Flicker (56 page)

“What happened?” Jason asked. “What changed?”

“It was the Queens,” Rodney said. “Feronia and
Cressida
. The things we did on their orders, in their names.
…
You would flinch away from me if you only knew.” He shook his head. “All took part. Even our fine and lovely prince.”

“Umbriel?” Lee asked dazedly. “But why?”

“The Queens like to be sure that their knights are capable of doing what must be done,” he said. “They want to be even more certain where the future King is involved
.
And so,
two of your human
centuries
ago,
when
fighting broke out
along the borders between Summer
and Winter, they sent Umbriel
into the fray with us.
”

Fil
o looked up.
“You fought in the Border Wars?”

“A misnomer,” Rodney tutted, waving away Filo’s words. “There were many skirmishes and battles, yes, but neither Court ever declared war.”

“But you fought?”

“Of course—alongside Umbriel and Carrick and many oth
ers. We marched through
Winter mountains, sent by the Queens to capture a meaningless piece of territory.” He scowled
briefly
. “The Valley of Glaisne, little more than a pit of black rock.
We didn’t
think that Winter would fight so hard for such a small scrap of land
, but they
were waiting when we arrived. You have not seen
barbarism
until you have seen Winter knights—trolls and ogres, fighting alongside elves!
They
slaughtered
us.
” He shook his head.
“Twenty-three
survive
d the first night. After that, we
abandoned the
mission
. Our priority
became
defending our Prince
. And we did, though it cost
eighteen
more lives before we were safely back in Summer Court territory
—succumbed to frostbite and killed by
the elfshot of
Winter knights
.”

“Only five,”
Nasser
breathed. He, too, seemed to be looking at Rodney with new eyes.

“
Five o
f two hundred,” Rodney confirmed.
“
Feronia and
Cressida
were furious—mostly because we had failed to capture the valley, of course.
”
He
glared down at his welted wrists. “Umbriel shared the sorrows
and regrets of his knights.
I l
oved him dearly for that
, and I
would have
liked
to see him
crowned King of Summer
.
But after Glaisne
, things were differ
ent.
I
was different. O
ne can only live
that
way fo
r so long.
”

“What did you do?”

Rodney gave them a lopsided smile. “I left.”

“But, Rodney,” Alice started, “wouldn’t that make you—”

“A deserter?” Rodney suggested. “A traitor? I’m
all of
those things, and probably a few more.”

Jason stared. “But they
execute
people for things like that!”

“Q
uite right. It really wasn’t clever of me to come back here. Or, rather, it wasn’t clever of me to get
caught
coming back here. Even if Umbriel asks Feronia to spare me, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has me
beheaded
at sunrise.
A good execution would certainly warm up the crowd before the coronation.
”

“Then why would you come
here
?” Filo sputtered. “How could you be so stupid?”

Rodney smiled ruefully. “
Alice asked me for my help. How I could refuse?
Consider this my official apology,” he said. “For the boggarts.”

* * *

Byrony knelt before the thrones, head down, the back of her neck feeling warm and exposed. From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Marcan, who appeared more at ease. He was clearly more accustomed to bending before the Queens.

“Rise, Byrony,” Feronia said. “
Rise,
Marcan.”

She stood, raising her gaze to meet Feronia’s. The Summer Queen was expressionless, but her eyes were like cold jewels. From her seat at Feronia’s left side,
Cressida
watched her with the slightest of frowns. Both Queens wore elaborate gold and white gowns.

It took all the discipline Byrony
had
to keep from looking at Umbriel, who sat to
Feronia’s right
. Carrick stood silently behind him, looking grim.

“Why have you come to us, Byrony?” Feronia asked. “You were not to return here until you had collected the human girl.”

“And collect
ed
her I have,” Byrony
replied
, dipping her head
respectfully
. “The girl is here
, in the revel
.”

Surprised murmurs rushed through the gathered faeries. Byrony saw Umbriel’s hands tighten around the wooden arms of his chair, though his expression remained carefully neutral.

“
Is she
, now?” Feronia asked, elevating her slim eyebrow
s
.

“It is true, My Lady,” Marcan said, his voice quiet and even, his head bowed. “I witnessed her apprehend the human female.”

“Describe her to me.”

“She was young and fairly small, with copper-colored hair and large green eyes.”

At that, Umbriel’s mouth twitched
and he spoke for the first time:
“Where is she? Was she injured during her capture?”

“No, My Lord,” Marcan assured him. “She is perfectly well.”

Umbriel nodded,
oddly relieved. Byrony felt her insides clench.

Feronia exchanged glances with
Cressida
and Umbriel. Then, turning to three of her personal knights, she said, “Bring me the prisoner. I’d like to have a look at the little human girl who’s caused all this fuss.”

“If I may, my Queen,” Marcan said, bowing even
deeper
. “When the girl was captured, she had a companion. A human male. I believe he has the Second Sight.”

“Then bring him also.”

