Mike Shevdon - The Road to Bedlam

It was too early to go knocking on doors and seeking rooms, so I walked back up the hill to the church, perched on its shelf of rock. Its stone was weathered and pitted and streaked with gull droppings but the sign said St Andrew's, so this was the place where the vigil would be. There was no graveyard as such, the ground being far too hard for graves, but there were memorial plaques and stone vases clustered into the walled enclosure. I was grateful to whoever had chained the iron gates back against the wall. I could no longer tolerate the touch of iron. Something in my fey nature reacted badly with it. I had been burned before and had the gates been barred I would probably have turned away.

The porch was open, but when I tried the door to the church, I found it locked. I scanned the notice board inside the porch. There were times for services, a rota for flowers, a crayoned advert for Sunday School. Nothing useful. I turned to leave and found the path blocked by a man in a dark coat outlined against the bright sunlight behind him. He looked imposing and yet I hadn't heard him approach.

"Help you?" The accent was local. There was no threat in the tone and as I squinted into the sunlight I could see the collar he wore was round and white against the black of his shirt.

"Good morning. I was just looking for details of the vigil service."

"Step out for a moment, and I'll open up the church for you. Everyone's welcome in God's house, though we try and make sure that people don't take advantage of that welcome."

"Sorry?"

"Don't like locking it up, but things get broken or stolen."

"Oh. I see. I'm not here to steal the hymn books." I stepped out of the porch so that he could enter.

"Can see that. Clergy?"

I looked down at my grey jacket and black silk turtleneck, then smiled up at him. "This? No, but I suppose it is a kind of uniform."

He unlocked the door and turned back to me. It was his turn to squint into the light. He offered his hand.

"Greg Makepeace. It's my parish."

"Neal Dawson."

He extended his hand and I took it. As we clasped I felt a sudden jolt. I snatched back my hand at the shock. He looked momentarily surprised and then apologised.

"Static." He shrugged it off. "I pick it up wherever I go. Sorry about that."

"No problem." I rubbed the heel of my hand.

What I had felt wasn't static. It was power.

Blackbird was woken by a persistent tapping at the door. She groaned as she pulled the duvet to one side so that she could roll sideways and push herself slowly upright. "All right. Just wait, I'm coming as fast as I can."

There was no sign that Niall had been back. What time had he been called out? Sometime after three, she thought.

She slipped into the cotton robe from the night before. The tapping resumed.

"Just wait, will you? I won't come any quicker because you keep on."

She turned the handle on the door and peeped through.

"I need to speak with you." Garvin stood in the corridor.

"You'd better come in then." Blackbird stepped back, allowing the door to open so that Garvin could enter, then looked out into the hallway. Usually where you found Garvin, Tate wasn't far behind. There was no sign of him in the hallway but that didn't mean he wasn't close by.

"Where's Niall?" she asked as she closed the door. There was no point in preamble.

"I've sent him on an assignment."

"I thought you didn't trust him for real work."

"He went active last night. He'll be a few days, I expect."

Blackbird went to pull a chair out to sit and then decided against it. She didn't want Garvin looming over her. She wasn't intimidated by his tactics, she just didn't like them. Instead she turned it so she could use it for support. The backache was constant now.

"Where have you sent him?"

Garvin ignored her question. "In the meantime, the High Court is convened and I need you to stay out of the way. Your meals will be brought to you and if you want anything you need only ask the stewards. Take some rest, you look like you need it."

"Thanks. You really know how to make a girl feel special."

"You're not my girl."

"Nor ever likely to be. Do you have a girl, Garvin?" She raised one eyebrow in enquiry.

Garvin didn't speak and his expression didn't change.

"I didn't think so. Telling Niall that his daughter was better off in an institution wasn't very kind, was it?"

"It may be true."

"Even you do not believe that. He will go after her, you know that. It's the kind of man he is."

"He needs to stay away from her, at least for now. We have other problems."

"Such as?"

Garvin was silent again.

She sighed. "You may as well tell me. I will find out regardless."

"With the Court in session the staff will be rushed off their feet. Try not to make too much of a pain of yourself. Once the session has finished we can look into finding you somewhere permanent to live."

"What are you not telling me, Garvin? That's unusually evasive, even for you."

"I'll have Fionh come up and place a warding on the doors and windows. You should be safe enough in here."

"Safe from what?" She waited for an answer. "Or would you rather I go and find out for myself?"

"The Seventh Court are here. They're in session tonight. Raffmir is here with Altair along with another wraithkin, Deefnir. They're in negotiations with the other courts."

Blackbird stood up straight, no longer leaning on the chair. "You weren't going to tell me that, were you?"

"I'm telling you now. Stay out of the way and there'll be no trouble. Altair's vouching for their conduct."

"Oh, well, that's all right then. If the Lord of the Untainted says they will behave themselves then that must be true, mustn't it? What did he actually say?"

"He assured me he'll take full responsibility for them while they were here."

"He's the Lord of the Seventh Court. He's responsible for them if they're on the moon. Are you serious? I killed Raffmir's sister. Do you think for a moment that he is not going to want revenge?"

"Raffmir has sworn by fey law to do you no harm. He can't hurt you without breaking his vow."

"That's such a comfort."

"They'll only be here a few days. Until they go, you need to keep a low profile. Stay in your room. I'll have the Warders patrol the halls whenever we have someone free. With wardings on your doors and windows, you should be secure enough."

"I want a weapon. Bring me a knife. Nothing too long, but sharp."

"I am not arming you, Blackbird. You're pregnant. What are you planning to do, stab them?"

"I can defend myself."

"You won't need to. The best defence is to stay away from them. We'll keep them away from you. They'll be gone soon enough."

"Don't leave me with nothing."

"You're more likely to harm yourself than anyone else. Stay calm. I'll have the stewards bring you some books, or a newspaper perhaps?"

"I want Niall here. Where is he?"

"Niall's on assignment. He'll be back soon. You have to get used to him being away. Warders go where they're sent."

"They go where you send them, you mean."

"Quite. Get some rest. I'll send the stewards up with some breakfast for you." Garvin turned to the door. "Do you want anything else?"

"A weapon."

"No, and don't pinch the butter knives. You'll only upset Mullbrook and then we'll all suffer."

"I don't like this, Garvin."

"I'm not delighted with it myself, but they have the right to be here. We'll make sure their visit is short and trouble-free. Trust us."

When Blackbird didn't respond to that, he nodded and left.

"Jumped-up…" She let the word hang and then pushed her hair back from her face, sighing heavily. "Well, it's no good standing here in your nightwear, girl, is it?"