Changeling Illusion (Thirteen Realms Book 3) Read online

  “I ate at the palace,” Kyrrim said, but I shoved a chip at him anyway. Who could resist the smell of hot chips?

  He frowned as he ate it. “Needs more salt.”

  I rolled my eyes, but reached for the salt shaker and sprinkled a liberal helping of salt over the food. “Better?”

  He snagged another one and chewed, then nodded approvingly.

  “Better leave some of those for her,” Willow said. “She gets feral when she’s hungry.”

  “Your friend doesn’t scare me,” he said, unbending a little. Maybe he would actually relax for once. “I know all her ticklish spots.”

  “For God’s sake,” Willow said, pretending disgust. “Some of us are trying to eat here.”

  “I’m going to end up eating half of this anyway,” he said to me, indicating the mountain of food on my plate. “You’re never going to be able to finish it all on your own.” Servings at The Drunken Irishman were always generous, and laced with a little touch of fae magic that kept the customers coming back for more.

  “Want to bet?”

  “A little thing like you?” He scoffed, clearly not believing me.

  “Trust me, it takes a lot of food to power a body this amazing.”

  His severe expression bloomed into a smile as he leaned closer. “You won’t get any argument from me on how amazing you are.”

  I smiled back and dropped my gaze to my plate. Silence fell as we all focused on our meals for a while—or as much silence as was possible in the middle of a busy pub. AC/DC had been replaced by Queen, another of Randall’s favourites, and the place was almost full now. Kyrrim wouldn’t have found a spare chair if he’d arrived much later.

  Or maybe he would have. I often suspected he was nudging things with his magic. His iron ward must be truly excellent, as he never seemed to feel the ill effects of using magic in this iron-laden mortal world the way someone like Willow did.

  Involuntarily, I glanced at the silver ring on my own hand, a new addition since I’d come into my own magic. It had belonged to Kyrrim’s grandmother, and he had all but forced it on me when we first discovered I was fae and needed protection from the poisonous atmosphere of the human world. I stroked my thumb across the delicate engraving on the ring. I’d thought myself human long enough to have an appreciation for rings and their significance as a gift between lovers. I didn’t know exactly what he was promising with the gift of this particular ring, but he’d been most insistent that I keep it, and it had come straight from his hand to mine. That had to mean something.

  I had to remember, though, that I was fae, and as long as Kellith didn’t succeed in bumping me off, I could expect a long lifespan. There was no need to rush into anything, or force something that wasn’t there between us. It was enough for now to enjoy his company. It gave me immense pleasure to watch him interacting with my friends, seeing how quickly they had accepted him as one of us. This was a new experience for me, as they had never approved of any of my previous boyfriends.

  Once we’d all taken the edge off our hunger, conversation resumed. With Atinna here, of course, we couldn’t talk about any of the pressing concerns that loomed large in my mind. But maybe that was a good thing. I felt myself relaxing more and more as time wore on and we kept the conversation light. Rowan raved about a movie he’d seen recently, and Atinna asked lots of questions about the band. It was good to pretend, at least for a moment, that such things were our only concerns, to have a break from the drama that our lives had become lately.

  Atinna helped herself to a chip from Rowan’s plate and pulled a face. “You were right,” she said to Kyrrim, “they do need more salt.” She stretched across the table to reach the salt shaker, which was still sitting beside my plate. Her hand hovered for the barest instant over my food as she did so, and the large ruby of her ring caught my eye.

  In a move that made me almost jump out of my skin in shock, Kyrrim’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Time seemed to stop as her gaze met his, full of calculation. Rowan’s burger paused halfway to his mouth, his eyes wide with surprise.

  “What are you playing at?” Kyrrim growled at her. “Who sent you?”

  Suddenly, all was chaos. With her free hand, she flipped the table, sending plates and glasses smashing to the floor. With the surprise her move gained her, she twisted herself free of Kyrrim’s grip and fled towards the door.

  Kyrrim leapt up with a roar of rage, drawing Ecfirrith in the same movement. He plunged after her. “Stop her!”

