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As I’d suspected, there was silence.
‘But—but that means you’ll have to go back in time,’ Keely said nervously. ‘You’ve never done that before.’
‘Doesn’t mean he’s not capable of it,’ Emrick said briskly. ‘He’s the Great Guardian, for goodness’ sake. If anyone can do this, it’s Wulfram.’
‘Do you even know how to?’ Trinity asked.
‘No, but I’m sure Hector will give me a few pointers,’ I said.
‘But what if it goes wrong? What if you end up in the wrong time? What if you get stuck there in the past? What if—’
‘Keely,’ I said gently, ‘we can’t live our lives worrying about all the things that might go wrong. Not when we have so many things we need to put right.’
She swallowed down tears even as she bravely nodded, and I squeezed in between her and Harley on the sofa.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I know this is hard for you.’
‘Harder for you,’ she said, her voice thick with emotion. ‘I just don’t want to lose you.’
‘You won’t,’ I said. ‘I’ll come back to you. I promise.’
‘You can’t promise,’ she said tearfully.
‘Yes I can. According to the O’Briens I’ve already been in the seventeenth century. Surely if I’d got stuck there they’d have known all about that. I’d be long dead by now and I’d be part of the history books.’
‘You’re part fae,’ Trinity reminded me. ‘You might live a lot longer than a human being, so you could still be alive and very, very old.’
‘An old man?’ I wrinkled my nose. ‘You mean, there could be two of me? Me now, and the old version who’s been slowly growing older over the last few hundred years since getting stuck in the past?’
‘This is getting way out of hand,’ Emrick said firmly. ‘Wulfram won’t get stuck in the past. He’s a Great Guardian. Have you people no concept of what that means? He may have struggled with some aspects of his magic, but the part of him that is Guardian won’t have any difficulties. It’s who he is. And for what it’s worth,’ he added, ‘I think it’s an excellent idea, and exactly what you need to do. Go back in time, I mean. Find the Tremaynes and get them to help you find the sword.’ He smiled kindly at Keely. ‘All will be well. Have faith in Wulfram Pendragon.’
‘You’re really going to do this, aren’t you?’ Sirius asked.
I looked round at a sea of pensive faces and nodded.
‘I really am,’ I said. ‘It’s time.’
Chapter 33
Romy
It had been a strange, subdued sort of afternoon. Ever since we’d been summoned to this island by Meri Kittow things had been building towards something, yet somehow it had all seemed slightly unreal. With Wulfram’s announcement it felt as if we’d skipped forward. Things were no longer theoretical, and we weren’t just waiting around for the next thing to happen to us. We were taking action. Taking control.
Well, Wulfram was. I can’t deny I was worried about him, and I knew Trinity felt the same. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how Keely was feeling.
Blaise had been quiet ever since my brother’s announcement. He barely touched his tea, and went to his room not long afterwards, citing a headache. He was up there for a couple of hours, and when he returned he barely spoke, but sat quietly in an armchair, deep in thought.
Hector and Celeste arrived that evening, summoned by Emrick, and Killian came back not long afterwards. He was full of news about the fae community and how anxious everyone was. There was little trust in the Pendragons, he reported, but it didn’t stop some fae agreeing with them that they couldn’t trust the witches, and rumours were growing that the time-travelling witch was not only here looking for the keys, but that he’d already found one of them.
‘We’ve told them all it’s rubbish, but you know what it’s like when rumours take hold.’ Killian shook his head. ‘Anti-witch feeling is growing, there’s no denying it.’
‘And where does that leave us?’ Harley asked nervously. ‘How do they feel about you being married to a witch?’
Killian didn’t reply, but the look in his eyes suggested some of the fae community weren’t impressed with the fact that a Shining One had done something so treacherous as to marry one of the enemy.
‘What about Aidan and Derwa?’ I asked. ‘Does this mean their wedding’s postponed?’
‘I wish,’ he said. ‘My folks had an emergency meeting with the Nine Sisters. There was some disagreement among them—the sisters, I mean—but the vote was in favour of the wedding going ahead. They’re convinced it’s the best way to show both witches and fae that the other side can be trusted.’
