“You were serious, last night, Melcar would have said we were sleeping together?”
I winced. I had forgotten about saying that. “Yeah, probably. Don’t worry about it, though.”
“I will worry about it. It’s none of their business who I sleep with, first, and second, I’m not having an affair with you.”
“You wouldn’t be the first princess to have a little fun with her escort. Sex is not regarded as a big deal, Underhill, because conception without magical intervention is so rare.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting...”
The door opened, and we both turned to see who it was. Joe stood in the doorway in full regalia. I wondered if he’d had any sleep at all.
“We’re ready.” I put my cup down, reluctantly. I’d just swallowed the last of my coffee.
Bella murmured, “we will talk about this later,” before sweeping past me to the door. I wondered what that meant, then shrugged and followed Joe to the King’s small reception room.
This was not where I usually met him, which meant this would be a much more formal affair than our sessions usually were. Which, now that I thought about it, made sense, as this was a much more serious threat than we had faced in my memory. He was seated in a small throne, looking grayer than last we met, and we walked across the red carpet to stand in front of him. I gave him a small bow, my usual greeting to my sovereign, and Bella followed my lead, instead of the more customary feminine curtsey. He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
“Learoyd.” His deep voice sounded tired, which matched his appearance. His use of my first name wasn’t a good sign, as he usually just called me Lom.
“Majesty.” I replied calmly. I knew he wasn’t angry at us, just agitated about the threat.
He looked at Bella. “Princess Belladonna. I did not intend our first meeting to come about like this. I have fond memories of your grandmother Lavendar, and I would have liked to hear about her life in the human realm.”
“I did not know you knew her. I know very little about her life Underhill.”
He smiled a little, then. “We will have much to talk about when the chance comes. But for now, I’m afraid, treachery is afoot.”
“The attacks on the princesses were just the tip of the lever.” I filled in. “The lack of a Queen means our enemies feel Court is weak.”
“Our Enemy.” He corrected me heavily, “the only one there has been from the mists of time. The invasion into Court is merely minions sent to harry us.”
“Nasty business.” I agreed.
He regarded us silently for a moment. I’m sure he had been told all about Bella in the last few hours, her appearance and actions from the party through to the aftermath of the battle no one else had seen. He knew me, had known my capacity for violence for years. She was something else.
“Belladonna, I will not sugar-coat my words to you. When the initial reports came in, we were afraid and angry at the destruction you wrought.”
She looked surprised. “What was I supposed to do? We were in danger of being killed.”
He didn’t protest her talking back to him, just nodded. “And on reflection, I saw that, too. I was also told, at length...” His gaze slipped beyond us, and I guessed he was looking at Joe, who would be standing at attention in front of the doors, in his Majordomo role. “That you minimized the damage at great personal risk to yourself, in the aftermath. Thank you for that. However, I am afraid that you are so powerful and adept, the rest of court may not accept your courage, only seeing that you are... different.”
Boy, did he have that one right. Court was going to be a hotbed of rumor, lies, and fear at this point. And Bella would take the brunt of it, as she had revealed herself to be talented beyond most of their wildest dreams with magic.
“They are wondering, already, where you came from, and how you came to be able to do such magic, with such little effort.” She opened her mouth to respond, but he held up a hand to stop her. “We will talk, at length, about this. But your recklessness is a grave concern to us all.”
She blinked. She was being treated like a child, and I knew she didn’t like it. I also knew he was wrong, that he was assuming she was well-trained, when in reality I had given her the barest of starts. Everything else was book-learning. To him, it looked like she had no judgement at all, and to her, she was only using what looked like it might work, in desperation. I started to speak. He went on, not even acknowledging me.
“Learoyd, you will assemble a team.” His face showed his grief. “It’s like the old, old days, eh, boy?”
I nodded. Not since I was a youth had Court been under this much strain, and it showed. “I can call enough, I think, of the old crew.”
“But not her.” he pointed at Bella. “Princess Belladonna, you are simply too valuable for me to risk allowing you to be in the dangerous situations Lom will have to face. Also, until I am certain your allegiance is to us, I cannot risk allowing you to be privy to our further plans. You are not a prisoner, my dear, simply confined to Court until further notice.”
Bella gasped. “At least let me help. I can prove that I am not your enemy.”
He shook his head. “You are so very powerful, and I don’t think you realize the true extent of that. I don’t think you are an enemy, but you will have to prove it to others.”
“If you don’t want me here, at least let me go home,” she protested.
He raised a shaggy grey eyebrow again. “Up to the human realm? I’m afraid that is not an option at all for you any longer. Magic is too risky to expose humans to it, and potentially lead them Underhill, an invasion the Folke might not survive. We all fear that.”
This was what had sent me on innumerable jobs into Human worlds, after all, the fear that we would be discovered and eradicated. Bella had no real way of knowing that, of course, unless Lavendar had mentioned it, and as she herself was a refugee from Court, I somehow doubted that. Bella might look calm to the King, but I could see she was about to break down.
“Then what is to become of me?” She asked, softly enough we almost didn’t hear her.
