Thaumatology 11 - For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll Page 8

  ‘We’ll have to take turns at this one. Sorry, Lil.’

  The half-succubus grinned at her. ‘I’m sure I’ll cope with that, but I need to feed tonight. I’m getting really hungry.’ Lily’s appetite for sex had been driven to extreme levels by Barnes’ manipulations and there had been no time to try to reduce that after leaving the demons’ world. If left unfed for too long she could be dangerous. Ceri was a little surprised she had managed for as long as she had without jumping someone.

  ‘I’d better take care of that then,’ Ceri said. ‘When everyone’s cleaned up we’ll commandeer the bathroom.’

  Twill flitted over to hover in front of Lily. ‘You’ve got that bad, dear? You used to be able to go for weeks without.’

  Lily’s eyes dipped down, avoiding Twill. ‘My succubus side is very strong at the moment. Ceri thinks we might be able to put it back in its place, but Barnes made my appetite almost unbearable. It’s having my mistress around that keeps it in check. I can’t hurt her, but if I don’t feed soon I’m going to crack and kill someone.’

  Floating forward, Twill placed a hand on Lily’s cheek. ‘You poor child. You were doing so well.’

  ‘She is doing well,’ Ceri commented. ‘You’ve lasted a couple of days without and you’re not folding yet. You know you need it and you’re asking for help. I think you’re more in control than you think you are.’

  Lily gave a little, timid giggle. ‘When have I not been?’

  ‘True. Have more faith in yourself. Now, what’s that forest to the south?’

  ‘Mor Thooade Foraoois,’ Ophelia said. ‘The Great North Forest. Unimaginatively named, but appropriate. It’s usually pretty safe in there, unlike the southern one. We’ll get through it by midday and then it’s another… two hours to the Summer Palace.’

  ‘And then the fun really starts.’

  The Sidhe grinned, though Ceri saw fear in her eyes. ‘You could put it that way.’

  Great North Forest, February 4th

  The night had gone quietly, despite their worries, and the train of carriages had left an hour after sunrise to head into the embrace of the forest. The road they were on was well travelled and fairly wide, with plenty of space between the trees on either side. It seemed unlikely that there would be any trouble, but they all kept a careful watch on the treeline anyway.

  ‘Last time we were in a forest this dense,’ Lily commented mid-morning, ‘we had to take down a fae queen in a fairy tale castle.’

  Ceri chuckled. ‘You had to take her down. I was asleep. And then you let “Lady Ayasha” take all the glory.’

  Ophelia blinked. ‘You were the ones who killed Oona?’

  ‘I knew it was them as soon as I heard the story,’ Twill stated.

  ‘We heard the news that Finvarra had turned up at court,’ Ophelia told them. ‘He had renounced any claim on the throne because he had no queen to rule with, but he was apparently sane and healthy. Last anyone heard of him he had been reduced to some sort of deranged wild-man. He’d always had a reputation for chasing girls, especially human ones, but now he was just running around raping and murdering any human girl he could get his hands on.’

  ‘Oona told me she’d cursed him,’ Lily said. ‘The Seelie Court had exiled her for doing it. She basically cracked because he was a philandering bastard and got herself sent to the Demon Realm for it.’

  ‘And there she managed to build herself a little kingdom in the middle of a forest,’ Ceri went on. ‘It was all wrapped in enchantment, sealed away behind some sort of barrier to create her own little world.’

  ‘Big, fairy tale castle,’ Lily said. ‘The light over there is kind of reddish, but inside her realm it was all bright, just like here. Outside that, however, the whole forest had become dark and scary. Lots of enchantment, lots of very nasty monsters. They called it the Darkest Forest. They still do, but now it’s more of an ironic thing. When Oona died, the whole thing collapsed and the forest returned to normal. It’s actually quite nice now.’

  ‘And you killed her?’ Ophelia asked, looking at Lily.

  ‘She’d fed me some wine with a magic poison in it,’ Ceri said. ‘I was doing a Snow White impression.’

