Iron Kin: A Novel of the Half-Light City (35 page)

Lord sa’Eleniel leaned back against the seat, the cane tapping the floor for a moment. “Regardless, it is the queen’s will that will determine the outcome.”

“Which is why I am here. Someone has to make her see reason.”

“Dangerous words.”

“The queen is giving in to grief and affection. But she cannot afford to. Not now.”

“Nobody tells the queen what to do.” His tone suggested that he meant nobody sane at least.

“I am not telling her. I have a case to make.”

“If you are given an audience.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Her father shrugged.

“Father. Please. Do not interfere in this.”

His brows drew together. An uneasy feeling rose in my stomach. There had been a plot against the queen in the Fae Courts. Guy and Holly had helped uncover it, but I hadn’t heard that the queen had successfully hunted down all those who may have been involved. If Bryony’s father was counseling her against going to the queen, was it out of concern for her safety or was it because he was one of those who might desire a change in power in the Veiled World?

The collapse of the treaty might be enough impetus to power a strike against the queen. I didn’t know enough about Fae law, but maybe it would even give a reason for the court to bring a genuine grievance against the queen. If there were those who wanted someone else to rule the Fae, then this was an opportunity for them too.

I rubbed my forehead as my head began to ache. The whole thing was a mess and I didn’t see how anyone could find a solution to it. Maybe Fen’s visions were right and we were all doomed. Perhaps I should just stay here in the Veiled World, sheltered from whatever might come in the world outside. Even if the Blood did wrest power in the City, they would never be allowed to cross the borders of Summerdale. The Fae magics were too strong for that. The Blood could defeat the humans with sheer strength and viciousness, and they could probably sway the Beasts to their will as well, but the Fae had always been safe from them.

Then I remembered what Fen had said he had seen. Both Fae and humans kneeling to Ignatius. My stomach turned over again as the implications of that struck home for the first time. Could a Blood Lord rise that high?

No
.

I had to believe it wasn’t true. Maybe there would be a few Fae—those who’d made their lives with the humans, like Bryony—those who might fight and lose with us, who could be defeated, but the Fae as a race were too powerful to fall. Which was why we needed them. Needed the queen to come back and keep the peace that she’d defended all these years.

Grief, Bryony had said. I knew about grief. Knew the rage and pain that came from losing someone you cared about. I didn’t know if the queen had loved the Speaker, but it didn’t really matter. What mattered was that she moved past pain to see reason again. It had taken me years to get over Edwina’s death, not that I was reconciled to the fact even now.

We didn’t have years to convince the queen, and she had known the Speaker for far longer than the sixteen years of my sister’s life.

How much worse might the grief of centuries be?

And how the hell could we overcome it?

F
EN

* * *

The journey continued through the disconcerting, ever-changing landscape of the Veiled Lands. Bryony and her father lapsed back into silence after their somewhat heated conversation. Heated for them, at least. Nothing seemed to have been decided, but perhaps there was some other deeper thread of dialogue being carried beneath their words that the rest of us just wouldn’t recognize.

I had no idea where we were going or what we were supposed to do when we got there. I’d assumed that we would go straight to the Veiled Court when we arrived in Summerdale, but I should have known that things were never quite that simple when dealing with the Fae.

Just as I was deciding that I’d had enough and I was going to ask Bryony to explain what the hell was happening—protocol be damned—the coach made a swinging turn and the landscape around us changed again from a high and barren-looking moor to a leafy green avenue of trees that lined either side of the smooth white stone path beneath our wheels.

“Where are we?” I asked as the coach began to slow. I couldn’t quite see what lay ahead through the window, not without poking my head out, and I was reluctant to do that in a place so obviously steeped in magic. Who knew what might happen if I did? I might get turned into a frog, or something might just decide to lop it off altogether.

“This is the boundary to the sa’Eleniel territory,” Bryony said.

The coach halted and Lord sa’Eleniel opened the door and climbed down without a backward glance.

I stayed where I was. “I thought we were going to the court.”

