Portia came out of her corner first for round one.
“You may be willfully stupid, Chief Para Inspector, but you’re usually consistent. I honestly expected you and your accusations much sooner than this.”
“Why did you leave the scene of Morag’s death so quickly?” David wasted no time.
Portia gave an indifferent shrug. “Because I had seen enough.”
“Enough of what?”
“Enough to know that Morag Devlin did not commit suicide. Even through the glowing haze of Ms. Jenkins’ Chimera Charm, it was easy to tell that she died well before she hit the ground.”
Apparently, my cats weren’t the only ones to recognize the spell I’d woven. “Do you have any idea how I was able to do that?” I asked, hoping she could give me a hint.
She turned to me with one of her rare gentle looks. “Such things are not for me to say, Hattie. You shall need to discover that on your own.”
So much for hope. Okay, why does everyone have to talk in riddles?
She turned back to David. “The only truly good thing to come of this bittersweet event was that Ms. Devlin was absolved of guilt and recrimination before her untimely demise. Thanks to Hattie. Or her dear, departed grandmother, at least. Whoever urged that magic forward is a powerful witch indeed.” Portia arched and eyebrow toward me. Her eyes sparkled with a kindness I’d either not seen or noticed before.
“What were you arguing with her about at Saint Pendragon’s Church last week?” David asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Jeez, this guy’s a pit bull once he gets going.
“That’s categorically none of your business, CPI Trew.”
“Is it ever in your eyes?” David retorted, raising and squaring his shoulders now. “You know I’ll still ask anyway.”
Portia gave him a deathly rictus at his bluster. “Yes, doing something different would require more imagination than I know you possess.”
Hinrika’s gales of laughter interrupted the tense conversation. The Fairy Queen was spinning and laughing and whispering unknown things to the cats, and then spinning and giggling again. It was pretty surreal. Gloom was sat atop the woman’s head, kneading the fairy’s snow white curly hair. Sadly, Glooms posterior was a little too ample for Hinrika’s fairly small head, so my kitty’s rear end was sliding down the fairy’s forehead until Gloom’s rump completely covered Hinrika’s eyes. The woman’s dress was in tatters.
David and I had not officially ‘met’ the Queen of the fairies yet. Portia sensed our curiosity, and turned toward her cat-covered guest. Goddess, the woman was stunning. I mean, she was so surreally beautiful that she made Verdantia Eyebright look like a worn-out old boot. So, you know how good looking we’re talking here, right?
“Lemniscate, that is enough now. Please step down from Hinrika,” Portia’s voice was low and menacing. Onyx was the first to turn toward her. He LOVED the word ‘Lemniscate,’ preferring it over the more modern ‘Infiniti.’ My sage cat bowed to Portia dramatically and hopped to the ground from Hinrika’s shoulder, urging his brothers and sisters to do the same. Finally, the Queen was free of black furry ornaments. I looked at her dress, feeling a sense of deep shame. She looked like a sail mast that had been shipwrecked off Cape Horn, her dress flapping in hopeless strips of fine silk. The cats sat at her feet looking adoringly at her. I know I can’t stop saying it, but Hinrika really was incredibly beautiful, even in a cat-slashed ballgown.
“Hattie Jenkins, CPI David Trew, allow me to present Hinrika Jonsdottir, of the Faroe Islands. Fae Queen of Mainland and Coven Isles fairies alike.”
Hinrika’s pale lips pulled back in an angelic smile.
“Ack!” Fraidy darted for cover to a nearby pokeberry bush. The beautiful fairie's 'angelic' smile revealed the stuff of nightmares, and I almost bolted to join my scaredy-cat in the shrubbery. The seven remaining cats, sat, their jaws nearly on the floor, as they saw the horror that was Hinrika’s mouth. Queen Jonsdottir’s teeth and inside of her mouth was as black as my kitties’ fur. The sight was so at odds with the rest of her surreal beauty that nobody could say anything for a second. Portia sighed impatiently. “Hinrika is fond of Icelandic licorice. It’s her main sustenance, in fact.” The witch Fearwyn offered, noticing all of us recoiling in near terror. The fairy queen merely beamed through her black maw. The pokeberry bush shuddered violently.
