The Wraith and the Rose Page 10

  Theo strode quickly through the garden to the flowers he wanted for Lily’s arrangement. Yarrow for everlasting love, in white because that was what the garden had and because it went best with the other flowers he wanted. Sweet woodruff for humility. Blue salvia, indicating that he thought of her. Lily-of-the-valley, for sweetness and purity. Blue asters, for patience and elegance. Finally, he tucked in several blue and white columbine flowers, indicating love and affection.

  He stood back and looked at the arrangement, pleased with both the appearance and the layered meanings.

  When he strode down to the front door, Juniper and Anselm were waiting for him.

  “I can drive, if you think my glamour good enough to pass unnoticed as human,” he said tentatively.

  Theo shook his head. “I’d rather not risk it, at least not yet. Anselm, would you mind?” he asked the footman. “If you’re busy, we can make other arrangements.”

  “I’ll drive,” said Anselm firmly. The servant’s generous heart had already warmed to Theo’s young guest. “It will be safer for you to stay inside the carriage, I believe.”

  When they drew up at the door of the house the Hathaways had rented for the season, Theo said, “Stay inside, if you please, Juniper. Just look out and see if you can identify what she’s doing. If not, don’t risk yourself by getting out. I don’t want you seen yet.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Theo frowned at him. “Don’t sir me, Juniper. We’re friends, not master and servant, and I’ll thank you to remember it.”

  The young fairy nodded with a shy smile. “Yes, sir.”

  “It’s bad enough when Anselm does it; I won’t have it from you, too!”

  Juniper gave a low chuckle. “Understood, sir.” At Theo’s scowl, he gave him a cheeky grin.

  Theo hopped out of the carriage, straightened his jacket and collar, and then accepted the flower arrangement from Juniper. He strode up to the door and knocked.

  Sir Jacob himself answered the door.

  Theo blinked in surprise but kept his expression entirely composed. He bowed politely. “Good morning, sir! I was hoping I might be able to surprise Miss Hathaway with these flowers.”

  Sir Jacob’s eyes widened, and he returned Theo’s bow. “It’s a pleasure to see you, Mr. Overton. My daughter and son went to visit the children this morning; they left less than an hour ago. Would you like to come in?”

  “I don’t mean to impose,” said Theo. “But I would be grateful if you would deliver this to her, along with this letter.”

  Sir Jacob accepted the vase and letter and set them on the table inside. Theo tried to get a glimpse of the inside of the house without appearing rude. It was much smaller than he had expected; that was obvious even from the outside. The street was only separated from the house by a narrow garden, though the roses were blooming cheerfully. The front hall was narrow, almost cramped, papered in a slightly yellowed white on white damask. The parlor, partially visible through an open door, looked small but spotlessly clean. The dark green paper on the walls contributed to the close feeling. The end of a burgundy lounge chair was visible; the fabric was slightly worn but serviceable.

  Sir Jacob turned back to Theo with a smile. “The flowers are beautiful. I thank you on my daughter’s behalf. Would you like tea?”

  “I thank you, Sir Jacob, but I have an errand I must run. Thank you for your kind invitation, and I do hope to see you again soon.” Theo bowed deeply.

  When he jumped back in the carriage, he glanced toward Juniper.

  The young fairy shook his head. “I didn’t see anything on the man.”

  Theo nodded thoughtfully.

  The fairy ventured, “The house is smaller than yours. Which is more usual, for the human world?”

  Theo glanced up to meet his eyes. “I should think something smaller and poorer than that, to be honest. Certainly my family is quite fortunate. My father has made a number of good investments, and he has taught me well. Such affluence comes with obligations, you know.”

  Juniper nodded seriously. “Of course.”

