“Nope.”
“If it's any consolation, your abrupt and dramatic departure calmed things down,” Gabrielle said, rubbing my back.
I retched again and sagged against the wall, limp as an overcooked noodle. “What do you think the Fae really want?”
“I'm not certain.” Gabrielle was thoughtful for a minute, rubbing my shoulder absently. “I do believe we need to find out.” She helped me to my feet and waited while I washed my face and rinsed my mouth. “Conal says you should use the fearless sigil.” She handed me some paper towel to dry my face.
I stared at her in surprise. “Are you sure that's what he said?”
Gabrielle nodded. “His exact words before I left the hall where 'Tell Charlotte to use the fearless sigil' ”.
I ran my tongue over my teeth, considering the suggestion for mere seconds. I yanked off my sweater and handed it to her. “Hold this.”
“Wow,” Gabrielle commented mildly, her gaze travelling over the proliferation of markings on my skin. “Epi told us about the sigils, but I didn't realize there would be so many, or how dramatic they would be.”
I was drawing the sigil on my chest, above my left breast. “They all have a use,” I muttered. “I'll explain them later if you'd like.”
Gabrielle's eyes were wide as she saw the indigo mark burning into my skin. “Doesn't that hurt?”
“Stings a bit. You get used to it.”
“They fade away later?”
“Yeah. These are bright because I haven't used their power.” With a heavy sigh, I slipped the Hjördis into my pocket and took the sweater from Gabrielle's hand. “If things keep deteriorating out there, I might have to.”
Gabrielle delicately screwed up her nose. “There is entirely too much testosterone in there. Men will always resort to using their fists.”
The power of the fearless sigil stole over me, my nerves reduced to nothing. “Okay. Let's go and deal with all that testosterone.”
“The sigil? It's working?”
I grinned, much more confident about dealing with Goren. “Yep.”
I discovered Gabrielle's comments about the men were correct when I returned to the hall a few minutes later. The men didn't know what to make of my hasty departure and had calmed down, resuming their seats. The air was still filled with tension, but at least they weren't at one another's throats.
Goren stood when I reached the table, scrutinizing me cautiously.
“Please accept my apologies, Goren, for leaving so abruptly.”
Goren smiled. “My Arasinya suffered from the sickness which can come with a pregnancy,” he said quietly. “I understand it can be quite debilitating.”
“Yeah. It's not exactly fun, but I'm dealing with it.” I caught Conal's eye and smiled weakly. He returned my gaze with a wink.
“Charlotte, Goren insisted no more be discussed until you returned,” Epi said. “We have waited for you to continue.”
“Thanks, Epi.” I turned to Goren. “Thank you for waiting. How about we hear the whole story now?”
Goren's gaze flickered towards the men who'd accompanied him and in turn, each one nodded. “My wife Arasinya is the one the Drâghici kidnapped.”
“How is she related to the Queen?” I questioned.
“She is her sister.”
A fresh ripple of murmurs swept through the hall and I raised a hand to silence them.
“Ask him why the Queen herself is not negotiating for Arasinya's return.” Lucas requested.
“If the Queen wants her sister back, why didn't she come to Zaen to negotiate with us?”
Goren turned towards his men and a complex range of emotions flickered across their expressions. It suddenly dawned on me that they were communicating telepathically with one another, as some of the Tines did. When I had Goren's attention again, I gave him an icy stare. “You better be telling the truth, Goren.”
“I have not told a lie,” Goren responded.
Epi caught my attention. “Goren will not lie, Charlotte. The Fae are incapable of lying.”
I frowned, contemplating this announcement before I spoke again. “So everything you've told me is the truth?”
“That is correct.”
“The Fae can bend the truth to their advantage. He is telling the truth, but fitting it to the story to suit his needs.”
“Are the Fae capable of deceit?”
Goren gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing with anger. “Yes.”
I chewed my lip thoughtfully. “So you can't tell an outright lie, but you are capable of dishonesty?”
“We prefer to consider it a bending of the truth.”
