The Faerie Queen (The Faerie Ring #4) (8 page)

“
Faerie
flag?”

“
Yes. The flag was given as a gift by a faerie who had fallen in love with one of the MacLeod ancestors. She promised him that on three separate occasions, he could unfurl the flag and many armed men would come to the flag-bearer’s aid. So far, the flag has only been unfurled twice.”

Dain let out a low whistle.

Tiki sucked in her breath in a gasp.  “An army.”

“
An army to defeat Donegal,” Dain echoed.

Larkin’s blue-green eyes glow
ed as she jerked her head in sharp assent. “Precisely.  The Four Treasures of Faerie will appear or be found when Faerie is in greatest need.”

Chapter Four
teen

IT WAS AGREED they would leave for Scotland immediately.

“
Best to stay together at this point,” Larkin said in an imperious tone.  “It will be up to us to stop Donegal. We’re going to need each other. I can transport us as far as the Faerie Bridge on the Isle of Skye—we’ll have to walk or garner a ride to Dunvegan from there.”

“
What should we do with these?”   Dain pointed at the glamoured Cup of Plenty and the Faerie Queen’s mirror.

“
We have to hide them somewhere,” Tiki said. “Should I take them back to Grosvenor Square?”

“
No. It’s not safe there anymore.” Larkin searched the room. “We need to hide them in plain sight.  Glamour the mirror to match that one—” she pointed to a plain round mirror that hung on the wall— “and—” she swept the cup up in her grasp— “we’ll leave the cup as a green vase on this shelf right here.” She deposited the Cup on a nearby bookshelf as if it were no more than a decorative goblet.

Tiki did as she asked and hung the glamoured mirror on a wall adjacent to the other mirror. At a glance, it was impossible to tell the difference. No one would ever suspect one was an ancient treasure.

“There,” Larkin said with satisfaction.  “Safe for now.”

AS THEY WERE leaving the underground compound a red-coated solider approached. He was armed with a curved backsword and a razor thin rapier.

“
Majesty.” He bent to one knee in front of Tiki. “Blessings on your health.”

“
Toran, how nice to see you,” Tiki said. The tall guard had been assigned as one of her bodyguards when she’d first been named Seelie Queen. He had been a second to Callan, an earnest guard who had made every attempt to stay constantly with Tiki to protect her. When Callan had been murdered by Donegal, Toran had taken his place as her primary bodyguard. It was only because Tiki had tricked him when she returned to London that he had been forced to stay in the Otherworld. She motioned at him. “Please rise.”

The guard
stood, his expression grim. He was younger than many of the guards and took his job with great seriousness. “I am here to protect you, Majesty. We’ve just received word that the hobgoblins have been routed from the northern part of the Wychwood. At Donegal’s request, the Redcaps set fire to their fields and homes. Those who survived are said to be headed this way.”

“
I hope Gestle and his men are all right,” Tiki said. The hobgoblin leader had helped her and Rieker locate Dain when he’d been held prisoner in the White Tower.

“
There’s a storm over Wydryn Tor that extends down into the southern part of the Forest. It’s so black you can no longer see the top of the Tor.”

Larkin
brushed passed Toran and continued down the hall. “It’s Donegal and he won’t rest. It will be up to us to stop him.”

“
Toran,” Tiki said in a kind voice. “I’m going to need Aeveen. Could you gather her for me, please?” She felt bad about tricking the faerie again by asking him to get Dain’s horse, but he couldn’t possibly come with them to Scotland and she didn’t want to be delayed trying to convince him.

“
Majesty—” Toran’s expression was fraught with worry. “It’s very dangerous right now. You shouldn’t leave our stronghold here. Donegal has gone mad.  They say he will kill anyone and everyone to get what he wants. I’ve heard he has even imprisoned the Court Jester and plans to feed him to Bearach’s hounds. You should stay here where it’s safe and we can protect…”

“
What?!”
In the space of a heartbeat Larkin was next to the man, gripping his elbow. “What did you say?”

Toran
’s eyes widened in panic. “That the queen is safer—”

“
No. About the Jester.”

The guard shot a quick
glance at Tiki before returning his gaze to Larkin. “We have word that the Winter King has imprisoned the Jester and plans to feed him to the hounds at the full moon.”

Tiki
let out a cry of dismay and covered her mouth with her hands. The Jester was a fixture at Court in the Palace of Mirrors—a colorful character who entertained whichever sovereign held the throne. Though an enigma who spoke in riddles and puns, he had been instrumental in helping Tiki and Rieker in the past and she’d grown quite fond of his humor and idiosyncrasies. He was one of the few in Faerie who seemed to hold no malice toward Rieker and their relationship.

Larkin s
wore under her breath. “I will kill Donegal with my bare hands if that’s what it takes,” she said. It was rare for her to show any emotion other than disdain, yet it was obvious she found this news about a man she referred to as ‘the Fool’ terribly distressing. “Where are they holding him?”

“
That I don’t know,” Toran replied. “Olcán is undercover in the palace. Perhaps he knows.”

“
Find out,” Larkin snapped. “I want to know by sunset tomorrow. We’ve only seven days to the full moon.” She jerked around. “Everyone but Toran come with me.”

Tiki nodded at the young soldier.
“Do as she asks. We need to know.  I’ll be fine.”  She followed Larkin down the hall, her stomach roiling with a sudden uneasiness. Dain fell into step next to her. As they walked, Tiki silently mused why the Jester, of all people, would elicit such a reaction from Larkin.