“We will talk about that in time. For now...” He gestured, and Joe opened the doors. “This is your escort while Learoyd is unable to fulfill his duty. If you will follow him back to your rooms...”
She turned without speaking again and left quickly, forcing her young guard, who I recognized as Joe Jr., the Majordomo’s son, to follow at a trot. He would take good care of her. I looked back at the King.
Chapter 24 - The Team Gathers
“Sir...”
He stood up, with effort, and came down off the dais. “Come on, Lom, let’s finish this like civilized men.”
I followed him into the smaller room with overstuffed chairs. He folded into one, and I took the other. “Sir, you need to know that Bella...”
He held up a hand. “I don’t want to talk about her. She almost burned down the Court, is the woman crazy? I don’t know what we are going to do with her, she certainly can’t be allowed out of our control.”
I rubbed my face. I knew from experience there was no reasoning with him in this mood. King Corwin was a good ruler, fair, just, and usually, reasonable. I’d give him time, and he would come around. If he really did sit and talk with Bella, and she kept her temper, she would most likely win him over quickly. I shifted gears.
“I need Alger.”
He winced. I knew how he felt about the old man, and usually, it was mutual. The problem was, Alger had forgotten more about the old halls of Court than anyone else living remembered. I’d done some exploring in my younger years, but all that made me sure of was that I didn’t know enough. There could be anything back there.
“He’ll insist on joining the Court.”
“Yes, and you know I won’t need him all the time, so he will be up here on occasion. I’ll try to keep him busy, though.”
Corwin huffed through his mustache. “All right, I’ll lift the ban. He can come back
to Court.”
I nodded, not having expected to have to fight hard for anyone under these circumstances. “I’ll give Joe a list of a few others, the rest can be your choice. I’ll want no more than a dozen.”
“Will that be enough?”
“If I need more, I retreat.” I pointed out. “This is just an exploration, to see what we are up against. After Court is secure, I’ll want even less for the next part of the mission.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Are you certain, Lom?”
I shook my head. “Not at all. But I know where the root of this must be, and I can ask no one but myself...” and Bella, I silently added, if she ever forgives me for this day’s words... “to venture into such dangerous territory.”
“We underestimate you, Lom.”
I was surprised. The royal we, and the gentle tone were unlike him. “Sir?”
“Sending you on tasks, thinking you are simply a mercenary, and only bound to us by family needs.”
“All true, my King.” I grinned at him, and he smiled back.
“But you are truly loyal to us, are you not?”
I met his eyes squarely. “You’re the best man for the position. You’re screwing up right now, though.”
“And why is that?” he demanded indignantly.
“Because you removed our best asset from the game.”
“Ah.” He sat back, and beamed. “Now, that I did not know. I see that you want her for more than a toy, and with her power she does have potential.”
My turn to wince. There had been stories going around about Bella and I. “She is much more than a mere toy.”
“I will talk to her. And I will be gentle, but she is far too dangerous to allow unchecked Underhill. She’s a loose cannon.”
I sighed. “Sir... she is not familiar with our customs. She did not want to come Underhill, hell, she threatened to shoot me if I came back a second time with the papers.”
“Really?” He was amused, now, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
“Yes. She just wants to go home, and she’s going to be very unhappy finding out she is a prisoner. She will blame it on me, and you know what? She’s right.” My mouth drew back in a rictus of a smile as the full import of it sank in, and the bitterness fully hit me. “I brought her here, and I taught her what little she knows about magic. So whatever she started to feel for me...” I remembered the kiss, and felt unaccustomed moisture spring to my eyes. “It’s dead, sir, and I don’t blame her. Now, if you will excuse me, I have work to do.”
I got up, and out of the room, before he had a chance to say a word. I didn’t care if I’d angered him. He needed me. All of Underhill needed me, which is why the one person I cared about in it, I couldn’t go to when she needed me. Not that she was going to want to see me ever again.
I headed straight for the scene of last night’s disaster, spinning message orbs off my fingertips as I went. I couldn’t see Bella, but I could make certain she was not utterly alone and at the mercy of the cats of the court. For one thing, the last worry I needed was whether she was safe. I was going to have an interesting few days, as was my crew. I wasn’t happy.
The clean-up was going well. The holes in the floor had been cut square, preparatory to replacing the floorboards and beams that supported them. The walls and floors had been washed roughly. I wasn’t sure they would do more than that, this far back, appearances were unneeded. Some of the boards on the stairs that had suffered the most damage had been removed, so I stepped carefully as I made my way down them, to talk to the furthest sentries.
“What have you seen, boys?” I greeted them.
“Not much. Sometimes I think a shadow moves, but it’s a trick of the light. We put up more globes...” he gestured above him, “and that helped a lot.”
I nodded. “They are watching us. But they hate the light.”
He looked nervous. I slapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll chase them out soon. I’m putting together a crew now, let the guys know that I can take a few. We’ll head out in the morning.”
“Yes, sir... Lom. I’ll do that.”
I left him peering into the shadows intently. I wanted to see what the lower levels looked like, but I knew better than to go down alone. They would still be there in a few hours. Joe was waiting for me at the top of the stairs, still in full regalia.
