Part 6 (1/2)

The looks on the two dwarves' faces would have been comical, if only she could have stayed to appreciate them. But instinct set in, as if she were running wild in the forests of Berks.h.i.+re, and Irrith bolted.

She didn't get very far. Three strides took her to the far end of the pillared vault, and then she ran full-force into something that felt remarkably like an invisible wall.

A voice came through the ensuing fog, but she couldn't have said whether it spoke German or English. By the time she had her senses back, she was surrounded: the two dwarves and the puck stood over her, where she had collapsed on the floor. All three wore identical expressions of suspicion.

The red dwarf demanded, ”Vy vere you spying on us?”

Resisting the urge to mock his thick German accent-she was, after all, caught in their trap-Irrith said, ”I wasn't spying.”

”Vat do you call it ven you hide and vatch vat others are doing?”

Could he have chosen a question with more W Ws in it? Irrith stifled a laugh. Her face felt too bruised for laughing, anyway. ”I call it curiosity.”

The third faerie scowled. He, at least, was English: a lubberkin, though surprisingly warlike. ”Curiosity. Right. You just happened to slip past the defenses because you were curious.”

Did he expect those defenses would make her less less curious? They just made it obvious there was something to find. The red-bearded dwarf was much more menacing. He cracked his knuckles and said, ”Ve vill dispose of her.” curious? They just made it obvious there was something to find. The red-bearded dwarf was much more menacing. He cracked his knuckles and said, ”Ve vill dispose of her.”

”Now see here,” Irrith said hastily, climbing to her feet and mustering as much dignity as she could manage, so soon after knocking herself silly. ”I'm a lady knight of the Onyx Court.”

”So?” the dwarf said, unimpressed.

The lubberkin drew the blond one aside and bent to mutter in his ear. Irrith, losing a staring match with the other dwarf, could still overhear the whisper. ”She might be a Sanist. Watch her; I'll go inform the Queen.”

A Sanist? Irrith didn't ask. The puck searched her for weapons and found none, then said, ”I'll be back soon to deal with you. Don't try anything foolish.” Then he walked out through the same pillars that had stopped Irrith before, leaving her with two German dwarves and a suspicion that maybe she should have asked Ktistes after all. Irrith didn't ask. The puck searched her for weapons and found none, then said, ”I'll be back soon to deal with you. Don't try anything foolish.” Then he walked out through the same pillars that had stopped Irrith before, leaving her with two German dwarves and a suspicion that maybe she should have asked Ktistes after all.

”Interesting,” Lune said, one slender fingertip tapping against her cheek.

She said nothing more, but Galen relaxed. Family affairs had kept him from coming below for several days after his encounter with Dr. Andrews, and in the interval he'd had more than enough time to question his notion of working directly with the man. If Lune agreed, though...

”The decision is in your hands,” she said. ”If you believe it would be useful to bring this man into the Onyx Court, that is within your prerogative as Prince.”

Which he knew, full well. Lune had explained it when she chose him for the position. He had authority over all matters involving the interaction between mortals and fae, including the decision to bring them below. This was the first time, however, that Galen had attempted to exercise that prerogative.

The prospect made him nervous in the extreme. There were ways to repair the mistake if someone chose poorly-but far better, of course, not to err in the first place. The watchful gaze of Lune's Lord Keeper, Valentin Aspell, made him dreadfully aware of that. ”I won't do it yet,” Galen said, and made himself stop twisting his fingers. ”I don't know the man well enough-and it's worth exploring his knowledge further, to be sure it's worth the effort. But I'll inform you before I reveal anything to him.”

One of Lune's gentleman ushers entered the privy chamber, then, and bowed deeply. ”Madam, the lubberkin Cuddy is here, but will not tell me his business. He insists it is worthy of your attention.”

The usher had doubt writ large on his feathered face, but Lune and Galen both straightened. Cuddy was out already? A quick count in his head told Galen that the timing was right; it had been eleven days, though just barely. And anything he had to tell them so soon after his emergence was certainly worthy of the Queen's time.

Lune gestured Aspell out. ”We will hear Cuddy alone, Lord Valentin. Make certain we aren't disturbed for anything less than the Dragon itself.”

The serpentine lord bowed himself out. A moment later, Cuddy entered, and the usher closed the door behind him. ”Majesty,” the lubberkin said, going to one knee, ”there was a spy, outside the dwarves' workshop, who observed me coming out. I fear the Sanists have found the room at last.”

Galen's gut tightened. ”Who is the spy?”

The lubberkin shook his head. ”I don't know her name. I could describe her-”

”No need,” Lune said. ”We will go see her ourselves. Is she secure?”

Cuddy leapt to open the door for her, but took care to answer before he turned the handle. ”The brothers are watching her, in the pillar trap. I don't know how she made it past the others; I came immediately to you, madam.”

Then they were out into the more public s.p.a.ce of the presence chamber, where some of the more favored courtiers congregated in idleness. All surged to their feet as the usher announced, ”The Queen, and the Prince of the Stone!” A wave of bows and curtsies eddied around them as they pa.s.sed, and curious whispers rose in their wake.