“Dude,” Shade bopped Onyx on the head with a firm paw, “How come we didn’t notice that … ‘mess’ before?”
“I have no answers, dear brother.”
“It is such a pleasure,” Hinrika chimed in a sing-song voice. “Portia has told me so much about you both,” She wafted over to us, her tattered sails blowing behind her. David was silent. I knew what he was thinking: 'Portia's been saying good things about me?'
Hinrika’s eyes were a vivid blue. Almost a deep ultraviolet. I wish I could keep my gaze on them and not keep having them drawn back to her terrifying mouth.
I dragged my stare back to her eyes. “Good things, I hope?” I asked, half jokingly.
“But of course,” Hinrika said with a girlish giggle. “The very fact that you stand here on dear Portia’s doorstep should tell you as much.” Portia remained as silent as David. I knew what she was thinking: ‘Now he knows that I’ve spoken well of him.’ The pair were at a loss for words. Bliss!
The Queen looked up suddenly as if remembering something. “Is it not nearly time for tea, Portia?”
Portia glanced at David and visibly tensed. She must have been holding her breath too, as when she exhaled almost a full ten seconds later, her shoulders finally relaxed.
“Yes. Do come in.” The old witch's words sounding just a little 'tight.' Hinrika shrieked like a little girl who had just been given a pony for her birthday. She whirled in a circle and skipped into the house, the Infiniti in tow.
David stared after the retreating fairy, before looking at Portia. “How can anybody be that damned happy? She’s like Maude Dulgrey on steroids.”
“I gave up on answering that question two decades ago,” Portia replied. She waved an arm in front of her, and with stiff formality, Portia led David and me into her dwelling.
We sat for nearly an hour. It turned out to be the most pleasant time I’d ever spent at Gaunt Manor. Portia was as reserved and formal as ever as our hostess, but Hinrika lit up the room. She cheerfully gossiped about things from her homeland in between sips of tea. True, I didn’t know half of what she was talking about, and David looked confused the entire time. She spoke half in Icelandic, a quarter in English, and the remainder in Fae speak. We couldn’t get a word in edgewise, but her musical voice made the atmosphere light and friendly. Even Gloom was in good spirits; her purr-box didn’t let up for even a moment. We drank iced berry tea, as it happened to be an unseasonably warm day, and ate fantastic lime and coconut scones. Hinrika munched on Icelandic liquorice only, her teeth becoming blacker as she chewed if that were at all possible. The cats had fresh Hippocampus cream poured into bone china saucers on the floor. They looked pretty cute with their white moustaches. I felt a rush of pride and love for my clowder.
“So, Hattie,” Hinrika asked as Portia poured her a fifth cup of tea. “I understand that you run your family business, the Angel Apothecary?” Thank goodness, a sentence I can understand.
Yes, I do. I inherited it from—“
“Chimera Opal, your grandmother,” Hinrika said. “I knew her mother, Glendonite, quite well. A lovely woman. I see some of her loveliness in you, dear.”
“Umm…thank you?” I blushed. I wasn’t expecting that. I saw David glance in my direction, but I just fiddled with the zipper on my hoodie.
“I also have no doubt that you carry the family traditions, as well as any of your maternal forbearers ever did.”
Her words made me pull out the apple wand. “Actually, there was something I was hoping you could tell me about—“
The wand suddenly slipped through my fingers, floated across the table and into Hinrika’s wa
iting hand. I shot a look at Portia. She shrugged.
“Oh, I remember this,” Hinrika breathed in fascination. “The Great Challenges.”
She turned it over to where the runes were carved on the ancient stem and noted the two that were currently glowing. “And you’ve made progress with it. Three of the five wards unlocked? Quite good. My congratulations, dear, you do indeed have a well of power within you.”
The wand floated back toward me, and I plucked it from the air. “Do you know how to unlock the remaining wards?” I asked hopefully.
Hinrika looked at me and tsked-tsked with a waggle of her finger. “Now that would be cheating, Hattie. This wand was created as a challenge for humankind. What kind of challenge would that be if I simply told you the solutions, hmm?”
“But having that power unlocked could be very helpful to us,” David interjected. “Couldn’t, say, that ‘communication’ ward give us access, to, say, Mag Mell?”
