Page 24 of Honour Bound
‘Either way,’ I mused, ‘no-one else knows I can do this.’ My brow furrowed and l looked at Bob. ‘Right?’
‘Right!’ he responded cheerily. ‘Now do you mind? I want to try something sparkly.’ He gestured at his outfit.
‘Fine.’ I turned to go.
‘Oh, Uh Integrity,’ he called out.
‘What?’
‘I’m really glad you didn’t die in the Lowlands. The harp will help.’ His tone was both honest and earnest.
I blinked. ‘Uh, thanks.’
‘You’re welcome.’ He twirled the boa. ‘It’s probably a good idea if you don’t try to play it before the actual challenge.’
I was instantly suspicious. ‘Why not?’
‘You’ll see.’
‘Bob…’
‘Trust me, I’m a genie.’ He waved at me. ‘Now, shoo.’
Taylor, Brochan, Speck, Lexie and I sat down again in the kitchen. For a long time nobody said a word.
‘You realise what this means?’ Taylor said finally. We all looked at him. ‘You have the potential to be the most powerful Sidhe in the country. The most powerful being in the country.’
I shivered. I wasn’t sure I liked that idea. ‘It’s nuts,’ I said, shaking my head.
Everyone nodded solemnly. ‘It truly is,’ Brochan rumbled, scratching at his gills.
I picked a flake of dried Clyde off my arm. ‘I should go and get cleaned up,’ I said. The shower was calling out to me, like heroin to an addict.
‘Sounds good,’ Speck said, with perhaps a little too much fervour. I guessed I really did smell bad. ‘We should probably try and get this harp cleaned up too. Goodness knows if it’ll work after the dip it’s taken.’
I grimaced, glancing at the dirty instrument. ‘All we can do is try.’ Bob’s warning not to play the thing niggled at me. I hoped I wasn’t going to regret going to so much trouble to retrieve it.
‘Tegs,’ Taylor said when I was at the door. ‘What were the words?’
‘Hm?’
‘The words you found written in blood inside that house. Next to Matthew MacBain’s body. What did they say?’
My reply was quiet. ‘Save us.’
Chapter Six
Despite my vociferous protestations, Lexie sold off some jewellery she’d held back from an old heist and paid for our transportation to the Cruaich. Last time I walked up the long winding driveway, I had to deal with a hundred gawking eyes. This time we still had onlookers but for a different reason. Lexie had hired a horse-drawn carriage and flirted with its owner to persuade him to drape it in the new, improved Adair Clan tartan – the old version shot through with lines of hot pink. It certainly wasn’t a tartan for the shy and retiring. I felt a little dismayed for my descendants, should I have any, who would have to endure it for generations to come. I did, however, really, really like it.
Brochan and Taylor sat up front, essentially acting as my guards. It suited me; it meant I could lounge in the back like the Sidhe noble I was supposed to be and, more importantly, stay well away from the horses. If I thought about it long enough, I could still feel the ache in my arse from the journey on horseback to the Foinse last year.
Even Speck was in on the action. He’d rigged up the carriage with some kind of overly boisterous speaker system. As we passed through the magical border and into the land surrounding the Cruaich, it cranked up with ‘I Love a Lassie’.
When I threw him a look, he merely shrugged. ‘We want to make a grand entrance. There can’t be any sneaking in and pretending you’re not really here. The bigger the noise, the harder it will be for the other Clans to turf you out.’
He had a point. Although technically speaking I was within my rights as a Sidhe to enter the Games, I wouldn’t put it past the Clans to find some way of stopping me from taking part. I had to do whatever was necessary to avoid that. In any case, thanks to the music we had an impressive audience by the time the carriage pulled up outside the Cruaich’s entrance.
Aifric Moncrieffe strode out as if he’d been expecting us all along. He beamed happily as I examined his face for signs of dissemblance. He’d fooled me before when I’d believed he was on my side. The Steward, however, was a far better actor than even Taylor. It didn’t matter how closely I stared at him, I saw nothing but warmth. I wasn’t likely to forget that he’d tried to poison me, though – and killed poor Lily MacQuarrie in the process. She’d known my parents as a child and had only wanted to help me out. Unfortunately it hadn’t done her any good in the end.
