Tiolani, with nothing else to do, paced endlessly from door to window and back, savage and frustrated as a caged wild beast. From a physical point of view it was the means of exercising herself in her cramped prison; emotionally it was a way to vent the savage turmoil of anger and hate that had consumed her since she’d been incarcerated by that treacherous snake Cordain, her ailing father’s chief and most trusted counsellor.
Since she had been imprisoned, Tiolani had viewed the world through a haze of fulminating rage. Everyone had betrayed her. First, and worst of all, her lover Ferimon, aided by his sister Varna, had been using her as his stepping stone to power. Over and over, she shuddered at the memory of the way she had listened to him, believed him, and confided her deepest secrets while she lay trustingly in his arms.
He had persuaded her to rely on him, isolating her from the other courtiers who might have helped her, but she had desperately needed all the comfort he could provide after the murder of her brother and the near-death of her father in the same ambush – which, she had subsequently discovered, he had caused. It had been Ferimon who roused the feral humans of the forest to ambush the Wild Hunt. He had caused her brother’s slaughter and bribed certain so-called healers to keep the Forest Lord hovering on the brink of death while he used his twisted charms to seduce Hellorin’s daughter, now suddenly the heir apparent. And she, gullible, stupid innocent that she’d been, had walked open-eyed into every one of his honeyed traps, and let him do as he would with her person and her realm.
No one was there to comfort Tiolani as she paced away the torment of her captivity. No one was there to tell her that she’d been young, alone, felled by terrible grief, and easy prey for the slick and handsome schemer. Aelwen, her mother’s half-sister and Hellorin’s former Horsemistress, might have supported her in this blackest of times – but Aelwen had betrayed her too.
Aelwen and her head groom Kelon had fled the city, taking with them several of the precious Xandim, including Hellorin’s mount Corisand. When Tiolani, Ferimon and the Wild Hunt had pursued them, Ferimon met his death at Kelon’s hand, but not before the terrible extent of his treachery had been revealed. Tiolani’s eyes had been opened to the truth and reluctantly she had joined the Horsemistress’s new companions, one of whom – she still could scarcely believe it – had been Corisand herself, now revealed as the Windeye, or Shaman, of the race of shapeshifters who’d been enslaved and trapped in their equine forms by the Forest Lord.
She had returned to Eliorand with Aelwen and Taine as part of the plan to free the Xandim, but when they were arrested by that traitor Cordain, the Horsemistress had apported her lover out of danger, leaving Tiolani behind to shift for herself.
I don’t owe her anything.
In her father’s absence it had been her responsibility to rule the Phaerie, and she had failed miserably, thanks to those she had mistakenly relied upon. They were all false and treacherous. Not one of them could be trusted. She must save herself.
Now the pacing had purpose, allowing her to focus, helping her to think. Cordain, Varna, Aelwen and her friends were all her enemies now. If she could only find a way to turn them against one another, she could be free of them all.
At sunset she sent for Cordain.
He took his time in responding to the request she had made so meekly and politely, but the delay had not troubled her – in fact it made her smile, as she imagined him wavering, his curiosity at war with his pride. Oh, he would not come to her immediately, not he. He saw himself as the master of Eliorand now, in the Forest Lord’s absence, and he would have to prove it – most of all to himself. On the other hand, he must be wondering why Tiolani had returned in the company of Hellorin’s thieving Horsemistress and a dangerous wanted fugitive. What was she up to? Where had she been since he had coldly abandoned her to die in the forest? Ultimately, he would not be able to stay away, and in the meantime the delay would give her more time to refine her plans.
It was long after nightfall when Cordain finally arrived. Tiolani welcomed him into her chamber with gracious words, every inch the great lady, and gestured to him to be seated on the single flimsy chair. Though she was still clad in the ragged, filthy travel clothes she had arrived in, from her bearing she might have been wearing a coronet, a velvet cloak and gold-embroidered brocade. The Counsellor could not completely conceal the flicker of annoyance that crossed his face. She was, after all, his prisoner, not the other way around. But she could also discern a slight hesitancy in his manner; a hint of puzzlement. She knew he had expected the tantrums and tears of a spoiled young girl who’d been thwarted. This controlled, self-possessed young woman, every inch the daughter of a ruler – where had she sprung from?