  But the crowd seemed disinclined to get involved, stepping out of her way rather than trying to halt her flight. Only Tony, Randall’s son, moved forward from his position at the door, a determined look on his broad face. Like his father, he was part-troll, and even in his human guise he was nearly seven feet tall and built like a truck. Atinna’s slight figure stood no chance against him.

  “Be careful,” Kyrrim shouted, “she has a poisoned ring.”

  “No swords in here!” Randall roared from behind the bar, but he may as well have saved his breath, as Kyrrim didn’t slow down or sheathe the sword. There were a few screams as people scrambled to get out of his way.

  Tony moved to block the door, but the woman running toward him didn’t falter. She lashed a blast of icy cold air at him, and his hair suddenly sparkled with ice in the dim light. I was already running after Kyrrim, but behind me, I heard a sudden gasp of indrawn breath from one of the others. It wasn’t done to display magic, even here, where so many of the patrons were fae. There were still plenty of humans inside the bar, people who had no notion that magic was real, and it would be better if their ignorance on that point was preserved.

  But Atinna wasn’t holding back. Her Winter magic made no difference to Tony. Rocks didn’t feel the cold, and trolls weren’t much different. She tried to dodge past him, but there was barely anywhere to dodge. He filled almost the whole doorway on his own. He was clearly determined to keep her trapped until Kyrrim and his sword arrived on the scene.

  She cast a wild look over her shoulder and found the knight almost upon her. So she dodged aside and threw her magic at the big front windows instead.

  In an instant, cracks formed, as the glass was suddenly exposed to below-freezing temperatures. In her magic’s wake, she leapt, right leg raised in a kick. She slammed through the window and landed in a tinkle of glass on the pavement outside, rolling to protect herself with the agility of a seasoned pro and coming smoothly to her feet. She took off down the street while the rest of us were still struggling to grasp what had just happened.

  Tony and Kyrrim rushed out into the street, and Kyrrim gave chase, but he was soon back, shaking his head. I met him outside the door.

  “No sign of her,” he said, his face dark. “She must have gated away immediately.”

  “Who the hell was that?” Tony asked, scratching his big head in puzzlement.

  “Good question.” Kyrrim’s hard gaze settled on Rowan, who was bunched up in the doorway with Sage and Willow. “Who was she, Rowan?”

  My friends joined us in the street. The crowd of onlookers who threatened to follow thought better of it when Kyrrim scowled at them, deciding it might be safer to stay inside. Only Randall came out to inspect the damage to his windows.

  “I only met her once before,” Rowan said, a little horrified to be on the receiving end of Kyrrim’s glare. At least the knight had sheathed his sword again. “I thought she was just a fan, you know? Girls love musicians.”

  “I thought she was someone you knew,” Kyrrim raged at him. “How could you bring a stranger into Allegra’s orbit now? Are you completely stupid?”

  “There’s a popular rumour going around to that effect,” Willow said. Neither man paid her any attention.

  “Now he’s going to say I told you so, isn’t he?” Sage said.

  “The rest of you are no better.” Kyrrim’s glittering gaze raked us all. Even Tony and Randall, who were completely blameless in whatever he was accusing us of, looked reflexively gu
ilty. “Going out in public as if you didn’t just get attacked by the Night Vipers. Who do you think that woman was working for? She was one of them, and all she had to do was smile at Stupid here and you all accepted her without question. Clearly, there’s only one thing to be done.”

  “What’s that?” Willow asked coolly, the only one apparently not shaken by his tirade.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  9

  We didn’t go far. Kyrrim marched us down the street and into an alley that I remembered quite well. It was here that I had opened my very first gate into the Wilds, my first use of the king’s generous gift to me, a lowly changeling. Back when I still believed that I had no magic of my own and that I was a changeling.

  But we were opening no gates into the Wilds tonight. Kyrrim and his magic sword were like an express ticket to anywhere you wanted to go. There was no following the shifting paths of the Greenways through dangerous territory with him around—all that it took was a few slashes of Ecfirrith through the air and bingo! You could be anywhere in either world that you wanted to be.

