The Eighth Court

by Mike Shevdon

  THE COURTS of THE FEYRE

  "Mike Shevdon strikes sparks from the flinty core of English folklore, as a hero every reader can relate to finds he's part of an incredible and scarily believable parallel realm. If you've been thinking urban fantasy has nothing fresh to offer, think again."

  – Juliet E. Mckenna, author of the Hadrumal Cycle and the Tales Of Einarinn

  "Here is the very best of urban fantasy… A highly-believable page-turner of a quest."

  – Aurealis Magazine

  "If you're a fan of UF – or even if you're not – I'd recommend this book."

  – Spellmaking

  "Shevdon's prose is elegant and simple and winds up being invisible. We notice the story, not the writer. And that's a rare and pretty fantastic thing."

  – Kate of Mind

  IN THE SAME SERIES

  Sixty–One Nails

  The Road to Bedlam

  Strangeness and Charm

  MIKE SHEVDON

  THE EIGHTH COURT

  THE COURTS OF THE FEYRE

  VOL. IV

  ONE

  The fair was an assault on the nostrils. The press of bodies intermingled with the sickly scent of spun sugar over diesel fumes from the generators, cut by the ozone tang of sparking electricity from the rides, gave him indigestion, not helped by the thumping bass of the music. It had Marshdock feeling sick even before he’d found the meeting place.

  One of the oldest of the travelling fairs – originally they’d been a nexus for information exchange and maintaining contacts, but these days they were merely an amusement for those who liked such things. The dark came early this time of year, and the last of the families were drifting towards the edges of the fair; kids clinging with sticky fingers to trophy bears and being rewarded with toffee-coated apples and doughnuts laden with sugar and cinnamon. Soon the families would be gone and a teenage crowd would slip in between the rides and the shooting galleries in search of a different kind of thrill.

  “Scream if you want to go faster!” That was the call.

  No one did business here any more. Normally he would not grace it with his presence but he’d received a tip-off that there would be something special for him, as long as he collected in person.

  Information like that always carried a premium, and being the sole source would mean that he could pay off favours that were long overdue and start to build up some capital again. The last year had been lean. Nothing was said, but he had the distinct sense that someone had put the word out that he was no longer to be trusted. It had been like that ever since the girl – Blackbird – had brought him an unwanted visitor. It hung on him like a curse, and it rankled with him that he had helped them and got nothing in return. It showed weakness, and in his line of work that was a luxury you couldn’t afford. He walked past the dodgems and threaded through the crowds heading for the darker edges of the fair between the rides and the caravans.

  Since the incident in Covent Garden, Carris had been a refugee. She appeared when it suited her, and where she went in the meantime no one knew. In truth, no one really cared. She would drink and curse and swear revenge against the one who had killed Fenlock, her lost love, but everyone knew she would not face his killer directly. The word these days was that Fenlock’s murderer was Warder-trained and everyone knew the Warders stuck together. No one wanted that kind of trouble, even for a price; not that Carris had anything to offer.

  So the invitation to meet Carris had been intriguing. Delivered through numerous proxies to ensure that her location wasn’t discovered, it was pitched well beyond anything she could normally demand, indicating that she thought she’d stumbled on something worthwhile. His initial scepticism had been tempered by the condition that he meet her here in Nottingham, while the fair was in full swing, making Marshdock wonder if she’d been travelling with the fair all along. It would explain her erratic appearances.

  There were hints in the message that she was onto something big – something that the Lords and Ladies would be interested to know, and that kind of favour was always worth cultivating. Carris couldn’t take it to them direct because that would mean dealing with the Warders, and she was understandably shy of that. Since Carris trusted no-one else to act as go-between, Marshdock could earn favour on both sides by bridging the gap.

  Wrapping himself in glamour to remain unseen, he slipped between the penny-falls and the hall of mirrors, merging with the shadows behind the stalls and letting his eyes become accustomed to the dark before moving on. He was early, but it always paid to scout out the location of a pick-up before the meeting. He might rarely stray from his fireside these days, but many years of collecting information in dark alleys had taught him caution. Even so, he almost stumbled into the figure lingering in the shadows behind the hall of mirrors.

  He retreated back into the gap between the stalls, realising that the lurker was watching the area behind the stalls so intently they had not noticed him. He wondered for a moment whether Carris had also turned up early, but then realised that the figure was male and not inclined to the gothic fashions that Carris adopted. As Marshdock’s eyes adjusted to the dark he nevertheless began to think he recognised the person lurking there. There was something familiar about them, the way they hunched their shoulders and cocked their head on one side as if listening. A suspicion formed in his mind, just as the figure stepped out into the light that striped across the grass between the hall of mirrors and the candyfloss stall.

  It was a facsimile of himself. Marshdock’s pulse began to race as he wondered why anyone would be impersonating him. It wasn’t as if he was a regular at the fair – he couldn’t recall when he had last been here. That meant that someone knew that he was going to be here. He’d told no one where he was going, so unless he’d been followed – no, more likely someone had heard about the meeting from Carris. One of the go-betweens must have blabbed and now someone wanted to get the jump on him. Someone was trying to steal his prize.