She was at his mercy. Why was she not afraid?
For the lack of another chair, Tiolani sat down on the bed facing the Counsellor. ‘Cordain,’ she said, ‘I asked to see you tonight because I owe you an apology. Since I stepped into my father’s shoes, I have not behaved well by you, or any of my subjects. I have made many errors, the extent and gravity of which I have only lately discovered, and I have returned to set things right if I can.’
Cordain’s eyebrows went up. ‘Yet you return in the company of traitors and outlaws?’ His voice was scathing and filled with disbelief.
‘I returned in the only way I could,’ Tiolani replied. ‘If I had not pretended to cooperate with Aelwen and her friends, I would have remained their prisoner. I wanted to deliver the traitors to you and I did. It’s hardly my fault that you made a mess of things and let them escape. Also, it was imperative that I get back to warn you of their plans – and to tell you that you were right about Ferimon.’
‘Go on.’ The Counsellor fixed her intently with his gaze.
Tiolani bit her lip. Even now she found it difficult and humiliating to speak of her folly. ‘When I succeeded to power I was desperately lonely; grieving my brother’s death and the loss of my father, and overwhelmed by the responsibilities of my new office. I let Ferimon seduce me, taking advantage of my every weakness.’ She felt her face burning with shame. ‘I was blinded by love for him. I trusted him absolutely. I failed to see that he was persuading me to turn my back on my father’s trusted advisers, who might, had I only listened, have dissuaded me from the mistakes I was making. But it was far worse than a simple bid for power on his part, Cordain. Ferimon orchestrated the ambush that did so much hurt to my family, and threw our realm into turmoil and peril, then he used his own so-called healers to undo the work of those who were trying to bring my father back to health.’
‘WHAT?’ Cordain leapt to his feet, all his air of urbane self-possession vanished. In his anger he grabbed Tiolani by the shoulders, shaking her so hard that her head felt as if it was being jolted loose on her neck. ‘You’re lying, curse you. I would never have missed such a plot being hatched right under my nose.’
‘Stop!’ Tiolani shouted, loud enough to make him hesitate. ‘Take your hands off me,’ she hissed in a voice of icy venom. ‘I may be your prisoner here, rightly or wrongly, but I am still Hellorin’s daughter, scion of the royal line, and you may not handle me like some common felon.’
The Counsellor dropped his hands and stepped away, his eyes cold and hard as steel. ‘Are you absolutely sure of Ferimon’s treachery?’ He did not beg her pardon.
‘Absolutely.’ Tiolani matched his coldness.
‘Tell me. Tell me everything.’
Resuming her seat on the bed, Tiolani recounted what had happened after she’d been unseated from her horse by Corisand and been lost in the forest during the Hunt: her capture by the feral mortals, her discovery of the truth about her lover, and Ferimon’s death at Kelon’s hands.
Cordain dropped his face into his hands. ‘Why did I never see it?’ he whispered. ‘It was my task to discover such treachery, and to warn my Lord Hellorin, but I failed him.’
‘No blame attaches to you, Counsellor. Ferimon was very plausible. He deceived us both with consummate skill.’ With those
few well-chosen words, Tiolani put them both on the same side.
‘But – but my lady, if you were captured by the ferals, how did you escape? And what brought Aelwen back here?’ Though a little more respect had crept into his voice, he was still suspicious.
Tiolani had thought long and hard about what her story would be. She had decided that there was no point whatsoever in telling him about Athina, or the secret of the Xandim. If she came to him with a tale of how her father’s horse had changed into human form, she would lose all the credibility she had gained so far, and she would never get him to trust her. Instead, she had come up with what she hoped was an acceptable alternative.
‘By this time, the ferals had worked out that Ferimon had used them,’ she told him. ‘By killing him, Kelon won their friendship. They did not recognise me: they thought I was only a member of the Hunt, and so he persuaded them to let me go. Though we had all been split up by the storm, we finally managed to find Aelwen.’
