Page 36 of A Divided Duty

“And how does that lead you to Duchess Torquill, exactly?”

I stepped into the hall, trusting her and Quentin to keep following me. “You weren’t around yet when we fought Blind Michael. Luna’s his daughter, and as a Blodynbryd, she has access to one of the Roads.”

“The what?”

“The Roads,” I repeated. “Like the Shadow Roads the Cait Sidhe use to get around. The Blodynbryd have the Rose Roads, and they can use it to travel quickly. It connects to Blind Michael’s realm.”

“He’s dead, though,” said Chelsea, sounding uncertain.

“He is,” I assured her. “But his widow, Acacia, still holds the skerry. You know, Luna’s mother? Any roads that led there while he was alive will still get you there.”

Tybalt was coming down the corridor toward us, Dean following close behind. I waved them over, then turned to Chelsea.

“Luna as good as threatened to do this when we talked to her before,” I said. “Queen Windermere didn’t go the way she wanted her to, and so she’s grabbed her daughter and taken her someplace where none of the kings and queens we have access to will have any authority.” That wasn’t entirely true: we had access to Oberon. Oberon, the King of All Faerie, had authority in Blind Michael’s lands, no matter how far removed they were from the known kingdoms. He’d be able to order Acacia to give Raysel back to us.

And if it came to that, I would march him there myself and make him give the order. He owed me that much by this point.

“What’s going on?” asked Dean, as they drew closer.

“Toby thinks the Duchess Torquill snatched Raysel,” said Quentin grimly.

Dean didn’t look surprised by this, only nodded and moved to stand next to his boyfriend. “I wouldn’t put it past her,” he said. “Ray’s scared witless of her mother. My mom’s scary on purpose, and I can’t imagine being that afraid of her.”

“I can,” muttered Quentin.

“Dianda would drown before she’d lay a hand on any one of you when you didn’t want her to,” I said. “Luna’s crossing lines.”

“Are you sure?” asked Tybalt.

“Raysel’s gone, the magic traces match with her having been removed from the room by magical means, and there’s a puddle of sap on the table that doesn’t have any rational source,” I said. “Unless someone who bled like an injured tree lost it there, that is.”

“I see,” he said, impassively. Then: “I found most of the people you asked me to look for. None of them were visibly injured, although Sylvester seemed quite distressed by the absence of his wife. I am no Adhene, to pull lies from out the air, but I know him well enough to be quite sure he was speaking truly in his upset. He doesn’t know where she is, or he didn’t, anyway.”

“That’s a relief,” I said. “If Luna acted alone, we might still be able to salvage this.”

“What, exactly, do you think happened?”

“I think Luna saw an opportunity to catch Raysel alone, grabbed her, and pulled her onto the Rose Roads. She’ll be halfway to her father’s skerry by now, and think she’s entirely out of reach.”

“October, the Rose Road is—”

“Pretty much inaccessible if you’re not Blodynbryd. I know.” I looked at him coolly.

After a moment, he sighed and looked away.

“I need to find Queen Windermere,” I said, barely catching myself before I used her first name. We were technically in public right now, since this was an open hall, and while it wasn’t likely, any one of the newcomers I’d noticed could claim offense against me for using the Queen’s proper name when they didn’t think I’d earned the right. They were unlikely to succeed, but even being able to make the attempt would be a complication that I didn’t need right now.

I turned and walked briskly down the hall, my little entourage at my heels. We were an odd group, two Daoine Sidhe, a Tuatha, a Cait Sidhe, and me. People turned as we emerged from the hall, watching us make our way across the receiving room.

Court had yet to be called back to order, but Arden and Nolan were on the dais, perched on their respective thrones with plates of food on their knees. Arden stood when she saw us approaching, setting her plate aside and glancing quickly over the group behind me, looking for a head of bright red hair. When she didn’t find it, she looked back to my face, raising her eyebrows in silent question.

I shook my head. “She’s not here,” I said, once I was close enough to be heard. “I need to go. Quentin can get my car out of here, but I needed to tell you first, so you didn’t think I was running out on you for no good reason. Tybalt will be going with me, but Ginevra’s here as a representative of the Court of Cats.”

“Of course,” she said. “Whatever you require.”

“If it’s whatever I require, can you keep an eye on Duke Torquill?” I asked. “I don’t think he knows what’s going on, but he’s going to be upset when he finds out, and I’d rather he had someone watching out for him when that happens.”

“Of course, Sir Daye,” said Arden, much more formally this time. “Please, come back and inform us when you have your answers.”