by P. A. Wilson
I waited a few minutes. “Do the other fairies know why you failed?” Tears were sliding down her cheeks. “Is that why you are being punished?”
She sobbed in a breath and nodded.
I knew she would tell me now. That’s how the spell worked; if you could get one hard truth out of the subject then the others would follow. “Tell me what happened. Maybe I can help.”
Now it was time for patience while she fought the compulsion to tell me. If I spoke to her before she answered, I would have to start again. I’m not sure she would survive long enough for that. If she spoke, I could cast a spell to preserve her until I could solve this problem.
She turned her head away from the plate of honey, a grimace pulled at her mouth but she tucked her head into her shoulder. If it weren’t for the trembling of her body, I might have thought she was sleeping.
I’d left a small window open upstairs so I wasn’t surprised when Olan swooped into the room while Princess Elizabeth struggled against her compulsion. I motioned with my head for him to land near me. When he was on the ground, he looked at Princess.
“Did she tell you what you need?”
“Not all of it. But we were right, Fionuir cast a spell on the amulet, painted it with brown liquid.”
“Why is she biting her lips?”
“There’s something more and she’s trying not to tell me. She will.”
Olan gave that little bird shrug. “If she doesn’t know what the spell is, why bother?”
“She failed to get the potion. I figure it’s important to find out why. Maybe we can just break the routine enough to make the Sidhe bored. Did you get anything on your travels?”
“Yes. There is a pattern. My source says the Sidhe need a sacrifice every three days at minimum. He didn’t know why but he heard them talking after one of the killings.”
“Who’s your source?’ I watched Princess. She had stopped struggling and was listening to us. Maybe she figured she could find a way to try again. Then her shoulders slumped.
Olan fluttered his wings. “You won’t know my source, but he comes when humans die violently.”
I put my finger to my lips and then pointed at Princess.
Tears dripping from her chin she sobbed again before speaking. “I failed because I couldn’t kill the human they picked for me. It was a child.”
“They pick the victim?” That was something I hadn’t considered. “Do you know why?”
“Something about the energy they need.” Her voice was fading, there wasn’t much more time to get information.
“Do you know why they need it so often?”
I could see it was taking her longer to find the energy to speak, so I gathered my preserving spell while I waited.
“To keep the spell fresh without using their own energy.” Her eyes closed and I cast my spell. She would stay alive but immobile for at least a month.
“She probably knows more,” Olan said, hopping onto her lap. “You could have asked another question.”
“I didn’t want to kill her. I don’t need a stain like that on my energy.” I wasn’t usually in a position to consider violating the spirit wizard’s oath. I didn’t use sacrifice in spells, and until now, I have never felt the need to end someone’s life. “If I am going to kill, it will be Fionuir, not some poor victim.”
“She would have killed a human to breed.” Olan croaked. “These fairies don’t value humans at all.”
“Olan, that is her problem to deal with not mine. But I will remind you that she didn’t kill the child. Wouldn’t kill the child, and she is suffering for that mercy.”
He hopped back down to the floor. “She would have if it hadn’t been a child. The children are the only ones who still believe in fairies.”
I’d had it with his attitude. “Maybe if your damn humans cared about something other than themselves they wouldn’t get in harm’s way.”
Olan flew at my face. I dodged and only got struck by a feather, but it left a shallow cut on my cheek. “Wizard, do not make this the fault of the humans.”
He was right. It was the Sidhe, not the humans causing problems; this time. “Okay, let’s both agree to stop trying to piss each other off and solve the problem.”
I waited for his response but he said nothing. I looked around for him and saw him strutting along the top of a bookshelf. “Olan?”
“Okay, I can see we are wasting time. A truce until we solve this.”
I wasn’t aware we were at war about anything but decided on discretion rather than trying to figure out what I had done recently that Olan might take affront to, other than the humans dying. “I don’t think Fionuir would go to all this trouble to spend time feeding a spell she cast.”
“No. She’s got to be giving her followers something for their trouble otherwise they wouldn’t keep it up.”
“The only thing Sidhe covet is power. All kinds of power.”
I removed the binding spell from Princess and lifted her onto the sofa. She would be fine there for a while. The sofa was soft enough not to leave pressure bruises.
“I’m hungry, let’s get upstairs.” It felt too odd to be discussing plans with a fairy passed out on my couch. She was like a life-sized doll that had been left behind after a tea party.
Olan flew up to my shoulder. I guess we were back to being on the same side in this fight. Unfortunately that wasn’t likely to continue. This fight had too many sides: Sidhe versus Fairy, Fairy versus Human, Morrigan versus Olan. And probably ten more I had no idea about.
I opened a can of soup and put it on the stove. Olan perched on the back of a chair and watched me prepare. “Did you already eat?” I asked.
“I am not hungry yet. Hurry up. We need to be on our way.”
“Where?” I guessed what he meant but it was time he took some responsibility for planning this fight.
“To the Sidhe court. It is time to talk to Fionuir.”
“Yes, but we can’t just barge in. First of all she’ll have guards set around to stop unwanted visitors.”