As she spoke, Umbriel glanced behind him, toward Carrick, then back toward Feronia. “It has recently come to my attention,” he told her, “that a second human female was captured, in the company of a former Summer knight called Riordan.”

Fe
ronia’s eyes narrowed
. “How curious. Bring
all
prisoners
captured today
,” she amended, nodding toward her knights, who bowed curtly and disappeared. “Soon we shall have this matter cleared up.”

A hard lump had formed in Lee’s throat, and she found herself unable to swallow it, even as they were marched through the revel and she
knew
it was time for her to be brave. She tried not to look at the humans scattered about as they approached a ring of birch trees. There was nothing she could do for them.

“Ah,” Rodney said, as a pair of guards stepped aside, allowing them into the birch ring. “So
that’s
it. We’re being taken before the Queens.”

Lee felt herself blanch as he said it. The Queens. Surely Umbriel would be there. And where Umbriel was, Byrony was also likely to be.

Finally, the knights who’d rounded them up led them through a gauzy veil. When they passed through, she saw that the fey on this side of the veil were dressed in even finer clothes than those in the rest of the revel; they held themselves in a haughty, dignified sort of way.

Whispers and glinting eyes followed them as they trooped across the grass. Soon, they were in sight of a massive oak tree. Beneath its plentiful shade stood three intricately carved wooden thrones
,
which seated three shining faeries. Knights and attendants surrounded them.

“Don’t speak unless spoken to,” Rodney advised them as they neared the thrones. The magical pressure in the air intensified with each step, like a physical weight on her shoulders
that she had to push past
. “And try not to let them distract you
with their magic
too much. Especially you, Nasser.”

Nasser, who
was already beginning to pale beneath the strain of that magical energy
, nodded.

And then they arrived. Lee’s eyes burned with the brilli
ance of the faeries before her;
their magic pushed against her, as if testing her strength. She could scarcely breathe. Beside her, she noticed Nasser swaying slightly on the spot.
With his sensitivity, the magic must’ve seemed even more intense to him.

She recognized the monarchs from the
Rade
: Feronia, the
Summer Queen, sat in the center, with
Cressida
to her left and U
mbriel to her right. They
were dressed in gold and white finery, accented with bright jewels. All
three
glowed from within, the light seeming to pulse with their heartbeats.

Lee realized she was trembling with fear and wonderment and the realization of how very small she was. She tried to
look down,
away from Feronia’s perfect face, but she was ca
ught by the Summer Queen’s eyes,
a shimmering maelstrom of gold and green. Lee sank into them, uncaring.

The
n the
sound of a voice snapped Lee back into her body.

“
Now,
Umbriel,” Feronia was sa
ying, her voice cool and smooth, her
bright
Irish accent curling around each word.
“Is this the human
girl
who was bartered away from you?”

“She is,” Umbriel said. Lee tried not to look at him. Even the glimpses she caught from the corner of her eye were enough to make her ache inside.

“My, my,” Feronia said
, surveying the rest of them
. “I wasn’t aware we’d had quite so many intrusions
to
day.” She leaned forward slightly, her eye
s inquiring
. “Might I ask your names, and why you have come?”

Rodney
bowed slightly and looked up at Feronia with bright eyes.

“Today, I call myself Rodney, My Lady,” he purred. “But you know me as Riordan. I came here as a favor to a friend. These humans, My Lady, are Lee Capren, Nasser Rew, Alice Whitethorn and Filo Shine. They came to retrieve this human, Jason Rew, who was spirited away to this revel by a dryad called Byrony.” He
indicated
each with a nod as he introduced them.

Feronia contemplate
d
this. Then she
turned
to Lee. “Is this so, little one?”

Lee’s throat seemed to close up. Finally, she managed, “Y-yes
…
My Lady.”

A small smile curved Feronia’s mouth. She turned to
Cressida
, who mirrored her smile and nodded. “Send for Byrony.”

There was a brief shuffling behind them; then Byrony was led to the throne, bowing deeply before the monarchs. She stood just feet from Lee and the others, but didn’t spare them a glance. Nerves and anger prickled in Lee’s veins, and she noticed the way Filo and Alice tensed.

“It would seem,” said Feronia grandly, “that you have fulfilled the task we set. You have returned the girl to the revel.”

“I have, My Lady,” Byrony agreed demurely.

Feronia’s smile widened
, showing a sliver of teeth
. Her eyes turned shiny and cold. “
But
,” she continued. “I am afraid there is one task left before you can be granted absolution in the eyes of your rulers.”

Suddenly, a wave of startled energy rose up from Umbriel and rolled over them, hitting Lee like a slap to the face. Nasser swayed, looking ill. This magic was too much for him.

“Another task?”
Umbriel
gripped the arms of his throne.
His accent was less pronounced, Lee noticed.
“With all due respect, my revered Queen, I must protest.”

“Oh?” Calm as a stone, Feronia turned slowly to him.

“Byrony has completed her task,” Umbriel insisted, straightening. A faint flush colored his cheeks. “Surely she has proved her worth to your satisfaction.”