Chimes at Midnight
Page 37

“She does look like her father,” said Tybalt. “Even if I had not known, I would have suspected, once I saw her eyes.” He pulled another ribbon from my hair. “The question becomes, is she prepared for what lies ahead?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “She looks pretty unhappy to me.”
“Where did you find her, anyway?” asked Quentin.
“There’s a bookstore on Valencia,” I said.
“I know. Dog Eared Books.”
“No, there’s another one. It’s called Borderlands. They have a café.” I paused before adding, in my most portentous tone of voice, “It sells coffee, and I had no idea it was there.”
Quentin turned back to me, eyes going very wide. “Wow. Whatever spell she’s been hiding under, it’s a doozy.”
“I know, right? She’s been hiding in plain sight this whole time. Hiding and hoarding all the coffee.” I shook my head. Tybalt’s fingers promptly snagged in my hair, and I winced, going still again. “She’s been living in the basement with her brother. He’s upstairs now. The Queen had him elf-shot sometime in the 1930s, and any chance Arden was going to lead an uprising on her own died when he went to sleep. I guess we could wait another decade or two for him to wake up, but somehow, I doubt the Queen is going to put up with me lurking around the borders of her Kingdom until then.” Not to mention all the changeling children who’d become addicted to goblin fruit before that could happen—and once they were addicted, they were as good as lost.
No. It had to be Arden. The Queen was part of the problem, not part of the solution. I couldn’t do anything if I was banished from the Kingdom of the Mists. Quentin would have to find a new Knight, and Tybalt . . .
That wasn’t even worth thinking about. I sighed, and continued, “Arden didn’t want to come, we didn’t really give her a choice, and now we have to talk her into a revolution. If anyone can do it, it’ll be Dianda.” The Undersea Duchess looked positively gleeful about the entire situation. I couldn’t hear them from where I was standing, but handing her the opportunity to overthrow the Queen of the Mists was probably just shy of her personal Christmas.
“The Lordens are a good choice,” Tybalt agreed. “They knew her father well.”
“Yeah. For now, we need to go put in an appearance where the Queen’s men can see me.” Both Tybalt and Quentin looked at me blankly. I swallowed the urge to roll my eyes, and said, “If I disappear completely, she’s going to assume we’re up to something. Since we are up to something, it’s important we keep her from thinking that.”
“Ah,” said Tybalt. “Misdirection.”
“That, and having me around isn’t going to help Arden make up her mind. Getting out of the way and letting her talk to people who remember her father just might.” I held out my hand. “Can I have the ribbons, please?”
“Certainly.” Tybalt handed them to me. “If I may say so, the style does not exactly suit you. Perhaps if you were a trifle more staid . . .”
Quentin snorted.
“I’m not going to put them back in my hair, and you,” I pointed to Quentin with my free hand, “no commentary from the peanut gallery, you got me? I’m going to go get Raj, and then we’re getting out of here.” I turned and walked toward the group gathered near the water, where Raj had joined the others in studying our lost Princess.
Patrick saw me coming and smiled. “You know, October, I’m starting to think you’d be a dangerous enemy to have. You have a disturbing tendency to find what people don’t want you looking for.”
“I can’t take all the credit this time; I’d never have done it if the Luidaeg hadn’t pointed me in the right direction,” I said, and turned to Arden. “Are you going to be okay here for a little while? I need to go be seen in public so the current Queen doesn’t start an inquisition looking for me.”
Arden blanched. “Is that a risk?”
“Only if I don’t go. There’s no way she followed us here, and you’ll be safe with the Lordens. They’re some of the best people I know.” Assuming “best” meant “most potentially deadly if thwarted.” “Your brother is safe here, and we’re going to be looping back to the Library of Stars. I’ll see if there’s anything about waking up elf-shot victims early.”
“I’m not sure . . .” said Arden, still looking uncomfortable.
I tried to smile. “Look, you’ve known us, what, an hour longer than you’ve known everyone else here? And you’re a Tuatha de Dannan. Worst comes to worst, you can teleport yourself straight home. Please. Stay, and listen to what everyone has to say.”
There was a long pause, where I was afraid Arden might insist on coming with us rather than staying in this strange new place, surrounded by strange new people. Finally, she nodded, and said, “If I’m not here when you get back, don’t look for me.”
“I won’t,” I said. I turned to Raj. “Ready to go?”
“I was thinking I’d stay here.” He snuck a glance back at Tybalt and stepped closer to me before saying, softly, “I want there to be more than one person who can move fast without going into the water.” He shuddered at the very idea.
It made sense, tactically. Arden couldn’t teleport more than one or two people. That didn’t mean I had to like it. “If there’s a problem, where will you go?”
“Shadowed Hills,” he said. “I can carry someone there if I have to, I think. Or I can do short jumps and lead the way for the Princess.”
“All right,” I said, finally. “But be careful.”
He grinned, showing over-long incisors. “That wouldn’t be any fun at all.”
“Yeah.” I turned to Dean, who had moved to stand next to his mother, and bowed. “My Lord, I must take my leave. I’ll be back as soon as it’s safe. Do you have my phone number?”
“I do,” he said. With a faint smile, he added, “If we can pull this off, we’re even.”
“A rebellion for a rescue? Works for me.” I held up the handful of ribbons. “Do you mind if I borrow some of your pixies?”
He blinked. “They’re not mine to loan, but if they want to go with you, sure.”