by Unknown
“Banishment?” Arach hissed. “You would banish the last female dragon-sidhe and deny us a chance to continue our race?”
“You know as well as I that you could visit Queen Vervain in the other realms,” King Cian replied calmly. “This wouldn't be an end to the race.”
“I sympathize with your position, King Cian,” I put a restraining hand on my volatile husband. “This is a difficult situation and you must try to handle it as fairly as possible.”
“Thank you, Queen Vervain,” he sighed.
“But you know I'm innocent,” I continued. “I didn't do this and I don't appreciate being set up. In fact, I'm very very angry right now. So here's the deal,” I leaned forward and looked into Cian's paling face. “I will allow myself to be imprisoned and I will adhere to whatever judgment you finally decide upon but I will also be allowed to conduct my own investigation through others. They will be given access to all they need and granted the right to question whomever they wish, and when I have found the culprit and have proven to you that this person is guilty, I will be allowed to call the Wild Hunt down upon them, be they royal or not.”
“That seems fair to me,” Arach growled. “More than fair.”
“Yes,” King Cian looked at me with a new respect. “It's fair and the crime being a murder of royalty, warrants a call of the Hunt anyway. No one can argue against your terms. Stay here and conduct your investigation, Queen of Fire. When you find the villain, I will give you my full support in punishing him.”
“Or her,” I ground out.
“Or her,” King Cian sighed.
“Without repercussions from any of the kingdoms,” I added.
“I will decree it,” he agreed.
“Excellent,” I nodded, “just one more thing.”
“Yes?” King Cian looked wary.
“Don't tell anyone else about the spell,” I closed the book with a thud. “It would compromise my efforts.”
“So be it,” Cian stood up and walked to the door. “Oh and, Queen Vervain?” He turned with his hand on the handle.
“Yes?”
“Good luck,” he winked at me and then was gone.
Chapter Nine
“Could you return to the crime scene and do a really thorough search?” I asked Arach. “Maybe you could take Roarke with you. We need someone nimble and careful who can go over every inch of ground.”
“What are we looking for?” He nodded to Fearghal to go and fetch Roarke from the rooms where he was staying with the other fire cat-sidhe.
Now that I had agreed to stay imprisoned, we had a couple of our own guards inside the suite with us again but no one else. Truly, their proximity to us had been of little matter. If we had wanted to we could have easily left the Castle of Eight, which was probably why the High King was so grateful for my deal and my agreement to stay locked up.
“Look for anything that shouldn't be there,” I advised. “Even something as small as a hair. Go over the ground carefully. If it was Aalish, she may have dropped something in her haste. All we need is something to tie to the killer.”
Strangely enough, I didn't relish the thought of killing Aalish. I didn't want to kill anyone really but this had gone too far. I'm sure banishment hadn't been the goal of the perpetrator. No, they'd been trying to get me executed, along with poor King Liam. I know, If you had told me a week ago that I'd be feeling sorry for Liam, I would have laughed my ass off. But I never would have thought someone would go as far as murdering him just to frame me. Whoever it was truly hated me and I needed to stop them before they succeeded in their original plan to see me dead. Plus, they killed Roarke's daddy and now Roarke will never have the opportunity for closure.
“You sent for me?” Roarke swept into the room with forced gaiety. He swept into a roguish bow.
“Yes, thank you for coming,” I gave him a sad smile. I knew denial when I saw it but we all had our ways of coping with grief and who was I to call him out on his?
“We're going to search the garden,” Arach swung him about by the upper arm and dragged him from the room.
“Lovely to see you,” Roarke called back to me as he was pulled from the room. “I shall do my best on our mission!”
“Thank you, Roarke,” I laughed and waved goodbye. Then the door closed and I gave a long sigh. I hated having to sit there and wait while others did my work for me.
I didn't wait very long though, within moments someone new was banging on the door. Fearghal opened it at my nod and there was Breck, standing between the Spirit knights who guarded my door. Her leathery lips were spread in a huge grin beneath her three bulging eyes.
Breck was one of my favorite goblins. She represented a turning point for me. It was drawing her that opened my eyes to the beauty of the fey, all the fey. She saw herself as beautiful and so I did too. Her confidence and sass had continued to endear her to me and we'd become good friends.
“Breck,” I greeted her with a note of surprise. “Didn't they tell you, you can't stay in this suite yet? I”m only allowed two of my guards for now.”
“Oh yes, they tell me true,” Breck came into the room, closing the door behind her right in the guard's faces. “But I had to come speak to you.”
“Oh, well please sit down,” I waved to the couch as Fearghal shot me a grin. I wasn't the only one who liked Breck. “You want something to drink?”
“Ooooh that would be supreme,” she nodded. “Do you have ale, my Queen?”
“I think so,” I went to the little bar in the corner of the room.
It had what I liked to think of as a faerie fridge. It was basically an insulated cabinet inset with cold stones, little pebbles of magic made by the water fey in conjunction with the air fey. The cold stones created a chilly environment similar to a fridge. Unfortunately, they couldn't manage a freezing temperature, so no ice cream. There was a pitcher of beer though.