“You can handle that.” Olan walked back and forth along the top rail of the chair. I couldn’t help thinking of my old mentor in full lecture mode.
“Maybe, but I can’t handle Fionuir that way. She won’t just stop because we asked her. We need some leverage.”
“Well, we could threaten to back her opponent.”
I poured the soup into a bowl and took a sip. “I don’t think that will count. Even if all the Real Folk backed her opponent, the election is Sidhe business. She only has to convince enough Sidhe that status quo is better than promises of future changes and she’ll win.”
Olan continued to pace. “Do you think she is giving everyone access to the human’s spirit?”
“Maybe she’s offering it for votes.”
We sat quietly while I ate the rest of the soup. I grabbed beer from the fridge after I finished. “We don’t know enough to use leverage. What we think we can use is based on guesses and second hand information. Princess didn’t see the amulet, her lover did. She didn’t tell me who he was so we can’t ask him. Melbe’s information is probably right but Sidhe politics is convoluted and full of grudges from the time they lost Ireland to the Milesians.”
“My throat is parched. Pour some of that into a saucer.” Olan flapped his wing toward the beer. I did as he asked, or rather demanded. He sipped some of the amber liquid before speaking again. “What if we gave her something?”
“Who is this ‘we’ you mean?”
“That is, you. I don’t think they will want anything that I have. As a pixie, or as I am now.”
I just knew this was going to turn out bad for me, but Olan had a point. “It’s worth a try. I draw the line at giving her anything that will do harm, though.”
“You have things that will do harm?” Olan sipped some more beer. “I thought you were one of those spirit wizards. Do no harm, kind of thing.”
“I am. But, some of the things I have can do harm in eno
ugh concentration. You know that. You saw the belladonna in my workroom.”
“I don’t think she’ll ask for something she can get from the fairies for nothing.”
“No, but I have some amulets that shouldn’t get into her hands.” I’m not sure why we were arguing this point. It was up to me what I gave Fionuir. And, Olan had come up with a good plan, or as good a plan as I could. “How do we get an audience with Fionuir?”
Olan shrugged. “I think the best way is the direct one. Let’s go tap at her door.”
Chapter Eleven
It took me a day to get ready to visit the Queen of the Sidhe. I’m not usually prone to vanity, but Fionuir would expect me to dress as though I respected her position. I went to my barber and said goodbye to the scruffy magic geek look. A nice shave and a trendy haircut and I had to admit I looked better.
I had some court clothes in my closet, they were from the nineteenth century, but a good preservation spell had kept them in perfect shape. I couldn’t say the same for my body. Olan and I looked at the clothes hanging on back of the closet and back at my body. “It’s going to be close,” I said.
“Mayhap we should go shopping. I don’t like the idea that you suffocate because you can’t breathe in that waistcoat.”
“Even if I can fit in it, I don’t know that the Sidhe court is into the Steam Punk look.” I couldn’t help myself. I needed to try on the suit. I guess there’s a bit of vanity in my blood. If I could fit into the same clothes I wore almost two hundred years ago, I would feel good.
The shirt fit, and the waistcoat and jacket. From the waist up I looked mighty fine. Unfortunately, from the waist down, my body now stuck out where once it narrowed, so I couldn’t close the buttons on the pants. “Oh, well, I guess I’ll start exercising after we fix this little Sidhe problem.” The sound that a chickadee made laughing was not pleasant; neither was the sight on one rolling on the floor with hilarity.
I changed back into my regular clothes, and grabbed a roll of twenties from the stash of cash I keep on hand. I told Olan to wait for me at home because shopping with a talking chickadee was sure to raise eyebrows.
I returned with a black suit and pale green shirt, black shiny loafers, and an emerald green tie. It’s fortunate that I look good in the colors of Ireland. I hope Fionuir sees it as honoring her homeland,
“Okay, now I look the part, it’s time to arm myself.” We headed back to the basement. Princess looked cold so I threw a blanket over her.
“What kind of armament do you need?” Olan waddled along beside me as I pulled out two chests from under the counter. “I don’t think they will attack you.”
“Not with swords, but I’m not taking the chance one of them will try to stun me with a spell. After all, her best outcome right now is for me to be gone. So, I need a bit of magical protection.”
I took three amulets from the black chest and two from the gray one. The five amulets were made of precious stones: Jade, Obsidian, Opal, Soapstone, Coral.
“The Soapstone is from California. I’ve added a transmittal spell. If we can find a way to leave it there, we will be able to hear everything that goes on.”
“Handy.” Olan pushed the stones aside with his beak. “It is small enough that I can hold it in my craw. I will find a place to leave it before we exit.”
I nodded but didn’t pay attention to what he did with the soapstone. I was just glad he had something to occupy his attention while I dealt with the other stones. I took the opal and checked it carefully for flaws; no one wants a cracked opal. I renewed the oil that I had painted on it before storing. The stone was for attack. I wasn’t certain if the spell I had cast on it for attacking vermin would do enough damage to a Sidhe to distract them so I could run away.
The coral would absorb a spell, kind of like a shield but it would hold the energy for me to use later.