“Of course it could, Chief Para Inspector,” Hinrika said, a radiant black smile stretching her lips. “Having any sort of power is bound to be useful sooner rather than later. Why do you think the energies of this lovely twig remains locked tight after all these centuries? And, yes, quite possibly the ‘communication’ ward might be the key to unlocking Mag Mell. I am not the wand’s carrier, however, so you will need to direct that line of questioning to the one that holds the wand.” David looked at me. He looked disappointed. I cringed inside. He has no faith that I can unlock this. I put the wand away silently.
Hinrika took a hefty bite of her licorice stick. “Oh, don’t despair, Hattie. I can tell just by looking at you that you’re a very bright, determined girl, and your grandmother’s magic flows in your veins, of that I’m sure. You have the power to release the applewood’s energies.”
“Preach, cuz!” Shade said in between slurps of cream.
While Hinrika blew my moggie a kiss, I shook my head. Seeing that this was a puzzle that had defeated my way-more-competent-than-I granny, I was less than sure about my ability to pull it off.
“Your Majesty—“ David started. Eclipse burst out laughing, squirting cream into Fraidy’s eye, who had been helping himself to ‘Clipsy’s milky treat.
“Oh, please, Chief Para Inspector,” the Fae Queen said with an offhand wave. “No need for such formalities. Call me Hinrika.”
“Hinrika, then,” David said. “Are you acquainted with an Urisk Baron by the name of Baphomet?” I shivered. We had met this dodgy character, Baphomet, when we had managed to gain entry into Mag Mell about a month ago. We were not welcome on the enchanted isle for very long, but, during that brief visit, the creature known as Baphomet had revealed Aurel Nugget's wife's dastardly plans. But, I knew where David was going with this. We NEEDED to get back there. To Mag Mell. To stop the Unseelie mischief. They had become nothing less than threatening, of late.
Hinrika’s smile would have been dazzling if her teeth weren’t so coated in liquorice juice. “Oh, yes! Baphomet of the Unseelie Court! He was such a lovable scamp once upon a time.” Her eyes faded to a dreamy far away look.
Hearing her describe the scheming would-be assassin of Aurel Nugget in such glowing terms made me feel vaguely queasy.
David pressed ahead. “Well, we recently went to Mag Mell and had a ... um...enlightening conversation with this creature. And, we were hoping to go back to ask a few more questions.”
Hinrika sighed with genuine regret. She set down her teacup. “I wish I could help you, David…may I call you David?”
Without waiting for an answer or even a nod, the Fairy Queen continued, “But the fact of the matter is that my court and the courts of Mag Mell have a few disagreements with each other at present. Normally, I would throw open the door and let you in. But, well…they may not appreciate my boldness at this time. Besides, it is of the utmost importance for us to maintain healthy diplomatic relations with the Unseelies right now, as I’m sure you’ll understand? Our aim is to go to Mag Mell for talks, and to gather information only. I hope you can understand that to let visitors who aren’t Fae kind into their kingdom would only serve to ignite tension.”
The room went quiet, as we all digested Hinrika’s information. She was right, though. We needed to keep the communication open. The last thing we wanted was for Mag Mell to close its doors on EVERYONE. I mean, we'd need an open portal there always. In case ... well, in case of anything and everything. Who knew what we were dealing with? It's just that David and I both knew that we'd need permanent access to this unknown entity. Okay, so we couldn’t use Hinrika Jonsdottir to access the mystical Isle, but we could use ...
“The Applewood wand is your answer,” the Fairy Queen's voice tinkled through the silence. “The flag-crest of communication is the rune you need to unlock,”
I pulled out the wand again and stared at it, feeling hopeless.
“Such fun! Such fun!” The Queen clapped her hands together.
If nothing else, Hinrika and I had diverse opinions of what ‘fun’ meant.
