Page 4 of Skulk of Foxes
‘I don’t remember anything about that.’
‘Because you’ve got amnesia.’
‘Yes!’
Mulroney shook his head sadly. ‘I thought you were going to help us, Madrona. Instead, you’re just being obstructive. As soon as the doctors agree that you’re well enough to be released, which I believe will be very soon, you will be arrested on suspicion of murder and serious public affray. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.’
I did my best to look crestfallen but it wasn’t easy. This was what I wanted. Being locked up in prison meant that the sphere would also be locked up in an evidence room somewhere so that Rubus couldn’t get his grubby hands on it. The world was lucky that I was such a self-sacrificing person.
I just hoped that prison food was going to be palatable. I’d keep my fingers crossed for kebabs.
Chapter Two
Part of me expected to be shoved into an orange jumpsuit after a brisk cavity search and then sent to a large grey building with lots of bars where my only exercise would be swinging a pickaxe at chunks of rock and avoiding eye contact in the showers. It was almost disappointing when I was taken straight from the hospital to nowhere more interesting than a police station. That was nothing compared to the baggy jeans and boring T-shirt that were forced on me before I left the hospital. If it had been a month or two earlier – and a few degrees warmer – I’d have simply strolled out naked. Instead, I suffered the indignity of looking like everyone else.
My rights were read to me again, presumably on the off chance I’d had another bout of amnesia in the past hour, before I was deposited on an uncomfortable aluminium chair in a small interrogation room.
The fact that the chair was bolted to the floor wasn’t lost on me. It was good that the police were wary of me; it made putting up with more questioning slightly more palatable. Small mercies, I reminded myself. If this was what it took to get the coppers to lock me up and throw away the key, this was what I’d do.
The first person to enter the room wasn’t another police officer, however. It was a slim, middle-aged woman with fiery green eyes. ‘Don’t get up,’ she told me.
‘I’m cuffed to the chair by my ankles,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t get up even if I wanted to. And believe me, I don’t want to.’
Viburna grimaced. We’d only met once before, when I was trapped in the body of a large bearded man and she’d used Truth Draw magic to find out who I really was. I hadn’t liked the Fey woman much then; somehow I didn’t think my feelings were going to change now.
She took the adjacent chair, although I noted that she angled herself away from me as if she were afraid that I’d contaminate her with my very presence. Our dislike was mutual, then. Thiswasgoing to be fun.
‘I will represent you,’ she said. ‘Unlike Morganus, I am actually registered as a barrister. I’ve been a practising lawyer for several years now and I deal with a lot of Fey and human criminal deeds. The police will take no issue with me.’
‘What ifItake issue with you?’ I enquired.
She gestured as if it were no concern of hers. ‘That’s your right.’
I peered at her. I had the impression she was hoping that was exactly what I would do. ‘You heard then,’ I said. ‘About what I did.’
‘You mean that it’s your fault we are all trapped here? That you were the one who forced the borders between this demesne and our own to be closed?’ Her voice was cold. ‘Yes, I heard. But it will not hinder my ability to do my job, if that’s what you’re worried about.’
‘Morgan and Artemesia weren’t bothered by the revelation. In fact, they were almost relieved to learn the truth.’
Viburna didn’t miss a beat. ‘They are entitled to their opinion.’
I couldn’t stop myself from grinning. It was quite something to realise that I inspired absolute revulsion and hatred in another person. Most people garnered apathy and ambivalence. Not me; I was too cool for that.
‘Well,’ I said, ‘your job in this scenario is to ensure that I’m properly locked away.’
The Fey woman blinked in surprise. ‘Pardon?’
I waved a hand. ‘You heard me. We have to keep the sphere away from Rubus. As long as I’m in jail, that’s exactly what will happen. Given that the police are already onto him, I doubt that even Rubus will try to sneak his way in here to nab it. It’s my job to keep it as far away from him as possible.’
‘You’re martyring yourself?’ Viburna asked with a doubtful – and rather disparaging – sneer.
‘I want the songs,’ I said.
Her brow furrowed. ‘Excuse me?’
‘The songs. All good martyrs have songs written about them. Once they’ve thrown away the key I expect you, as my lawyer, to contact Right Said Fred.’
‘What on earth are you on about?’
