“They’ll be controlled by their own,” I said.
There was a commotion outside our shelter. When we peeped out, Dantin’s bronze-armored guards were all floating on their backs some six feet in the air. Their weapons were stacked neatly on the ground and Lord Dax was standing in the middle of the glade, a satisfied expression on his face.
“Rossalinde, Corwen,” he nodded toward us, face impassive. “You’ve brought visitors.” He bowed to Lord Stratford and Mr. Pitt and they returned the courtesy. “I hope we don’t appear rude. We came as soon as we heard.”
Thank you, Margann, I thought.
“Gentlemen, please walk this way. Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot about your feet.”
With a single wave of Lord Dax’s fingers, Lord Stratford and Mr. Pitt’s feet returned to normal and instead of being encased in odd footwear, I saw they were now wearing Fae-made shoes. I knew how comfortable they were, and they’d never wear out. Corwen and I wore our Fae footwear all the time.
“I took care of your little gout problem, Mr. Pitt,” Lord Dax said. “I can’t guarantee it won’t come back, but for now it’s gone. Maybe less port wine in your diet. Mr. Pomeroy, I see you are fit and healthy, congratulations, but it never hurts to have the right kind of footwear.”
Another wave of Lord Dax’s fingers, and George’s boots turned into Fae ones.
“Good, now that we are all properly shod, I think we need to hurry.” He set off at a run, despite his age. Our feet, Fae shod, followed him at speed. The run didn’t seem to take any effort, my heart didn’t pound, I wasn’t panting and gasping for breath, and I’m sure we were covering the ground as fast as we might have done on horseback. We didn’t stop until we reached the grove I recognized. There in the middle was an arc of seven chairs, four of them filled. Lord Dax took the one on the extreme left next to Lady Iphransia, and settled his robes around him, apparently none the worse for several acts of magic and a brisk run.
Five chairs appeared for us. Mr. Pitt dropped into his with much relief, but I saw him stretch out his left foot and wiggle his toes inside his shoe.
“Feel all right?” I asked.
“Amazingly, yes,” he said. “If that’s magic, I’m all for it.”
“I don’t promise it’s a cure-all, but it can certainly do a lot of good.”
Lord Dax clapped his hands and looked at the two empty chairs. He raised an eyebrow as Dantin stepped into the grove and took up his chair, glaring at us. Margann appeared behind him, standing with the younger Fae squires. Larien’s chair remained empty. She looked across at us, and I swear she winked though the dip of one eyelid came and went so quickly I wondered if I’d imagined it.
“We are only six, Lord Dax,” Dantin announced.
“You have a gift for the obvious, Lord Dantin,” Dax said.
“Should there be a divided vote—”
“Have patience.” Dax inclined his head.
David appeared, looking somewhat flustered. He bowed low before Lord Dax, received a gracious nod, and took his father’s chair.
Dantin looked thunderous.
Dax’s expression never slipped.
David hid it well, but to me he looked terrified.
Lord Dax began, and the words passed around the whole Council of Seven.
“We.”
“Convene.”
“To.”
“Discuss.”
“The.”
“Human.”
“Problem.”
Sitting in the seventh chair, I wondered how David would pick up the thread of the sentence, but he barely hesitated before he said his word.
“The humans have done nothing to set right the abuses,” Dantin said. “Rowankind are being hanged for their magic. I say we punish the humans and bring all the rowankind home.”
“Harsh but fair.” Lady Coralie, sitting to Dantin’s right, spoke up. If she’d been human, I might have guessed her to be in her forties. Her severe features were emphasized by tightly scraped-back hair topped by a single golden circlet.
“Didn’t we give them until midsummer?” Lady Iphransia, the elder of the two female council members, raised one elegant eyebrow.
“That’s less than a week away,” Dantin said. “What can they do in that time that they couldn’t have done three months ago?”
“I agree with Dantin,” Lord Tarius said. That was only what I expected. He always seemed to support Dantin.
