Dance with the Fae

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

I t appeared there were very few who regretted the death of their previous ruler, even those who had fought in Caul Gilling’s colours. The celebrations were like nothing Kit had experienced before. He thought his engagement party and the celebrations that ended the war had been extravagant, but the music and dancing and feasting went on for hours.

Kit’s contribution was Figaro’s ‘Aria’, followed by a recital of The Green Eye of the Yellow God , to wide applause from the crowd and complete glee from Adelaide. If he achieved nothing else, he could embark on a career as a music hall performer.

Silas was sitting beside the river with Valentine at his side, and his and Adelaide’s child between them, wrapped in a striped woollen blanket. They were deep in conversation and didn’t notice Kit and Adelaide approaching at first. He beckoned Kit and Adelaide to him.

‘Tomorrow I’ll start the task of returning the sleepers if they wish to go. Anyone who wishes to stay may do so. Some of them will doubtless try to find their way back here and I’ll permit anyone who does to return.’

He coughed meaningfully and for a moment Kit felt the intense power that Silas had emitted when he’d healed Kit’s eyes. The certainty that he was doing the right thing began to waver.

‘I’ll send you now with Adelaide to return to her body.’

‘Can you send us straight to Meadwell? I left the car in Whitby, but I posted the keys through a letterbox so I’m not sure how we’ll get it back.’

‘Anywhere can be a doorway,’ Silas said. ‘I have a fondness for rivers, personally.’ He gestured to the water they sat beside. In the moonlight it resembled a silver ribbon running through velvet fields. A marble bridge spanned it. Kit had hoped for a journey to delay reaching the gateway. Here and now seemed too soon, though the longer he stayed, the harder he would find it to go.

‘Time is of the essence when you reach Meadwell. Adelaide’s spirit will return to her body, then you can send her back. The longer she remains in your world the fainter the connection to my land and to our child will become.’

Silas handed him two pieces of lilac.

‘I’ll only need one,’ Kit said quietly.

Silas gave him another penetrating look. ‘It’s best to have two. You never know when you might choose to use it. I offer you my hand and my blessing. Christopher Arton-Price, you are a free man here. No one shall or can place you under obligation.’ He rested his forehead against Kit’s ‘Must you go? Just imagine what we can do together. You and I, and Adelaide and Valentine. Imagine the life we could share. The four of us united would bring such strengths to each other. We would be unconquerable. Undefeatable.’

‘That means the same thing,’ Kit said, his tongue feeling thick and dry. ‘You don't need to say it twice.’

‘You make a good point, but mine still stands.’ He stared into Kit’s eyes, so captivating that Kit’s blood started to rush, his heart to pound. Kit shook his hand before he threw all his intentions away and stayed. While Adelaide and Silas kissed farewell, Kit turned to Valentine.

‘I’ll never forget you,’ he said.

‘Goodbye Kit,’ she said quietly.

He leaned forward to kiss her, inhaling the scent of mimosas for the last time. She hadn’t asked him stay. She was a free woman now, and whatever affection they had found clearly wasn’t enough for her to want him that much. He released her, knowing that if he didn’t he’d find it impossible, and nodded to Silas.

Silas tossed the lilac petals into the air and blew. They were slightly more elegant than the walnut pieces, Kit had to admit.

The arch beneath the bridge began to glow with a green light.

‘I’ve tried to get you back as close as could be. We left Meadwell through the river. You should emerge back there.’

‘As soon as you get there go up to my room and I’ll be waiting outside,’ Adelaide told him. She kissed her son on his forehead and handed him to Silas.

The petals were floating in the air and settling around the bridge. The luminescence began to pulsate. Kit took Adelaide by the hand, and they waded into the water. It was pleasantly cool, but the wind buffeted them as they walked into the mist beneath the arch and down the long pathway. As the sounds of celebration grew fainter and the mist rose around them Adelaide began to slow down, until she stopped altogether.

‘I can’t go through. What if something happens to Caelwen while I’m gone?’ she groaned.

She let go of Kit’s hand. It was the worst thing she could have done because when the mist cleared, she was no longer beside him. Kit cried out her name but to no avail and he had no choice but to continue forward, telling himself not to panic. Perhaps that was supposed to happen, perhaps she had returned to her sleeping body.

It was raining heavily when he emerged from the gate that led to the deer park. The pathway had sent him close but not exactly where he should be. The rain lashed down and he had no real idea of what season it was. The leaves were still lush and green and the grass was tall, which suggested it was still summer.

Running at full pelt only took him fifteen minutes to reach the house. He ran straight to Adelaide’s room. He didn’t bother to knock but went straight in.

Aunt Sarah was sitting by the bed reading.

‘Kit! You’ve been gone four days! Where have you been?’

He did a quick calculation. That meant it was June the twenty-first. The longest night, and the summer solstice. Whether that was significant or not was something he could think about later.