  Lily nodded. ‘She had me chained to the wall in her bedroom to try out. I think the idea was to induct me into her staff if she liked me. Kind of stupid. I don’t think she realised how powerful a succubus is when feeding. I’d have killed a mortal just from feeding on her the way I did, but she survived. Then I smashed this big mirror she had over her bed. She said it fed on souls. When it went, so did she, and her world.’

  ‘It didn’t wake me up though,’ Ceri said, a slight smirk developing on her lips.

  ‘Ah, no. She said she’d got the poison from a relative who used to use it on apples, so I figured…’

  ‘You woke her with a kiss!’ Ishifa squeaked; she had heard the story before, but seemed just as enthusiastic as the first time. Lily giggled and nodded. ‘Oh that is so romantic!’

  ‘I knew you were going to say that. Anyway, we bolted. The place was literally cracking up around us. When we finally made it out of the forest the local villagers had come out to see why the forest had changed and it was a lot better to just say that Lady Ayasha had done yet another amazing thing.’

  ‘Lady Ayasha?’ Ophelia asked, frowning.

  ‘It’s Devotik,’ Lily told her. ‘Roughly translates as “blue eyes.” The demons in Shilfaris started calling Ceri “Ayasha” and it stuck. And now “Lady Ayasha” is the Overlord of All Demons, and she was practically legendary before then.’