Chapter 6
Thankfully, the kitties and I slept well that night. Even Gloom seemed to be in something approaching a good mood when I fed and watered my collection of furry roommates the next morning. I still hadn’t heard from David by the time we opened up the shop, so I focused on bundling up the deliveries while Millie stocked the shelves and kept Jet away from the catnip jar. I say ‘focus,’ but, really my mind was on what Hinrika Jonsdottir had shared with me yesterday. I subconsciously stroked the wand in my pocket, wondering if there were a chance I’d be able to unlock the communication rune. I thought of David’s look. His evident disappointment in me as the carrier of the wand. I winced inside. I couldn’t blame my friend. If I didn’t believe I could open it, then why should he? I explained to the cats that I wanted to be on my own for the deliveries as I needed the time and space to think. Eclipse and Fraidy, for whatever reason, were having none of it and were waiting like silent martyrs by my broom before I took off. I didn’t argue. ‘Clipsy tended to be a pensive sort, anyway, so he’d cause me no grief. Fraidy was a different matter, but ‘Clipsy’s calm demeanor would hopefully assuage his brother’s potential panic attacks. My fingertips brushed the applewood in my pocket again. What WOULD it take to unlock that rune? I murmured a silent prayer to Grandma Chimera, begging for guidance, but Granny’s ethereal voice was quiet. It seemed she agreed with everyone else; I’d need to discover the unlocking mechanism myself. After dropping off Dilwyn Werelamb’s ‘Pheonix Tears balm’ (His Chimera’s had a nasty case of mange), I decided to stop for lunch in a quiet spot atop the Myrdwen Cliffs on the west side of Glessie. I had contemplated dropping into Celestial Cakes for a delicious pastry and to see my good friend, ex-golem, Gabrielle, but, today I just needed the solitude. I needed the peace and quiet so I’d have a chance to unravel the mysteries of the runes on the wand. I opened two small tubs of roast chicken for the cats, and carefully unwrapped a tuna salad sandwich for myself. Fraidy didn’t make a fuss, but I noticed that he ate his food with his back pressed against my left leg. We ate in silence and enjoyed the ultramarine vista of the Sea of Mages below the mighty bluffs. Fraidy finished his chicken first, and licking his lips; he curled up into a tight ball next to me. Practically his whole body propped against my leg. I peered down at him. His head was making full contact with my thigh. I stroked him behind his ears, and the comforting sound of his purr-box met my ears.
Eclipse was exploring the high grasses at the edge of the cliffs. He loved the concealment, and the chance to sniper-pounce on unsuspecting butterflies.
I pulled out the wand, carefully studying the two remaining unlocked runes. My eyes honed in on the communication ward then, and squinting at the type below the flag-crest I spied a phrase. It looked like Latin: “Duo Seculorum, Una Tellure, Una Spe.”
‘Clipsy’s head popped through the gap in the crook of my elbow. He peered at the Applewood stick. “Two Worlds, One Earth, One Hope,” he said matter-of-factly. My eyebrows sh
ot up in surprise.
“You know this, Clipsy?”
He pushed the length of his body through the crook of my arm until he was sitting in my lap. He looked up at me. “Onyx isn’t the only scholar in the family, boss. And, don’t forget the Infiniti is old. Like, really old. Like, ancient. There was a time when most of the world spoke this language. Latin was to the old world, as English is to the new,” he concluded, balling himself up for a little snooze session on a warm human bed. I pondered the translation, gazing softly over the azure beauty of the Mages.
“Well, if we take this motto literally, then it would seem to me that the Fae had at one time wanted to be partners with humankind. Not warlords, as we seem to be experiencing now,”
Two Worlds, One Earth, One Hope.
“Well, look at how long the Infiniti has partnered up with your family. That should tell you something.” Eclipse said, his ears a little flat from having his cat-nap so rudely interrupted.
“But from all the stories I’ve heard, the Unseelie Court never would have gone for this kind of mutual union. Are they trying—“
“The Unseelies are…pretty scary,” Fraidy said, from his place squished into my thigh. “But…you know, sometimes I think they’re more scared of humans than humans are of them. That’s why they act so mean.”
“So all these Unseelie activities around here could be a preemptive strike to stop humans from solving the Great Challenges? The challenges being -- as Hinrika hinted yesterday -- on this wand?” I asked, wondering yet again what my cats were holding back, and also for the first time truly recognizing the wand’s power, and the responsibility attached to that power. How on Earth did I end up with this applewood stick? It made no sense that a nobody like me would somehow lay claim to one of the world’s most powerful artifacts. What gives, Grandma Chimera?
Moggies, Magic and Murder Page 25