A flurry of mutters started up amongst the men and Epi held up his hand to stop them. When silence descended, I continued. “You haven't answered the question. Why isn't the Queen here, handling these negotiations herself?”
“The Queen does not leave the Seelie Court.”
A ripple of comments and whispered asides rose through the room and I let them continue, buying some time to think and listen to the spirits. “Let's get this straight. Arasinya is the Queen's sister, correct?”
Goren nodded his assent.
“You told us if we help recover Arasinya, you intend to offer the Fae's assistance to fight this war.”
“Yes.”
“Does the Queen condone this proposal?”
Goren was silent for nearly a minute and I began to think he wouldn't answer. When he did speak, it was in a fierce snarl. “No.”
“Does the Queen want Arasinya rescued?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“The Queen does not want Arasinya returned to the Realm.”
“Does the Queen know you're in Zaen?”
The look of disgust on Goren's face suggested he'd eaten something unsavory. “No.”
“So what was going to happen if you'd taken Charlotte to the Fae Realm?” Matt demanded angrily. “Were you going to use her as a bargaining chip with the Consiliului?”
“I will not speak to you, human!” Goren yelled. He ground out some other words which were unintelligible, but I was certain they were graphic and probably unacceptable in the presence of small children.
I threw my hands in the air. “That's it! The meeting is over. You can leave and take your buddies with you,” I stated coldly. “You might think you're telling the truth, but it's a truth bent to suit your own purpose. Something's hinky with your story, Goren and I can't trust you. Sort out your own problems.”
I spun around and headed towards the door but Goren spoke hurriedly. “Wait!” I turned around slowly and stared at him.
Goren was silent for a minute, then he slumped into a chair, resting his elbow against the table. “Arasinya is the rightful Queen of the Realm. Her sister is a usurper. We were within weeks of staging a coup, led by Arasinya and myself, when Arasinya was kidnapped by the Drâghici.”
I returned to the table, focused solely on Goren. “This is your last chance. You either tell us the whole story, straight up with no bullshit, or you march back to that horse of yours and deal with this problem on your own. I don't have time for this crap.”
He turned towards his three counterparts and I watched the interplay of emotions on their faces. Completely frustrated with the constant trickery, I decided to interrupt. “Hey, Goren?”
When he turned back, his expression was distinctly unhappy. I put my hands on my hips and studied him. “This is unfair; don't you think? My people don't get to assist me with this discussion, but you four get to thrash out everything with each other?”
“You're right, Charlotte. He's conversing with them telepathically,” Lucas confirmed.
“You have been here the entire time, little one. You've seen for yourself, we have never exchanged words,” Goren responded frostily.
“Yeah, but you are conversing with each other. I can see it in your faces. You have a telepathic thing going on.”
Goren watched me warily for a few seconds. “You are mist
aken.”
I shook my head. “I don't think so. There's an easy way to test the theory, don't you think? Either you let my people join the discussion, or you and I go upstairs and thrash this out. Alone.”
“And you presume I couldn't use this 'telepathic thing' from another room?” Goren retorted.
I crossed my arms, tapping my foot impatiently. “I don't know. But I'm guessing it requires eye contact. I'm sure as hell not letting you have the advantage of having their opinions before you answer anything. Not unless I get to hear my people's opinions before I answer you.”
Goren's eyes flashed with fury and the violet deepened to darkest purple.
“If you think you're frightening me with the eye thing, you're wasting your time. I'm not scared of you. Besides, it seems to me,” I glanced casually around the room, “you're outnumbered right about now.”
Epi gasped audibly and I saw him shake his head violently, his eyes wide in alarm.
“I have powers you are evidently unaware of, little one,” Goren said smoothly, his voice like ice crystals. “You should be frightened of me.”