‘And how does Aelwen fit into this? Why did she flee, taking those horses? I would never have believed it of her. Why did she return, and why did you perform the flying spell that allowed it?’
‘You saw Taine.’ Tiolani shrugged her shoulders. ‘Though I am too young to remember him, you must recall how they were lovers before he was exiled. It turns out that all these years since he disappeared, Taine has been spying for the Wizards.’
Cordain spat out a vicious curse. ‘I might have guessed it,’ he growled.
‘Truly, you might, my Lord Counsellor,’ Tiolani goaded him. The more angry he was, the more likely he would be to take her story at face value. ‘Given that their blood runs in his veins, it hardly comes as a surprise. I overheard them, though they did not realise that I had – or my life would have ended then and there. Apparently Aelwen has been secretly in contact with him. She stole the horses to give to the Wizards, in the hope that they can work out some variation of their own on the flying spell, and have a tactical advantage over the Phaerie.’
‘I don’t believe it,’ Cordain gasped. ‘Aelwen, of all people, guilty of such duplicity? Surely this cannot be.’
‘Love can affect a person in the strangest of ways. When the heart is entangled, it is all too easy to lose perspective on right and wrong – as I know to my cost.’ Tiolani didn’t bother to disguise the bitterness in her voice. ‘Once Aelwen and her friends rescued me from the ferals, they decided to include me in their plan, for with the flying spell they could come back to Eliorand for many more of our mounts. To get me on her side, Aelwen told me that she had fled the city because she was afraid for her life, for, under Ferimon’s influence, I had treated her very badly. She told me that her meeting Taine had been pure accident, and assured me that now my eyes had been opened, she was happy to come back with me, if I would only pardon him.’
Tiolani turned to Cordain in wide-eyed innocence and spread her hands. ‘What could I do? I could not let them discover that I knew their true plan. In fear of my life, I pretended to be on their side, and promised to help them in every way.’ She grimaced. ‘I had incentive to be very convincing. But Aelwen didn’t expect the reception we received from you and your guards.’ Once again, Tiolani could not hide the bitterness in her voice. ‘She thought, as I did, you would be glad I was safe, and would welcome me back with open arms as the Phaerie ruler. Then she and Taine would get the credit for saving my life. I could pardon them both, she would be reinstated and they would be left free to assemble the horses they wanted – at which point they would send messages to their Wizard allies who are hiding in the forest, make off with the stolen mounts and flee to Tyrineld.’
Cordain turned white. ‘The villainy! This must be stopped!’
‘In a way you already did stop it,’ Tiolani said. ‘Thanks to your little reception when we arrived, Aelwen and Taine must have given up any idea of returning to Eliorand in a legitimate way. But make no mistake, they want those horses. One way or another, I doubt you’ve seen the last of them.’
Cordain walked to the window and stood in silence for a long moment, staring out past the shimmer of the imprisoning spell to the city beyond. Then he turned back to Tiolani. ‘Why did you tell me all this?’ he said quietly.
‘Because I want to make amends,’ Tiolani replied without hesitation. ‘I am deeply ashamed of the way I acted under Ferimon’s influence, and I want to put things right, if I can. I am hoping that you will give me another chance, for my father’s sake. I hope you can see your way clear to forgiving me, that you will guide me with your sage advice, as you have always guided Hellorin.’ She looked up at the Counsellor, wide-eyed, innocent, sincere. ‘Please, Cordain. Please give me another chance. Now that we have unmasked Ferimon’s traitorous healers, surely my father will recover soon. I – I would hope to make him proud of me.’
‘And how do I know you are sincere? Maybe you have other companions hidden away. Maybe Aelwen and Taine will return with reinforcements. Maybe this is all a trick.’
‘Oh, rest assured that there will be a trick, Cordain – but not at your expense. I want to turn the tables on Aelwen and her conspirators, and I need your help to do it. I am going to give you a crucial piece of information freely, and if you find that I am speaking the truth, I am depending on you to keep faith with me, and reinstate me.’ She smiled grimly. ‘Taine and Aelwen have fixed upon a secret rendezvous point with their Wizardly associate. I’ll take you there, and we will lie in wait and ambush them when they arrive. Is that enough to make you trust me?’
