘I know you’ve lost your father, but you still have one parent.’

  ‘I’ll let you off this last once. Mention that woman one more time and I’ll never speak to you again. I had a bat for a Familiar and a crush on a freaky monster. So what? She lied and cheated and manipulated Raven – who was only eighteen, don’t forget. She twisted Raven into breaking the bond and dobbed her into Hedda. And she’s never even tried to admit that what she did was wrong. The most I got was an apology for “hurting me”.’ She made scare quotes with her fingers. ‘If she’d died on Saturday, I wouldn’t have visited her grave to spit on it. She’s not worth it, okay?’

  I held up my hands. When she really started missing her father, she might think again.

  She sprang onto Uther’s back like an uncoiling spring. ‘I do have one thing to thank you for. I am going to seriously try to build bridges with Lena.’

  I climbed less athletically onto Evenstar and stroked her neck. She truly is a beautiful beast. ‘How come that’s down to me?’

  ‘You treated her like a normal person. I should have twigged that anyone who could get the loyalty of the staff like that, despite her comedy accent and her jaw, is worth knowing.’ Our mounts started ambling down the hill. ‘I’ll tell the girls to get Evenstar ready. It’s a long drive back to Gloucestershire.’

  ‘We’re taking a break half way. At Glastonbury.’

  Her head whipped up suspiciously. ‘Oh?’

  ‘Hedda wants to see us. At Home House. Evenstar can ramble in the woods, and before you ask, I have no idea what she wants.’

  What Hedda wanted was a game of bridge. We were escorted into the Lodge of Home House by a young Witch who tried not to get too close to me. Whether that was because I was a man or because I was the man who’d led the raid on the coach is a moot question. Hedda was waiting for us in a very chintzy sitting room with Isolde, a card table and two new packs of cards. The young Witch went to get tea and Hedda announced that I was going to be her partner for the game.

  ‘You’re looking well, Hedda,’ I said. She was. Her speech was now quicker and more natural. She hadn’t got up to greet us, though, and a walking stick hung off the back of her chair.

  ‘Thank you, Conrad. I have something I want to say to you, but that can wait. Isolde has made a great sacrifice by agreeing to be my bridge partner. I want her to get some practice.’

  Isolde smiled. ‘Willow Coven is not flavour of the month at the moment. I am going to have more time on my hands.’

  Mina was listening carefully while she opened the cards and shuffled them. ‘Why is that?’ she asked. ‘Not that it’s any of our business.’

  ‘It will be all over the world of magick soon enough,’ said Isolde. ‘Alys has resigned from Willow Coven and left the Homewood to go on a one year retreat.’ She nodded at Hedda. ‘My new bridge partner has stepped down as 1st of Oak and is now 13th.’

  Mina finished shuffling the cards and passed them to me. I cut them and she dealt. ‘How’s Georgia?’ I asked. ‘I hear it was touch-and-go in surgery.’

  ‘She’ll be in hospital for months, so she’s been passed over and Kiwa is the new 1st of Oak. Kiwa’s courage on Mark’s Barrow has made her favourite to be the new Eldest Daughter. Verity is keeping Raven’s place as 1st of Ash vacant, and won’t be praying for a new Eldest until the spring at the earliest.’

  Hedda sorted her cards and said, ‘I doubt you’ll be invited to join, Conrad, but I predict mixed covens to be affiliated to us in the near future. One heart.’

  I am a poor bridge player; Hedda is very good. Together, Isolde and Mina were much, much better. That didn’t stop Hedda pulling Isolde up a few times with a warning. A tiny part of me started to develop a smidgin of sympathy for Signe.

  After the excellent afternoon tea, and more bridge, Hedda looke
d at me. ‘I know you’ve lost a Familiar, but I believe you’ve gained a horse. Would you like to show me?’

  It took a while for Hedda to sort herself out and join me at the edge of the woods. Scout has already made friends with Evenstar. I think he sees her as a mother figure, and he was happily romping round the woods while she moved in search of autumn treats. I was smoking a cigarette when Isolde helped Hedda out of the Lodge.

  Once she was down the steps, the old Witch moved more freely, slowly picking up speed. By the time she got to me, she was barely using the stick at all. ‘I have ordered Isolde to make me take three walks a day,’ she said. ‘At least. What I want to show you is on the other side of the trees.’

