The Faerie Queen (The Faerie Ring #4) (6 page)

Chapter Eleven

Dain rode alone in the back of the carriage as Leo’s driver returned him to Grosvenor Square. The mirror rested on his knees, carefully wrapped in a blanket and hidden inside a fabric bag.
The Faerie Queen’s mirror. What luck that he’d been at William’s townhome when Leo had come calling.

He ran his long fingers over the soft fabric that protected the mirror, marveling at the secret he guarded. All
of his senses told him that this was important—a critical link to understanding the powerful clues which Finn and Eridanus had left to the future ruler of the Seelie court—to Tara. Could this little mirror mean the difference between glorious victory or soul-crushing defeat for the Seelie Court?  But only if they could decipher how to use it.

“
I will take you to my beautiful Faerie Queen,” he said to the bundle on his lap, “and she will make sense of your true purpose.” He imagined the intricate design of the frame, wondering at the faces carved into the mirror’s border. The Summer Queen and the Winter King. Should he include Larkin when he shared what he’d discovered? Though he’d trusted the faerie with his life more than once, he was well aware of Tara’s distrust and even dislike of Larkin. Perhaps he should leave it to Tara to decide who would know of the mirror.

He
lifted his head and gazed out the window as the
clip-clop
of the horses’ hooves echoed against the cobblestones. The streets of London were always thick with a diverse crowd: from gowned women in their elegant attire to streetwalkers, one side of their skirts hitched in their belts, plying their trade; from coal-dusters and black-faced chimney sweeps to the finest top-hatted men; and always the street children, so dirty it was all but impossible to tell boy from girl—scrabbling among the mix trying to survive. London was home to all. But here, in the quiet, tree-lined streets between Buckingham Palace and Mayfair, a bubble of gentility existed as though insulated from the darkness of the world. As if air was more plentiful here and one could draw a deeper breath—but Dain knew it was an illusion. There was no safe place in London or the Otherworld while Donegal lived.

AN HOUR LATER Dain had returned to the Otherworld and stood in the drawing room that was so similar to Grosvenor Square. He had hidden the Faerie Queen’s mirror in his own rooms upon his return to the Plain of Sunlight, waiting for the time when he could give it to Tara alone.  On the other side of the drawing room, Larkin held the Cup of Plenty. The glamour had been removed and brilliant colors swirled on the outside of the glass, glowing softly in the firelight.

“
How does it go again?” Tiki looked over at Dain. “The paradox of the Four Treasures?”

Before he could speak,
Larkin answered as if reciting a poem, never lifting her eyes from the sparkling glass she held. “One must possess the first three to find the fourth. The secret of the Fourth Treasure is held within the third: the Ring. One must use inspiration from the second, the Cup, to procure the secrets from the Ring. But one must be a queen named by the first, the Stone of Tara, to retrieve the information.” She lifted her head. “So it’s up to you, Tara. Use the inspiration of the Cup to draw the secrets from the Ring so we may find the Fourth Treasure and defeat Donegal.”

Tiki
sank down onto the couch and closed her eyes. “I just need to…think for a moment.”

Dain looked over at Larkin.
“Have you got a blanket? And perhaps something for Tara to eat before I leave? It’s been a difficult time lately.”

Tiki’s eyes flew open
and she clutched at his hand. “Leave?”

“
Yes. I need to—”

A knock s
ounded against the wood.

“
Come.” Larkin called as she set the Cup on a small coffee table in front of where Tiki sat. The door silently swung open and a small figure came in, hidden behind the voluminous crimson-colored dress that was bunched in its arms.

“
Your dress, Lady Larkin,” a scratchy voice said.

Tiki
turned with a jerk. “Ailléna?”

“
I’ll take that before you wrinkle it any further.” Larkin plucked the dress from the diminutive figure’s arms revealing the face that had been hidden by the scarlet material. A long beak nose stretched from a wizened face with fang-like teeth jutting up from the little goblin’s lower jaw.  An uglier creature probably didn’t exist.

“
Majesty?” Ailléna gasped and dropped into such a low curtsy her forehead thumped the floor. “I did’na know you were back.” She raised her head and clapped gnarled fingers together, jumping up, her stubby legs pushing her a few inches off the ground.  “We’re saved!”

Tik
i held out her hands and wrapped her long fingers around the little goblin’s.  “Perhaps not saved yet, but we’re working on it. I’m so glad you were able to come to the Plain of Sunlight. I thought you said you weren’t allowed….”

“
That is enough.” Larkin sneered at Tiki. “Release that dirty Redcap before she bites you.”

Ailléna yanked her hands free and took severa
l hurried steps back from Tiki. “Yes’m.” She pointed a clawed finger at the Cup of Plenty sitting on the coffee table. “I see you brought the Cup with you.” She drew in a long breath, the oversized nostrils on her beaked nose flaring.  “Still smells as wonderful as ever.”

A tantalizing scent wafted thro
ugh the air as if a hearty soup cooked nearby.

Tiki frowned and inhaled.
“You’re right.” She looked from Larkin to Dain. “What is that smell?”

“
I don’t know, but it’s making my mouth water.” Dain nodded at the little goblin. “Have you brought food with you?”

“
No sir,” Ailléna gasped, her frightened eyes shifting toward Larkin. “I’m not allowed to eat the food in the big house—just the scraps they throw in the fields.”

Tiki pushed herself off the couch.
“What? They don’t feed you here?”

