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“Oh, I am sure that Queen Aaibhe does not blame you,” Royce stuck in. “And it makes sense to me that it is a dagger. It slices through the barrier of time—it divides Dark and Light Magic.”
MacBathe smiled at her. “Aye then, wee Princess, ye see—don’t ye?” He sighed. “Nevertheless, much shame was brought upon our name by the Fallen Druid, and so I would like to help ye with all m’heart.”
“Which brings us back to the crux of the matter—finding it,” Chance said, looking directly at Trevor. “Can ye? Can ye find it now?”
“I cannot from its box. I need to be very near it to locate it, but Royce can.”
All eyes turned to her, and she said with a long intake of air, “I think so … this box, this picture allows me to track its shape and scent and see it in my mind,” Royce said. “I shall start with a locator spell. Ete spent long hours training me, and there is no one better than Princess Ete at locator spells.”
Trevor looked at her and smiled, “Right then, Red. Impress us.”
“Don’t you think I can?” she said playfully as she took the empty Peckering case into her hands and started lightly fingering it.
She closed her eyes, said the ancient Danu words, and listened to the hum in the atmosphere. She realized even the box, long empty, still had a magic all its own. It called to the dagger, and she could hear it. Apparently her Royal Seelie presence had awakened the Peckering’s sheath … the box.
She felt a vibration, unique to itself, and all at once the Peckering connected with her, as though it had expected her all along. She didn’t find the Seelie Hallow—it found her!
“At last,” said the soft voice of the Peckering for everyone in the room to hear. “I am for you, Princess.”
“It is a female,” Royce said as she opened her eyes. “Of course … its purpose is nurturing. In spite of its sharp blade, it wasn’t made to kill.” And there was one more fact, she knew, for she felt it with her entire being. The Peckering was nearby.
“Where is it, lass?” Chance asked as he moved to sit beside her and rested his hand on her knee.
She looked at his hand and raised a brow at him, but he ignored this, reached, and touched her cheek. “Go on … find out where it is …”
Even in that exciting moment, even as she was about to discover the whereabouts of an ancient, long-missing Fae Hallow, the Milesian consumed her mind. How dare he hold her knee like that? How dare he smile at her in just that manner … and oh, but she knew she really didn’t want him to withdraw his hand or his smile
“I am trying,” she said irritably. She was charged with emotion and all of it conflicting. How could she be anything but irritated?
And then the Peckering spoke again. “Dark, damp, and old … I am in the dungeon.”
“By all that …” started MacBathe. “It has been in the dungeon of the original part of the castle … all along.”
Royce got to her feet, closed the box, and said, “We’re on it, Peckering.”
“Hurry—no time to lose,” it answered.
Again, Chance took her hand and sent a rush of sensation through her body. Ridiculous, she told herself. She just couldn’t let her physical needs—her hormones—to rule her head.
The Peckering, so pleased it seemed to Royce to be heard, started to chatter. “I am the Peckering. Yes, yes, I am she, Light and Dark, and mistress to the Fallen Druid no more—though he remains. I am of Seelie Fae …”
“Remains? Remains where?” Chance demanded, fixing on that one word.
“I no longer answer to him or to anyone other than a Royal Seelie Fae,” she answered haughtily.
“What, Peckering, did you mean—the Fallen Druid remains?” Royce picked up the question.
“Simply that, nothing more,” Peckering answered. “Come for me … and we shall speak of many things, Seelie Princess Royce.”
“You know my name?” She was shocked.
“As you searched me out—I returned the favor,” Peckering answered. “Now, Seelie Princess Royce, come for me …”
~ Seven ~
COBWEBS HUNG IN profusion along the walls and railing as they descended deep into the original dungeon. Spiders scurried along their webs, and Royce let out a scream as one came close to her face.
With a blink the cobwebs were cleared from their path, and they made their way down the last set of circular stone steps.