I deliberately turned my back to him, walking leisurely around the table. “I have a few powers of my own. Wanna try it out? Your powers against mine?” When I looked back, his face was a frozen mask of rage and I strolled slowly towards him. “Look, Goren. You seem like a nice guy… elf… whatever. You didn't kidnap me when you had the opportunity and I respect that. I can totally understand you're pissed because the Drâghici took your wife. Trust me – the Drâghici have pissed me off plenty of times. Despite all that, this is a pointless exercise. You have Archangelo. The Drâghici have Arasinya. We have got nothing to do with it. Go ahead and hand Archangelo back to the Council. I'll kick his ass the next time he turns up and we can all go on our merry way.” I stood right in front of him, tilting my head to retain eye contact. “You were right, with what you said before. It is remarkable that I've gathered such a mixed group to fight this war.” I glanced around the table. “These men and women are here for a common purpose. Regardless of what they are or where they came from - we work together. We respect one another and I value their opinions. Seems to me, you could learn a thing or two from the way we do things. It appears that you don't want to. You think you're superior to us, that these people don't deserve the common courtesy of knowing what they're letting themselves in for if we help you.” I shrugged nonchalantly. “You know, I think your problem is you've got your head so far up your ass, you can't recognize daylight.”
Epi gasped in horror and there was burst of laughter from around the table. Goren continued to stare down at me, cold and unrelenting.
“Anyway, here's the deal,” I continued serenely. “Either you negotiate my way or you take yourselves back to whatever Realm you came from and sort out your own problem. I can give you one piece of free advice before you go. You're right. The Drâghici have absolutely no intention of handing back your wife. They're going to kill her.”
Chapter 27: Goren's Story
Goren's anger dissipated rapidly, his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “How do you know that?”
“I have nightmares,” I replied shortly. “I saw the Drâghici talking about your wife. They didn't spell it out, but I know they won't hand her over.”
“You've seen my wife?” The hope in his words was heart-wrenching.
“No. I've only heard them speaking about her.”
“These nightmares – they are accurate?”
Recalling some of the more horrific events I'd seen, I shuddered. “Always.”
Goren rubbed a hand over his jaw. “May I speak to my men privately?”
“Of course. Epi will be happy to escort you to one of our vacant buildings and you'll have the privacy you need.”
Epi escorted the Fae from the hall and when I heard the doors close I heaved a sigh of relief. “No doubt you've all got thoughts you want to share. Why don't we take a break for coffee and then talk?”
As the assembly broke away and headed towards the coffee pots, I slumped against the table, relieved to take a break.
“I presume a fearless sigil was marked whilst you were in the bathroom?” Ben asked. He leaned against the table beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“Conal suggested it.”
Ben's lips rose in a wide smile. “It was an excellent suggestion. You've given the Fae much to think about.”
“Once again Lottie, excellent use of verbal communication,” Striker agreed with a broad grin. “Telling him he had his head so far up his ass he couldn't see daylight was a nice finishing touch, I thought.” Striker punched gently at my shoulder, then drew me into a crushing bear hug.
“We need to talk before they get back.”
“Here, Sugar.” Conal handed me a mug. “Thought you might like a coffee.” He winked and smiled. “It's good to know the fearless sigil still makes you utterly reckless.”
“It surprised me to hear you suggested it.”
Conal slipped an arm around my waist, giving me a gentle squeeze. “He was making you nervous. I thought it would help.”
“It did. Now I'm worried Epi's going to go psycho again.”
“He'll need to get through us first,” Striker said.
Matt joined us, smiling proudly. “Nice work, Charlotte. You would have made a good Marine – tough as nails and won't take any bullshit. I'm proud of you.”
“I did have help,” I admitted. “Conal suggested the fearless sigil.”
Matt chuckled and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I wondered how you got so confident all of a sudden.”
“As did I,” Epi announced. He didn't look ready to explode with anger; in fact, he was looking pretty smug. “And who suggested you use the fearless sigil; may I ask?”
“I did, old man,” Conal growled. He stood close, his stance protective and I found it reassuring.
For a moment Epi was silent, then he grinned. “Wish I'd thought of it myself.”
My mouth dropped open. “Epi? You're not mad?”
“No, Child,” Epi said, rubbing his hands together in delight. “You have pushed the Fae further than anyone has dared in many years. You've given them much to think about. It will be interesting to see what they come back with.”
