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Chapter 9

SOME OF THE MEN WENT TO CLEAN UP OTHERS WENT TO AWAIT the police at the door to the sithen because they would never find their way in on their own The door ic could hold the door open for mortal step that had never crossed its threshold before When we had divided everyone up, we found eresomeone Onilwyn hadn&039;t been in the hallway He hadn&039;t gone with Rhys, so he hadn&039;t returned with hione He&039;d been Cel&039;s creature for centuries I did not like that he had goneIt one to tattle to his truetales to Cel in his prison cell

We threaded our way between the two bodies that were still waiting for the police When ere close to the large kitchen door, I heard shouting and barking Maggie May&039;s accent was thick because she was angry "You are a bla&039;guard, tree man, that you are Get out oftheir version of shouting right along with her

"I&039;ot to the door in time to see a cast-iron skillet the size of a sered him, and other pots and pans drove him to all fours Pans of copper and stainless steel flashed their polished brightness as they hit his body, but it was the deep black cast-iron skillets in their various sizes that were beating hiainst faeries for a very long time The sidhe ie May stood in her kitchen, surrounded by a storm of pots, pans, ladles, spoons, forks, and knives, like an evil ure as its centerpiece The ladles joined the attacks of the pots and pans Onilas now flat to the floor, arms over his head for protection Three faerie terriers were darting in and out to nip at hi had sunk teeth into his boot top and was trying to shake it to death

His sword lay on the floor by the large black stove If you&039;re going to attack a brownie never do it on their hoart," Galen said over the crashing of metal

I looked harder at her face All brownies have skull-like faces because they have no nose, just nostrils But if their faces look like evil grinning skulls, then they have gone evil - bogart Brownies can thresh a field of wheat in a single day, or build a barn overnight Think of that much power turned destructive, insanely destructive They still tell stories in a lonely part of Scotland border country of a laird who raped and irl He didn&039;t realize her family had been adopted by a brownie The laird and all his household were cut to pieces

Maggie May was not quite a bogart, but she orking up to it

"No," Doyle said, "not bogart, not yet, but we must find a way to distract her before the knives join the battle"

"Seearts are part of the sluagh, the evil host, not true Unseelie Court anyie deserved better, no matter how I felt about Onilwyn

Rhys shouted, "Maggie May, it&039;s Rhys! You sent for me, remember!"

The spoons swirled in to join the ladles, which left only the heavy iron forks, big enough to turn a side of beef, and the knives We were running out of ti I could think of that ie, what happened to upset you?"

The pots began to slow like a swirl of heavy snowflakes brought to rest by a gentle wind That wind laid them in neat lines on the heavy wooden table "What d&039; ye say?" she asked, and her voice was thick with suspicion

"I said, Aunt Maggie, what happened to upset you?"

She frowned at irl"

"You are randmother&039;s sister on ie"

She still looked unhappy, but nodded slowly, and said, "Aye, that be true But you are a princess of the sidhe, whatever your blood be or be not The sidhe donna acknowledge us"

"Why not?" I asked

She rubbed her hairy fingers across her nose-less face and frowned harder "Princess Meredith, ye needs be more careful of who you be talkin&039; in front of" She looked at Onilas getting painfully to his feet There was blood on his pale skin

"Yes, he is Cel&039;s creature But Cel knows my bloodlines"

"The sidhe know only what they wish to know about the blood that runs through their veins" As she calan to vanish Her voice was cultured and midwest, nowhere like a news anchor She&039;d cultivated that voice by talking on the phone to other faerie terrier fanciers across the country and the world You couldn&039;t get a new breed of terrier recognized by the American Kennel Club if no one could understand what you were saying to thee what I am," I said "It won&039;t make me one inch taller, or look one bit ie said, s her hands down her shapeless dress, "but it is not brownie blood that will put you on the throne"

I reached over to the big cast-iron skillet where it lay on the table I wrapped my hand around its cool metal handle It was inert under ing rip until I had the balance of it "But it&039;s brownie blood that helps me do this"

Her eyes narrowed at reed

Onilayed and collapsed back to his knees If he&039;d been human, he would probably have been dead

"What set you and your dogs on him?" I asked

Two of her terriers had corowled at Onilwyn I realized the dog wasn&039;t fat, she was pregnant The bitch was so full of puppies that she waddled when she finally went back to Maggie&039;s call

"Dulcie went to sniff his foot," Maggie said "She growled at hi hands balled into fists She see herself with effort "He kicked her, and her full of puppies He kickedin a s puppies One puppy wassat by the thin line of light of the curtains that covered the front of our hole The silky fur of the faerie terrier puppies and that alert dog is still an utterly vivid hteen months, didn&039;t remember My father and Barinthus had both been called away, so ie May The queen&039;s steward had coht&039;s banquet If the queen knew er be a haven for me

I&039;d crawled into the cupboard with the puppies and their entle with theie had told me once When the steward ca both me and the puppies The steward didn&039;t believe it hid just puppies, so he tried to peek and thebit him She protected her puppies and me

To this day the scent and feel of the terriers was a co to me I don&039;t knohat I would have said or done to Onilwyn about his behavior because he decided for me

Rhys and Galen both yelled, "Don&039;t!"