  Tight-lipped, he led us all through the gate onto the now-familiar path leading to the castle on the hill. The others looked around with interest, since this was their first visit. It was dark, so we couldn’t see any rainbow drakes playing above the lake, but my friends weren’t stupid.

  “Arlo, I presume?” Willow asked.

  “Yes,” I said, in no mood to be expansive. Yet another attempt had just been made on my life. How many more of these could I hope to live through? I glanced at Kyrrim as a sudden thought occurred to me. “I suppose she was trying to kill me? Not you? You were eating from my plate, too.”

  “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” he said.

  He strode off up the road towards the castle, so we followed. I’d spent so much time here lately that it was starting to feel like a second home.

  “Um, Kyrrim?” Rowan sounded as if he was afraid the knight would bite his head off if he spoke. “What exactly are we doing here?”

  “Parking you people somewhere that you can’t get into any more trouble,” he threw over his shoulder. Man, that was one grumpy Hawk.

  “For how long?”

  “As long as it takes.”

  Rowan and Willow exchanged looks. “But the band—” Rowan began.

  “Doesn’t matter in the slightest,” Kyrrim said, before he could finish. “All that matters is keeping you idiots alive. With or without your cooperation.”

  We arrived at the gate and walked straight in, since there was no need for guards here. The island was a fortress, and Kyrrim the only key.

  “So we’re prisoners?” Willow’s voice was incredulous. “Are you serious?”

  Kyrrim ran lightly up the front steps and opened the door, not even bothering to reply.

  She glared at him. “You can’t keep us here against our wills.”

  Kyrrim sighed, sounding exhausted all of a sudden, and I felt a twinge of guilt at the worry I was causing him. “You can see it like that if you wish. Or you can see it as a chance to help right a terrible wrong and keep yourselves alive into the bargain. Your choice.”

  He pushed open the door and gestured us inside. We filed in and found some other people at last. Grindel and another man were crossing the foyer. They looked up in surprise at the sound of the door opening.

  “Sir Knight! My lady.” That was meant for me, of course. I managed to control my flinch, but only just. “We weren’t expecting you back so soon.”

  Kyrrim took charge at once. “I hope you can find bedrooms for these other guests, too?”

  “Of course.”

  “Is Raven here?”

  A new voice answered from the top of the staircase. “I am, indeed. And I see you’ve got some friends with you.” He hurried down the stairs, elegant in a blue velvet doublet over dark pants. He looked like he’d just been on his way to dinner at Court.

  “I hope we’re not interrupting anything?” I said.

  “If you were, it would be the most welcome of interruptions. Please introduce me to your friends. The Lady Willow I already know, of course.” He bowed low to Willow, who gave him a perfunctory nod.

  “Hi, Bran,” she said, as if deliberately trying to be as informal as possible to balance out his excess of manners.

  “This is Raven,” I said to Sage and Rowan.

  Sage looked at him with open hostility. “The guy who kidnapped you?”

  “The arsehole who destroyed my garage?” Rowan added, in tones of outrage.

  Raven bowed a little mockingly to them both. “The very same.” He looked at me enquiringly until I remembered my manners.

  “And this is Sage and Rowan,” I added.

  “Lovely to meet you both,” he said, a wicked gleam in his eye.

  Rowan frowned. “I wish I could say the same, but that was a jerk move, blowing up my garage.”

  “I will, of course, pay in full for the damage I caused.”

  Only partially mollified, Rowan huffed, “You couldn’t have found a less destructive way to warn her?”

  “I shall be sure to consider all the options most carefully next time I have to save your friend from imminent death.”

  Willow rolled her eyes. “It seems we’re going to be staying here a while.”

  Raven grinned. “Excellent! We can all get to know one another. I’m sure we’ll be buddies in no time.”

  Rowan muttered something about dead bodies, but everyone chose to ignore him.