They went by a secret path, one of many that honeycombed the Onyx Hall, until they reached the entrance to the main pa.s.sage. Cuddy moved the rowan-wood barrier aside, and Lune laid a palm upon the stone of the floor. The defenses, recognizing her touch, let them pa.s.s unhindered.

Two stocky figures waited at the edge of the pillar-trap, and one slender one that leapt to her feet as they approached. Galen recognized her instantly, and was surprised at himself; there were many fae in the Onyx Hall, and he'd seen her only twice. But Irrith had made a vivid impression-though that impression consisted mostly of mud.

”Your Grace!” she exclaimed, and dropped back down.

Galen winced. Her knees must have struck the floor hard, though she didn't make a sound. Lune said, in a tone both startled and wary, ”Irrith? Sun and Moon-what are you doing here?”

”Proving that Ktistes is a bad liar,” the sprite said. Then, belatedly noticing her own impudence, she added, ”Madam.”

”The centaur?” Galen shook his head in confusion. ”What do you mean, he's a liar?”

She hesitated, one hand going to the stone as if to push herself upright, before remembering no one had given her permission to rise. ”He told me this was a bad patch. Because of the wall. But it isn't near the wall at all, is it? I think we're somewhere around Fish Street. My lord.”

Her accuracy startled Galen. Few fae attempted to trace the connections to London above, beyond the entrances. Only he and Lune, bound into the sovereignty of the Onyx Hall, understood them instinctively.

”The way was barred with rowan wood,” Lune said. Since that first exclamation, the emotions had drained out of her voice, leaving it cool and unreadable. ”Even if you believed the reason to be false, you knew you were forbidden to pa.s.s. And if that had not made it clear, the other defenses must have. Yet you continued on. Why?”

Galen wondered at her coolness. Cuddy had accused Irrith of being a Sanist, but he doubted it; the sprite had been gone from the Onyx Hall since before that problem began. There was no reason to think she'd been swayed by them in the few short months since her return. He doubted Irrith even read a newspaper.

Those s.h.i.+fting green eyes held an echo of old hurt. ”Madam... n.o.body sent me. I really was just curious. And I suppose it was foolish of me, but I-I've learned my lesson. I know better than to tell anyone anything I've seen.”

The weary bitterness of it took him aback. It didn't fit with the Irrith he'd seen before. She and the Queen were clearly having a conversation of their own, separate from the four who watched them; and glancing around, he saw that Cuddy and the dwarves understood no more than he did.

A division that only sharpened when Lune waved one hand in dismissal. ”That doesn't matter anymore, Irrith. It's been moved. This, however, is a different matter.”

Whatever ”it” was, the revelation of its movement was enough to make Irrith's eyes nearly start from her head. Then the rest of the Queen's reply sank in, and the sprite twisted enough to glance over her shoulder, at the dwarves' workshop behind her. The sundial door hung slightly ajar, but gave her no glimpse within. ”I've hardly seen anything-but of course that doesn't matter, does it, your Grace? I know there's something something here. Though...” She curled her fingers halfway in, as if stopping short of fists, then said, ”I won't be the last to come down here. Those defenses didn't stop me, and you rule over a court of very curious fae, madam.” here. Though...” She curled her fingers halfway in, as if stopping short of fists, then said, ”I won't be the last to come down here. Those defenses didn't stop me, and you rule over a court of very curious fae, madam.”

She was right. It had worked so far-and, with any luck, would only need to work a little while longer-but the defenses were not remotely enough. Galen could hardly tell her why there weren't more: the ma.s.sive enchantment just a short distance away, behind the sundial door, made it unwise in the extreme to place many other charms nearby. If they tried, Ktistes feared this might become a broken part of the Onyx Hall in truth.

Very quietly, Irrith said, ”I could give you my word.”

Galen happened to be looking directly at Lune when she said it; he therefore caught the minute narrowing of the Queen's eyes, the tightening of her sculpted lips. Fae could not break their sworn words, which made Irrith's offer the perfect solution. If she swore, she would be incapable incapable of telling what she'd seen. Why did that prospect disturb Lune? of telling what she'd seen. Why did that prospect disturb Lune?

He didn't know, any more than he knew what Irrith had almost told in the past. The one thing he did did know was that this entire affair risked being magnified far beyond its merits. Finding Irrith here had clearly disturbed Lune, enough that her response might be too harsh. know was that this entire affair risked being magnified far beyond its merits. Finding Irrith here had clearly disturbed Lune, enough that her response might be too harsh.

Saying that, however, was more than a little difficult. ”Madam,” Galen began diffidently, then choked on the rest.

Lune's lips pressed together again, before she turned her attention to him. ”Yes?”

Now he had to say something something. Holding his hands out in placation, Galen went on, ”I know that Dame Irrith, as a faerie, falls under your authority instead of mine. But if I may... offer a suggestion...”

The Queen gestured him onward, with a hint of impatience.

He felt like a very sharp stone had lodged in his throat. Around that obstruction, Galen said, ”It may be that in this instance, there is more to be gained by revelation than by secrecy. Not just as concerns Dame Irrith, but the court as a whole.”

Cuddy failed to repress a snort, and Lune's eyebrows rose into two doubtful arches. ”What gain do you see?”