Cordain looked at her thoughtfully, for a long, long moment. At last he spoke. ‘For your father’s sake, I will trust you. Your own quarters and possessions will be restored to you at once, though until this ambush takes place, you will forgive me if I set guards to keep you there and curtail your freedom a little longer.’ He smiled, then. ‘You can tell my soldiers where this meeting will take place. If all goes well, and Aelwen and her companions are captured, you will regain everything: throne and birthright, and you will have gone a long way to atoning for your former mistakes. Is that agreeable to you, my lady?’
Tiolani had to bite her lip to force back the tears of relief and gratitude that wanted to spring into her eyes. ‘That is more than agreeable. I thank you, Cordain, for giving me another chance. But . . .’
‘But?’ He tilted an eyebrow.
‘I have one request, my lord. Please . . . Please may I see my father?’
Cordain took told of her hands. ‘Of course you can, my little Tiolani. And be comforted. Now that we know the truth, we will root out these false healers. Hopefully, we will soon have him back on the road to health.’
‘That is my dearest wish,’ Tiolani assured him, but even as she spoke, she wondered: was it really? Or did she greet the prospect of Hellorin’s return with mixed feelings?
Tiolani’s were not the only mixed feelings in the northern forest that night. Kelon had been fighting with Danel again; in fact, these days, they seemed to spend most of their time and energy in a fruitless exchange of insults and accusations, instead of accomplishing anything useful. It usually ended in one or the other of them storming off, and this time it was Danel’s turn. With a scowl on his face, Kelon threw himself down by the dying embers of the campfire (no one had bothered to organise the collection of any firewood, as usual) and wondered for the thousandth time what he was doing here.
The more time he spent in the company of Danel’s group of ferals, the more convinced Kelon became that he had made a terrible mistake. He might be Hemifae, and share half his blood with these escapees, but he could never submerge the Phaerie heritage in the human, and in his travels with these former slaves he had discovered a fundamental truth: you might sympathise with the people at the bottom of the heap, but it did no good to anyone to join them there. Save for Danel – and her liking for him only went so far, and seemed to be diminishing on a daily basis – they didn’t trust him, and he certainly didn’t trust them. There wasn’t anything noble or heroic about the
m; they were ignorant, brutish, filthy, unkempt, uncouth, and they were thieves.
Kelon was sick of the grime and the fleas, the continual whining and complaining and the endless fights. He was tired of being cold, exhausted and desperately hungry. He was worn down by having to keep a constant watch on his few scanty possessions. With a desperate, consuming ache he missed his old life, his home and the horses.
He missed Aelwen.
He should never have left her.
At the time it had seemed the only possible choice. His heart had been broken, his pride had been trampled in the dirt. Since Taine’s unlooked-for return, the thought of staying around Aelwen and her lover, having to watch them together, had been beyond all bearing. But now that time and distance had blunted the edge of that hurt a little, Kelon had begun to harbour doubts. Though he certainly couldn’t have remained around them for ever, maybe not even for long, he might have given himself time to settle, to think, to make a better, more reasoned choice.
He shook his head and sighed. Who was he trying to fool? What other choices did he have? He couldn’t have gone back to Eliorand after being involved in stealing some of the Forest Lord’s precious horses; he’d burned his bridges there. And Tyrineld was out of the question. The Wizards might have taken Aelwen in for Taine’s sake, but they wouldn’t want another Hemifae. Why should they? Besides, he would still be around Taine and Aelwen if he made his home in the Wizard city, so he would be no better off.
Kelon remembered what Athina had said, at that momentous gathering in the Cailleach’s tower, when Danel had refused to be part of the plans to free the Xandim.
‘The world is entering a time of upheaval and change . . . This new era will be your opportunity, Danel. You cannot conquer the magic-using races, but you can influence their attitude towards you by helping them in their time of crisis. In other words, this is the perfect opportunity to make yourself some powerful allies . . . The decision must be yours, whether the humans will be part of our company or not. If you think it better to return to grubbing for survival like wild beast in the forest, constantly looking over your shoulder for the Wild Hunt, you can leave immediately.’