“
Of course we feed her,” Larkin snapped. She pointed at the door. “Be off with you. You’ve done your job, now scat.”

Ailléna smiled at Tiki, which looked more look a horrible grimace with her jutting underjaw and huge fangs reaching up over her upper lip, and bobbed her head.
“Pleasure to see you, Majesty.” Then she scampered out the door and disappeared.

Tiki
turned to Larkin. “Tell me you’re feeding her.”

“
Obviously, since she’s alive, isn’t she? Now let’s get back—”

But Tiki persisted.
“How is it that Ailléna has come to be at the Plain of Sunlight?”

Larkin lifted her slim shoulders in an elegant shrug.
“I guess we needed some help around the place. Labor has been in short supply since Donegal converted the beggars to UnSeelie soldiers.” She let out a derisive snort. “Though we could probably buy off the lot of them with a loaf of bread.”

“
That smell is gone now, have you noticed?” Dain raised his nose and sniffed. “How strange. Maybe the goblin had been in the kitchens and the smell clung to her clothes.”

“
This isn’t the first time that has happened.  When we were in the Palace of Mirrors the same thing occurred—Aillena was with us and suddenly the room smelled like fresh soup.” Tiki gazed at the Cup with a perplexed frown.  “The Cup is said to provide sustenance. I wonder—” She reached for the little glass goblet and peered into its depths but the vessel was empty. She tipped the cup as if to pour liquid, but nothing emerged.

“
Maybe it only provides sustenance when there is someone in need,” Dain offered.

Tiki lifted her head.
“That’s brilliant, Dain. We’ll have—”

“Let’s
focus on the main purpose of the Treasures,” Larkin interrupted.

Dain pulled a blanket from the back of a nearby chair and handed it to Tiki. 
“Wrap up in this. Larkin will order food and you can rest until I return.”

“
Where are you going?” There was a note of concern in Tiki’s voice.

Dain
pushed his blond hair from his forehead. “I’ve got to find William so he can bring the ring of
Ériu
back here. It won’t do us any good to figure out the inspiration of the Cup if we don’t have the ring to pry the secrets from—wouldn’t you agree?” He slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers and looked from Tiki to Larkin, waiting for a response.

“
That’s exactly right, Dain,” Larkin replied. “Do you know where to look for him?”

“
He was headed to Edinburgh, I believe. I could…”

Tiki interrupted.
“We don’t need William.”

Dain’s gaze shifted to Tiki.
“You’re right, we don’t need William,” he grinned, “but we do need the ring he guards.”

“
No,” Tiki said softly. “Leave William alone and let him remain safe.” She tugged on the thin braid of gold that hung around her neck and pulled the ring from beneath her clothes.  “I guard the ring of
Ériu
now.”

Larkin moved
so quickly Tiki barely discerned her movement. One minute the faerie was across the room, the next she was standing too close, mesmerized by the blood red stone that hung from Tiki’s neck. “May I?”

Tiki lifted the ring and gazed at the flickering flame that burned in its depths. She didn’t remove the chain from around
her neck, but instead, held the ring out for Larkin to see.

Dain let out a low whistle, his expression filled with
awe.

“
A true-born Seelie queen named by the
Cloch na Teamhrach
,
the Cup of Plenty and now the Ring of
Ériu
all together in the same room. Three of the Four Treasures are within my sight at this moment.” He grinned like a little boy. “Larkin, did you ever dream you’d see this day?”

Larkin’s eyes narrowed.
“I have been planning this day for half my life,” she snapped. Her gaze turned to Tiki. “You held the Cup while wearing the Ring—did you
feel
anything? Sense anything? Gain wisdom you didn’t have before?”

Tiki heaved
a dejected sigh. “If there are secrets within this stone, they are hidden from me—and I have no idea how to retrieve them.”

Chapter Twelve

“
We’ve found a blue gown, hung from the rock cliffs on the far side of the Tor.” Sullivan’s hair shimmered like liquid silver, brushing his bony shoulders as he approached the Winter King.

Donegal turned from the window
where he had been staring toward the band of light on the horizon. “Was it hers?”

“
It had her scent—” Sullivan scowled— “but the hounds lost her trail among the rocks.”

Donegal smiled, the scarr
ed side of his face pulling down in a grimace. “She knows she’s being hunted and has sent someone to lay a false trail as a diversion.”

“
I think you’re right. We had spies in London who saw several of the mortals who live with her in Grosvenor Square leave by carriage just before the hounds arrived. She didn’t go with them.”

“
How fascinating. Who were they and where did they go?”

Sullivan shrugged.
“It was the male who is often seen with the queen and four children.”

Donegal’s black eyes flared with interest.
“Children?”

“
I believe they live with the queen in the mortal world.”

“
Did someone follow them?”

“
Yes—MacDonald and Brady.”

“
Where did they go?” There was a sudden urgency in his voice.

“
I haven’t heard back yet.”

“
I want to know the second you have word. This is our opportunity. The Queen has sent off those she loves thinking she’s protecting them.” A guttural laugh escaped his lips. “She will soon learn there is no protection from my vengeance.”

The Winter King
turned back to the window and nodded toward the Plain of Sunlight where a golden glow reflected in a thin band across the horizon. “Tara MacLochlan will be back in the Otherworld soon, if she hasn’t already returned.” His words were as raw as a blade drawn against a stone. “This time I won’t leave it to someone else to kill her. I will do it myself.”