The Earl's Childe (7 page)

More approval from Tom gave me the strength to stand a little straighter.

“And would you command him to do whatever is necessary to protect the Seelie stronghold?” Lord Cadmus fixed me with one of his stares, which gave me yucky goosebumps all over.

I didn't exactly like the wording on that, either, and everyone was still staring at me. In a part of my brain used to a totally different reality, I remembered having to stand up to Danicia, the ringleader of all the girls who would pick on my best girlfriend, Joli, and me. Or standing in front of the teachers after they broke up a fight I was in, or when I was in the office for fighting to defend my friend and me. I hated the way I felt at those times, but I got through it all.

“I would command him to be protective as necessary, to the extent that was necessary.”

I felt Tom's approval in my head again, but also a sense of caution. As if I couldn't guess the caution bit from how Lord Cadmus narrowed his eyes at me. “And how would you define what is necessary and to what extent?”

My heart was hammering all the way up to my throat. I had to swallow several times, words spinning in my head, the hum of ideas from Tom in my head, everything I'd read in my mum's books on faerie in my head. After I swallowed enough spit so I wouldn't choke, I put the words together to make a question. “How would
you
define what you're asking m-me to command him to do t-to protect the Seelie stronghold?”

Lord Cadmus and Lady Fana looked at each other, then at me. Lady Fana said, “To the extent of being our sworn ally, should our stronghold come under attack from one who would seek to harm all of us, human and faerie.”

“And what does that mean?” I was quite proud of myself for not rolling my eyes at the utter lack of definition that was going on.

“It means you would vow allegiance on behalf of your family to aid us if we go into battle, and in return, we would share our resources to protect you from harm from this same enemy. Are you willing to do so?”

Um, I don't think so
was my first thought, but I was already working to keep my thoughts hidden and avoiding eye contact with, well,
any
of the daoine síth. They could really mess with your head—way worse than Tom or Ehrwnmyr could—if you looked them in the eye. I didn't know what else to say, though, and I felt like…pillows were in my brain, keeping me from thinking. Tom's voice in my head “sounded” too far away to hear clearly anymore.

I glanced back at him, but only sensed him looking at me sidelong. Every muscle was tense, still, even in his tail, which bristled.

And I could
feel
how hard Lady Fana and Lord Cadmus were staring at me.

This was a very important answer for me to furnish, and it would have a whole lot of weight for both of us. I could
feel
that, too.

There was no way, no way at all, that I was ready to answer this kind of question.

I took a deep breath and did my best to buy time to talk to people more qualified to answer this—my parents. “Lady Fana, Lord Cadmus.” I made a respectful inclination to each as I said their name. “I'm honored that you'd ask me to strengthen the ties between my family and the faerie, but while I've been chosen to be the liaison, I'm still…underage by human standards. I need to consult with my parents on something this important for all of us. Would you permit me the time to do that?”

“Will Lord Calbraith await our answer any further?” asked a sour-voiced daoine síth, a male dressed in myrtle green and summer yellow. “Or will he simply act against us if we do not respond to his request for what he claims to be his entitled lands?”

Lord Cadmus sneered at him. “That would be a poorly played move on his part, to take action
out of turn
like that…” As much as I wasn't fond of Lord Cadmus, I couldn't help but mentally cheer his burn of the other daoine síth, who, for his part, withered just a little. “If he dares do so, we would be assured support from higher courts and,” he glanced at me, “likely our neighbors. Calbraith is Unseelie, hot-headed, and yes, very dangerous, but he is not stupid.”

Soft murmurs broke out among the other fae in the clearing. Lord Cadmus and Lady Fana allowed them to continue for a few moments.

After a glance at his wife, who nodded, Lord Cadmus looked at me and continued, “Go to your parents, tell them everything you've seen and heard here, and return to us with your family's response by tomorrow sundown. Tom can lead you back to us.”

Lady Fana scanned the circle of faerie around us. “We will meet again tomorrow evening and make our decision. Until that time, go in peace to your respective clans, but be prepared if we must defend our lands.”

My heart was still hammering, trying to take in all this information, when I felt Tom take my hand. He nodded for me to follow him. When it was clear to Tom, who could hear better than I, that we were out of earshot, he said, “Well done. For anyone, not just for a human who supposedly finds subtle cues confusing.”

When I saw the smirk on his face, I couldn't quite muster a glare at him, but I did take my hand away. “Explain something to me…”

“That depends what it is.” The smirk fell off his face, and he eyed me warily.

“I'm not gonna ask about that other cat, if that's what you're worried about.” He said nothing, but I saw relief creep over his face. I continued, “If they weren't expecting I was going to come, why did it seem like they had been, there at the end? That they needed me to be there? I mean, they were including Ermie in their plans.”

Tom frowned. “I noticed that, too, but I haven't an answer for you.” He sighed. “Had it been something else, I might consider they were trying to catch my interest by hiding things. But my job, my
only
job, for them is to be a contact for you.” He scowled. I picked up a hint of hurt in his voice and felt him become more guarded, even as he adjusted the topic. “So, I don't know why they may or may not have wanted you there and what game they are playing with that. Obviously, they want you to swear allegiance so they can use the kelpie, which would be a formidable foe against an Unseelie daoine síth lord.”

I paused, considering. “If I hadn't been there, would they have found a way to take Ermie and use him anyway?”

Tom thought a moment. “If there were a blatant attack, you'd be pushed into the conflict and not have time to think upon the parameters of joining forces with them.”

“That makes sense, then.” I glared behind us.

“Who was the sweet little human who said faerie were too complicated for her to understand?”

