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A gust blasted past, and I could smell rain on the horizon. The clouds hadn’t journeyed inland from Dahnsburg yet. The air smelled sweet and mossy from the forest, and I had a sudden longing to just park it right here and forget about everything. Maybe just build a little house on the edge of the wood, set up shop, let Smoky give me babies, and pretend that Shadow Wing was all a bad dream. But after a few minutes spent in daydreaming, I shook my head.
“How did your visit go?” I asked Iris. “With the Great Winter Wolf Spirit? Did you find him?” The others were a little ways ahead of us. I lowered my voice so they couldn’t hear me.
She gave me a pained look. “Yes, I did. I’m not sure if it was the right thing to do. I’ll tell you later, but things don’t look hopeful. I have options, but none of them are promising, nor easy.”
Just about then, Morio stopped. “There—ahead. We’re almost to the path.”
“And how long after we enter the wood until we meet the Black Unicorn?”
Feddrah-Dahns blinked those long lashes at me. “We will be at his doorstep before the evening’s over and the Moon is up. We should rest for a moment now, because once we enter the Deep, we shouldn’t stop. It can be dangerous for travelers, especially after the sun goes down.”
I glanced at the sky. The sun was low on the horizon. We had perhaps another half-hour before dusk would hit and we’d be at the mercy of Morio’s light spell.
“Anybody bring food?” I asked, slipping my bag off my shoulder and dropping to the ground to stretch my legs. Trillian and Morio followed suit. Iris opened one of her satchels and pulled out a packet of sandwiches. I laughed. “I should have known. You always come through in the comfort department.”
As she passed the food around—thick slabs of turkey on sourdough, with freshly churned butter and slivered almonds and cinnamon cranberry sauce—she smiled ever so faintly.
“Don’t get used to it,” she said. “Who knows what the future holds? For any of us.”
“Fuck the future,” Trillian said, lifting his sandwich high. “The only thing we can be sure of is this moment, right here, right now. So eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we—”
“Don’t,” I said as a goose walked over my grave. “Don’t say it.”
He acquiesced, leaving the sentiment unspoken. As we settled into our meal, with Feddrah-Dahns munching on grass nearby, I gazed at the tree line leading into Thistlewyd Deep.>“Patience, patience,” Tanaquar said. “What we’ve learned is this: Not all of the Keraastar will have had contact with the seals, but they all share the same energy signature in their auras.”
“They can touch them without corruption because they’ve faced quests for power before, and they chose not to act on that power. Even if they don’t realize it.” Queen Asteria let out a sigh. “But we must have at least seven of the seals for this to work correctly. Any fewer and the balance will be upset. We have only four. Shadow Wing has one. That leaves four in play. We must find at least three of them before the demons get there first.”
I stared at her. In the core of my gut, I knew they were treading on dangerous ground, but what could I say? I opened my mouth to ask another question but a sharp jab from Morio stopped me.
Feddrah-Dahns’s gaze flickered over to me, and as I stared back, I saw concern and doubt in his eyes, too. And in Mistletoe’s, also, although pixies could be very misleading. But both of them warned me with their gaze to keep my mouth shut. I glanced over at Trillian, who was staring coolly at Queen Asteria.
At that moment, Queen Tanaquar gave me a narrow smile and said, “The OIA is placing the authority in your hands to do whatever is necessary to find the rest of the spirit seals. You have full license and we’ll supply all the manpower you need. Fail, and we all fail.”
As I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, the royalty fell to talking. I took the opportunity to glance around. Feddrah-Dahns, Trillian, and Morio were all worried as hell but concealing it rather well. I could see the concern rolling off their auras in waves. My father, on the other hand, was gazing at Queen Tanaquar. Suddenly I saw it—a cord that held them together.
Hot damn! Daddy was doing the Queen of Y’Elestrial, and he hadn’t said a word about it.
Totally thrown for a loop, I busied myself with smelling the flowers on a nearby tribarb bush. Like a cross between a rose and a dahlia, they were autumn flowers and had an earthy, spicy scent. After a few minutes, King Upala-Dahns adjourned the meeting and he and the two queens headed back to the palace.
Eager to get out of earshot and discuss just what the hell Asteria and Tanaquar were up to with the spirit seals, and to ask why Morio had stopped me from questioning the plan, I urged my companions to hurry away from the gardens. I had a bad feeling about what was coming, and I really didn’t want to be standing in the middle of the road whenever it barreled my way.
CHAPTER 14
The minute we were out of earshot, I turned to the others.
“Okay, what the fuck is going on? We agreed the spirit seals should be kept in a secret place, safe from the world. So what happened? What the hell are they thinking? The power in those seals can warp those who wield them.”
Furious—and not quite sure who at—I sputtered as Trillian and Morio hurried me along behind Feddrah-Dahns. I glanced over at the unicorn. “How long have you known about this?”
“Only today, Lady Camille. My father didn’t tell me anything about this—I swear on my honor to you.” He looked as upset as I felt.
Morio glanced over his shoulder to make sure nobody was following us. “I stopped you from questioning their wisdom because if they know you disapprove, they may decide to just keep you out of the loop. And that would be bad. Very bad.” He let out a long sigh. “I think we need to find out what Grandmother Coyote has to say about this.”
“The price for that one’s going to be steep,” I muttered. “You’re right, though. We’ll head for Thistlewyd Deep immediately. They didn’t say whether the Black Unicorn knows about their plans but we can find out when we’re there. And as soon as we’re done, we’ll head home and talk to Grandmother Coyote. Getting home has just become a priority.”
I glanced at Feddrah-Dahns. “I wish you were going with us.” Everything had shifted with the revelation that Queen Asteria was mucking around with the spirit seals. It felt like we were on quicksand. I didn’t know who to trust, except I knew that I trusted the Crown Prince.
Feddrah-Dahns let out a snort. “Me, too. Let me see what I can do. The three of you stay together while I’m gone. Don’t split up. Go sit in the courtyard out front, in plain sight, and talk about anything except what we learned.” He glanced at Mistletoe, who was hovering near his ear. “Find Iris and bring her here. Then go to my quarters, my friend, and get my traveling gear ready.”