  Neither of the animals followed us any further. I could feel the tingle and warmth of Lux well before we got to open country. I even got a sense that it wasn’t open country. We were right on the edge of the Homewood, and there was one of its anchor trees: a massive, proud, perfectly shaped oak, its leaves just starting to turn.

  Hedda stopped about fifty feet away from the tree and leaned on her stick. ‘I will never forgive myself for what Signe did,’ she said. ‘Not to Mowbray, to you or to the Coven. I wish I knew what I’d done wrong.’

  There was no answer to that, nor did she expect any.

  ‘Will she survive the Undercroft?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know. Having something to live for makes a huge difference. I know that much.’

  ‘She has a son, you know. The boy has no magick and is away at school. She barely mentions him to me unless I ask. I’ll start by getting him on board.’

  ‘I hope she does survive,’ I added.

  Hedda stared at me, all her defences down. ‘Because you will want the blood price from her. She told me. She also told me who your Familiar was.’

  ‘Lucas of Innerdale. If there was a statue to him anywhere, they’d be pulling it down.’

  I had done some research in Mowbray’s library yesterday, whilst nursing my hangover and supervising Saffron, who had been ordered by Hannah to write the final report on Pellacombe.

  Lucas of Innerdale lived in Lakeland. Innerdale (not to be confused with Ennerdale) was a magickally hidden valley in one of that mountainous region’s most inaccessible spots. It was opened up to the mundane world just before the First World War and now goes by a different name. Its last lord was Lucas, a man who tried to revive a long-dead institution: the Pale Horsemen.

  Having a Pale Horseman in your ancestry is a bit like having a slave-owner. Not something to shout about. During the middle ages, the Pale Horsemen were licensed by the Catholic Church to hunt down non-humans: Dwarves, Gnomes, the Fae, Elves, the Dual Natured (i.e. Werewolves) and sundry other relics of the ancient past. Their story truly is in the past, and it should have stayed there. Lucas of Innerdale tried to revive them and set up a local chapter in Lakeland.

  I only had one account to draw on, and it was written by someone from London (and therefore suspect). She said that Lucas had some success in putting together a posse at first. And then they rode out and were ambushed by a combined party of Gnomes of Clan Skelwith and Fae from the Queen of Keswick. His followers were killed or scattered, but his body was never found, presumed dragged into a sídhe for torture and punishment.

  I considered Hedda, and what she wanted. ‘I don’t doubt that Lucas became my Familiar,’ I said. ‘What I do doubt is whether Scout and the historical Lucas can be considered the same. I knew him, Hedda. I knew him intimately. I think the Spirit that Mowbray subdued, the Spirit who stopped your daughter attacking Kiwa and Eseld, was Scout, not Lucas. But neither of us was there, were we? I can tell you that I was most definitely there when Signe severed the bond.’

  She bowed her head. ‘Of course. That was a terrible thing to do.’ She looked up again. ‘I would like to pay the blood price for her. It is allowed.’

  It is. Having told Signe that I would collect it, I couldn’t deny Hedda the opportunity to pay. There was one small complication, though: Signe had to agree, or there could be terrible complications down the line. Entire families have been wiped out because of that.

  ‘Is she content?’ I asked.

  ‘It was my price. I told her to let me pay, or I could never take her back. She agreed. You have my word.’

  ‘I’m all ears.’

  ‘Go to the tree. You will find my staff inside it. You should have enough magick to reach into the trunk and pull it out.’

  ‘Forgive my total ignorance, but what should I focus on?’

  ‘The opposite of what you feel. I hear C Major and force my brain to conjure C Minor. Or at least I used to. I will need help to shift next time. If there is a next time.’

  It was my first taste of Plane Shifting. I approached the tree nervously and felt every nerve tingle. The Homewood Oak was not happy having a man nearby. My skin broke into an acrid sweat that even I could smell, and my hand started to shake when I held it out. I closed my eyes and thought of a weekend just after my twenty-first birthday, when the RAF sent me to Norway for winter training. That was cold. Seriously cold. Especially the exercise.