“My father thinks it best if he presents me. Which means we are stopping here for a while first.”

“A while? How long is a while?” Saskia said, with an anxious flick of her hands, which I suspected was as close to disapproval as she was willing to show this deep in Fae territory.

“I know,” Bryony said. “Don’t worry,” she added as she gathered her skirts and prepared to climb down after her father.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Saskia muttered as Bryony left the coach.

She looked across at me. I shook my head at her. There was nothing that we could do, other than follow Bryony and see what happened. If we were no closer to the queen after another few hours, then it would be time to come up with another plan.

Chapter Twenty-one

F
EN

The
coach had halted in a courtyard similar to the one we had left. This one was semicircular, the cobbled drive a dark gray sweep against the grass on either side. The flat side of the semicircle was a house. Though “house” seemed too tame a word. It was massive. Bigger than the DuCaine mansion—and that was saying something.

We followed Bryony into the house, where a bevy of servants—I assumed that’s what they were—appeared and started fussing around her. Liam and Saskia and I stood in an awkward group watching the commotion.

Eventually Bryony extricated herself from the gaggle and joined us.

“Our rooms will be ready soon.”

“Rooms? How long are we going to be here?”

She gave me a quelling look. “Patience, Fen.” She made a little gesture when I started to protest, as though to say, “We can’t talk here.”

I held my tongue, deciding that waiting a little bit longer wouldn’t hurt. But I was determined to get the full story as soon as we were somewhere private.

The servants ushered us down long corridors, the walls painted with twining plants and flowers, and into a suite of rooms that had several bedrooms situated around a central living area. There was no ceiling on the central room, though it was richly furnished.

Was the sky that showed clearly above us just an illusion or did some other magic protect the furniture from the elements? I couldn’t feel a ward overhead but the general background level of magic here in the Veiled World was so strong, I didn’t know if I could sense a ward if there was one.

The servants left us at Bryony’s command. She closed the door and pressed her palm against it. I felt a flare of power and her hand twitched before she straightened and turned back to us.

“Are you going to tell us what’s going on now?” Liam said.

I turned to him in surprise. He’d stayed silent up until this point, stoically following orders. I hadn’t expected him to be the one demanding information. Even Templars had limits of patience, it seemed.

“Come sit down,” Bryony said. She pulled out a chair from the round table near the glass doors that led out to yet another garden.

We all obeyed, positioning ourselves around the table, watching Bryony expectantly.

There was a knock at the door and one of the ubiquitous servers entered after Bryony released the wards.

“My lady, there are healers here to see to your guest.” The servant didn’t look at me.

Beside me, Saskia stiffened and I moved my hand over hers briefly, ignoring the churn in my gut.

Bryony nodded. “Fen? Are you ready?”

I rose from my seat. I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t going to let the Fae see that. I made myself shrug. “No point putting it off.”

Bryony looked almost sympathetic but she nodded. “I’ll come with you.” She looked at Liam, sitting across from me. “Liam, do you wish to come too?”

Surprise flashed in Liam’s green eyes. “Me? There’s nothing wrong with me.”

“I know your arm has been treated at St. Giles,” Bryony said gently, “but the Fae here can sometimes do things that we can’t achieve in the City. If you wish, they will examine you.”

“Unless they can make my hand grow back, I’m not sure what good they can do.” Liam’s tone was light, but it held a thread of sudden hope that was almost painful to listen to.

“They can’t do that,” Bryony said. “But they can ease some of that other pain that you refuse to admit to.” She fixed him with a stern look. “Your missing hand hurts sometimes, doesn’t it?”

Liam’s expression turned stubborn. “I said I was fine.”

I was surprised at his defiance. I suspected that Liam had a slight crush on Bryony—he was unfailingly deferential to her and even more quiet than usual when he was in her company. A High Family Fae and a Templar was not a relationship fated to succeed, so I thought him wise to keep his feelings to himself. But for him to be refusing what Bryony offered now meant that he felt very strongly about it.