Dax turned to us. “Let’s ask them.”
Mr. Pitt stood, and it was only then I realized why the man had been so successful in Parliament for so long. He seemed to be in complete command of the situation. Maybe he thought he was. There’s a saying about ignorance being bliss.
“Permit me to answer,” he said. “Our first minister, Mr. Addington, is not fully aware of the situation. In pursuing the country’s best interests, he has been concentrating on the peace with France when he should have been sparing a thought for the situation at home. I will speak with the king immediately and offer my support in this matter for a change in the law.” He inclined his head to Lord Stratford. “My good friend the Earl of Stratford will speak to the House of Lords.”
Lady Coralie leaned forward. “I understand that for something to be made law in your land, your Parliament has to vote on it.”
“That is correct,” Mr. Pitt replied.
“Are you so sure you can carry that vote?”
“I am.”
That was politician speak for I hope so, but I admired Mr. Pitt for his gall and hoped his confidence wasn’t misplaced.
I stood, and Dax nodded to me to speak.
“When I returned the magic to the rowankind, it was on condition they didn’t exchange one servitude for another. You assured me they could choose whether or not to return to Iaru or continue their lives in the world of humans. You all agreed. Lord Dantin suggests they should all be brought into Iaru for their own safety, and I’m sure they could come here, but would they want to? What they need is recognition as equals under the law and the freedom to make their own decisions.”
Corwen stood, and I handed over to him. “This should extend not only to rowankind, but to goblins and hobs and all magicals, even kelpies. Any who break the law should be dealt with as criminals, not for what they are, but for what they have done. To that end, the Lady of the Forests and the Green Man should be consulted.”
“Quite right, too.”
I couldn’t see the speaker, but the words echoed around the grove. It sounded like the Lady of the Forests.
At last we were going to get a real conversation.
43
Parliament of All the Magics
LIGHT APPEARED ON the far side of the grove, and the Green Man and his Lady stepped out of it, surrounded by their retinue of sprites, shapechangers, magicals, and woodland creatures. I recognized Hartington in stag form. He dipped his antlers in our direction. Diana, the cream kelpie, walked behind Hartington in human form, her mane and tail hidden beneath her clothing.
Mr. Twomax and a phalanx of goblins came next, for once not sporting any glamour. At the back of the line was the huge troll we had rescued from Chantry Bridge in Wakefield. I blinked twice. He was wearing spectacles and carrying a book, clutched to his chest, a child’s ABC primer.
The only ones missing were the rowankind themselves. Ah, no, here they came. Charlotte and the newly restored Henry headed the line with Olivia between them. Following close behind, I saw Mr. Topping, the rowankind manager at the mill, his son Tommy, and Annie, walking by herself.
I saw David’s face when he realized Annie was there, but he pressed his lips together and scowled. I suspected he was holding back much more raw emotions. Annie had her eyes downcast. By the time she raised them, David was scowling and looking anywhere but at her. Oh, dear, that wasn’t good.
“Welcome.�
�
“Everyone.”
“Please.”
“Enter.”
“And.”
“Be.”
“Seated.”
The Council of Seven welcomed everyone in their usual manner, and then Lord Dax waved a hand and the council’s chairs repositioned themselves in an arc around the circumference of the glade. If the glade was a clock face, the council filled the space from ten o’clock to two. Our own chairs formed a separate arc at eight and nine on the clock face, and the Green Man and the Lady of the Forests occupied the space between three and four. At six-of-the-clock chairs appeared for Charlotte, Henry, and Twomax. Everyone else crowded into the center of the circle and sat on the grass. Livvy sat at her parents’ feet.
I hadn’t seen the rest of the Fae arrive, but they had gathered outside the circle. I saw familiar faces, but none I could put a name to except the Lady Calantha who positioned herself in Dantin’s line of sight.
“What is this?” Lord Stratford whispered.