  ‘Don’t forget her pet succubus, Lilith,’ Ceri said, smirking. She leaned toward Ophelia almost conspiratorially. ‘Lilith is the cleverest, most devious, most powerful succubus in the realm who rejected the advances of great Lords until she found her perfect Mistress.’ Lily was physically incapable of blushing, but she managed to look like she was very effectively.

  ~~~

  ‘We’re getting close,’ Ophelia commented. They had just passed a stone-built tower at the side of the road and Ceri guessed that that was the reason she knew. ‘They have those watchtowers spaced about a mile apart in a circle around the palace. This side of the mountains anyway. Maybe ten minutes to the gates.’

  Ceri shifted over in her seat and peered forward out of the window. There was no sign of any large buildings yet, but she could see a village about half a mile away. Small, stone buildings with whitewash on the walls were roofed with thatch. It looked like something you’d see in an idyllic postcard picture from Devon.

  ‘There are two of those villages around the palace,’ Twill told her as she alighted on the window ledge. ‘The workers from the local farms and the shops within the walls, and a lot of the servants from the palace live in them. Houses within the walls are expensive. Simple fae can’t afford them.’

  ‘Huh,’ Ceri grunted. ‘They have the same problem in some places in England. Shop workers can’t afford to live in the place they’re working. If it wasn’t for public transport, Winchester wouldn’t function. Kind of stupid, if you think about it.’

  ‘Here they have to walk in,’ Twill replied.

  Then the walls of the small city which was the Summer Palace started to come into view. At first Ceri thought they were whitewashed too, but she soon realised that they were made of a gleaming, white rock. Maybe fifty feet in height and with even taller towers spaced every few hundred yards. They were round towers rather than the more triangular ones humans had developed after centuries of castle building. It suggested that the place had never come under significant attack, or that they simply refused to change the design.

  ‘How long has this place existed?’ she asked.

  Twill shrugged and Ophelia said, ‘Thousands of years. It was originally built by Nemed, then expanded a couple of times. It’s looked pretty much the same for the last two thousand years.’

  ‘How many times have you been here, Twill?’ Ceri asked her.

  ‘Two or three. Mostly
when I was a child. I was presented to court when I came of age and it wasn’t very long after that that I ran away.’

  There was a gatehouse ahead of them which made the huge Low Gate building in Shilfaris look tiny. It was a small castle in itself with two massive towers on either side and a blocky building between them which had to be two hundred feet high. The gates themselves were broad and easily a hundred feet high. Ceri was no military strategist, but the whole thing looked poorly designed from a defensive point of view. It had been built to be impressive, not to stop an attacking army.

  The train did not stop at the gate, continuing on up a broad, cobbled roadway which climbed slightly upward through the city. Everything seemed to be built of stone. The outer ring appeared to be shops and workshops of one form or another, fairly closely packed and built of darker stone than the walls. As they got closer to the centre, the buildings became larger, some of them set within walled gardens. These were houses, probably belonging to wealthy fae families.

  ‘No internal walls,’ Ceri said. ‘Does this roadway go straight up to the palace?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ophelia replied.

  Ceri thought back again to the only other “medieval” city she knew, Shilfaris in the demons’ world. That had had a thick outer wall, but it had also had multiple internal walls, all the internal parts connected with strong gates. Here if someone broke through the main gate you had a clear run up to the palace itself and free run of the city. ‘You haven’t had a lot of wars here, have you?’

  ‘Not here, no. Most of the really big battles in our history have taken place in the South Lands or the mountains. Or on Earth. I mean, the last major war the fae were involved in was when the Unseelie marched into Ireland and took over after the Shattering.’

  The palace compound itself came into view and Ceri raised an eyebrow. It had a wall around it, but that was not even castellated. The building within was huge and impressive, lots of white stone. It was, indeed, a “summer palace,” all bright and shining in the sunlight of the afternoon. There were high towers and conical roofs, windows with balconies outside them. No one had ever considered the idea that this place would need to be defended.

  The carriages pulled into a courtyard in front of the palace and a squad of soldiers immediately moved in to surround the one holding the accused and her Advocates. Well, at least they were efficient at something. One of them, a woman wearing silver spaulders, stepped forward and opened the door on Ceri’s side. She was tall, attractive like most Sidhe, with long, red hair bound into a pair of ponytails, and vibrant green eyes. ‘I am Captain Lidial of the House of Alberich. I’ve been sent to take Ophelia Silvershield into custody and act as your liaison for the trial.’ Her statement was made in a calm voice, without any rancour in it; she was an official doing a job.

  Ceri was about to speak, but Ophelia put a hand on her arm as she moved past and out onto the cobbles of the courtyard. Lidial stepped back slightly. ‘I am Ophelia of the House Silvershield. These are my Advocates. I submit myself to the justice of the Seelie Court freely.’

  Lidial nodded. ‘Please come with me. Quarters have been provided for you.’

  The guard squad formed up around them as they climbed down from the carriage. Ceri glanced up at the roof where the corpse-shaped bundle was still tied. ‘Captain Lidial. That body on the roof is required for our defence. Could you have it stored somewhere safe?’

  Lidial looked at her and then up at the body. ‘Boden, Urien, have that secured in one of the cells. Bring the key to me once it’s locked up.’

  Ceri bowed her head. ‘Thank you, Captain.’

