9
When you wanted a fire in a hurry, Cinders was always readyto oblige. Sitting happily in the cellar of the ruined castle, the hell hound breathed little licks of flame from his nostrils to warm Jus’ battered old campkettle. The brew steamed, and Jus loomed above the kettle to pour himself another serving before seeing to his guests. The Justicar patted Cinders on the head as he passed, making the hell hound thump his long tail against the floor.
“Thanks, Cinders.”
Above the castle, an illusory light blinked and flared. It matched the movements of real faeries searching for the fugitive Escalla. For a while at least, the magic would keep the faerie hunt at bay.
Deeply annoyed by events, Escalla sat high up near the ceiling on a jutting stone, her knees beneath her chin and a look of total annoyance on her face. She was in a magnificent sulk, seething and muttering as she shot clandestine looks at her father.
Answering the implied question, Lord Charn snorted as he settled by the fire. “It’s
Finding a stone big enough for him, the Justicar sat down. “Pike? What pike?”
“Carnivorous fish. Big one. Wife can’t stand them.” LordCharn made a face as he tasted Jus’ abominable tea. “I put no end of thingsnear gates to stop the wife going through.” The faerie lord gave a snort. “Ihave to have somewhere quiet to go.”
“You stay in the woods here?”
“Rather than the palace? When I can. Lets me get a bit ofpeace.” Carefully setting his tea aside before it could poison him, Lord Charnfluttered his wings. “Now there’ll be no damned peace till all this nonsense isdone.”
Perched upon her stone, Escalla shot a petulant look at her father. “Dad, I did
“Don’t be dense, girl!” Lit by the hell hound’s nostrilflames, Lord Charn’s face took on sharp, wicked shadows. “If I thought you’dkilled him, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you drinking tea!”
Tired and annoyed, Lord Charn made the mistake of sipping the tea again. Wincing, he put the cup far away and turned to carefully regard the Justicar. The faerie lord’s eyes sparked as he measured the big warrior acrossthe fire.
“You went to White Plume Mountain? You were the one who didin Keraptis’ disciple?”
“Escalla, Cinders, Polk, and myself.”
“Yes.” The faerie lord sipped tea again, which distinctlytasted of the onion soup that had been made last night in the same pot. “Is mydaughter any good?”
Jus made a gruff noise, shifted his dire shadow in the gloom, and said, “She’s damned good, one of the best I’ve seen.”
Above them, Escalla beamed.
“Well, she’ll need to be.” Charn gave another sigh, thenkicked irritably at a pebble. “She doesn’t belong with us.” The faerie lordspoke a spell, opened up his hands, and provided bottles of decent wine. “Here.It’s not faerie wine and certainly not the sixty-three.” That particular vintageseemed to have scarred some lives forever. “Sit, drink, and let me tell you atale or three.”
Polk immediately shot forward, ignored a glass and took a bottle for himself. Enid the sphinx sat down to clumsily nurse a glass between big furry paws, sneezing as the bubbles tickled at her nose. Jus waved the wine away and contented himself with his awful tea.
Lord Charn swirled his wine inside a tiny thimble glass and began.
“We need to come out into the world. My daughter is the test.Faeries could be an instrument for good or bad. I suspect we might verge toward the bad. We’ve spent too long looking after our intrigues.” Lord Charn heaved asigh then leaned toward the Justicar. “Intrigues have a way of excusing evil.Tarquil’s dead, and in my own house.”
Clambering over Enid’s head to fetch a glass of wine, Escallashot another angry look at her father. “I told you, I didn’t kill the bugger!”
“But there’s evidence enough to slam you right into the handsof the Faerie Council.”
Jus leaned forward, listening. Polk leaned forward, thieving more wine. Sitting beside the Justicar, Lord Charn laid out the situation for his daughter’s companions.
“Lord Ushan’s valets came to Tarquil’s room to summon him.Tarquil was discovered dead, lying on the bed. There was an empty cup-looks likethe man was poisoned. When the palace was searched, it was discovered that Escalla had gone. My wife’s maids knew that Escalla had arranged a secret trystwith Tarquil in his room.”
Jus stroked at the harsh stubble of his chin. Beside him, Cinders listened with pointed ears, his red eyes gleaming.
“No spies in Tarquil’s room saw anything?”
“His own alarm spells had been disabled. However, Escalla hadapparently spent at least two days making sure that she would be unobserved. Scrying shields in place, careful blanking of spying spells… Her mother hada spy following her. Escalla knocked him out when he tried to follow her into Tarquil’s room.” The faerie lord leaned closer. “What’s more, Tarquil’sbodyguard saw Escalla sneaking into the room just before the body was discovered. He remembers that she seemed stealthy.”
Escalla remembered the bodyguard and gave a vicious curse. “He knew why I was supposed to be there!” Escalla leaped to the ground and pacedin anger. “That bastard! I’ll-!”
“In good time.” Her father turned to the girl. “Did you seeanything? Any evidence you can remember?”
Escalla planted her hands against her heart and squawked in indignation.
“That’s not going to be much of a defense.” Father glared atdaughter. “You had motive. You had opportunity. You blanked out scrying spellsand knocked out the spy who followed you, then you fled off into the wilderness to escape!”
Escalla sank into nervous anxiety, then suddenly shot up, filled with energy. “Ah! The slowglass! I hung the necklace from a door handleoverlooking the bed!” Escalla smacked her fist into her palm. “Ha! There you go!It’ll show him alive and me leaving-everything you need to know!”
“Just what we need,” Lord Charn shrugged, “but no onereported seeing a necklace in the room. Still, we can search for it and see.”
“What about spells?” The Justicar’s meat and bread came frominvestigating injustices and crime. “Can you speak with the deceased?”
“No ghost is present. It must have already fled.”
The faerie lord rose to his feet and paced in agitation, his head level with Jus’ thigh.
Escalla sat irritably down by the fire and cursed. “Poop.”
“Poop indeed.” Lord Charn made a rock float over to serve asa chair for the girl, bringing her to sit between himself and the Justicar.
“Now listen. Your mother is going to use you as a sop to ClanSable. They want a murderer, and by slinging you to them, she will be able to save her ambitions. Through sacrificing her own daughter, she shows that she is a true member of the court, and she will still have your sister to marry off to the Sable Clan.” Charn’s antennae slanted. Apparently there was no love lostbetween himself and his wife. “Your sister and mother have great plans. This isalmost better for them than having you and Tarquil safely wed. Meanwhile, Clan Sable screams out murder and assassination, calling for our eternal barring from the Seelie Court.”
Jus thought upon the situation, his face its usual mask of sharp intelligence. “You want Escalla’s name cleared.”
“Of course I do! She’s my girl.