“Beside,” Liam added, “I’d rather not leave Miss Saskia alone in this place.”

“She’s perfectly safe here,” Bryony said.

“All the same.” Liam folded his arms across his chest, making it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere. “Thank you, but no. I have no need of the healers.”

Bryony sighed. “Very well. But remember, you only have to ask while we are here. Fen, we should go.”

I looked down at Saskia, wishing I could think of something to say to ease the worry in her eyes. “As you wish, Lady Bryony.”

“We shouldn’t be overly long,” Bryony said. “I’ll reseal the wards when I go. Please don’t go anywhere until I return.”

I wondered where she thought Saskia and Liam were likely to go, then wondered if she was actually worried about someone trying to take them while she was gone. Not the most cheerful thought I’d had.

Liam nodded. “We’ll be here.”

* * *

Bryony led the way through another confusing series of hallways. I tried to memorize our route, but there was something about the angles of the corridors that didn’t entirely make sense, as though the house itself was located in more than one place. Which may well have been possible here in Summerdale.

I stuck close to Bryony, who didn’t seem at all concerned by the house’s odd geography.

Another Fae woman was waiting for us when we finally reached our destination. Her nearly white blond hair was caught back from her face and piled high. It contrasted with the deep gold of her skin and ice blue eyes. From her coloring, I assumed she was no relation of Bryony’s.

Bryony halted at the sight of her and I nearly bumped into her from behind.

“Saffron sa’Namiel.” The words were almost a hiss.

The blonde smiled, but the expression in her eyes remained as icy as their color. “Lady Bryony.”

I saw Bryony stiffen slightly. “You are the healer the Seneschal has sent to us?”

“Yes,” Saffron said. Her eyes met mine for a second, then moved back to Bryony. I felt as though I’d been effectively dismissed. “This is the
hai’salai
I am to treat?”

“Examine,” Bryony corrected coolly. “He isn’t unwell.”

The blonde looked pained. “That remains to be seen. If you could ask him to remove the iron and place it in the receptacle provided”—she pointed at a box made of some dull gray metal that had been set just inside the doorway—“I will begin once it is not interfering with my power.”

Bryony made a soft noise that I thought was a stifled snort. But she didn’t say anything other than to ask me to remove the chain.

Did the iron really interfere as the blonde claimed or was this all just some sort of power game? After all, the Fae healers at St. Giles managed to work around iron. And to live in the City.

But maybe they had become acclimated to its presence. I was a half-breed and it took prolonged direct contact with my skin for iron to affect me. But all half-breeds are different. Holly, for example, had no problem with iron whatsoever. Lucky girl. Though if I had been completely immune to it, Lady only knew what I might use to control my visions, so perhaps my weakness was a good thing.

I took my time as I unfastened the chain and unwound it from my wrist. My skin burned and stung as it was laid bare. For once I couldn’t ignore the bruised and raw-looking state of it. The deep bruises staining my skin made me vaguely ill. I took a deep breath then another as I carried the chain across to the box. It was large enough for ten of my chains, but I simply placed it inside and closed the lid. Almost immediately images flared to life around the blonde’s head, though they were more indistinct than usual.

I stared at her, trying to work out what they were, as if I could focus them by mere concentration.

But as I focused, pain spiked into my head savagely. I winced and looked away.

“Fen?” Bryony said.

“Leave him,” Saffron said sharply. “This is what I need to see.”

I groped my way to a chair and sat abruptly as pain flared again. Gods, it was worse here than it had been back in the City. It felt as though someone was pressing a fiery knife through my right eyeball and up into my brain. The room swam greasily around me and I fought to breathe.

“Fen.” I felt Bryony’s hand on my shoulder. “You need to concentrate.”

“Get Saskia,” I grunted, gritting my teeth. If I couldn’t have my chain, then I needed something to control the pain. Or else I doubted I was going to stay conscious long enough for anyone to examine me.

“Who is Saskia?”

Saffron’s voice sounded closer now.