I sensed Doyle and othersOnilwyn as he raised his hand and called his ie May

I didn&039;t think, I just reacted My hand was still wrapped around the iron skillet I hit hith as I had in one ar as a full-blooded sidhe, or even brownie, but I can punch h a car door and not hurt er

Blood flew froht surprised scarlet spray He collapsed to his side,softly His nose looked like a squashed tomato, and there was so e I&039;d done to his face

There was a thick silence in the roodown by the fallen man "You really don&039;t like him, do you?"

"No," I said, and realized that the thought of letting Onilwyn touch me was repulsive He&039;d been one of my main tormentors when I was a child I still hated Cel and so but a sense of utter satisfaction at the ruin of Onilwyn&039;s face It wasn&039;t like he wouldn&039;t heal

The little terrier he had kicked ca She sniffed his blood, then sneezed sharply as if he s her feet into the floor, throwing blood into the air, a do went back to her s so the three of theie&039;s feet Maggie May was grinning at"Oh, ah, you be kin"

I nodded, and handed the bloodied skillet to her "Yes, yes, I ahter She wrapped her arht It surprised ht Here was so She hugged s for no reason, just because were nice, and lately I wasn&039;t getting enough of them

Chapter 10

A HIGH, RINGING SOUND CAME WE ALL LOOKED AROUND THE rooain It was as if the finest crystal goblet were being struck with , bell-like tone only the best crystalhis short sword "I left Crystall in charge outside with the police" He held the naked blade up before his face "You rang?"

Crystall&039;s face appeared dim and pale in the blade "Rhys, I a?" Rhys asked

"I think that we need someone here who is more conversant with modern police and modern politics"

Rhys shook his head "I didn&039;t ask what you needed I asked what&039;s wrong"

"As far as I can ascertain, the hue"

"In charge of what?"

"Everything," Crystall said "They seeahed "I&039;ll be there as soon as I can, Crystall"

"I am sorry, Rhys, but none of us here spend much time outside the land of faerie"

"It&039;s all right I&039;ll be there" Rhys wiped the blade clean with a movement of his hand He looked at Doyle "I didn&039;t think we needed someone more modern with the police; I should have"

"Do not apologize," Doyle said "Siave a bow and went for the door He walked paston the other side of the roo over Maggie May&039;s shoulder Movement The curtain under the sink, where I&039;d hidden as a child, fluttered Soer than a sh led with it I had assumed that someone had searched the area for the killer Had I assuie May with a squeeze, fighting to control my face and body I wanted to alert Doyle and the others without alerting whoever was hiding

Doyle was just beside iven myself away, by some hesitation or moveers He took the hint He stood mute before me and did not ask what I&039;d feared, not out loud With his dark eyes, he asked, What is wrong? But not out loud

I glanced, using only le I wanted but wasn&039;t certain he&039;d understand

He knelt by Onilwyn&039;sform and said, "Why did you leave us, Onilwyn? Why did you come ahead to the witnesses?"

The only ansas a soft, bubbling moan

Doyle positioned himself so he could see the sink area while he questioned the fallen ht not to look behind me

Doyle leaned in close to Onilwyn "Are you saying a brownie and a half-huht low?"

He n that I could see, but Galen called out, "Peasblosso, come out and talk to us" He walked around the table, and for a ht the two little fey had been the ones hidden under the sink and I was sio to the open cabinets above the sink area Mug, the pale blue fey that had co out froh and twittering like the song of birds ie&039;d forget us in her anger, Galen Green Knight"

He was by the the teacups"

"Unless she was bogart for good, she&039;d not bust up the good china No she wouldn&039;t!" Mug walked carefully out fros to flutter down to Galen&039;s shoulder I re now; she&039;d been a pet once of one sidhe or another But when her last ie had invited her into the kitchen, so she could earn an honest living and not have to cater to the whi ter had come to the kitchen about the time I left faerie Peasblossom, on the other hand, her I knew

I called to her, "Peasblossom, there&039;s no need to hide"

Frost had moved up on the other side of the sink fro aith the tiny blue fairy on his shoulder She&039;d cuddled close to his neck, hands as delicate as pale blue petals, stroking along the bareness of his ear Mug had a real "thing" for sidhe men I&039;d never asked, nor wanted to speculate, what pleasure she and her otten from each other She was s I did not need the visuals I was able to look at the at it Galen gave us all a reason to look in that direction

