Page 3 of The Salted Sceptre
‘Alright.’
My smile became genuine. ‘Thank you,’ I repeated.
Everything was fine. I was managing. Just.
We were lessthan an hour away from Edinburgh on our return journey when Miriam’s phone pinged. A moment later Becky and Rizwan’s phones also chimed with notifications. I turned around from my coveted spot in the front passenger seat and immediately noted their pale faces as they read the messages. My stomach knotted with dread.
Before I could ask what the problem was, Hugo’s phone started to ring. As he was driving, he answered on speaker. I held my breath and waited.
‘Pemberville,’ he grunted.
‘Ah, Hugo old chap.’ It was Sir Nigel.
The wealthy older man, who was part of high-elvish society despite being human, usually burbled his way through life with stoical cheeriness; right now, though, his voice was strained and I was certain I could hear panicked shouting in the background. I wasn’t the only one; Hester and Otis had bolted upright and even Hugo was looking concerned. ‘Are you in the city by any chance?’
‘Edinburgh?’ Hugo asked. ‘I’m about forty minutes away.’
Sir Nigel sucked in a sharp breath. ‘And Lady Daisy?’
Normally I suffered a discomfiting shiver when someone used my official title. My elevated status, together with my sobriety, were recent developments that I was still coming to terms with.
Given Sir Nigel’s tone, I suddenly had other concerns. ‘I’m here,’ I said. ‘So are three of the Primes – Miriam, Becky and Rizwan.’
‘Jolly good.’ Sir Nigel didn’t sound jolly or good, he sounded anything but. ‘We have a slight problem at the Royal Elvish Institute,’ he continued. ‘I wonder if you could both drop by?’ He paused. ‘As quickly as possible. I understand that Daisy may not yet be up to large gatherings, but I wouldn’t ask if it were not urgent.’
Hugo removed one hand from the Jeep’s steering wheel, reached over and squeezed my fingers. As he did so, down the phone line we heard a woman shrieking. Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good.
I gripped Hugo’s fingers for a second before pulling back my hand so my fingers could stray to my pocket. There was no baggie nestling there with spider’s silk pills inside it, only a bit of fluff. ‘What’s going on, Sir Nigel?’ I asked, although I suspected I already knew at least some of the answer.
‘It’s probably better if you see it for yourself,’ he answered. There was another loud scream. ‘I had better go. I will see you soon.’ The phone call cut out.
Miriam leaned forward and held up her phone. ‘I have a photo,’ she said. She suddenly sounded even more off balance than Sir Nigel. ‘It’s a bit blurry.’
I took her phone from her hand and squinted at the screen. Oh. Bile rose in my mouth.Oh.
‘Daisy?’ Hugo asked.
I didn’t immediately answer. I wasn’t sure I had any words to offer him.
‘What is it? What’s happened?’ he demanded.
Hester peered over my shoulder. Otis flapped his way closer to the screen and tilted his head. ‘Something is, uh, dripping down the front of the Royal Elvish Institute. Some sort of liquid.’ His voice quivered. ‘It might be paint.’
‘That’s not paint,’ Hester whispered.
‘Whatever it is, there’s a lot of it,’ Becky said. ‘It’s covering half the building and—’ she swallowed ‘—there’s a word.’
Hugo’s knuckles tightened. ‘Tell me.’
‘It says Daisy,’ Rizwan said. ‘In big dripping red letters.’
Massive letters.
I finally found my voice. ‘Hester’s right, it’s not paint.’ I stared at the image. There was only one person who could be responsible for this very deliberate, very pointed act of vandalism: Athair. My fucking birth father.
The fear deep inside me was hardening into rage. ‘It’s blood.’
Chapter
