Page 47 of Honour Bound
He deliberately took several moments to react, focusing on the conversation beside him. It was a childish manoeuvre to make me understand that if I was going to keep him waiting, he’d do the same to me. I wondered idly if that meant he was dropping the ‘friend’ act but when he finally turned to me with a beatific smile, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen.
‘Integrity,’ he boomed. ‘I’m so pleased that you’ve made it through and that you’ll compete.’
Yeah, yeah. ‘Me too.’
He took my hand, drawing me to the side. I felt a shiver of revulsion at the touch of his skin on mine but I could dissemble when I needed to. If I could walk into a gambling den filled with trolls and Bauchans and stroll out with all their hard-earned cash, I could handle Aifric Moncrieffe.
‘I must apologise for not speaking up to endorse your bid to compete in the Games,’ he said quietly. ‘I thought it would look better to the rest of the Chieftains if you had support from others rather than me. After all,’ he added, squeezing my fingers, ‘everyone knows how highly I regard you.’
The man had no shame. ‘Oh,’ I said, the very picture of innocence, ‘so you knew that Polwarth, Scrymgeour and MacQuarrie would give me their votes?’
‘Of course! I’m the Steward, I know everything that goes on.’ He lowered his head. ‘Between you and me, I did encourage the Bull to add his voice to the others. It was the least I could do.’
Oh, you stupid, stupid man. ‘Thank you,’ I murmured. ‘It’s much appreciated.’
‘You’re welcome.’ He smiled at me magnanimously.
‘There is one thing I need to talk to you about,’ I said, treading carefully.
‘Oh yes?’
I bit my lip. ‘I recently had cause to pass through the Veil.’
Whatever Aifric had been expecting me to say, it obviously wasn’t that. He blinked several times and stepped back. ‘You…’ He shook his head. ‘Why would you do that?’
I thought about what Taylor had said. There was no reason not to live up to expectations. I shrugged. ‘Oh, looking for riches that I could sell on the black market.’
His mouth tightened. ‘That was … unwise, my dear. It’s a very dangerous place.’
‘Oh, so you’ve been there too?’
‘Goodness gracious, of course not. I don’t think anyone has visited the Lowlands in generations.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Did you find anything of value?’
‘Nothing to speak of,’ I demurred.
‘And did you see any Fomori?’
There was something in his eyes which made me pause. It wasn’t eagerness exactly, but whatever it was put me on edge. ‘No,’ I lied. ‘I didn’t stay long and there was very little to see.’ Which was sort of true; it had been very dark.
If I hadn’t been watching him so closely, I’d have missed the flash of relief. ‘That’s probably for the best, my dear. I dread to think what those vile creatures would have done if they’d spotted you.’
‘Indeed. Anyway, I did see something which you should know about.’ I explained about the message written in blood and the bottle of Auchentoshan whisky, although I didn’t say where I’d found it.
‘And do you have this whisky now?’ he inquired.
‘Er, no. I left it behind.’ In a manner of speaking.
‘I wouldn’t worry about it,’ Aifric said, patting my shoulder and setting my teeth on edge.
I pressed ahead. ‘But it could mean that there are people there. Not just demons but humans and Sidhe and...’
‘If that were the case, we’d know about it.’ He smiled. ‘The youth of today. I was the same at your age. I remember I went to my father and asked to lead an expedition into the Lowlands to see if we could negotiate with the Fomori. They can’t be reasoned with, though. And there’s no one of our kind there, I can assure you of that.’
‘But…’
‘Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. Concentrate on the Games, my dear. Who knows? You may acquit yourself well enough to place.’
I opened my mouth to argue further but he’d caught someone else’s eye and was moving away. He strode off and I stared after him. He may not have given the reaction I wanted but I’d certainly learned something from our little chat.