“It’s the closest you’ll get to a Parliament of all the Magics,” Corwen whispered.
“How often does it happen?”
“In my experience, never,” I said.
“I heard there was one about three thousand years ago when the Fae decided to retire from the world of humans,” Corwen said. “So the answer is almost never.”
“What should we do?” Mr. Pitt asked.
“Answer whatever we are asked as truthfully as we can,” Corwen said. “And make sure any promises we make are ones we can keep. The Fae have a way of holding you to your promises. Whatever you say here is like writing in your own heart’s blood before the Lord Chief Justice of the land.”
Lord Dax called light and let it shine on the rowankind. “We will hear from our friends first.”
Charlotte stood. “I am grateful for the offer of a place in Iaru, but I have a husband and daughter, and a father-in-law who would be desolate without his family. My daughter was taken from me by the Mysterium because of her potential to be both rowankind and witch. The Mysterium would have killed her—they tried to feed her to a wolf . . . ” There was a rumble of anger at this, but Charlotte continued. “Friends restored her to us and restored her father. We thank them for that. Our dearest wish as a family is to live free in the world of humans.”
Mr. Topping stood. “I live in the world of humans. My rowankind wife of eleven years, much loved, died of a fever. I have a good wife now who is not rowankind but is a good mother to all my children whether she bore them or not. I’m a weaver by trade and have a responsible position in Deverell’s Mill. Last year the Mysterium issued warrants for some of the mill’s rowankind, and it was only thanks to Lord David that they escaped to Iaru. My son was among them. I miss him every day. His family misses him. We want him to come home.”
Tommy Topping stood and agreed with his father. One by one, other rowankind told their stories. Finally, it was Annie’s turn. She stood, twisting so she was facing Lord Dax and not looking directly at David.
“Like many others when the rowankind awoke, I came to Iaru. I didn’t know what I would find here, but my feet seemed to know the way, and I thought it had to be better than skivvying at the Twisted Skein in Plymouth. For a time I was happy. I found love, or thought I did, but the rules here mean we are no freer than we were in the human world. I chose to go back to Plymouth. Don’t think I’m not grateful for the offer to live in Iaru, but it wouldn’t suit.”
As she finished speaking, she glanced sideways at David, but he had his eyes closed at the wrong moment. I saw her expression tighten as she sat down again.
Lord Dax invited others to speak.
The goblins told of how they had risen from being sewer goblins to having trades and businesses, but always had to wear a glamour to be accepted as human when, in truth, they would rather be accepted for what they were. Twomax told of Mr. Tingle’s death at the hands of Walsingham and explained how they had been treated on board the Guillaume Tell at the behest of the Mysterium.
Henry Purdy told how he’d followed the letter of the law and registered as a witch only to be ripped from his family and sent into the army to use his magic for the king. “I have used my magic to kill for the Crown,” he said. “I don’t ever want to be forced to do that again.”
Diana the kelpie said that with the help of the Lady of the Forests, she had overcome her true nature and was content not to prey upon humans now or ever. The troll said that he was learning to read, thanks to Mr. Hartington who had persuaded him that he was better off away from humankind, though he admitted that he still had aspirations to occupy a bridge.
Finally, the Lady of the Forest stood. “My mate and I . . . ” She indicated that she spoke for the Green Man, too, “claim the deep forests of the human world where magic is strong. We live by nature. My mate oversees the growing things and the flowing streams. I look after the creatures and the people who, by their magic, need refuge from the outside world. My captains are my hands in the human world.” She indicated Hartington and inclined her head toward Corwen. “They have investigated cases where magicals have caused problems for humans. And resolved them successfully. I undertake that if the Mysterium is disbanded, which I sincerely hope it will be, the Okewood will remain a haven and that we will continue to watch over and mediate the use of magic which endangers humans.”
Lord Dax turned to Mr. Pitt. “How say you?”
