hadn’t noticed the magic gliding over his bare skin. “I need more information.”
He had no idea where to even start looking.
The Grey’s jaw worked as he considered what to say next.
Caspian was just as curious about how much the Grey would reveal as he was about the mirror. It must be something very special for a Grey to come to him for help. Did he not fear that Caspian would go directly to Court with this news—or was he aware that Caspian never went near Court?
With a snarl the Grey released Caspian and stepped away as if touching a human would infect him with mortality. “The mirror is fairy-made and very old. It hasn’t been seen in over a century. I hope to find it and return it to your grandfather.” The Grey folded his hands in front of him and tried not to look desperate.
The act would have worked better if he hadn’t started off by destroying the tea set and being haughty and rough.
While he would have liked to laugh and tell the Grey no outright, he didn’t. He was having a conversation with a Grey and so far hadn’t agreed to anything and he still had his soul. He was winning, and hopefully he could end this his way and with no nasty side effects.
“You hope to buy your way back to Court.”
“You’re a little too perceptive for a human.”
“I’m a little too fairy to be human.” Every word out of Caspian’s mouth was carefully spoken so it couldn’t be misconstrued.
“You have psychometry, you can read objects. Find me the Window.” The Grey thumped his fist on the kitchen counter.
“Why?”
The Grey blinked, startled as if no one had ever questioned him before. “Because I said.”
Caspian shook his head. “You have no authority over me, and I don’t make deals with fairies.”
The Grey nodded, his pale eyes cold and calculating. “Not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But you will help me find the mirror I seek.” Then he turned and walked down the hallway and out the door.
For several heartbeats Caspian didn’t move. His breaths were shaky as he let the tension go. He’d survived—that was a small victory. He curled his fingers and forced movement though his limbs. Slowly he picked up the larger pieces of the tea set and placed them on the kitchen counter, then he swept up the shards and spilled sugar and put them in the bin. As he worked he became aware he was being watched.
Dylis. She could go back to Annwyn and stay there. He ignored her the way he wished he’d ignored the Grey as he filled the little teapot. A hairline crack ran up the side. It wouldn’t last. Dylis was silent for once, as if she knew that speaking first would be the wrong thing to do. He took a breath and forced calm into his voice.
“Who was he?” Caspian didn’t turn to look at his godmother.
“Shea ap Greely.”
“And who the hell is he?” Caspian rounded on Dylis.
Dylis cast her gaze over the damaged cups as if debating how much to tell him. With a muttered curse she sat on the counter. “The ripples in the river of souls were caused by the Queen’s not-so-subtle affair with Shea.”
Now he was getting the full story out of Dylis instead of a hint designed to spike his curiosity. “And he got banished for it while she still gets to be Queen.”
Dylis nodded. “Annwyn needs both King and Queen.”
Caspian’s jaw tensed. “So she gets away with cheating.”
“Don’t put your values on us. She and the King have both had lovers. When you live as long as we do, being faithful literally is an eternity. What matters is love. The very idea of sharing power is enough to make most of us swear off the very mortal affliction.” Dylis glittered with fury as if all her power was trying to burst out of the tiny body she chose to wear in the mortal world. “Shea stole her heart from the King.”
The Queen was no longer in love with the King; she was in love with Shea. That was what caused the ripples on the river of damned souls. Caspian didn’t want to be caught in a power struggle between the King of Annwyn, the Queen, and her lover. No wonder the Prince was concerned. There was no way that was going to end well for anyone.
A sigh slipped past his lips. If the river broke its banks, there would be plague the likes of which the world hadn’t seen since the Black Death.
A squabble and a hundred died.
A fight and thousands died.
If the King and Queen separated, the world was fucked.
“Finding the mirror will calm the river?” While he could turn his back on fairy politics, he couldn’t walk away when their bickering bled through and started killing humans.
“It will help.”
He nodded. “And where were you while Shea was trying to trick me? I thought you were supposed to help me with this stuff.”
“I saw no reason to reveal myself,” Dylis said. “You obeyed the rules. If you’d done something stupidly human, I’d have stepped in.”
He considered the beautiful and annoying fairy and how little he knew about her. How little she told. “Shea knows you, that’s why you hid.” It was a bold assumption, but maybe she’d reveal something
“Everyone at Court knows everyone worth knowing.”
Getting a straight answer from her was going to be like pulling out his own teeth. But she obviously had some standing when she was at Court. What a comedown it must be to spend time with him. “What do you know about the Window?”
It certainly wasn’t the one he’d bought, but had that been bait laid out by Shea? A chance to watch and see what he was capable of? If it had been, he’d fallen for it.
He watched Dylis carefully; she’d been the one to alert him to the Window’s existence, and the probability that it was in Charleston. She could be on Shea’s side. And Shea’s side wasn’t the King’s side. And while he may not be fairy, he knew which side he was on and it wasn’t with a fairy banished for sleeping with another man’s wife.
“Nothing more than I’ve already told you.” That sounded like the truth. “I’ll have to ask some careful questions. The Queen will have supporters and spies. And I’ll need to let your father know Shea is actively looking for it.”
“You do that.” The words were harsher than he intended. He sighed. If Annwyn was in trouble, Dylis was right—whatever side she was on she was in danger. “Take care at Court.”
“I always do.” She stood and gave a half-bow. And then she was gone.
As a precaution Caspian took the enchanted mirror to work with him. He didn’t want it in his house attracting anymore Greys. While it had seemed like a good idea at the time, after spending several hours in its company all he wanted to do was throw back its covering and gaze at the Court. He found things to do to keep himself busy and distracted. He prepped the till even though most people paid with credit. Gave everything a dust. Just because the furniture was old didn’t mean it had to look like it came straight out of a museum. People had to be able to picture the Victorian armchair in their house and the art deco vase on their sideboard.
He paused at the china. He desperately needed a new tea set to woo back the Brownies. While he had some beautiful pieces in the shop, he had no children’s sets. He’d have to stop by a toy store and hope for a china set. If he didn’t get something today they wouldn’t be happy and might disappear altogether—if they hadn’t already.
The music of the Court filtered through his shop at the edge of his hearing. He couldn’t sell the mirror as it was, it was too dangerous for anyone with a touch of fairy blood, and he couldn’t keep it for the same reason. He should have known the bargain was too good to be true.
With careful footsteps, Caspian made sure he didn’t follow the beat, no matter how tempting. That would be the first step in falling into the lure of the Court. He pulled a screwdriver out from under the counter and walked out the back. The mirror lay on the workbench still wrapped from being transported to the shop.
His fingers tightened around the plastic screwdriver handle even as he wanted to pull back the wrapping with his free hand and peek into Annwyn again. Before he could do something stupid, he slammed the screwdriver into the center of the mirror.