  Chapter 13

  Mundane Measures

  Two days later, Theo met Lord Cedar Mosswing at the appointed rendezvous location in the Fair Lands. They had known each other much longer than the conflict in Aricht and their alliance on behalf of the Arichtan children, and indeed had formed a deep loyalty when they were both mere boys. Before the war with Aricht, Lord Mosswing and Theo had held weekly fencing matches, and they traded victories as often as they had sparred. Most often Theo had met Cedar somewhere and they had traveled together to some remote location in the Fair Lands to practice, but they had also spent many happy hours on the Overton estate and on Lord Mosswing’s estate not far from the Fair king’s palace. Theo had become passingly familiar with much of the Fair capital and surrounding lands, though the Fair Lands were far too large for anyone to know well. Cedar’s father, Lord Bitterberry Mosswing, had made it clear from the first days of their friendship that Theo was not entirely safe from other Fair Folk, and advised them to keep out of sight as much as possible. Lord Mosswing had died years before, leaving the title to his son Cedar, but by that time both Cedar and Theo had understood enough of the Fair Court to see wisdom in this discretion.

  These meetings for fencing matches and exploration were when the two friends had honed their ability to traverse the veil and figured out how to send messages through the treacherous passages. The birds that carried their notes disappeared sometimes, lost in the veil or eaten by one of the many creatures that stalked the shadows of the veil. Even so, communication between the Fair Lands and the human world had never before been possible without actually crossing.

  Moreover, Theo, and to a lesser extent Cedar, had honed his ability to pinpoint his friend’s location. He could feel Cedar’s location from within the veil, albeit with some concentration, and then open the door from the veil into the Fair Lands near his friend. However, he had not, as yet, been able to find anyone else in the Fair Lands from within the veil and open a door immediately beside that person. He also could not feel Cedar’s location within the Fair Lands once he himself was in the Fair Lands. This baffled them both, but neither of them had been yet able to devise any sort of technique for greater precision from within the Fair Lands.

  “You weren’t followed?”

  Cedar said, “No. Thank you for finding Juniper. Your honor grows by the day.” He bowed his head briefly toward Theo. Cedar’s eyes were a pale blue-green that shone against his walnut brown skin. His face was unlined, and his hair was an unexpected silver gray and stood out in ringlets around his face. His nose was strong and straight, and his mouth was grim. Theo had seldom seen him smile, but knew him to be both kind and honorable. They were opposites in nearly every way physically; Theo was fair, freckled, and buoyantly cheerful, while Cedar was dark and grave.

  “Nonsense, my friend. I could not leave him in the veil! I am grateful for your assistance.” Theo returned the brief bow.

  “I had prepared the way for him. It should have been ten minutes’ walk, at most. I expected a note from you the same night that you had received him safely.”

  “The way was long and circuitous, and the floor had begun to take hold of him by the time I reached him.” Theo furrowed his brow. “Willowvale thinks someone else has been in the Fair Lands. He suspects Oliver Hathaway, and implied that he believed Lily is involved as well.”

  “Do they have any talent?”

  Theo’s doubtful frown deepened. “I had not thought so. Willowvale said Lily had a little talent at glamour, and I would not be able to see that if it were true, but I have heard nothing of Oliver’s talent.”

  “Did one of them, or both, mess up the way I had made? If so, was it deliberate?”

  “I cannot believe it of them. They have shown every evidence of being tender-hearted and compassionate. Although I suppose it could have been an accident.”

  “I heard someone there, just a moment before Juniper entered
the path. But the door was closed when we reached it, and I saw no one.”

  “There was no way to identify them?”

  “I could not feel any tug of magic. All I felt was that the doorway was still there, and I hurried Juniper into it. I had not thought to be able to accompany him that far. I did not think to recheck the way itself, and there would have been time if I had attempted it,” Cedar said seriously. “There is another matter to consider. If the interloper was not one of them, and is not allied with you, could he be hunting you? Does the Wraith have enemies on the human side?”

  “It is possible, but none have made themselves known. It is fashionable to be the Wraith’s ally, as long as one assumes no risk in doing so. Lord Radclyffe, despite his flaws, nearly came to blows with Willowvale on the Wraith’s behalf. It endeared him to me more than any of his lavish parties have.”

  “It would have gone poorly for Radclyffe,” Cedar said grimly.