  “Come and join me in the dining room. I was just about to have my midnight meal. And that will give Grindel a chance to prepare your rooms.” He nodded at Grindel, who took the hint and disappeared towards the servants’ quarters.

  We followed him down the corridor to the dining room, where he settled everyone at the table while servants brought extra place settings. My stomach reminded me that my last meal had been interrupted, and I settled down to enjoy the food and tried not to think about the fact that that interruption had saved me from an assassin yet again.

  “Was this really necessary?” I muttered to Kyrrim, once everyone had been served and the general chatter masked our conversation somewhat. “They could have stayed at Willow’s sith.”

  “Could have, certainly. But would they?” Fury darkened his golden eyes again. “I can’t believe you went to The Drunken Irishman. The only way you could have made it easier for the assassins to find you was if you had stood outside the gates of Whitehaven and yelled, ‘Come and get me.’ What were you thinking?”

  I sighed. Willow had seemed so sure when she said that the Night Vipers wouldn’t be lurking in wait for us. But I didn’t want to pin the blame on her and put her in the firing line.

  “I guess it was stupid.”

  He snorted, but I powered on.

  “But we didn’t think it would be a problem. And I don’t want to spend my life hiding.”

  He caressed my hand under the table. “And I don’t want to spend mine regretting that I didn’t do enough to save you. Please, Allegra, I’m begging you. Take this seriously.”

  “I do, I promise you. But you can’t save me from life. I won’t be locked away and guarded like dragon’s gold. I have things I need to do—and so do you. You already have a full-time job protecting the king. You can’t protect me, too.”

  His face darkened with frustration, but it was the truth. “I can’t lose you.”

  I squeezed his hand. “You won’t.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment, then blew out a defeated sigh. “Will you at least stay on Arlo for now?”

  “Well, the king did want me to talk to Eldric and—”

  “I think we can come up with a better plan.” He raised his voice. “Rowan.”

  “Yes?” Rowan was seated on the other side of the table, in between Willow and Sage. There was a wariness in his expression, as if he didn’t quite trust Kyrrim not to bite.

  “You’ve just been elected for the job of visiting Eldri
c and explaining to him that he is providing a feast for half of the kingdom. As soon as possible.”

  Rowan’s eyes widened. “Elected? I didn’t get a vote.”

  “It wasn’t that kind of election,” Kyrrim replied smoothly.

  “But … but I left the Realms to get away from all that political stuff. I’m just a drummer. I don’t do Lords.”

  “No one is asking you to do him,” Sage said. “Just to go see him. What’s the problem? Autumn is your home away from home. You visit there all the time.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t go visiting Lord Eldric.” He looked around for support, but found none.

  “Come on, Rowan,” Willow said. “You’d be perfect for the job. Just because you do visit Autumn all the time.”

  “That’s right.” Kyrrim nodded. “If the king sends a messenger from the palace, tongues will wag. Our enemies will know something is going on. But there is nothing more natural than a son of Autumn returning home for a visit. And if you go, Allegra can stay safe here, where the Night Vipers can’t reach her.”

  Rowan sighed, clearly seeing the sense in Kyrrim’s argument. “All right, then. But you have to tell me what to say. Won’t Eldric think it’s odd that the request doesn’t come from the king?”

  “That’s easy,” Raven said. “I’m sure we can get you something signed by the king. Eldric will understand why the king doesn’t wish to be seen initiating a memorial for Illusion, considering his ties with Summer. And it’s not Lord Eldric’s place to question the king’s wishes, anyway.”

  “So I’ll just be the messenger boy?” Rowan looked relieved.

  “Sure,” Raven said. “It’ll be easy. I could do it myself.”

  “No!” Willow and Kyrrim said in unison.

  Raven feigned a look of hurt, putting his hand dramatically to his heart. “What? I’m good at running messages.”

  “You’re good at causing trouble, you mean,” Willow snapped. “Your little kidnapping stunt has put you on Kellith’s radar. They’ll be watching you.”