Page 59 of Honour Bound
‘That’s a good point,’ I said. I pressed my lips together. ‘Okay. Make that a last resort. As far as I know, the Carnegies aren’t particularly close to the Moncrieffes. All we have to do is to encourage them to ignore that order.’
‘They might not like Aifric Moncrieffe but he’s still the Steward. They won’t want to piss him off or they’ll receive the fallout themselves.’
‘Then,’ I said, ‘we’ll have to be bloody careful.’ I grinned suddenly. ‘I have just the thing.’ I looked around the room, my eyes alighting on a table laden with scones and sandwiches. ‘Watch this space.’
I strode over to it and leapt up. My heel landed smack bang in a large chocolate cake, sending ganache flying in all directions. ‘Oops,’ I said to the wide-eyed Sidhe who gaped at me from below. ‘Is that a cake or a meringue?’ I frowned. ‘No, I was right. It’s definitely cake.’ I winked. ‘I guess you have to be a real Scot to get that joke. Am ah wrang?’ I asked, deepening my accent.
‘Integrity, what on earth are you doing?’ Byron strode over, his brow furrowed.
A couple of Sidhe nudged each other. ‘Told you she was as mad as the MacQuarries,’ one of them said.
My foot slipped, inadvertently sending a gloop of chocolate towards her. It landed on her cheek and she shrieked.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I mouthed. Then I cleared my throat. It was unnecessary; I already had the attention of the whole room. ‘Ladies and gentleman,’ I shouted, in my most formal tone. ‘For those of you who don’t know, my name is Integrity Adair. I’m the only Adair left in the world because my father was a dishonourable bastard.’ There was an audible intake of breath. I silently apologised to my Clan – and my father – but I reckoned they’d understand. ‘I didn’t know him but I still represent Clan Adair and I want to prove to you all that I am honourable. I know there are rumours that I’m a thief, that I stole a necklace from Chieftain MacBain and that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But I’m not a murderer and I no longer break the law. Instead, I’ve been saving lives by working with mountain rescue. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago two Moncrieffe Sidhe survived partly because of me. I am making amends for my past.’
I paused. Although a few people were softening towards me, most of the crowd was still against me. ‘I understand that honour is vital to our kind. I have heard the word many times in the past few days; these Games are all about honour. We seek to honour our Clans by participating. Winning is not important compared to being able to look your fellow competitors in the eye and act with the same honour that they show to you. That is why I must speak the truth.’
I took a deep breath. The three Carnegie judges had entered the room and were standing at the back. I met each of their gazes in turn as I continued. ‘Recently, there was a Carnegie ship in the dock at Oban. I spoke to one of the sailors on the ship and discovered what was on board. It wasn’t deliberate on my part; at the time I had no idea the Games even existed. But I learned information which places me at an unfair advantage and which dishonours Clan Adair. In the interests of fair play, I can do nothing but share this information with every competitor here. We live and die by honour, after all.’
There was an angry murmur from several of the watching competitors. ‘What?’ someone shouted. ‘What did you find out?’
I glanced at Byron. He was looking at me thoughtfully. Right now, however, he wasn’t my target audience – those judges were. I focused on them. ‘I discovered that a giant spider is being brought here. It can only be for these Games. This is knowledge which I gained unfairly and which I now have to share with you. I need to prove to you that Clan Adair does have honour.’ I bowed my head.
Speck, Lexie, Brochan and Taylor began to clap. Some pixies and trolls joined in, along with several humans. Applause is often infectious and soon most of the occupants of the room were acknowledging my ‘honour’. I stepped down from the table, wiped the chocolate cake off my shoe and joined my friends.
‘Nice work,’ Taylor said approvingly.
I kept my expression serious but he’d noted the gleam of satisfaction in my eye. ‘It was worth giving up that advantage to get a fair hearing from the judges,’ I said. ‘And it might make everyone feel a bit less antagonistic towards me. Goodness knows, I mentioned honour often enough.’
‘I might have clapped but I don’t really understand what’s going on,’ Lexie whispered.
Brochan leaned over to her. ‘Tegs just positioned herself as the most honourable person in the room. She gave away vital information that would have helped her win the challenge. If the harp does what Bob says it will, those judges won’t get away with giving her a low score. Integrity has made too big a deal out of being a proud Sidhe who’s brimming with uprightness. If they act maliciously, everyone will know it. And because of this little speech, everyone will pay attention.’
Speck smirked. ‘Integrity has integrity.’
I grinned. ‘Not really. But Integrity is prepared to look as if she has to manipulate the hell out of this lot.’
‘Amen,’ Taylor murmured. ‘Amen.’
*
The following day, my confidence was less obvious.As I was the last competitor to go on the stage, I was alone in the waiting room behind the wings. Alone apart from Bob, of course.
‘Uh Integrity,’ he said frowning, ‘couldn’t you have dressed up for the occasion?’
I glanced down at my outfit. ‘What do you mean? I’m wearing the Adair tartan.’ I twirled round; I’d fashioned a length of it into a skirt which I thought looked rather fetching.
‘No,’ he tutted. ‘Pink is not your colour.’
I glared at him. ‘Pink is exactly my colour. It matches my eyes.’
‘I hate to break it to you but just because your hair is white does not mean you are an albino. Your eyes are not pink.’
‘They’re violet,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘It’s the same colour-family as pink. And this is coming from the genie who was wearing a cocktail dress and a feather boa not too long ago?’
He winked at me. ‘And don’t you wish you had my style?’
I rolled my eyes and turned to more serious matters. ‘Is this going to work?’ I asked him, hefting the harp in my arms. ‘I’ve taken you at your word and told the others that I trust you but…’