  “Indeed. What manner of man can stand against a Fair Lord in combat?” Theo’s eyes sparkled.

  Cedar, startled, gave a low laugh. “Only a fool, Theo, too blindly focused on his goal to realize that he ought to lose.”

  Theo grinned at him. “I’ll be a fool, then.” More seriously, he said, “Have you been able to ascertain anything more about the magic they’re using on the children?”

  The fairy shook his head. “However, I did discover that His Majesty and his advisors have tried more avenues than I had previously given them credit for. This is a desperate ploy, not their first course of action. The land began fading when His Majesty Alder Silverthorn died just as the war with Aricht was beginning.”

  “Did Aricht do it?” asked Theo quietly. “They have never claimed it publicly, but everyone wondered.”

  “I don’t believe so.” Cedar’s grave look grew even more serious. “I suspect it was one of the courtiers acting on His Majesty Oak Silverthorn’s behalf, but I cannot be sure. In any case, no one expected the fading of the land itself, and no one knew what to do about it. His Majesty does not seem to care for the land the way his father did, but he has tried nearly all manner of magic, with little success, to stabilize it. In desperation he turned to old legends of human captives. Our magic is often connected to dancing, and the legends often mention the captives dancing, so it seemed reasonable to him, or his advisors, to make the captives dance to strengthen the land.”

  Theo turned and peered over the wall, his eyes glittering with suppressed emotion. “Thank you, my friend. This is useful. I assume the focus on Arichtan children is punitive.”

  Cedar gave a slight, grieved shrug. “Perhaps. It also seems just to His Majesty to use the children of the nation he blames for the fading. If Aricht cost us something, Aricht should help make it right. But he does not have the same claim against Valestria or other nations.”

  “Was the murder on His Majesty’s orders or only on his behalf?”

  “I cannot say.” Cedar hesitated, then added, “If I had to guess, I would say he was not aware of it until afterwards, if at all.”

  Theo nodded thoughtfully and looked over the garden wall again. “Ah, finally. Willowvale has just left. I’ll bring the children out there.” He pulled on his jacket and adjusted the collar.

  The Fair lord looked where Theo pointed. “I see it.”

  “Take them to the tunnel. I’ll go by a different way and meet you there. How do I look?” Theo glowered at Cedar and raised his chin.

  “If I did not know your intentions, your facility as an actor would terrify me.” Cedar’s turquoise eyes flicked up and down Theo’s form, noting every detail of his disguise. “All is as it should be.”

  Theo nodded. “Godspeed.”

  “Godspeed.”

  Theo slipped away through the garden to approach from another angle, while Cedar made his way toward the door Theo had indicated.

  The Fair Folk had a good sense of the land, able to perceive the general outlines of the terrain and structures such as the palace without seeing them. According to Cedar and Juniper, Fair Folk could also sense the presence of the high entities, such as other Fair and humans, as distinct from animals such as the hart and ravusthin that wandered the hills, but they could not tell Fair Folk and human apart.

  After much dedicated practice, Theo had just begun to be able to sense the presences of both human and Fair Folk, and the difference between them was discernible almost immediately. However, it took a great deal of concentration. Moreover, he could not identify any presence as a particular person. When Cedar asked about this sense, he could not explain how it worked, and they had concluded it was something like how the veil was more cooperative with Theo than with others. It was hardly reliable, but it was the best he could do at the moment, and the sense was especially helpful now that the Fair Folk had begun keeping the captive children in the palace itself. Theo could not, however, sense any of the lower entities, from the predators that ranged through the wilderness to the smaller creatures that frolicked around the royal grounds.

  Fair Folk, of course, could do varying forms of magic, from commanding plants to do their bidding to taking the form of a stag, and could communicate more readily with dryads, naiads, and other sapient creatures. But without a demonstration of magic, or relative lack thereof, humans could look much like at least some of the Fair Folk. The Fair Folk had skin colors ranging from the pallor of Lord Ash Willowvale to deep ebony, with hair of any color of the rainbow, and eyes of many colors, in combinations not seen in the human world.