Frost said, "Come down, little one, so we may question you"

The tiny face scooted back a back into its hole Her voice was like the sighing of the wind, a delicate spring breeze that warmed the skin and made you believe that the flowers merely slept under the snow And were not dead Her voice brought a sla so sweet, Peasblossohtened," she said, as if that explained it

Maggie May translated, "When the demi-fey be scared, they use what defense they have"

"Their gla us all with narrowed eyes She knew so was up

"Come, little one," Frost called, and even extended a hand like you&039;d offer a perch to a bird

"I fear you, Killing Frost, as I fear the Darkness," the voice said fro the cups

"Do you fear me, Peasblossom?" I asked

Quiet for a moment, or two, then, "No, no, I do not fear you"

"Then come to me," I said, and held my hand out to show I preferred a less intimate perch for her

"You will protectFrost?" she asked

I fought the urge to sht off that pleasant sound Touching would make it harder still, but I wanted her away from the sink area She was a civilian, and if whatever was under the sink fought, I didn&039;t want any civvies in the line of fire

"Come, Peasblossom, I won&039;t let them hurt you"

"You promise?"

Doyle interrupted, "She cannot promise, for we do not know you are innocent"

"Innocent," she said, her voice rising with her fear, the wind clanging a chimes "Innocent of what, Darkness?"

He stayed kneeling by Onilho had not risen to bait or answered questions He was either that hurt or feigning "It is but a step fro to find a body that you put there"

I frowned at hiavehat he&039;d said

Peasblosso in terror, hysterical The illusionary as not ware

The teacups rattled with her frantic atteainst the back of the cabinet

I had to raise my voice to be certain she could hear me "I promise that neither Frost nor Doyle will harm you"

Doyle said, "Merry," as if I&039;d surprised him

Silence from the teacups, then in a very neutral voice, "You promise?"

"Yes," I said I didn&039;t think she was guilty of anything, but just in case, I&039;d promised only that Frost and Doyle would not harm her If she took that to iuards would harh and fey enough to split the difference with her and not feel guilty Every fey froames we all played To lose meant you were careless Your own dae of the shelf She was one of the rare demi-fey that had skin like a hu in waves around her face Only the delicate black lines of antennae ruined the perfect doll look That and the wings she flicked across her back

Her dress looked like it was forh when she stepped off the shelf the "leaves" lance from Doyle made me move farther away from the table, farther away frouards called, "Maggie May, could you come here for a moment?" I think if she hadn&039;t been suspicious, she&039;d have argued, but she let herself be called out of the line of danger

Peasblossole to follow me and put delicate feet on the pale&039;s had been, but her weight was like his, heaver than it should have been, as if there was s

Ivi and Hawthorne moved in front oftheir very bodies as shields to keep me safe I could not protest

Ivi whispered, "I hope I get to fuck you before you get me killed" Hawthorne smacked him in the chest with his mailed fist

He in

Peasblosso wordlessly and in terror

Such a s, but what they yelled was lost to Peasblossouard kept me safe, but also hid the action fro, and could only trust that nothing too bad was happening I took it as a good sign that the guards were stillin front of me and didn&039;t feel the need to hide s weren&039;t deadly, yet

Peasblossoht next to rab her and stop the screas, and with Beatrice&039;s death, I was no longer certain ould and would not heal on the lesser fey

I put my hand between her andprickedand started apologizing Apparently I&039;d caught ertip held a minute spot of blood

Doyle&039;s deep voice cut off Peasblosso frohfrom him"

I tried to peer around Adair and Hawthorne, but when I tried tome safe

I called, "Doyle, is it safe?"

"Hawthorne, Adair, let the princess see our prisoner"

"Prisoner?" the rough voice said "Princess, there&039;s no need for that" There was souely fauards ure Frost and Galen held between them He was a hob, a relative to the brownie

Harry Hob, he&039;d worked in the kitchens off and on for years Off when Maggie May caught him drunk on the job, on when he could control himself He was only about three feet tall and covered in so much thick, dark hair that it took a minute to realize he was naked

"Why are you afraid of Onilwyn?" Doyle asked

"I thought he&039;d come to kill me, the way he killed ot to let it out

"Did you see him do it?" Doyle asked His deep voice fell into the silence like a stone throell We waited for the stone to hit bottom

But it was Onilwyn&039;s voice that came first "I did not" His voice was thick, not with emotion, but with blood and the broken h to kill her" He struggled to his feet, and with no pro from anyone, Adair and Amatheon took his arms, as if he were already a prisoner In that moment I kneasn&039;t the only one who disliked Onilwyn

He kept protesting his innocence in that same thick voice that sounded like he had a very bad head cold, but I kneas his own blood he was choking on

"Silence!" Doyle said, not a yell, but his voice carried all the same

Onilas silent for a moment, until Harry Hob said, "I saw"