I took it out and poured Breck a glass before pouring myself some wine and then took both glasses back to the couch. I handed Breck her glass and she nodded her thanks to me. She took a big swig as I sat down beside her, drinking almost half the glass before belching appreciatively and turning towards me.
“All us goblins, we know,” she pushed back her stringy hair. “Who was behind this show. It must be Queen Aalish, she is such an awful priss.”
“Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was her too,” I agreed and sipped my own drink. “I just can't prove it.”
“She's having a party in her room,” Breck's eyes narrowed “Celebrating your doom. It made me very mad and so I did something very bad.”
“You...” I felt my mouth drop open. “What did you do, Breack?”
“I have a friend who's a brownie,” she grinned and it looked wicked, especially with all of those teeth. “She told me the Queen called for tea. So I sprinkled a little sulfur on some cake and put it on the tray she had to take.”
“Sulfur?” Oh crap, what did she do? “Did she eat the cake?”
“Oh yes, she went and ate it all,” Breck started to giggle. “And later she let out a horrid bawl.”
Fearghal and Ross, the other red cap guard, started laughing so hard that when I shot Fearghal a questioning look, all he could do was shake his head.
“She was crying?” I was getting more and more worried. The last thing I needed was Aalish's death on my head. “What did the sulfur do, Breck?”
“Earth sidhe have a big allergy. Sulfur make them red and itchy.”
“So she's all red and splotchy?”
“It won't kill her, Queen Vervain,” Fearghal finally said. “It'll just make her very uncomfortable for a few hours. Well done, Breck!”
“She's red with pimples all over the place,” Breck confirmed gleefully. “She keeps wailing about the disgrace.”
“Oh, Breck,” I hugged her. “I think that's one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me.”
Chapter Ten
“There was nothing but this,” Arach walked back into the room hours l
ater. He held up a tuft of fur.
“Do you know whose it is?” I looked over what appeared to be cat fur.
“It's my father's,” Roarke sighed and plopped into a chair beside me.
“Your father's?” I frowned.
“Yes but he was obviously there,” Roarke rolled his eyes. “We already know that.”
“But he was killed in human form,” I pointed out. “Why did you find cat hair?”
“Maybe he arrived as a cat and shifted to face his killer,” Arach offered.
“Doesn't that seem strange though?” I persisted. “Why was he in cat form? Maybe he was sneaking up on someone or spying. Maybe he caught someone doing something they shouldn't have.”
“And they just happened to kill him in a manner that implicates us?” Arach shook his head. “No, this wasn't mere chance, this was planned.”
“But how did they get Liam there?” I chewed at my lip. “Do you think we could interrogate the earth cat-sidhe?”
“What would you ask them?” Arach's brow lifted.
“When was the last time they saw Liam,” I shrugged. “What was his behavior like? Was there anyone acting oddly around him? Did anything unusual happen before he disappeared?”
“Good questions,” Roarke sat up with a smile. “You've been watching Midsomer Murders again, haven't you?”
“Maybe,” I grinned and rolled my eyes upward innocently.
“I doubt they'll answer to either of us,” Arach mused, completely ignoring our behavior. “But we could ask the High King to do it.” He got up and headed for the door.
Fifteen minutes or so later, he was back with the High King in tow.
“I've already asked him to question the cats,” Arach said as the King and I greeted each other. “But I thought you may have some other questions for him to note.”
“Actually, I was wondering if you'd asked Queen Aalish where she was at the time of the murder?”
“We don't know the exact time that King Liam was murdered,” King Cian took the glass of wine Arach offered him.
“Not the exact time, no,” I nodded to Arach and he poured me a glass as well. “But we know that he stormed out of the throne room and then was found the next night during dinner. So somewhere between those times, he was killed. You might get a better time frame after questioning the cats and then you can go ahead and question the rest of the royals. That way Aalish won't feel like she's being targeted.”
“I can't question the royals without questioning every other fey who was at the Castle of Eight during that time,” King waved his hand out in helplessness.
“What a fantastic idea,” I thumped the table. “Definitely question everyone. I wish I'd thought of that myself,” I gave Arach a smug look and he hid his smile.
“Queen Vervain,” Cian gaped, “do you know how long that would take?”
“Get your knights to do the work,” I shrugged. “The only questions that need to be asked are where the individuals were during those times and if they have someone who can alibi them.”
“Alibi?” King Cian looked toward Arach for support, which of course was ridiculous. He'd get no aid from that quarter.
“Someone who was with them and so can vouch for their answer,” I explained. “King Cian you did promise me that you would do all in your power to find the truth. I'm sorry it's such an inconvenience for you but we are talking about murder here and my possible banishment.”
“Yes, you're right,” he sighed and looked down into his cup. “Do you mind if I finish this first?”
“Please,” I gave him a victorious grin. “There's a few more questions I wanted to add to this list anyway.”
Arach started to laugh.
Chapter Eleven
“Well, it's taken four days,” King Cian sighed and sat back into the couch in the center of our main room, “but I have an account of everyone's whereabouts.” He waved a stack of papers at me as his wife took a seat beside him. “The earth cats took a bit of persistence to deal with but they finally confessed that King Liam went missing just a few hours after his angry exodus from the throne room. So at least we had a time of disappearance to base our questions on.”