I answered with the only appropriate response I could think of—I stuck my tongue out at the cat fey with a
pththt
.

He chuckled.

“What's with them wanting to use Ermie, anyway? I mean, yeah, he's big and scary, but he eats humans, not faerie, right? And what's the big deal about this one Unseelie in the first place?”

“First, no Unseelie lord would travel alone. I'm sure he has a contingent with him who would fight. Second, Lord Cadmus is nervous, so he
knows
what we're up against, and if
he's
nervous, there's probably good reason for us to be outright frightened. Lastly, a kelpie is a powerful ally against other faerie; they are immune to nearly all fey magick.”

“Ooooh!” That explained a lot. “Why can't you answer all my questions that simply?”

Tom smirked again and mimicked my
plththt
. “I'm a cat.”

“You're a big pain in the butt is what you are.” As we walked, the scenery around me seemed to be blurring, and the ground seemed less solid beneath my feet. I could smell Mum's coffee and old books more strongly than the earth and trees.

Before the vision disappeared, I saw Tom nod, but I only heard him in my head.
As I said, I am a cat
.

I looked down in my lap as he stood and stretched his way to the floor, shaking each of his back paws. I picked Mum's book up and brushed off the stray cat hair that had landed on it.

I'll come by tomorrow, sundown, and we will move on from there
. I felt his sigh more than I saw or heard it as he led me back upstairs.
I suppose we'll have to bring your parents. Hopefully your father can contain himself
.

I glared at Tom.
Don't talk like that about my dad! He's just worried for us, and obviously, after the meeting tonight, he's got good reason to be!

The cat chuffed a
hmph
as he padded back to my window, tail swishing impatiently as he waited for me to open it.

Still glaring, because he was refusing to apologize—yes, I knew he was a cat, but still!—I opened the window and watched him balance along the sill until he reached an azalea bush that grew between my window and my parent's window, where I saw the shaking of branches as he climbed down.

I shivered from the night air, so I closed my window quickly. Seeing the pile of salt I'd brushed aside, I bit my lip, but then re-spread it back along my sill, making sure there were no breaks in the line.

CHAPTER

4

Getting my parents, well, Dad, involved…and the disastrous aftereffects
.

Of course, I overslept after a night like the one I'd had. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one. As I was leaving the kitchen, scone in hand and wiping a milk mustache from my face, I saw the blur of Mum leaving her office, juggling keys, her cell phone, and a travel mug of coffee.

I had a mission. The more I thought about it, the more I figured I probably,
definitely
, should have at least gotten Mum up last night to drag her on that astral projection trip. But I don't think I could have done that without waking Dad, and bringing Dad would probably not have been the best idea. No matter how much I defended him to Tom.

“Mum, do you have a minute?” I asked.

Biting her lip, Mum looked at me. “Is it something quick? I have to pick up Lily and hit the tack shop before heading out to Edinburgh to pick up David.” David Myers was one of the visiting coaches who'd be training us at this year's horse camp. He had coached the U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team. Mum was just about star-struck that he'd decided to come all the way to Scotland for
her
camp, even though, over here, nothing else existed like her camp.

“Not really, but it's important.”

Her lips compressed into a pained line. “Can it wait till I get—”

Her phone erupted into the theme song for
The Professor
, the show she was writing for when she met my dad. “Hello? Krissy, Hi! How are you?”

Coach Krissy was one of our usual trainers. She was coming up from London, where she worked in the Royal Mews. She'd actually been the one to introduce Princess Maryan to Mum.

Mum immediately mouthed a short line of cuss words, but didn't lose her happy tone as she said, “Oh, no problem at all. I'm heading out to Edinburgh to pick up David today, anyway. Of course I can fit you in the car, too. Your luggage should fit fine with his.” (Silent cuss-cuss-cuss. Stuck watching her, I paid attention, as some words would surely end up being useful at school.) “Wonderful! I'll see you in…say, give me an hour or so? Depending on traffic?” She walked by me, mouthing a “Sorry, one sec!” and headed to Ginny's office down the hall. “Awesome. See you then!” She tapped the screen of her phone while making a face, and then knocked on Ginny's doorframe.

“What can I do for you, Aimee?” Ginny was Mum and Dad's super-assistant. She was about the same age as my oldest sister, Rose, the daughter Dad adopted before he and Mum started dating.

“Ginny, can I please use your car? Krissy just called, and she had an appointment in Edinburgh and asked if it would be terribly inconvenient if she was here a day early.”

“And you told her that, of course, it wouldn't?” teased Ginny. “And there's no way you can fit them and their luggage in Michael's wee thing, and your truck's not exactly road legal in this country.” I heard the jingle of keys being thrown and caught.

“Have I told you how much I love you, Ginny?” My mum blew her a dramatic kiss. I would roll my eyes if I didn't know how much of an organizational wreck my parents' lives would be without Ginny. “I'll bring her back with a full tank.”

“Oh, Aimee, would you like me to ring Shari and see if she can drop Lily off here before her shift, or if it's okay that Lily stays at their house until you return?” I could hear Ginny barely concealing a little chuckle. Shari, mum of Jenna and Sarah Beth, lived in the village and was a nurse's aide in the next village over at Eyemouth Day Hospital.

“Crap. Yes! Please. Thank you, Ginny!”

Mum stopped in front of me in the hallway, tucked her coffee mug in the crook of her elbow and shifted keys and phone to one hand, then put the other on my shoulder. “Is anyone going to die or get seriously hurt or anything like that in the time from when I will be gone to when I get back?”