  The Sidhe nodded back and led the way toward a side door, away from the huge main doors of the palace. ‘You’ll come before the King and Queen tomorrow morning,’ she explained as they walked, surrounded by guards. ‘I can provide any information you need on the process tonight. Your quarters will be guarded, but only the accused is actually confined. The rest of you can move about if you wish. Since most of you don’t know the palace, however, I’d suggest staying put.’ She led them down a corridor once inside and then through a door and up a spiral staircase. ‘Tomorrow’s audience is just to establish whether you have justification to be allowed further time to investigate.’

  ‘What’s the court opinion on my chances?’ Ophelia asked.

  Lidial coughed. ‘Officially there is no opinion.’

  ‘I know that.’

  ‘Chatter among the courtiers is that your chances are slim, but the King is inclined to be lenient.’ She glanced around at Ceri. ‘Your Advocates have some influence in important places, according to the rumours.’

  ‘Oh,’ Ophelia responded, but any further conversation was forestalled by their arrival at a door which Lidial opened.

  They had gone up about eight floors and had to be in one of the towers. It was a clever move; they were not in a dungeon, but they were somewhere it would be very hard to get out of without being noticed. What was surprising was the room. Broad and luxurious, if Ophelia was imprisoned, then she was imprisoned in style. The floor was thickly carpeted and there were several chairs and tables which suggested that this was just the reception room of a suite. The chairs were arranged around a large fireplace which was lit, and there was a big window on one side of the room with a balcony outside it.

  ‘There’s one bedroom on this floor,’ Lidial said, confirming the suite theory, ‘and two more and a bathroom above. That door over there leads to an internal staircase. There will be three guards outside the door at all times. One of them can be sent for me if you need anything. In case you’re wondering, there are no other guests in this tower.’

  ‘Thank you, Captain,’ Ceri said, walking into the room and checking behind the doors. ‘Could we get some food up here?’

  ‘Of course.’ The captain turned on her booted heel and headed out of the room.

  The bedroom on this floor was moderately large and just as opulent with a big, four-posted bed. Ceri scanned the room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, and then headed for the door with the stairs behind it. The staircase led up to a small landing with three doors off it. The bedrooms there were a little smaller to accommodate a big bathroom. The bath was at least as large as the one they had had at the Wintergreen castle. Ceri grinned. She was definitely going to drag Michael and Lily up here later. She headed back down to find everyone except Ophelia sitting down and relaxing after the journey. Lily had even taken her dress off and patted the loveseat beside her when Ceri appeared. Ophelia was pacing.

  ‘Are you going to be doing that all night?’ Ceri asked as she walked past the Sidhe to sit beside Lily.

  ‘Possibly.’ She did another circle before adding, ‘Basically, they want to hang me out to dry, but they might let me live because you’re my Advocate. That’s not exactly good news.’

  ‘They’re basing that on the report they got with the messenger the Wintergreens sent ahead of us,’ Ceri pointed out.

  ‘And my parents will not have cast you in an objective light,’ Twill added.

  ‘And,’ Ceri went on, ‘since then we’ve been attacked by various fae who appear to belong to the same group.’

  Ophelia grunted. ‘You can be objective about this if you want. I’m going to quietly freak out.’

  There was a knock on the door, then it opened and three servants came in carrying trays of food and wine. They said nothing, just walked in and placed the trays down on a table set within the ring of chairs. Ceri watched them working, smiling at any who looked her way, but what she was noticing while they did it was that one of them seemed to be looking around a lot. It was circumstantial, the girl could simply have been curious, but a little paranoia was healthy when people were out to get you.

  ‘Ishifa, would you check the food please?’ Ceri asked once the door was closed behind the servants. The fairy nodded and flitted up from the arm of Michael’s chair to hover over the table.

  ‘You think someone could try to hit us here?’ Ophelia asked, stopped
her pacing.

  ‘I think being careful would be wise.’

  ‘Right, yes.’ And the Sidhe started off again, wearing a hole in the carpet.

  ‘What’s the procedure for tomorrow?’ Ceri asked, hoping to distract Ophelia.

  ‘Uh… Oberon and Titania will preside. The Wintergreens and Darksuns will present their case. It’s a Darksun who was killed, but it was Wintergreen land it was done on so they both have an interest. Then we get to speak. If there are Advocates it’s usually down to one of them to make the case for time to investigate.’

  Everyone looked at Ceri, except Ophelia who was still busy pacing. ‘I guess I’m handling that then,’ Ceri said, grimacing.

  ‘Good,’ Ophelia replied without looking around. ‘I think if anyone’s going to be able to persuade them, you are. Wear your crown, and that dress Gloriandel got you for the wedding. If they’ll let you take that staff, that’d be good too.’

  ‘You want me to turn up in front of the Seelie King and Queen dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West’s sexy sister?’

  ‘I want you to go in front of them looking like the Overlord of All Demons.’

  Ishifa nodded and floated back to her seat followed by a bowl of crunchy-looking insects. Assuming that meant the food was fine, Ceri grabbed an apple out of the bowl and bit into it. Food in Otherworld had an annoying habit of tasting a little better than anywhere else. And the annoying thing about Ophelia’s plan was that it made sense. Not exactly a show of force, but an indication that someone important thought the Sidhe was innocent. Even if Ceri did not think of herself that way, the Seelies apparently did.

  ‘All right. Lil, did you bring your collar and cuffs?’

  Lily grinned. ‘You want to do the whole “Lady Ayasha” thing?’