THE TRANSPORT TO Scotland was effortless. Larkin had them link arms and the world dissolved into grey swirling clouds. To Tiki it seemed a stiff wind rushed against her body and turned her in a slow arc. The clouds cleared and she was there.

THEY STOOD ON a small stone bridge that arched over a river amid gently rolling hills of sparse fields. It was much cooler than the Plain of Sunlight and Tiki shivered against the chill.

“
It’s winter in the mortal world,” Larkin commented, “and especially cool up north here in Scotland. Best to glamour some layers while no one is about.”

Tiki added a sweater and a long cloak, pulling
the hood up around her head. She scanned the horizon. “Which way is Dunvegan?”

Larkin pointed.
“North.”

“
Can’t you transport us there?” Dain asked.

“
I can’t transport to where I haven’t been,” Larkin said. “For now, we walk.”

AN HOUR INTO their trek a wagon came by, pulled by two small, shaggy plow horses.

“
Where ye goin’ lads and lassies in all yer finery?” The driver called out.

“
To Dunvegan,” Larkin replied. “Have you room?”

The old man threw a thumb over his shoulder.
“The whole wagon is open fer the takin’.”

IT WAS FROM the back of the wagon that Tiki first laid eyes on Dunvegan Castle.  They came over a small rise and there in the distance, the castle stood on a cliff of rock above a reflective loch, the golden bricks of the fortress glowing in the watery afternoon sun.

Tiki let out a sharp gasp and covered her mouth with her hand.

Larkin and Dain both turned to look at her. “What is it?”

“
I’ve seen that castle before.”

Larkin frowned.
“Where?”

Tiki stared at the imposing structure, searching her memory. She’
d never been to Scotland but the sight before her was familiar—she knew she’d seen Dunvegan Castle before. Suddenly it came to her.

“
The card.”

“
What?” Larkin asked.

“
The card the Jester gave me.” Tiki looked over at Dain. “Remember? I showed it to you just the other day. In the section of the Celtic cross that should have had the Fourth Treasure it was a picture of a castle—
this
castle.”

Dain twisted around to gaze at the castle again.
“By god, I think you’re right, Tiki.”

Larkin
moved closer, her gaze intent upon Tiki. “When did the Fool give you this card?”

“
It was the night of Samhain—when we sacrificed the Seven Year King and turned the court back over to the UnSeelies.” Tiki shifted her gaze to Larkin. “You were there. He gave me the card and said ‘
When the clock strikes twelve, may the winds of change blow you in your true direction.
’”

Larkin
stared at the castle, her brow knitted in thought, long golden strands of hair teased by the wind. “He knew, then.”

“
Knew what?” Dain asked. “Surely, you’re not saying the Court Jester, the
Fool
, knew where to find the Fourth Treasure?”

Larkin’s
fingers were clenched on the short wooden walls of the wagon so tightly her knuckles were white and the muscles in her jaw flexed as though she fought to keep the words from spilling out.

“
What is it?” Tiki asked. “What do you know, Larkin? Speak the truth, because none of us are guaranteed to see tomorrow. If we aren’t honest now—when we’ve only got each other to survive this war—then we will never be honest with each other.”

The tense moment
stretched between them, filled by the creak of the wagon wheels and the steady clump of the horse’s hooves on the dirt road.

“
Why yer a’travelin’ to Dunvegan?” The driver called over his shoulder.

As quickly as her face had revealed her emotions,
Larkin’s features shifted into a mask that hid her thoughts.

“
We need to see the MacLeod’s about a personal matter,” she replied in an imperious tone.

“
The MacLeod’s, you say?”

“
Yes. The Lords of Dunvegan.”

The driver let out a low chuckle.
“They’d be happy to have you call them Lords, Miss, that’s fer sure, but you ain’t gonna do it at Dunvegan.”

“
And why is that?”

“
Because the Potato Famine took everything the ‘Lords’ of Dunvegan had. Old Man MacLeod moved his family to London back in ’51. No MacLeod’s been livin’ at Dunvegan for over twenty years.”

THE DRIVER STOPPED at a fork in the road and swiveled around to look at them, his brown felt hat shading his wrinkled face.

“
This is the turn to the castle.”

“
Thank you for your kindness,” Larkin said, as they scrambled from the back of the wagon.

“
Much obliged,” Dain said, reaching up to shake the old man’s hand.

Their driver
gave a slow nod. “Heard tell a few years back that Old Man MacLeod was a bank clerk in a place called Lombard Street though, no tellin’ if he’s still there or not.” He lifted his shoulders in a shrug then readjusted his hat. “Good day to you folks.”  The reins snapped against the rumps of his two shaggy ponies. “Hi’yup.”

“NOW WHAT?” DAIN asked as the wagon trundled off in the distance and the three of them stood at the fork in the road. “If no one’s been living at Dunvegan for twenty years, it’s unlikely they would have left their most prized possession there unguarded.”

Tiki remained silent. It seemed odd that the ring had released the word Dunvegan if no one lived there anymore
, but their driver had seemed quite sure the MacLeod’s had left long ago.

Larkin
gazed down the wooded trail that led to the castle, her face etched with indecision. “London does seem the better choice, given the circumstances.”

“
What are the chances we’ll find them?” Tiki asked.

“
We know one of MacLeod men work on Lombard Street as a bank teller.  We’ll start there,” Dain said.

“
There are a lot of banks in London,” Tiki said doubtfully.

“
It’s all we can do.” Larkin held her arms out. “Gather round. We’ll go together. We can’t waste any more time here.”

“
No.”