“I think we need to know what our people think,” I announced decisively.
Conal put his fingers to his mouth and produced a shrieking whistle. “Come on back to the table. We need to have a debate before the Fae come back.”
Epi took over the meeting and I was happy to sit back and drink my coffee, wanting to hear what everyone else thought.
For the most part, everyone wanted more information. Whilst they considered the Fae untrustworthy, the idea of gaining their assistance was alluring. I think in the back of everyone's mind was the risk of the Fae taking the Drâghici's side – if that happened we would be annihilated. Whilst I knew little about the Fae, I'd learned enough to know their fighting skills were second to none. We needed them on our side. Unfortunately, no-one could guess why Goren wanted my assistance, nor how he could offer help when he was in no position to do so.
After ten minutes of dialogue, we agreed there was no choice but to establish what the Fae would disclose when they returned. In the meantime, Epi urged me to return to the bathroom and check the continuing strength of the fearless sigil. Incredibly, he advocated marking it again if it had faded.
Half an hour later the Fae returned, escorted by a couple of werewolves and they entered the room somberly. Goren stopped before me, his face passive. “Nememiah's Child, may we continue our discussions?”
“You heard my terms. Are you willing to agree to them?”
A ghost of a smile crossed Goren's lips. “You remind me very much of my wife, little one. So very determined, so full of courage.” He nodded resolutely. “Yes, we agree to your terms. We will accept your request and we will no longer utilize our telepathic skills. Our discussion will be open to all.” His violet eyes sparkled with mirth. �
�And I will attempt to get 'my head out of my ass' – as you so eloquently described it.”
A ripple of amusement filtered around the table and I smiled candidly at Goren. “Good.” I waved a hand towards the vacant chairs. “Shall we sit down?”
Goren drew out a chair for me and waited until I was seated before he sat beside me. The three Fae men sat to Goren's right. “Perhaps it would be best if we begin again, if I may?” Goren suggested.
I nodded in agreement. “The whole story this time, Goren. Don't leave anything out and I want the truth.”
Goren clasped his hands together on the table. “Kheelan was the King of the Fae Realm and father of both my wife, Arasinya and the Usurper Queen, Aethelwine. His rule over the Fae lasted for nine hundred years, until his death five years ago. Arasinya is the oldest of the two sisters.”
Epi leaned forward in his seat. “Would Arasinya not be the rightful heir to the throne, being the oldest child?”
Goren sounded frustrated when he responded. “It is more complicated than that, old friend.” He turned his attention to me. “Kheelan was married twice. Arasinya is the product of his first marriage. Kheelan was pure fairy, his first wife was an elf. Arasinya has the mixed blood of the two running in her veins. When Kheelan's wife died during childbirth, he remarried to a pure fairy and Aethelwine is the product of that second union.”
“Perhaps you would explain the formalities of succession within the royal family?” Ben asked.
I held my breath, wondering if Goren would answer Ben's question or ignore him. Goren paused for only a split-second, eyeing Ben coolly before he spoke. “It is complicated and fraught with difficulties due to the very nature of the Fae and our varied loyalties. Essentially the ruling states the eldest child has right of succession to the throne; however, the succession is also decided by a formal declaration by the reigning King or Queen, naming their choice. In Arasinya's case, she was the rightful successor and Kheelan had confirmed to Arasinya verbally that he intended to name her.”
“So why did it go wrong?” I questioned.
Goren reached for the jug of water on the table, pouring a glass before he answered. “Kheelan was remarkably healthy for a man of his advanced years. During his reign, we have experienced a peace such as we have not seen for centuries. His death was sudden and unexpected.” He paused, sipping the water before clasping the glass between his hands. “We believe Aethelwine coveted the throne. To that end, we believe Aethelwine poisoned her father and deliberately destroyed the Declaration of Succession documents. She took the throne herself and declared that Kheelan, a pure fairy like herself, fully intended Aethelwine to be the Queen of the Fae.”
The Knowledge of Love Page 21