Page 3 of Within the Flames
"I should talk to Malan, maybe he knows where I can find a lampad."
"According to the legends, they're in the Underworld, but let's hope that's just a myth," Flint said weakly.
Macey grimaced. "Yes, let's hope so. I don't have the time to walk through Hell like Dante."
She gave Flint a kiss and headed back into the living room where her other men were waiting together with a whole lot of other people. Representatives of the various allies, she assumed. Malan was hovering in one corner, talking to an old kabouter whose beard was touching the floor. She walked towards them, nodding and smiling at the kelpies and na fir ghorma who were all crowded into the small room. She doubted Malan had ever had this many guests before.
She cleared her throat when she'd reached the prophet. He turned and grinned at her.
"I assume you're wanting to save your man?"
"Ehm, yes." She looked at the kabouter who hastily left. "What do you know about lampads?"
"Oh, the daughters of Nyx, good thinking."
"Nyx?"
"The Goddess of the Night. She brings the darkness, so her daughters carry torches to help travellers reach their mother. I met one once, a long time ago. She was excellent at bringing an extinguished torch back to life."
He winked and Macey cringed. He didn't mean what she thought he did, right? That was disgusting.
"Where did you meet her?" she asked quickly.
"At a bar in London. We went to a Shakespeare play later... She was quite taken by young Will."
"Wait, you met Shakespeare?"
He chuckled. "I'm older than I look. Now let me see if I can give you a confusing and mysterious prophecy."
She stared at him. Did he really just say that?
"How about direct and helpful advice?" she asked, and he laughed again.
"Maybe I'm feeling nice today... or maybe I just want to get rid of all these people beleaguering my house." He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, his pupils were enlarged and glowing around the edges. "You don't have to go to Greece. There's a lampad couple who might be able to help. I can't see where exactly they are. Somewhere underground, but it's not natural. It's a building that's underground. And it's in a city."
Macey waited for him to continue, but he didn't say anything more.
"So that's you being direct?" she asked in exasperation. "How is that supposed to help? There are thousands of cities on this planet, and I bet most of them have some kind of underground buildings. I can't very well search every parking garage in the world."
Malan smiled patiently. "No, you couldn't. You're very lucky you have an extremely talented prophet at your disposal."
Macey couldn't help but roll her eyes. Talented, maybe, but not very forthcoming with information. She stayed quiet though, letting him do his prophet thing. His eyes were still glowing slightly.
"The city has towers..."
This time, Macey sighed. Of course it did, just like every second bleeding city.
"By the watery waves, could you please just give me some directions?"
Malan frowned. "Patience, young kelpie. Oh, I can see waffles in your future... no, let's not get distracted. As I said, towers. No, one tower. The Tower. Of London. And it's not a building that's underground."
"It's the tube," Macey helpfully supplied. "The underground railway. You do know that the tube network is massive? Do those lampads ride the trains all day? Or what are they doing down there?"
Malan grinned. "That's for you to find out. Just follow your nose."
"Really? That's it?" Macey was getting annoyed. She hoped her hair wasn't changing colour. There were other kelpies in the room and it would be bad form to show how she didn't have her temper under control. She was their Princess, after all.
"Yes, now go while I try and entertain all these masses." He looked around with a smirk. "Bring some food with you on the way back. Everyone will be hungry by then."
