Page 54 of Honour Bound
The pixie blinked at me. ‘Er…’
He was reluctant to point me in the direction of someone with free time. ‘Let me guess,’ I said drily, ‘you’ve heard the rumours about my thievery skills too.’
He had the grace to look embarrassed. ‘I don’t believe them, Chieftain. Honest.’
Considering Iwasa thief, he shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss those whispers. Either way, I did have some sympathy for his position. ‘But if someone finds out that you showed me around and something went missing…’
He nodded, the flesh under his chin shaking. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘That’s okay. I understand. You’re probably very busy and have a lot to do.’
His relief was palpable. I stepped out of his path and let him continue on his errand. The staff weren’t going to help – I’d have to find another way to locate Aifric’s chambers.
When I heard footsteps behind me, I turned and realised I had a more useful person to target. ‘Jamie!’
The Moncrieffe Sidhe’s eyes widened when he caught sight of me and I had the feeling that he wished he were somewhere else. I trotted up to him before he could escape. ‘I really enjoyed your performance,’ I told him.
It was true. He’d chosen to go the more traditional route and played the bagpipes, using a lilting Scottish lament to enthrall the audience. Most bagpipe music just sounded like noise to me but Jamie’s dexterity with the instrument had elevated my appreciation. He’d not used his Gift but that wasn’t surprising. Like most Sidhe, Jamie only had one Gift and his was psychometry, the ability to touch an object and learn its history. I couldn’t see how that would be useful in entertaining a large group of people – though I could use it for something else.
‘Thanks,’ he mumbled. He tried to move past me.
I sighed audibly. ‘I’m sorry that you still feel awkward around me. That wasn’t my intention.’
His eyes dropped. ‘I know.’
‘What we did wasn’t anything to be ashamed of.’
He grimaced. ‘Try telling that to Byron.’
There was an odd fluttery sensation in my stomach. ‘I’m sorry if you got into trouble for consorting with the enemy.’
‘It wasn’t like that. It’s just…’
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’
I desperately wanted to prod him to tell me more but this wasn’t the time. ‘Okay.’ I bit my bottom lip. ‘Look, I was wondering if you could help me out.’
He looked almost as uncomfortable as the pixie had. ‘Um…’
‘It’s won’t get you into trouble.’ I held up my hands. ‘I promise. It’s an object I have that I want to know more about.’
Jamie started to relax then a thought seemed to cross his mind and he stiffened. ‘It’s not a necklace, is it?’
I groaned. ‘You think I took Chieftain MacBain’s pearl monstrosity? I promise you I didn’t, although this is related to her.’
His eyes shifted. ‘In what way?’
I told the truth. ‘I crossed the Veil. There was something in the Lowlands that I needed.’ The colour drained from Jamie’s face as I ploughed on. ‘I found a ring there. It wasn’t what I was looking for but I think it’s important. It was on the finger of a corpse which I spotted inside an old house. Written above it was the name Matthew MacBain and the ring has the MacBain crest on it.’
Despite his shock that I’d passed into the Lowlands, I could tell that Jamie was interested. ‘Why not give it to the MacBains then?’
I shrugged. ‘I tried. I arranged a meeting to do just that but then I was accused of stealing the necklace. I don’t want to be accused of stealing the ring too. If you could use your Gift to find out more about it, you’d be able to tell I didn’t steal it.’ I paused. ‘Not from anyone living, anyway.’
‘Matthew MacBain.’ Jamie shook his head in wonder. ‘There are lots of stories about him but no one really believed he’d gone through the Veil.’
‘I’m pretty sure he did,’ I said quietly. ‘And that it didn’t go well for him.’
