Mike Shevdon - The Eighth Court

“It would, except things started leaking out. Small things at first — a word here, a nod there. The obvious suspect was Niall. He’s the newcomer. It only started happening after he joined the Warders.”

“He’s not a Warder,” her scornful glance barely registered my presence. “Where was he when we needed him? Changing nappies? Chasing his daughter? He’s been more trouble than he’s worth since the beginning.”

“I couldn’t figure out where they were getting their information from,” said Garvin, continuing his train of thought. “That was the problem. Where were his sources? Who was feeding him? Did he have some hold over one of the Lords and Ladies? One of the other Warders? I was looking in the wrong place, wasn’t I, Fionh?”

“It doesn’t matter.” She glanced at the form lying draped in the sheet. “Nothing matters now.”

“And then it got worse,” said Garvin, “Just when Blackbird was chosen as head of the Eighth Court, the leak went from a trickle to a stream. All of a sudden Altair knew where we were going to be, when we were going to be there, what we intended to do.” He laughed. “In some ways I’m as guilty — I’d already made the connection. I figured that Blackbird was telling Niall, and Niall…”

I was having trouble believing what I was hearing. “How could you think that?” I asked him. “I’ve shown you nothing but loyalty, right from the beginning. I’ve done everything you’ve asked.”

“And more beside,” said Garvin, “which is what I expect. But a little thought nagged at me. The wraithkin have always been close. What if they’d overcome their prejudice and offered you something in return for information. What if the fact that you were one of them made the difference? What if they’d cut you a deal?”

“That would mean betraying Alex, Blackbird… My son…”

“Blood calls to blood, Niall. It always has and it always will.”

“What are you saying? They are my blood.” I nodded towards Alex.

“I’m saying sorry, Niall. I should have trusted you, but I didn’t. Instead I kept you busy, trying to minimise the damage until I could figure out who your source was. It didn’t do me any good, did it Fionh?”

“You should have killed him when you had the chance,” said Fionh. “Then none of this would have happened.”

“Always just at the edge of things,” said Garvin. “Always there when she’s needed, always listening attentively. That alone should have been a clue.”

“That’s not how it was,” she said.

“Wasn’t it? What did they offer you? What was the price?”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” she said. “They didn’t buy me. They didn’t have to. You sold us all, Garvin. You mortgaged our future against what… a bunch of no hope, half-fey, helpless, graceless nonentities? How could you?”

“It’s simple,” said Garvin, “and as obvious to me as I thought it was to you.”

“Obvious? The only thing obvious about them is that they are a poor substitute for the real thing.”

Behind Fionh, lightning flickered in the clouds outside. There was a low rumble, a warning of what was coming.

“You hear that?” said Fionh. “He thinks he can do to me what he did to Fellstamp.” She shook him, making him lift his chin even higher to avoid the knife and wobble precariously over the edge. “Take a good look down, lightning boy,” said Fionh. “It’s your future down there.”

“Just let him go, Fionh. We can talk this through.”

There was a bright flash. Fionh was outlined against the white. In my peripheral vision I saw Alex backing away. The thunder followed close this time, rattling the windows. Fionh didn’t waver.

“You can’t control it, can you boy?” she said. “It’s beyond you. I’ll tell you what, though. I can feel it building, and just before it strikes, your head is coming clean off.”

“It’s not me,” said Sparky through gritted teeth. “I’m not doing it.”

“You don’t see it, do you? None of you do,” said Fionh. “You wanted the Feyre to have children, but what you got was human children with power. He doesn’t even know he’s doing it. They’re not fey! They’re not anything!”

“They will be,” said Garvin.

“No they won’t! Look at Fellstamp. Look at him! That’s what they do. That’s what they are. They leech the life out of people until there’s nothing left. What do we call it when a creature lives off another? Parasites! That’s what they are. Parasites!” She pulled Sparky’s hair, so that he was forced to arch his body backwards, stretching his throat against the blade as he leaned back to keep his balance.

“How long, Fionh?” asked Garvin.

“Any moment now,” she said.

“No, I meant how long have you been in love with Fellstamp?” he said.

“What?” she said.

“It must have hurt, seeing him bed everyone but you. He never saw you like that did he? Fionh the ice queen was untouchable, and that’s the problem.”

“Shut up!”

“It must have twisted in your gut like a barb every time he charmed some girl under his covers. Every time, a betrayal.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Fionh, but everyone in the room heard the lie.

“It won’t bring him back, Fionh.”

“I don’t want to bring him back!” The words hung in the air. This time it was the truth. They words were torn out of her, and tears ran down her face. “I don’t want him back,” she said. “It’s too late. I just want him to die.”

The clouds behind them were luminous, bruised purple and black. The hairs on my arms stood up. I found myself stepping back, involuntarily, away from the window.

Garvin stepped forward. “Let him go, Fionh, and we’ll say goodbye to Fellstamp together.”

Her face distorted with anguish. Her hand was shaking under Sparky’s chin. Sparky’s eyes were wide with fear.

“Let him go,” said Garvin.

When it came, the flash was brilliant. My eyes registered colours I’d never seen before. I didn’t hear the blast or the thunder that came with it. Instead, I felt it; the shockwave tearing through my body as if I were insubstantial mist. Even with my eyes tight shut, I saw the outline of Fionh against the window, her hair standing out from her head like rays from a sun. Even with my eyes screwed shut, I saw the look on her face.

Strangely, she looked peaceful.

My hearing came back slowly. My ears were buzzing, and at first all I could hear were what sounded like squeaks and chirps. My eyes showed blotches of green and pink colour, obscuring my vision. Then I realised that Alex was screaming. As the spots cleared from my eyes I could see that Garvin had leapt forward and was lying over the parapet, reaching down. Alex was screaming at me, but I couldn’t understand her. Then I realised she was screaming at me to help Garvin.

I ran forward and grabbed hold of Garvin as he slid a few inches more over the balustrade. By holding onto his clothes, I could stop him sliding forward any more. I leaned forward, one part of me expecting to see Fionh dangling from his outstretched hand, the Warders loyal to each other at the last, but instead it was Sparky’s terrified face I saw staring up at me. On the paving below, I could see the outline of a body, slowly drifting into dust.

“Get help,” Garvin spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ll hold him.”

“If I let go of you, you’re both going over the edge.” I told him.

“If you don’t let go, I’m going to have to release him, assuming we don’t get another strike first.” Above the courts the clouds roiled in purple and dark grey, lightning flickering in its heart. I glanced backwards and Alex was behind me, chewing her knuckles in distress.