  Theo, tall and lean, had perfected the haughty look in a mirror at home. Cedar had obtained Fair clothes for him and, cautiously, found a few Fair allies, including young Juniper. Theo had tested his Fair accent and carriage against Cedar before beginning the rescues.

  The challenge, however, was that most of the Fair Folk, and all of His Majesty Silverthorn’s soldiers guarding the children, were looking for a human. They did not know what he looked like, but any glamour Cedar might use to change Theo’s appearance would attract their attention and invite suspicion.

  Instead, Theo relied upon mundane measures. This time, he had dyed his auburn curls hair a deep purple with a mash of bitterblue blossoms and combed it into a ridiculous, gravity-defying fluff atop his head. He couldn’t change the color of his eyes, but he rubbed dewberry leaf juice all over his face and the exposed skin of his neck, wrists, and hands, lending his fair skin a distinct greenish tint. It didn’t entirely hide the freckles across his cheekbones, but they were now a darker brownish green. He used a little more of the dewberry leaf juice mixed with a little charcoal to add more dark green freckles across his nose and cheeks and around his eyes. He rubbed the last of this under his eyes, along the sides of his nose, under his cheekbones, and under his jaw, making his eyes look hollow and accentuating the angular lines of his face and the length of his jaw.

  The effect was, if not attractive, at least decidedly inhuman in a vaguely threatening sort of way. That was exactly the point.

  Dressed in vibrant green and blue finery befitting a Fair noble, Theo sauntered through the garden and directly through the double doors of the palace. A servant bowed low to him, and he raised his chin with a haughty curl of his lips.

  He continued on to the ballroom, where a small group of Fair nobles were gathered near one end. He surveyed the group, then sniffed and moved on to a sitting room. A Fair lady looked up at him from where she reclined on a window seat. Her hair was a soft turquoise, and her skin as pale as that of a naiad. Her cobalt eyes surveyed his elegant form with approval.

  He strolled closer, looking around the room, then back at her.

  “What purpose have you here, my lord?” she inquired.

  Theo leaned over her to look out the window, then regarded her with his bright hazel eyes. “I have heard that His Majesty has human captives,” he said coldly. “I want to see them.”

  She blinked in surprise. “They are not for the seeing, sir.”

  “You asked my purpose. I answered.
”

  She laughed in a sound like crystal bells. “You are amusing, sir. His Majesty Silverthorn will enjoy arguing with you at least, though the conversation will be but short. I believe you may find him in the throne room, if you dare search.”

  Theo bowed to the Fair woman with icy courtesy. “I thank you.” He turned on his heel and left the study, moving down the hall. Now, at least, he knew where the king was. Many of the other Fair Folk would be either attending him or seeking a boon from him.

  When he passed a hallway to his left, he felt the faintest indefinable tug of humanity. He turned and followed the hall to another door to a stairwell, which he followed upward. He strode through a maze of corridors, following the vague sense he would have felt difficult to describe, if anyone had asked him.

  He stalked down the upper hallway toward a large, ornate door, behind which he felt the small, frightened presences of the children. The door was guarded by two fairies with violet skin and golden hair that fell to their shoulders like molten sunlight. They wore the resplendent indigo and silver uniforms of His Majesty Silverthorn’s royal guard, with the indigo-chased scabbards of swords at their hips.

  “This way is not open,” one of them said sternly.

  “It is to me,” Theo snarled. “Do you know who I am?”

  “You are not His Majesty, so the way is not open.” The guard placed a hand on his sword hilt.

  Theo stopped and looked down his nose at the guard who had spoken, ignoring the other. “I am Lord Meadowhawk, and His Majesty himself told me—nay, he begged me—to see what the problem was with the human captives. They are not working as they should, you know.”

  “How so?” The guard did not remove his hand from his sword hilt.

  “Have you not noticed the edges crumbling?” Theo scoffed. “Are you so blind to the effects on the land?” He turned to the guard who had not yet spoken. “You, remain at your post. You, what is your name?”