The obsidian was another matter. My mentor had forced me to learn a killing spell, one strong enough to kill a full grown human. He was always worried that we would have to battle humans. I hadn’t pulled this spell out since he confirmed it was right: three hundred years ago.
The jade held a distraction spell.
I placed the stones in handy pockets inside the jacket and pants. I would look like James Bond, but my toys could be hidden more easily than a gun disguised as a pen.
The Sidhe court resided in a building that looked abandoned and ready for demolition. It was on the still to be Yuppified side of Yaletown. I know that humans used these kinds of buildings for raves. This one would not be on their radar. Any human walking by would see an office building, lights on shadows of people moving, lights out during the night. Inside, past a false wall, the Sidhe surrounded themselves with luxury. The public part of the court was on the first floor, the residences were on the floors above. All the Sidhe had homes above the court, but some lived off campus so to speak.
I had been there once, a long time ago, for Fionuir’s birthday party. I asked Olan, “How often do the Sidhe breed?”
Olan didn’t answer. I looked around and he was flying up to the fence. I stepped toward it. “Where are the guards?”
“There are two by the door and one on the corner.” Olan pointed with his beak. “Don’t worry, you are just asking for an audience. The worst they can do is say no.”
“Not even close to the worst they can do. Are you coming with me, or do you have a way to get in without an invitation?”
“I’ll try the legitimate way first. If that doesn’t work, I have my ways.”
“Can’t I just use one of your ways?” It’s not that I was afraid of the Sidhe guards, well not that afraid. But if I could surprise Fionuir, maybe I would have an advantage.
“Quinn, stop being a wimp. Just ask for an audience and get in there. If you think surprising Fionuir is a good idea, you are mad and I am going to have to find a new partner.”
I wanted to tell him to shut up, but he’d just told me not to be childish. “Okay, here I go.” Olan landed on my shoulder as I turned toward the building.
The door guards were a pair of twins, tall, red haired and mean looking; although, to a human they would have looked bent, dirty and indigent. You would think someone that pretty would just be happy. I heard a flapping overhead but when I looked up there was nothing there. Olan moved closer to my ear.
“Anyone we know?” I whispered.
“No, just get on with it.”
I stepped forward and pasted smile on my face. “Good evening. I wish to speak to Fionuir.”
“That’s Queen Fionuir,” the twin on the left said.
It seemed that my new clothes didn’t impress them “I wish to speak to Queen Fionuir… please.”
“The queen isn’t taking visitors,” the twin on the right said. I could see the sneer on his face as well as hear it in his voice.
“When will she take visitors?” This conversation wasn’t getting me anywhere. “I’d really like to speak with her soon.”
“She is busy. I don’t think it will be soon,” the twin on the left said. It looks like they were going to take turns talking.
“Why don’t you ask her if she wishes to see me?”
A caw sounded from the top of the building. Olan tried to huddle under my jacket collar.
I reached in and pulled him back onto my shoulder and whispered. “I thought you said it wasn’t her.” I turned back to the door twins. But there was only one twin. “Where did your brother go?”
“He took your suggestion and has gone to speak with Queen Fionuir.”
The crow cawed again. Olan flew off my shoulder and stood in my shadow. If that was The Morrigan, it wouldn’t help him to hide in shadows. “I thought you two were square. Did you do something to her?”
“No.” Olan was clearly uncomfortable
Twin two came back. “The Queen has agreed to speak with you. Only you, the bird stays outside.”
Olan bumped my leg as he crossed to the next set of shadows. I figured he wanted to
keep out of The Morrigan’s line of sight so I didn’t say anything. Twin two led me through a narrow hall around the inside of the building until we reached a set of double doors. If my sense of direction was working, we were on the far side of the building. With Sidhe magic, you can never tell. We could be under the building and not have noticed descending the stairs.
The doors were metal with an etched pattern. It looked like tin so it must be laid over sold wood. The knot patterns twined from the top left across both doors and back to the bottom left side. I could feel the magic vibrating out of the patterns. There was no way an uninvited guest would get through these doors.
“Wait,” Twin two said. He looked at me until I nodded, then banged his fist on the center of the doors. “We wish audience with her exulted Majesty Fionuir of the Green Hills.”
We both waited for something to happen. I pulled at the cuffs of my shirt, making sure I showed the right amount of cuff below my sleeve. I may not dress well all the time, but I do know how to wear clothes properly. I hoped Fionuir would appreciate the effort.
After a minute, the doors swung open.
Beyond, it looked like something from pre-revolution France: mirrors, gilt, and scattered chairs. I could see golden light reflected in bars across the room. Candles supplied the illumination that would normally come from windows.
“Stand there.” He pointed me to a corner beside the door where there was an empty space between two chairs which were upholstered in pink Toile. “Wait until you are summoned.”
I kept control on my temper, reminding myself I knew what I was stepping into when I came here. The fact that Fionuir agreed to let me in, meant she would talk to me, eventually.
My feet were just starting to complain when a short female Sidhe strode up to me and snapped her fingers. “Follow me.” Her voice floated lightly to me. Fionuir had surrounded herself with paragons of beauty and grace.