  He considered confronting them, right there, but caution was ever his watchword. He would see what they did and make his judgement then. His hand slid to his belt and eased the long knife from its sheath. He held it down behind his leg so the blade would not catch the light and give him away. Better to be ready.

  “Marshdock?” The call came from the shadows beyond the waiting impersonator.

  “Well who else would it be?” his twin asked, impatiently.

  “Were you followed?” asked the voice.

  “Certainly not!” said his twin, with conviction.

  Carris edged into the light. Since he’d last seen her she’d lost even more weight. Her stick-thin legs in skinny jeans looked too spindly to bear her and she moved in short bursts like a frightened cat, ready to dart into the shadows at the first sign of trouble. Her skin took on a sickly tone in the coloured lights from the fair that no amount of face powder and black eyeliner could disguise. Her black hair hung lank around her face. Marshdock thought he could smell her.

  “You know the price?” said Carris, peering into the shadows so that Marshdock was obliged to keep rigidly still or give himself away.

  “We can negotiate on that,” said his twin. He even sounds like me, thought Marshdock.

  “No negotiation! I want the wraithkin Warder dead! Understand?” Her anger was fierce, but short-lived. “I want my life back,” she said, quietly. “I want some respect.” She faded fast; it was hard to imagine anyone giving her regard in her current state.

  “Then you’ll have to produce something worthy of blood-price, won’t you?” said his twin. “A favour for a favour, you know how it works.”

  “How can I trust you?” she asked. “This didn’t come from me, understand?”

  “Who else can you trust?” said
his twin. “And my sources are always anonymous. Now, either you tell me something worth knowing, or I’m leaving. Which is it to be?”

  “It concerns the High Court,” said Carris. “That’s gotta be worth something?”

  “That depends,” said his twin, cautiously.

  “The Seventh Court, they’re here,” she said. “Not just one, there’s a group of them.”

  “That’s news indeed,” said his twin, “but hardly a surprise. You’ll need more than that to be worth a blood-debt against a Warder.”

  “I’ve seen them,” she said. “They didn’t see me, though. They were meeting someone from the High Court – the who and the why, that’s worth the price, isn’t it?”

  Marshdock was close enough to see her fingernails were scraping her palms as she spoke. The need in her was like an addiction. She badly needed this and the negotiator in him saw that the time was right. Now was the moment to strike a deal.

  “Well,” said his twin, “that’s interesting information. I’d love to know how you came by it.”

  “I told you, I saw it myself,” she insisted. “This is the good stuff – it’s first hand.”

  “And who else knows of this?” his twin asked.

  “No one except me,” said Carris, “and you, if you agree the price.”

  “Good,” said his twin. It was indeed good stuff, thought Marshdock, if no one else knew of this.

  His twin turned away for a moment, as if weighing up the worth of the offer. Then he twisted in the air, spinning on the spot. Something flashed in the light and Carris gave a soft, “Uh!”

  Standing before her was no longer the hunched figure of himself, but a tall figure with dark hair and sharp, pale cheekbones in a long Edwardian coat. In his hand was a bright blade, the end of which was embedded in Carris’ chest. She looked down in shock at the place where it pierced her breast.

  “The price of that particular nugget of information is rather higher than you imagined,” he said, his rich voice finding amusement in this sudden turn of events.

  “Raffmir?” Carris whispered. “But how…?”

  Raffmir pushed the blade a little harder, and she gasped in pain. She clung to the blade with her hands where it entered her chest, as if it were the only thing supporting her. Her blood welled through her fingers.

  “The price is agreed,” said Raffmir, “with the small rider that you will not tell any one else. You won’t tell, will you?”

  He allowed her to topple backwards so that the blade slipped from her with a sucking sound, and her slight frame collapsed onto the grass. She kicked once or twice and was still. Raffmir took a white kerchief from his sleeve and wiped the blade, then dropped the blood-soaked kerchief on top of the corpse. Carris’ magic was already claiming her, her body turning to ash as Raffmir watched.

  “Good,” said Raffmir, “so that’s settled.” He sheathed his sword. “Well, one might as well enjoy the fair, since we made the journey.” He stepped between the stalls, leaving the body to decompose on the grass.

  Marshdock stood then for some minutes, his heart hammering in his chest less the wraithkin return to check on his victim. For once, Carris’d had the real deal, but it had cost her everything. A secret meeting between the Seventh Court and someone from the High Court meant only one thing – treachery at the highest level. Information like that could be hard to sell, though. It would take all his art to broker such a deal. If only she’d named the traitor… still, the fact that there was a traitor was valuable enough.

  He needed proof, though. He needed some token to verify his claim.

  Cautiously, he moved to the edge of the shadows, towards the rapidly decomposing corpse. Carris’ magic would burn through her, and within minutes there would be little left but some skinny jeans and a few goth trinkets. Checking the gap between the stalls, he could see no sign of the wraithkin’s return. Steeling himself, he darted to the corpse, snatched the kerchief from atop the remains and ran for the gap between the caravans, away from the fair and away from the wraithkin and his sword.

