'Your daughter?' She laughed without humour. 'She's in on it — one of them, calm as you like. They had a bit of a tiff when the leader thought she'd given away their location, but she went with them all the same. She's one of them, Niall.'
'She can't be. Alex wouldn't associate with anyone like that,' I protested
'She's changed, Niall. She has tattoos all down her arms now, and wears her hair jet black. She probably calls herself Dementia or something.'
'She's just playing along with them.'
'No, Niall. She's one of them.'
Mullbrook arrived, bringing in two stewards with a makeshift stretcher made from a tabletop, which they guided down beside Fellstamp.
'He hasn't moved since he was hit,' said Fionh, watching them carefully lift him onto the low wooden platform. 'I had to carry him down the Way.'
Naturally pale, his skin looked like it had been powdered white under the soot and the grime.
'You need to rest,' said Garvin. 'When you feel up to it we'll get you cleaned up. You'll feel better when you've had some sleep.'
'I don't want sleep,' she said. 'I want revenge.' She tried to push herself up, but Garvin rested his hand on her shoulder and gently pressed her back down.
'That's why you're not going after them,' Garvin said. 'It'll take a cool head and careful planning. I'll take Amber and Tate. We'll do what needs to be done.'
'What about me?' I asked.
Garvin looked up at me. 'My instructions will be to kill on sight. I don't think I can ask you to do that, Niall.'
He paused.
'Not when it's your own daughter.'
SEVENTEEN
'We've got to do something!' I paced up and down in front of Blackbird. 'They're going to kill her.'
'They'll have to find her first,' said Blackbird, reasonably.
'They've already found them once. How long before they give themselves away? This time they won't give them chance to draw breath. They'll just kill them all and have done with it, Alex included.'
'I thought Alex didn't do anything?'
'She didn't. It's guilt by association. And when I said that to Garvin, he said that she didn't lift a finger to help them either.'
'That's no reason to kill someone.'
'That's what I said, but you know what Garvin's like.'
'Indeed I do,' she remarked, 'he thinks he's judge, jury and high executioner, and unfortunately he's not disabused of that by the High Court.'
'I have to try and find her.' I said. I found myself dry-washing my hands, and stuck them in my pockets to stop myself.
'Where would you start? You've been looking for her for days and you haven't found her yet. For that matter, how did Fellstamp and Fionh find them?'
'They were tipped off. Apparently the building where they were squatting is part of a territory given to one of the fey in Teoth's Court. They were spotted entering and leaving and a complaint was raised with the courts. Garvin realised who it was that was disregarding territorial boundaries…'
'…and sent Fionh and Fellstamp in heavy-handed,' Blackbird finished.
'Apparently Fellstamp took one of them hostage — sounds like he picked the wrong one.'
'And that worked out well, didn't it?' she said. 'How is he?'
'His condition hasn't changed. Half the female stewards are walking around as if they're in mourning, and the other half are looking as if they've had a lucky escape.'
'He's such a rogue.'
'You're smiling. Don't tell me you're smitten too?'
'You have to admit, he is very charming,' said Blackbird, off-handedly.
'Not at the moment, he's not.'
'He'll come around, you'll see.' She could see I was worried about him.
'I hope so. I don't know what Garvin will do if he doesn't pull through. He's very protective of his people.'
'Apart from you,' she said.
'The same with me. Up to a point.'
'Quite.'
'I only seem to cause him trouble,' I admitted.
'And that's your fault, is it? You do this deliberately?'
'Of course not.'
'Then he can hardly punish you for it, can he?' she said.
'It's not me he's punishing.'
'Isn't it? He must know how you feel about them going after Alex. She is your daughter.'
'He knows, but it doesn't change anything. He says she's brought it on herself.'
'The excuse of the despot throughout history — they brought it on themselves; they forced my hand; they made me do it.'
'I have to find her,' I repeated.
'Perhaps there is a way. You said that this girl had a silver arrow with her?'
'Yes, and a book.'
'Then it's time we went to see Gregor again. We know they have a key and a feather. Perhaps he can shed some light on what they're doing, and from that we might be able to figure out where they are before Garvin does.'
Alex was backed against the wall in the alley. 'I didn't tell them anything, I swear.' She looked from Eve, to Sparky, to Chipper, and back to Eve. 'You can tell I'm not lying, dammit!'
Sparky rubbed his neck thoughtfully. 'They found us somehow, didn't they? And I damned near got my throat slit.'
Alex folded her arms. 'So you automatically blame me.'
'You knew them,' said Eve. 'None of the rest of us knew them.'
'They're Warders, I told you. Everyone at the courts knows them, at least by reputation,' said Alex.
'But you know them personally,' said Eve.
'My dad works with them. He's sort of in the same bit of the courts. They all work for Garvin.'
'And what does Garvin do?'
'Garvin's freaky. He's not quite right up here.' Alex tapped her temple. 'He makes my flesh crawl.'
'But what does he do?' asked Eve.
'I told you, he leads the Warders, and they do the bidding of the courts. It's all about who's top dog and who's allied to whoever. The Lords and Ladies have absolute power, and what they say goes, but they don't necessarily agree with each other. When I went to see Kimlesh, she told me that I could join the Nymphine Court, but that meant accepting the rules and abiding by her rulings, and in return, she'll defend me from the others.'
'So she decides where you live and what you do?' asked Eve.
'No, not exactly. You can live wherever you like, but if you get into a dispute with another fey, maybe you take something that belongs to someone, then the court will rule. Maybe you get to keep it, or maybe you give it back. It stops them killing each other.'
'And all of them are members?' asked Eve.
'Pretty much. Except for us. They don't really know what to do with us. We're not human and we're not fey.