“Will he forgive me?” I asked lightly.
Joe shook his head. “He’s not angry with you, he never is for long. He’s just worried, this time.”
“I’m a touch concerned, myself.”
I took a moment to study Joe as he watched the clean-up crew working. The old man didn’t look old, and the only reason I called him old was that he had been Majordomo since I was a child. He was a pixie, like me, and our race seemed to gravitate towards positions of service. Not servants, always, but places where they took care of others. In Joe’s case, that was the King, and Court. What my mother had been for the late Queen.
“Ever get tired, Joe?”
“What else would I do?” he asked without bothering to look at me. “This is my life, and it has its moments. Like this one.”
Now he did look at me, and smile. “Are you tired?”
I rubbed my face. “Sore still, but no. Ready to fight. How fast do you think we can get supplies in place?”
He shook his head. “Ah, the impatience of youth. Discover a goblin horde in the basement, and you want to be off in search of little pricks...”
I laughed out loud. I’d forgotten how low his sense of humor could go. “Not all of us are made of wood, old man...”
He started to grin, and I finished up, “some of us are made of steel.”
Now he laughed with me.
“Should be arriving any minute now, everything on the list you sent me.”
“You move fast.”
He shrugged, “no, I delegate. I just wish I could come with you.”
I shook my head at him. “Best stay safe from all those little pricks. Besides, I need someone to have my back.”
He grunted, and looked back up the hall. “Ah, there they are, now.”
I’d asked for weapons, food, and bedding for a dozen men for a week. I figured if we couldn’t reach the extent of the halls in that time, we were doing something wrong. Which was why we wouldn’t leave until Alger got there, of course. While we were down there, we would be able to tag places with message spells so backup could be summoned and arrive within minutes. Without the tags in place, there was no way to have them come to a place they had never been and would have to find in the dark.
We would still be on the pointy end of the stick. Or, in this case, the myriad pointy ends. Why did it have to be goblins, in the dark?
“Lots of glow globes, right?”
“Enough to light the whole damn Court. We may run short up front, but you will have the ability to see.”
“Joe...” I looked him in the eye. “If you need anything, magically, ask Bella. She doesn’t have much experience, but she knows a lot, once she knows the question. Give her a minute to think about it, and she has the power to make it happen.”
He blinked, and processed what I had said to him. “I will... take that under advisement.”
“I made sure she has company, and I know your son’s a good man. But once I leave tomorrow, I can’t worry about her.”
He nodded. “You won’t have to.”
“Alger’s coming.” I shifted topics to something less painful. “He should be here tonight, if I have to guess.”
“I thought you would require his expertise. I have taken the liberty of preparing his rooms.”
I shook my head. “You don’t need me to tell you anything, do you?”
“Is there a mole in the court?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Yes, that I am sure of. But no, I don’t know who it is, and with only a few itchy feelings, I can’t point fingers.”
“I will be watching.”
“You’re always watching.”
Foot
steps coming down the hall caught my attention.
The fairy walking towards us looked like something out of an old movie. Black leather jacket, white t-shirt, jeans, and biker boots. His black hair was gelled perfectly. I held out my hand, and he shook it gravely.
“Been a while.”
“Not long enough,” he responded, then nodded at Joe. “How’re they hanging?”
Joe raised an eyebrow at him, and then shook his head. “Perfectly level, until I see you coming, and then they want to hide.”
Dean guffawed. “I may steal that one.”
“Be my guest. And now, I must return to the front.”
Dean watched him stride up the hallway. “So, Lom...”
“Goblins, and trolls in the basement. That I know of. You in?”
He grunted. “How many of us?”
“‘Bout a dozen.”
“Just enough to trip one another up.” He flexed his fingers and popped a tiny spell flame on the tip of one, then lit a cigar.
“It’s my show.”
“I’m in.” He shrugged, looking down the hall into the shadows. “This is a new one on me. Could be fun.”
“For your values of fun, yeah.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and went to look at the equipment. I sighed softly. This had been fun when I was younger, now it was just work.
“Well, m’boy!” A voice boomed out of nowhere, and Alger appeared in its wake. “Together again!”
“I’ve had enough backslapping.” I sidestepped him. “You’re here to be a guide, and when it’s over, we’re going to have a word. Or several.”
His face fell. “Lom, you take all the fun out of it.”
“It’s not supposed to be fun, it’s just vermin clean-up.”
He brightened again. “I have some new spells to try out!”
“As long as they don’t involve fire.”
He paused thoughtfully. “Maybe a little?”
“I’ll take it under advisement. Take a look at the gear, and let me know if there’s anything else you need.”
“The Court is providing?” He rubbed his hands together and stalked off.
After another hour, there were five of us, silently getting packs of gear together, all of us old fools with a mission on our mind. Dean, Alger, and then the wood elf named Ash with his brother Olive. They were related to Ellie, I’d never been able to figure out quite how, but they were tough, uncomplaining, and moved like they could read one another’s minds.
Pixie Noir (Pixie for Hire Book 1) Page 18