“The human metalmage,” Bryony said.

“And why does he want her? Are they lovers?”

Don’t answer that
, I thought desperately. Then I relaxed when I realized that Bryony didn’t know about Saskia and me.

“No,” Bryony said. “But her power somehow damps his.”

“That is . . . unusual for a human.”

That gave me pause. Did they mean that amongst the Fae there were those who could do what Saskia did?

“She is from an unusual family,” Bryony said dryly. “But perhaps you should attend to your patient rather than talking to me.”

Saffron made a skeptical noise. “I’m going to put my hands on you now,
hai’salai
,” she said. “Stay still.”

Easier said than done. The pain was still pulsating through me. I wanted to scream, but I clenched my teeth instead, digging my fingers into my thigh.

Cool hands touched my forehead. The pain didn’t recede, but it didn’t get any worse at least. “Interesting,” Saffron murmured. “Such a tangle. I—”

Whatever she had been about to say was cut off by a brisk knock at the door.

“Lady Bryony,” a voice said, “you have been summoned to attend the queen.”

* * *

Bryony at least allowed me to put my chain on before she hurried me back to the chamber where we’d left the others. The iron tamped the pain down to a bearable level, but still, I made a beeline for Saskia and took her hand.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking alarmed, her fingers tightening around mine. The rapid disappearance of the pain almost made me gasp.

“Nothing,” I managed.

“The queen has summoned us,” Bryony said. “We need to act quickly.” She looked us over critically. We’d all worn formal clothing for the trip to Summerdale, on the expectation of being able to see the queen as soon as we arrived, but after the hours of travel and waiting we were all a little rumpled.

Apparently Bryony didn’t think we had time to change; she frowned, then came over to each of us in turn and gestured sharply. The wrinkles fell out of our clothing.

I wished she could do the same for my brain. Saskia’s touched helped soothe me, but I was still drained after the pain and was not looking forward to this next stage of our journey. Plus, part of me was wondering exactly what Saffron had meant by “a tangle” and whether or not she might be able to cure me.

I’d resisted coming to Summerdale, but now that I was finally here, the idea of a cure for the pain of my visions was enticing. A normal life . . . one where I didn’t have to cripple myself with iron and alcohol. What might that be like?

I looked at Saskia, at the fingers twined through mine, and caught my breath again at just how much I wanted to believe that it might be a possibility. That maybe, just maybe, I could be whole. That I could be good enough for her.

Bryony finished with Liam and gestured for us to follow her. I expected that we would be going back to the courtyard and the carriage, but I should have known that things in the Veiled World wouldn’t work that way. Instead we went through the house and out into a formal garden, with rows of neat hedges that formed intricate patterns lining garden beds full of more odd flowers in a hundred shades of white.

In the center of the garden, bordered by four square knots of hedge, was a narrow gate that gleamed dull gold in the still, sullen light of the overcast sky.

Bryony led us up to the gate and then paused before it. “Once we pass through the gate we will be in the court,” she said, voice serious. “You will follow my lead and not speak unless the queen or I request you to, understand me? A wrong word might damage our case permanently. The queen’s mood is dark.”

I didn’t know how she knew this, but as if to underscore her point, a low rumble of thunder rolled around us. Saskia moved a little closer to me. I wasn’t going to argue with that. Bryony sighed as she inspected us one last time and then we went through the gate.

* * *

I held Saskia’s hand as I stepped underneath the metal gate, but as my foot hit the white marble beyond, I was alone. I whirled, but there was no gate to be seen behind me. Just a vast square of marble that stretched for what had to be a mile or more, fading into different landscapes on each of its four sides.

Where the hell were the others?

Damn the Fae and their tricks.

Maybe it was an illusion—a test.

Think, Fen
.

I lifted my right hand to reach into my pocket, where I’d tucked some charms, but as I did so I noticed that my chain had vanished.

Shit.

I braced myself for the wave of pain, but it didn’t come.

“I am blocking your pain.”