Chimes at Midnight
Page 13

“Where does goblin fruit grow naturally?” asked the Luidaeg.
“Tirn Aill, Tir Tairngire, and the Blessed Isles.” The answer was automatic. Back when I lived with my mother, I spent hours being trained on the names of all the lands of Faerie, even the ones that I would never live long enough to see.
“Uh-huh. And they’ve been sealed for centuries, right?”
“Yes, but during the exodus, people brought soil and stuff. I just don’t understand why it hasn’t all been used up by now. I mean, how long does a pot of dirt from the Blessed Isles stay a pot of dirt from the Blessed Isles, and not a pot of dirt from Marin?”
The Luidaeg smiled. “Now you’re asking better questions. Here’s the deal with goblin fruit: it keeps showing up on the street because purebloods with the space and magic to grow the bushes like the berries. And where there’s a market, people will find a way to get to the product. I hate the shit. It wreaked hell with the Selkie community about two hundred years back, and I don’t like anything that screws with the Selkies. But I wasn’t able to stop people from selling it, just drive them off my territory. With the Queen backing them and with me in semi-retirement, there’s nothing standing in their way.”
“Yeah.” The Luidaeg didn’t like anything that screwed with the Selkies, except for the Luidaeg. They were her property, in a messed-up way, because they existed due to the horrible murder of most of her descendants. I tried not to think about that too hard. “Are you going to come out of retirement?”
“Can’t. Wish I could, but I can’t.” The Luidaeg shook her head. “I withdrew for a reason. Don’t ask me about it. It’s one of the things I’m not allowed to tell you.”
“Swell.” I was aware that the Luidaeg used to be more active than she was these days—the stories about her confirmed that, even if she’d rarely left her apartment for anything but groceries in the years I’d known her. Why that changed was something I didn’t know, and that apparently wasn’t going to change any time soon.
“All of this is well and good, but it does not touch on what really brought us here,” said Tybalt gravely. “October. You need to tell her.”
The Luidaeg frowned, gaze sharpening. “Tell me what?”
“The Queen . . .” I took a deep breath. “I asked her about the goblin fruit. I asked her if she would please stop allowing it on the streets.”
“And . . . ?” prompted the Luidaeg.
“And I’ve been exiled. I have three days to get out of the Mists. After that, she’s not going to show any leniency with me.”
To my surprise, the Luidaeg laughed. “Oh, is that all?” She put the remainder of her burrito down on the counter before turning to me. Her teeth were back to normal. “See, the trouble here is that once someone has a throne, it’s damn hard to tell them they’re doing it wrong. Three days is a lot of time, if you know how to use it.”
I stared at her. “What?”
“I’m just saying, you have more resources at your disposal than you think you do, and she’s letting her own prejudices blind her. You’re just a changeling, after all. What could you possibly do to hurt her?” She grinned broadly. “You can do a lot. For starters, you can try talking to some of the people who knew King Gilad and find out what they can tell you.”
Quentin and Tybalt looked at her blankly.
For once, I wasn’t the last one in the room to get what the Luidaeg was hinting at, and I didn’t like the feeling very much. I stared at her. She raised an eyebrow, clearly content to wait me out if that was what it took. Finally, slowly, I asked, “Luidaeg, if there’s something you want me to know, why don’t you just tell me?”
“Because I can’t.” Her smile slipped, replaced by an expression of deep frustration. “This is one of those areas where I’m bound and counter-bound until I can’t see straight. Unless you know the right questions, I can’t give you the answers you need.”
I slammed back the rest of my taqueria coffee in a long, profoundly unsatisfying gulp. Wiping my mouth, I said, “Just one question, then. Can the people who knew King Gilad help me take down the Queen?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then. So it’s time to play scavenger hunt.” I looked at Tybalt and Quentin, who were watching me hopefully, and sighed. “Okay. Just one more question.”
The Luidaeg gave me a flat, frankly disbelieving look. “Really.”
“Yes, really.”
“What is it?”
“Can I have one of your Diet Cokes? Because I’m not up for saltwater coffee right now.” And if I was going to go talk to the only people who I knew for sure had known King Gilad before he died, I was going to need more caffeine. Hell, I was going to need a caffeine IV.
The Luidaeg blinked at me. Then she laughed, indicating the fridge with one hand. “Help yourselves.”
“That’s what you’re always telling me to do,” I said, and went to get myself a soda.
FIVE
WE LEFT THE LUIDAEG’S about half an hour later, after burritos and sodas had been consumed. Give me another six cups of coffee and I might start feeling normal, if not for the whole “counting down to exile” thing. Tybalt didn’t even complain as we walked back to the car. He didn’t trust the Queen not to have guards out looking for me, and, consequently, he wasn’t willing to take the Shadow Roads if I wasn’t with him. I wanted to call him paranoid, but after the night we’d had, I couldn’t. It’s not paranoia if they are really out to get you.
“Can we listen to a good station? Please?” asked Quentin, climbing into the backseat. “Something recorded this century, maybe?”
“Says the kid who listens to country music,” I said. I shook my head, starting the car. “No radio. We’re going to talk.”
Tybalt raised an eyebrow, looking at me. “Talk?”
“Yeah, talk. Both of you: what do you know about King Gilad?”
Quentin spoke first: “Are you asking to test whether I’ve been paying attention in my history lessons, or because you don’t know?”
“Both,” I admitted. “I know who he was, but that’s about it. Now spill.”
“If you get anything wrong, I will know,” added Tybalt helpfully.