Page 36 of The Faerie Handmaid

Morgana turned to her handmaid. “It will be Braithe.”

BOOK TWO

BRAITHE IN THE WHITE CITY

12

Idhri had eaten well of the hens’ eggs and fruit, but as he watched Braithe’s face, the meal roiled in his stomach. She turned so pale that her freckles stood out like stars in the sky and her eyes darkened to a midnight blue. He had noticed that happening when she was upset.

He wanted to protest that she was too young. Too small. Too… too human. Part of him felt he was letting her down if he did not speak. He felt frozen, unsure of his status in this alien land, unsure even how he fit into their little group. He sat stiffly, his jaw tight, his shoulders aching with tension. He wanted to be Braithe’s champion. His heart told him he needed to be that, but he could predict that someone would say he was only a boy, too young, too weak, with a damaged mind and no power.

He watched Braithe take a long breath and straighten in her chair. Her voice was steady when she said, “What do you wish me to do, Priestess?” but Idhri knew she was afraid.

It was something they shared, this awareness of other people’s emotions. The word came to his mind—empathy—but he didn’t know where he had heard it. Emma might have said it once, or maybe it was one of those fragments of information that occasionally slipped out from behind the curtain in his mind. He understood, as he listened to Morgana explain to Braithe what was needed, that her empathy was the tool Braithe was meant to use.

“The problem I have wrestled with,” Morgana was saying, as Emerlyn rested her chin on her fist to listen, “is that the ones who sent the changeling to Camulod are aware of my role in her death. I have no doubt they are the same ones who continue to plague the king with their magicks.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Emerlyn said.

“I think it does,” Morgana answered. “They hate Lloegyr, that is clear, and now, as I am the daughter of the Lady who banished the fae, I have become the symbol of Lloegyr, and of Camulod. I would not have thought it possible before I came here and found my ability weakened, but—” She looked away, and Idhri saw by the tightening of her mouth, the uneasy set of her shoulders, that she was also upset.

She went on. “Admitting it shames me, but I fear if they try to block me, they will succeed. The changeling almost accomplished that, and I have to assume they gifted her their power.”

“But Braithe has not your standing in the city,” Emerlyn said. “Forgive me, Braithe, but you are so clearly human.”

Braithe gave the councillor a chilly smile, an expression Idhri hardly recognized on her cheerful face. “I will forgive you for stating the truth,” she said, and Morgana made a slight sound of approval. Braithe went on, her voice as cold as her smile. “As you say, I have no standing. I am more or less invisible, and that makes me the perfect person for this undertaking.”

Morgana said, “That, and your unique gift.”

Braithe nodded acknowledgment. “I will need clothes.”

“Of course.”

“Clothes?” Emerlyn said, blinking.

Idhri could hold himself in no longer. “Servant’s clothes!” Every eye turned to him. It was the first time he had spoken since they arrived back at the house. He ignored the older women, speaking only to Braithe. “That’s it, isn’t it? You’re going to pose as a servant, a human servant!”

She gave him a tremulous smile, but it was Morgana who answered. “Very good, Idhri. I commend your quick grasp of the situation.”

“I want to go with her,” he said, surprising even himself at the strength of his wish. “She shouldn’t be alone, and there’s no one else.”

“But you are a half-blood,” Emerlyn said bluntly.

“These categories—” Morgana began, but Idhri interrupted.

“I saw a half-blood in the fields, an overseer. I can do this.”

Braithe said, “Idhri, I appreciate your offer, and your courage, but I don’t think this is a good idea.”

Morgana pressed her palms together as she considered. “I think it is, Braithe. Your charms will protect both of you.”

“Not in the council chamber,” Emerlyn said. “No magic, remember? There are blocks that neutralize all magicks. It’s necessary, lest the delegates destroy each other.”

“Aren’t servants allowed in the chamber?” Braithe asked.

Emerlyn said, “A practical question, Braithe. The answer is yes. Servants take in refreshments several times a day.”

“I can do that,” she said.