She didn’t return the compliment with a provocative look. It was more like an evil eye.
‘Conor,’ Dad said, ‘stop gawping at the women and help Dahy and me stow the barrels.’
Dad was being his thorough self. They might not miss the guards, but if someone saw that the wine was still on the wagon, they might know something was up. I promised myself that I would have a word with Gerard about putting his wine in smaller barrels. Man, they were heavy.
When we were finished, Dahy said, ‘I will stable the horse and then rejoin Gerard. Good luck.’ We hid behind the door as he left.
Mom gave the naked guards a dose of Shadowmagic that would ensure they slept the rest of the day, and then Dad lined us up for an inspection. People like the women, Dad and me were commonplace in the castle, so we wouldn’t raise too much suspicion. Fergal looked just like the Banshee guard he had stolen the uniform from, but Araf was a problem. Imps were not very welcome in the castle and the guard uniform could not disguise the mop of sandy hair on his head-he stood out like a sore thumb. That’s when Mom pulled out the wig.
To call it a wig was to do an injustice to every hairpiece that was ever made. It was supposed to simulate Banshee hair but in reality it looked like a skunk that had been dead on the freeway for a week. Araf put it on and I lost it. I don’t think I ever saw anything so funny in my life. I was laughing so hard that Dad actually slapped me.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, struggling to get my composure back, ‘I get like this when I’m nervous.’
‘Don’t,’ Dad said in that voice that meant business. A voice I know only too well.
I shot a glance over to Fergal for support, expecting to see his cheesy grin, but he wasn’t even smiling. That kind of sobered me up.
‘You three have the most difficult job of all,’ Dad said to Essa, Araf and Fergal. ‘Those gold lines must be severed.’
‘We will not fail, my lord,’ Araf said. I felt my stomach churn. This was it. They were my friends and they were heading straight into danger. Fergal didn’t look at me but Essa and I locked eyes before she left. She smiled but it was a strange little smile. It seemed to mean something, but as usual I couldn’t figure out what. They walked out the door like they owned the place. Essa, dressed as a loose woman, arm in arm between two soldiers. Essa even tried a provocative swish of her skirt, but to be honest, she wasn’t very good at it. Then it was just family.
Mom gave Dad a passionate embrace. Nieve offered me her hand. ‘Come on,’ I said, ‘you’re my aunt for crying out loud.’ I gave her a hug that she didn’t return very well.
Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek. ‘You look after your father.’ ‘I will. I’ll see you in a little while in the Chamber.’ They sashayed out the door and then it was just Dad and me-like old times.
‘Are you ready, son?’ ‘Born ready, Dad.’
My father knew the castle like he was raised there-which of course he was. We made our way up to the north wing by way of the servants’ stairs. Dad figured (rightly as it turned out) that it would be empty this time of day. A Leprechaun was sweeping at the other end of a corridor but he didn’t see us. We didn’t come across anyone else until we got to the floor the bedrooms were on.
Dad stuck his nose into the main corridor and then motioned for me to follow. At the end of the corridor was a T junction with a grand oak door. There was nobody around.
‘That’s Cialtie’s bedroom,’ he whispered.
We tiptoed towards it. I wasn’t as worried about the sound of my feet as much as I was worried about the sound of my pounding heart. We were about halfway there when a soldier came up from the corridor on the left. Cialtie had a guard posted at his door! If the soldier had been looking our way, he would have seen us. There was an open door next to us-we both ducked into it.
That’s when I heard the scream.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The scream came from a slight Leprechaun chambermaid. We scared the hell out of her. Dad tackled her onto the bed and covered her mouth. She looked up with wild eyes. Then Dad called her by name. ‘Aein, shhh, I won’t hurt you. It’s me, Oisin.’ He showed her his missing hand. Her eyes widened more, which I didn’t think was possible.
A voice came from the corridor. ‘What’s going on in there?’
Dad rolled off the maid, hitting the floor on the far side of the bed. I ducked behind the door, my banta stick ready.
The guard stepped into the doorway. The maid quickly sat up in the bed. ‘What’s all this noise?’ the guard asked.
She shot a quick glance to me behind the door. I didn’t know what she was going to do. If she raised the alarm, we were done for. I’m surprised I didn’t pass out-I wasn’t breathing.
‘I, I,’ she stammered, ‘I saw a mouse.’
I could see the guard through the space in the doorjamb. He let out an exasperated sigh and said, ‘Stupid cow.’
‘No! Don’t go,’ she said.
Oh no, I thought, as every muscle in my body tightened to breaking point, she is going to give us away.
‘No, please come and look.’
‘I have got better things to do than catch mice.’
She shot a knowing glance to me and nodded slowly once. ‘Please, I think this mouse has two heads.’
I smiled at her then. She was on our side. She knew I couldn’t get a clear swing at the guard from where I was-she was luring him into the room. I was impressed by her fast thinking. If I was the guard, there was no way I would have missed a chance to see a two-headed mouse.
The guard stepped into the room. I adjusted the grip on my banta stick and clocked him good, square in the temple. I felt the solidness of the contact clear down to my toes. He did a little comedy pirouette and crumpled to the floor. I leaned over him and said, ‘That will teach you for calling her a stupid cow.’
I closed the door. Dad popped up from behind the bed. ‘Thank you, Aein,’ he said.
The maid threw her arms around Dad and pressed the side of her face into his chest. ‘Oh, Prince Oisin, it really is you.’
Dad stroked her hair.
She stepped back and wiped her eyes. ‘Are you going to fight your brother?’
‘I’m afraid I am.’
The sweetness vanished out of her-all of a sudden she looked like she was made of granite. ‘Good,’ she said, almost spitting. ‘How can I help?’
Dad’s smile covered his face. At that moment he looked a lot like Fergal. ‘Do you know where Cialtie keeps my hand?’
‘In his room, in that fancy box of his.’
‘Of course,’ Dad said. He kissed her quickly on the forehead and turned to leave.
‘But,’ she said, ‘he keeps his chamber door locked.’ That stopped us both in our tracks, and then we heard a jingle behind us. We turned to see Aein holding a fob of keys in her hand and smiling. ‘But I have a key.’
Cialtie’s chambers were decorated with dead things. The walls were covered with mounted animal heads and on every surface there were stuffed birds and beasts. I hate this kind of stuff in the Real World-in The Land, it was a sacrilege beyond measure.
The box was in a small alcove. It was a beautiful thing. It must have been made of wood from every tree in The Land, an intricate patchwork, lovingly made from timber of every hue. Dad put it on a table and stared at it. There was a strip of cherry-coloured wood running along the top. Dad slid it to the left about an inch and then moved a darker strip of wood down. He stepped back and sighed.
‘What’s the problem?’ I asked.