  The goth trinkets were worth nothing, but a wraithkin’s kerchief soaked in Carris’ blood – that was proof.

  “What do you think?” asked Blackbird.

  “That’s one of those questions again, isn’t it?” I said.

  She swept across the floor in the dress, the heavy folds of damask rustling as she moved to stand before the tall mirror, turning one way, then the other. “It’s a simple question, Niall. Do I look the part, or am I going to be mistaken for an extra from a costume drama?”

  “You look splendid.” In truth, it was a fabulous dress, cut from heavy turquoise cloth and fitted to emphasise her curves. “I expect it’s the height of fey fashion.” She caught my reflection in the mirror, her expression souring at my teasing, and turned. “This really isn’t me, is it?” she said. She held the wide skirt out sideways.

  “Mullbrook thinks this is a good idea,” I said. “Trust his judgement. He knows the High Court better than anyone except perhaps the Warders, and we only wear grey.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I quite like you in plain grey. It suits you.” She held up the hem of the skirt and sidled over to me, leaning up for a kiss and sliding her free hand under my jacket. “I could take it off?” she suggested.

  “If you do I’m going to be late,” I said, “and Katherine is not known for her patience and understanding, at least as far as I’m concerned.”

  She sighed, returning to the mirror. “I feel like I’m going to a fancy dress ball. Maybe I’ll take it off anyway, wear something simpler, save it for formal occasions.”

  “What, and offend Mullbrook? No disrespect my lady, but you know what happened last time no one paid any attention to his suggestions. I’m not a fan of tripe at the best of times.”

  “There you go, you see? You start calling me, My Lady this and My Lady that. It’s not me, do you see?”

  I moved behind her, turning her shoulders so that the light caught the pattern in the material. “You are the Lady of the Eighth Court,” I told her, “and Mullbrook is right. The more you look the part, the quicker they will get used to the idea. The first step to being treated as an equal is to act like one. Kimlesh and Yonna dress formally for the High Court. So does Barthia, come to that. Mellion is the only one who comes as he is, and even he wears the silver chain of the Horde-Master.”

  “I suppose,” she said. “But don’t you think it’s a little over the top?”

  I teased back the twist of copper from her shoulder and kissed the nape of her neck from behind, feeling her tremble as my warm breath passed over her bare skin. “I don’t know,” I said. “I rather like it. Maybe you could wear it later?”

  “You are not to be encouraged, Niall Petersen,” but she was smiling as she said it. In the mirror her eyes had a sparkle of green in them. She leaned back against me, and I folded my arms around her.

  “You won’t fight with Katherine, will you?” she said, suddenly serious.

  “I am simply going to drop Alex off,” I said. “I’m not stopping long enough for an argument. Hello, here’s your daughter. Don’t let anyone know she’s here because she’s supposed to be dead. That’s it.”

  “That’s what I mean, I’m sure she already knows that she can’t tell anyone about Alex.”

  “This isn’t my idea,” I said, “but everyone keeps telling me that Alex is grown-up. Frankly I’ve given up trying to stop her doing things she wants to do.”

  Blackbird did not look convinced. “It’s only natural that she will want to see her mother. Better you take her than she just turn up on the doorstep unannounced, don’t you think?”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with what I think. Besides, I rather feel my place is here with you.”

  “You can’t be present when the court is in session, Niall.”

  “Why not?” I asked. “Fionh is.”

  “Fionh is there at the invitation of the court. Someone has to attend, and they
trust her.”

  “And they don’t trust me, you mean.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Even Garvin isn’t normally invited, and they trust him implicitly. It’s a matter of roles, that’s all.”

  “As you say, My Lady.”

  She turned and met my gaze directly, determination in the way she lifted her chin. “We will have a court. We will be recognised. The Eighth Court will be home for any fey with mixed blood. They will have to accept us eventually.”

  “When you say it like that, I believe you,” I said, “but you need to say it to them, not me. I wish I could be there to help you convince them.”

  She shook her head. “Angela will attend me. She’ll have to wait outside, but her presence will be noted. She unnerves them enough for it to make the point.”

  “She’s becoming quite an asset. I would never have guessed she’d adapt to life at court so well. She’d lived alone so long, I thought she’d find it daunting.”

  “I think she’s finally found somewhere she can be,” said Blackbird, “Which convinces me even more that we are doing the right thing. Besides, they think she knows something.”

  “What?” I asked her.

  She shook her head. “I’m sure if she knew, she’d tell me, but it’s as much a mystery to her as to me. If she does know something then she’s not aware of the significance of it.”

  “So we negotiate on bluff and hope they don’t know the difference?” I suggested.

  “You don’t bluff the Seven Courts, Niall, even in jest.” She smoothed the dress, “You’d better go before you make us both late. I’ll see you when you get back. Give Katherine my regards. Will you ask Angela to join me when she’s ready, and we’ll walk down together?”