“I undertake to put an end to the Mysterium and the persecution of the rowankind. I cannot promise to do it in three days, but it will be my primary concern in Parliament from this day forward. I do not promise that the people of Britain are ready to accept magicals in their everyday lives, but I hope that will come eventually once the law is changed. I hope Britain may call upon the help of the lords of the Fae and the Lady of the Forests should the need arise.”
I thought that was as much as any one man could promise, though if anyone could succeed in such an endeavor, Mr. Pitt could. Lord Stratford was nodding in agreement.
Dantin leaped to his feet. “And if this doesn’t happen, what then?”
Lord Tarius nodded vigorously. “We should reserve the right to remind the humans there is a cost to ignoring our wishes.”
“Not by killing them,” David said.
Dantin glared at him.
“He’s right. We should not be hasty,” Lady Iphransia said. “Humans are stubborn. I have an idea.”
The Fae council all went silent, and I suspected Lady Iphransia’s idea was being discussed in a way we could never experience.
Lord Dax nodded. “A vote.”
I wasn’t quite sure what they were voting on, but David, Lady Iphransia, and Lord Eduran voted one way and Dantin, Lord Tarius, and Lady Coralie voted the other, which left Dax himself with the deciding vote.
I held my breath. Dax had always seemed impartial, but he was old and he could have concerns we didn’t understand. I didn’t know how he would vote.
He looked at each one of us as if weighing up what was in our hearts. I felt his scrutiny. He knew that I’d taken what the Fae had asked me to do for the rowankind and turned it into a wider attempt to better the lives of all magicals. I stood my ground and returned his look. Yes, to be sure, I was self-serving in this, but I was trying to do my best for everyone. If that included my own family, could anyone blame me?
The moment seemed to hang in the air forever.
“I support the motion,” he said.
David breathed a sigh of relief.
I wasn’t sure exactly what the motion had been, but presumably London would not be turned into a smoking hole on midsummer’s day. However, they had something planned. I wondered if David would be allowed to tell me.
Dax turned to Mr. Pitt and Lord Stratford. “We accept your undertaking, gentlemen, but reserve the right to hurry things along.”
I wondered what that meant.
* * *
As the meeting broke up, Corwen and I waited for David.
“Where’s Annie?” he asked when he arrived.
“She left with the Lady of the Forests. Couldn’t you even have smiled at her? Twice she looked at you, and the first time you were frowning and the second you had your eyes closed.”
“What? I didn’t see.”
“No, as I said, eyes closed. You should go after her.”
“I can’t.”
“Can’t?”
“Larien needs me. I’ve been trying to hold his soul into his body, but I’m not such a good summoner as you, Ross. My Sumner half is not as strong as my Fae half. Come and see if you can help him. I’m so afraid he’s dying.”
“You go, Ross,” Corwen said. “I’ll look after our visitors. I think they’ve had an overwhelming amount of new information. I want to make sure they realize the Mysterium is no longer able to deal with the kind of magic there is in the world today, but that’s no reason to be afraid. There’s no more magic than there always has been. All that’s changed is that we all know about it.”
I kissed him swiftly on the cheek and followed David through the trees to a bower by a burbling stream. It was idyllic, but for the prone body on the bed inside. A Fae woman perched on a three-legged stool, holding Larien’s hand.
“Ross this is Ilona, Larien’s wife.”
I hadn’t even known Larien had a wife until a short while ago. Meeting her took me by surprise. She was one of those women who, had she been human, I would have not been able to guess her age. She looked somewhere between thirty and forty which meant she was easily centuries old, but she was handsome in a way that made age irrelevant. She didn’t have wrinkles, but there were worry lines around her eyes and mouth.
“There’s no change,” she said. “But at least I don’t think he’s any worse.”
“It’s a sundering curse, we think,” David said. “Designed to separate body and soul.”
I knew about sundering. I still had poor Diccon’s spirit in the flask in my pocket, drunk as a lord on brandy fumes. Souls didn’t always pass over quickly, especially if they had a reason to stay.
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