  We were dumped from a chopper in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but a map and compass to get back. We’d been flown there blindfold, just to make it interesting. We were given a radio, yes, but we’d fail if we used it. Any casualties had to be taken with us. The instructor finished his briefing by saying, ‘There is no time limit on this exercise. You have until you get back or you die. Whichever comes first.’

  Looking back, I think that I either developed my hidden magickal potential as a Navigator on that trip or Odin nipped out from Valhalla to nudge me in the right direction. Perhaps that was when we first met. I focused on the way I’d felt when one of us twisted their ankle and had to be carried. How the cold seeped into me, how the wind razored my face.

  I’d stood as tall as I could and I’d said, ‘This way or the radio. I’m going this way, and I’ll carry James myself, if he’ll come.’

  James (of the twisted ankle) had said, ‘Fuck the radio. I’m with Conrad.’

  When my memory served that up, I felt my arm shiver with cold, not heat, and I pushed it forwards, into where the tree existed on the mundane Plane. Nothing. No resistance at all until I bumped my fingers into a staff of wood. I grabbed it and pulled my hand slowly back. Leaving my eyes closed, I took four steps away from the tree.

  I took the staff back to Hedda and laid it at her feet. It was about five feet long and still covered in the bark it had worn as a branch. Or sapling, possibly.

  ‘This is my staff of office as 1st of Oak and Eldest Daughter,’ she said. ‘It is personal. I made it, and Kiwa will make her own in turn. I have until tonight to surrender it. Usually, retired staves are planted in the Homewood, and this is a good time of the year for planting. In the spring, it will grow with new life. I offer it to you. Plant it at your home and you will have a blessing on your family for many, many generations. It will exist on all Planes. Even the gods will see it. That is my offering for the blood price.’

  I bowed low and accepted with thanks. I didn’t offer any other comments: the blood price isn’t a touchy-feely thing. It’s the payment of a debt.

  Hedda was getting tired when we made it back to the Lodge, and we said goodbye with a hug on the steps. Mina had just emerged from inside as I was leading Evenstar to the horsebox.

  ‘You stink, Conrad,’ was her greeting. ‘Even more than the horse. What on earth have you been up to?’

  ‘I’ll tell you later. I’m looking forward to getting home and really looking forward to Thursday.’

  ‘I hope you haven’t got me anything magickal for my birthday.’

  I slammed the bolts home and whistled for Scout. He loped up and jumped in the back of the car. We are going to Cheltenham tomorrow to get fitted for our Downton costumes: Myfanwy’s birthday present had been a pair of tickets for the dinner special on the steam railway.

  ‘That depends,’ I said, ‘on whether you choo
se the green silk dress or the blue one.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  I pulled carefully on to the main road and started the journey home. I had bought her a ruby necklace from a specialist Indian jewellers in Birmingham. It would go very nicely with the green dress she’d been admiring online. After all, Saffron had said that I needed to buy her one for not getting the letters from Merlyn’s Tower.

  ‘You’ll see. How did it go with Isolde?’

  ‘I’m afraid that I shall have to say no,’ she replied.

  ‘To what?’

  ‘To Hedda or Isolde adopting me. I can’t say that either of them are good material for mother of the bride.’

  I laughed and she pretended to be offended. ‘You can use the Bollywood evening to audition. There’s bound to be a few candidates on show.’

  She ignored that and asked me about Hedda. When I’d told her, she turned round to look over her shoulder. ‘If there’s one thing I’ve learnt with you, Conrad, is that you need eyes in the back of your head. Just when you think something’s finished with, it comes back to bite you. Looking forward is all very well, but it can be dangerous. We’ll be back in Kernow and Old Sarum before you know it.’

  ‘Might not be we. If Hannah decides you need an escort, it might be Rick. And there’s one part of this adventure that’s definitely not over.’

  ‘Medbh?’

  ‘Precisely. I wouldn’t put it past her to turn up at the party, like Sofía did at the last one.’

  ‘She wouldn’t dare. In fact, I shall contact Eseld and warn her off. Oh, and I’ve provisionally invited Lena and Ethan to our wedding.’

  ‘Bit ahead of yourself, love.’

  She waved a hand. ‘Theirs is after ours. I think she wants ideas on how to conduct a mixed magick/mundane affair.’

  ‘And naturally ours will be better.’