behind her like oily film forming on water. They blurred into invisibility behind her with a drone audible even over the dull thunder of the waterfall and she skipped up from the walkway up onto the railing behind, out of reach of the darkspore.
'You can fly out of reach, little one, but I only need to touch him once and the battle is over. My brother will pluck you from the air, then rip your wings off and drown you in this sewer like the insect you are.'
'Niall, watch your feet!'
The darkspore surged towards me and I was forced to divert my attention from Raffmir to burn it away from my feet. As the gallowfyre touched the darkspore it flared white and vanished. She screamed at its touch, the shrieks echoing in the vaults. Raffmir pressed forward and with my attention divided I could not hold him back. He tore my defence to shreds and the darkness welled inwards towards me.
'Trial!' Blackbird howled out the word.
He hesitated in his attack.
'What?' I asked her.
'I call for trial,' she repeated, loudly. She called down to Ben, 'Smith. Cease the work.'
I looked up at her, standing balanced on the handrail looking inhuman, her wings blurring behind her.
'What are you talking about?' I gathered my strength, ready to do my utmost to bring Raffmir to his knees, no matter what it cost me, but Blackbird stepped down from the rail, regaining her human form as her feet touched the gantry.
'You have to stop fighting. Forgive me. It was all I could think of.' She sounded resigned. She had halted the attack, but she sounded as if she had accepted defeat.
'Stay your hand, sister,' Raffmir called. 'They have called trial and we are bound by it.'
Warm laughter bubbled up from Raffmir. 'You two really are full of surprises, aren't you?' His gallowfyre flickered and died, leaving them as uncertain shadows on the river bank.
'What is he talking about?' I asked her, searching her face.
'It is our way, an ancient way, to settle disputes among the Feyre. I don't think it's been invoked in centuries, but it still applies. I invoked a trial to determine the issue in dispute and all who are of the courts are bound to allow it.'
'What about me? I'm not a member of any court. I don't have to follow any law.'
'It's all I could think of. It's that or fight them.'
'I can beat him.' My words sounded hollow, even to myself.
'We would lose.'
It took me a moment to realise that she wasn't referring to the two of us but to another 'we', closer to her heart. I looked into her face and saw anguish laid bare. She had chosen to save her own life and the life of the child she carried, rather than fight and risk losing both. I could not judge her harshly for making that choice.
'It's OK,' I told her. 'We'll go to this trial, wherever it is, and make our case there.'
'No, Niall. It's here, and now. It's not a trial by jury. It is a trial by ordeal, and they will choose the ordeal because I invoked it.'
'I hope you know what you're doing,' I told her.
'I'm doing what I must.'
'What happens now?'
'There are formalities. We must all agree to be bound by the trial. If we survive the ordeal then we win and they will withdraw. If we do not, they win and we withdraw, or at least the survivor does. I'm sorry, Niall, I could see no other way.'
I could see why she'd made her decision. At least this way she and Ben would not be harmed. My gallowfyre flickered and died and we were illuminated only by the meagre light from Blackbird's torch left discarded on the gantry floor. I stood in the darkness and understood the price she'd sold me for. I couldn't blame her. Had it been my daughter's life in the balance I would have chosen the same. It was all a gamble anyway. I didn't know if I really could have beaten Raffmir. I just knew I needed to win more than he did, and that maybe it wasn't enough.
'What's happening?' The shout was from behind us. Ben had seen the light fade and was trying to find out what the situation was.
Blackbird turned to the rail. 'There's to be a test to decide what happens. The good news is you get to walk away at the end of it.'
'And the bad?' he asked.
'The bad news is that if we lose, then the knife will not be remade, and the barrier will fail.'
'And if we win?'
'They'll leave us in peace, at least for now,' she confirmed.
'What do we have to do?' I asked her.
'We must exchange names,' she told me, 'so each is bound by the outcome of the trial. Those surviving will know the true names of each of the parties here, but must tell no one else, ever. It is only between those who take part. It means a great deal to have that power over another and it will bind us to the outcome. Each of us has the names of the others as forfeit, so balance is maintained. It binds us in enmity far closer than we would ever be bound in alliance.'
A glow of blue-white light sparked into being above our heads. I tensed against some new attack, but this was cold and steady like fox-fire, and unlike the fickle glimmering of gallowfyre.
'I have taken the liberty of lighting our discourse.' Raffmir crossed the gantry and shepherded his sister onto the walkway.
My dark adjusted eyes saw him clearly for the first time. It struck me suddenly that our magic was not the only thing we had in common. I knew he was tall and that his outline was slim. What I hadn't realised was that his facial features mirrored my own. The sharp cheek bones and wavy dark hair, the slightly sunken eyes and length of jaw were all things I recognised. In a roomful of people I would have picked him out as some long-lost relative, a distant cousin, perhaps. His dress was different and the long-cut black Edwardian jacket and white lace frilled sleeves would have marked him out as an eccentric in any company, but the similarity remained.
The woman I already knew. That cold pinched face with the harsh tight mouth.
She glared at me. 'I should have eaten you the first time.'
I answered her courteously. 'Madam, you have failed to kill me twice before. I would think, having failed a third time, that you might give it up as a bad job.'
Raffmir's laughter filled the vaulted tunnel despite the sound of thundering water from below. 'Truly, my sister, he is of our blood. Like it or no.' She turned her glare to him but he was immune to it.
'Mistress,' he turned to Blackbird, 'you have called trial and therefore you must lead.'
Blackbird took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for what was to come.
'I am named Velladore Rainbow Wings, Daughter of Fire and Air, called Blackbird,' she said, clearly.
'And I am named Cartillian, Son of the Void, Star of the Moon's Darkness, called Raffmir,' he answered, bowing elegantly to her.
He turned to me.
Following Blackbird's example, I spoke. 'I am Niall Petersen, from Kent, also called Rabbit.'
There was a moment's shocked pause. Then laughter boiled up from him, bemusing me and causing his sister to give him another withering look. He clearly found it very amusing. I wasn't sure whether to be offended or not. I turned to Blackbird, the memory of a smile played on her lips, but she just raised her eyebrows and shrugged.
'This cannot be,' Raffmir declaimed to the tunnels. 'You may be a mongrel, but no half-brother to me or mine can carry a name like that into a trial.'
Blackbird corrected him. 'As I think you pointed out, Raffmir, he cannot have a formal name for he has not yet been received at court to claim one. These are the only names he has.'
'Then I shall give him one. One fit for a brother to me, though the blood-ties are more tenuous than I would wish. If you are to stand trial, mongrel, I will not have you tested without a name. I name you Alshirian, Son of the Void, Brightest Star in the Heavens. A mongrel name for a mongrel Fey. Be welcome, Dogstar, into your heritage.'
'Another name will be yours,' Blackbird whispered, 'when you have earned it.' It was an echo of Kareesh's words and I tried to remember what else she had said. There was something about evading traps and wearing cloaks, but after all that had happened I could not remember her precise words.
