Page 28 of The Prince or the Bard?
Minutes later, the healers emerge at last. Their heads are lowered, their faces ashen as they lace their fingers together far more tightly than is necessary.
The lead healer draws himself up, looking for all the world like a lost little boy. He announces to the hall, “Our good queen has been imbibing a tonic said to increase the likelihood of her womb quickening with an heir. We believe the poison was contained within.”
The missing ladies-in-waiting. I knew it! No wonder Fiadh always dismissed me right after her luncheons!Oh, how I wishI could dash down these halls and drag those wicked High Fae ladies out by their hair!
“I’m afraid,” the healer continues, “that Her Majesty's condition is very grave. A team of healers shall remain at her bedside round the clock. Even though Her Majesty has ceased to imbibe this tonic, the poison has accumulated. It grieves me to say there is little we can do at this advanced stage but await the end.”
And then his announcement is over. The healers not on duty begin to leave. That’s it. That’s all.
Thiscan’tbe it.
Only one healer meets my eye as they file out, her own eyes brightening as she regards me. It’s not as though she knows me. Which can only mean one thing.
She has an idea.
“Tell me,” I say at the same moment she exclaims, “Essence of the sea!”
I blink back at her, astonished. A half breath later, the hall erupts into a cacophony of voices.
“Essence of the sea can aid in the healing of water fae!” the young healer shouts at them all. “As a shifter, our queen is of the sea as well as of the land.Yes,Pádraig, itcouldwork! Of course I haven’t lost my mind!”
The healers say many things then, mostly on top of one another. They call it a myth. They question how the magic of a sea court could possibly help the queen now, after ingesting so much poison for months. And even if it could save her, why would the sovereign sea fae agree to give it?
When I cannot get the healers to stop yelling over each other, I stick my fingers in my mouth and let loose the shrillest whistle I can. All eyes turn to me, filled with shock at this maid's audacity.
They'd best remember that's my family in there. And I'm not letting her go without a fight.
“It’s not a myth. I know it isn’t,” I tell them, holding each of their gazes as though their attention will slip through my fingers like the rain. “I can find it for Her Majesty.”
One of the healers shakes his head. “Collecting the essence of the sea would take too long. I fear the hour for our great queen’s demise is too close at hand.”
But I don't need to collect it, do I? Not when I can bargain for it.
“I know how to get it!” I call to the disbelieving healers from over my shoulder. I'm already racing down the hall.
I fly down the stairs, oblivious to their shouts, nearly colliding with other servants. I hear the clinking of soldiers' armor, but still do not stop. The moment my slippers hit the grass, I’m casting off my cloak and exchanging these seelie feet for hooves.
I can get there in time. I know I can.
“Laoise!” a faint voice calls from above. “Laoise, wait for me!”
But there is no time to lose. With a nicker of apology towards Ruairi, I tuck back the fins that line my neck and fetlocks, and shake the rain from my aqua scales and hair. Stamping my hooves once or twice to warm up my legs, I then turn my face to the wind.
I gallop toward the sea.
Chapter Fifteen
Salt. There is saltin the air.
I’m home.
My shins ache as my hooves drum against the rock. It has been hours since I could swim in the river, my speed in the water and the current aiding me as I drive toward this familiar cusp of the sea. I fear my knees will give out before I can plunge them into the healing waters.
I pass homes and villages I know, my heart longing for what cannot be. I long to see the faces of my parents and grandfather, and of my sister Unagh.
But I’ve already wasted time by coming to the undercourt I lived all my life in until last year; Fiadh’s home court was closer to the castle, but I do not know the sea fae there. Nor do I think they have the same level of trust for púcaí that the Moonray Court has for the people of my village.
If any sea fae will help me—help us—it'd be those of the Moonray Court, lying just offshore of Diarmuid's Row.