“And?” Arach prompted.
“And I found nothing unusual,” Cian shrugged. “The only reports that gave even a hint at what might have happened, came from an air-sidhe couple who were enjoying the air gardens together. They said they saw two hooded fey walking into the fire gardens. They only noted it because they thought it strange for both of the fey to be hooded, so they wondered if it was a secret dalliance. They also said they were in the area for at least an hour and never saw anyone leave the fire gardens.”
“Hooded fey,” I sighed. “So that could have been anyone.”
“Well, this may be nothing but when I asked them why they thought it to be a dalliance, they said one fey had an arm around the other and they were leaning close as if they were whispering to each other.”
“Well, there you are,” Arach waved his hand out. “We all know Vervain wouldn't have been walking that closely with King Liam.”
“Unless, she had incapacitated him in some way and was merely carrying him in a way to make it appear that they were walking together in an intimate fashion,” King Cian settled a calm look on my husband.
“That's actually a good possibility,” I agreed and Arach shot me a flabbergasted look. “Not for me but for whoever murdered Liam. Unless they knew each other and he really was lured there. Either way, now we know there was one other person involved, someone who didn't want to be seen.”
“Not exactly surprising news,” Arach grumbled and looked over to King Cian. “Do you have anything else that's actually helpful?”
“There were a few fey who couldn't provide an alibi as you requested,” King Cian shook his head, “but we found no connection between them and King Liam that would give us cause for concern.”
“Like who?” I pressed.
“A few brownies,” Cian shook his head, “a dryad, a kelpie, and an air-sidhe. The brownies had all gone to bed early after their work in the kitchens, the dryad went for a walk through the gardens to commune with his element, the kelpie was sleeping in his bathtub, and the air-sidhe said he went for a night flight over the forest.”
“And you don't find anything unusual in any of that?” I huffed. “A dryad walking through the gardens right around the time King Liam was killed in the gardens?”
“That is not an uncommon thing for dryads to do,” Cian shrugged. “I can't hold a dryad responsible for murder just because he needed to stretch his roots a little.”
“Dryads usually find one spot to set themselves in and stay for awhile, with their roots dug into the earth. It rejuvenates them,” Arach explained but then he turned back to Cian. “What about the kelpie? You know we had that incident with Kael and his sister not too long ago. Is this kelpie in any way related to them or known to be associated with them?”
“Besides being a kelpie?” King Cian shrugged. “I know of no other connection but you could talk to King Guirmean about him, his name is...” he flipped through a bunch of papers, “Sean.”
“And the air-sidhe?” Arach persisted.
Another few flips of paper and Cian tapped at a page. “Craigor,” he said and shrugged but Arach stiffened and shot me a look. “I found no reason to suspect him of doing anything other than what he reported.”
“What about Queen Aalish?” I asked when it became apparent that Arach wasn't going to share whatever had disturbed him with the rest of the class. “Where was she?”
“The Earth Royals say they were in their suite for the night,” Queen Meara answered. “As most of the other royals claim. We cannot prove or disprove this, as no one actually saw them retire.”
“So she could be behind it,” I rolled my eyes.
“I can't call her a liar based on your suspicions, Queen Vervain,” King Cian said.
“But you can call me a liar when I say the same thing?” I raised a
brow at him. “We've already told you that we were here when King Liam went missing.”
“Yes but King Liam was killed in a way which only dragons can manage,” Cian sighed and rubbed at his temple.
“No he wasn't,” I grinned. “And we can finally prove it.”
“What's that?” King Cian perked up.
“Arach will demonstrate for you,” I said as Arach stood.
“But-” Cian started to say more but was cut off by his wife.
“Please proceed,” Queen Meara patted her husband's arm when he started to speak again. “Let's just see what they have to show us, love.”
“Very well,” Cian nodded.
Arach went to stand in front of the open balcony. He lifted his hands and recited a spell. The tree branches outside began to rustle, the song of the wind playing through them with more and more strength. When he brought his hands down, a gust blew into the room, strong enough to push the royals back into their seats and set the papers to flapping in King Cian's hands. Autumn leaves blew in a swirling pattern around the stunned royals as Arach circled his hand in a similar fashion. He spoke another word and the breeze died down, leaves falling in a circle around the couch.
“What was that?” King's Cian's eyes were wide.
“That was a fire fey using god magic to control the air,” I couldn't help smiling. “Arach's been practicing just a few days and he's already got a good handle on it.”
“This is a spell from your god book?” Cian stood and followed me over to the table where I had the book laid out.
“Yes,” I flipped the pages till I found it. “Here, Calling the Wind. Now tell me this doesn't prove that another fey could have used god magic to burn Liam.”
“I can't,” Cian smiled and then started to laugh with relief. “I can't tell you that. Congratulations, Queen Vervain, you've won your freedom.”
“Thank you,” I shook his offered hand.
“But I must add,” Cian sobered, “that if new evidence is brought forth to indicate that it was in fact your doing, I shall have to proceed with judgment.”