‘You’re soaking wet!’ Sarah exclaimed as Kit walked to the side of the bed.

Adelaide was still lying as she always had, her face pale and her eyes shut.

‘But that’s wrong,’ Kit said. ‘She shouldn’t be like this.’

‘I know. It’s so hard to fathom,’ Sarah said.

‘No, I mean she really shouldn’t be,’ Kit said. ‘She wasn’t supposed to be like this now.’

Sarah rose from her chair and walked towards Kit with her arms outstretched. ‘You’re not well. You’ve been gone for days again. Your parents have been worried sick. Let me go get them.’

He was on the verge of protesting until it struck him that he needed Sarah to leave.

‘Yes, go,’ he said gently. ‘Adelaide loves you and Richard very much, you know.’

Aunt Sarah’s eyes crinkled. As soon as she was gone, he dropped onto the bed beside Adelaide.

‘Addie, can you hear me? You should be awake by now. What’s gone wrong?’

Her eyes fluttered open. She tried to raise her head, but it fell back weakly.

‘Kit. I feel so weak. Take me to Silas.’

‘I’ll take you. We’ll go now.’

He walked to her dresser and swept her jewellery into an evening bag and put the loop over his wrist. He felt for the lilac in his pocket then lifted her from the bed and into his arms. She weighed almost nothing. How long had she been surviving on beef tea and cornflour? It was no wonder she had no strength to walk.

They were halfway across the lawn before he heard his parents calling his name. It would be far too complicated to explain what was happening, so he ignored them and increased his pace. The deer park was too far so he headed towards the bridge where they should have emerged.

He laid Adelaide on the riverbank and jumped into the river. It was waist deep and freezing. The current was rapid and unseen fish and plants grasped at his legs unpleasantly.

‘Can you walk at all?’ he asked Adelaide, but she just sighed. He lifted her in his arms again but it meant he couldn’t easily reach the lilac in his pockets.

‘Come on Addie, you’ve got to try help me here.’ He let go of her legs and caught her before she sank in a heap, throwing her arm around his neck and supporting her entire body weight. Her feet went from under her as they touched the slippery mud and they both dropped beneath the surface. Kit pulled her upright with difficulty and dragged her as he waded towards the bridge.

Aunt Sarah was shouting his name over and over, alternating with Adelaide’s. He glanced behind and saw his parents, brother and aunt striding towards him.

‘Kit whatever you think you’re doing it isn’t the answer,’ his father cautioned.

‘It’s going to be fine,’ he replied. He found the lilacs and crumbled the petals from the stems into his hand. ‘I’m taking her where she needs to go.’

He threw the petals up in the air and blew. At first, he saw no signs of any gateway. He reached for the second lilac stem but from the corner of his eye he saw the pulsating glow underneath the bridge. It grew stronger as he reached it.

‘Stop, please,’ Aunt Sarah begged.

Kit smiled at her, wishing with all his heart that Adelaide was conscious enough to bid her mother farewell in person.

‘Adelaide loves you very much and she wants you to be happy,’ he said softly. ‘We aren’t going to get married because she loves someone else. She wants to go join him. She’ll be so happy there.’

As would he be. Why was he choosing to stay here? Valentine might not need him but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t want him in the future. He’d have all the time in the world to wait, after all.

He waded towards the bridge. It was wide enough for a farm cart to cross, but when he reached it, he saw that the arch beneath it had become a tunnel that stretched much further.

As he stepped closer to the bridge Adelaide began to revive enough to take some of her body weight.

‘We’re nearly there. A few steps further,’ he urged.

They were chest-deep now. From behind, Kit could hear the anguished screams of their family. It tore his heart. Addie might be content to leave without saying goodbye, but Kit couldn’t.

‘Addie this is too cruel. We can’t just abandon them without a proper explanation.’

He had a second piece of lilac. He didn’t have to go right now. Silas had been wise to give it to him.

‘You go on. I’ll go back and I’ll try to explain as best as I can. I’ll come through soon.’

Adelaide stumbled at first but as they walked further into the passageway her strength began to return. Whatever part linked her to the Faedemesne was reaching out for her body. A piercing wail echoed off the walls: a child keening for its mother.

‘I’m coming,’ Adelaide cried. She pulled away from Kit and ran. Unlike Orpheus she didn’t look back once.

When she was lost from sight, Kit waded back through the tunnel and emerged into sunlight breaking through the rain. His father had removed his shoes and was about to climb into the river. Aunt Sarah was lying on the grass face down, being comforted by Ellen. Kit had never seen her in such disarray.

‘Murderer!’ she screamed, upon spotting Kit.

Charles grabbed him roughly around the waist and dragged him back onto the bank. The uproar had caused servants and members of the household to come running.

‘Call the police,’ Sarah screamed. ‘He’s drowned my daughter!’

‘No,’ he said. ‘That’s not what happened.’

But how could he prove otherwise? Two had gone into the water and only one had emerged.

Sarah pointed to the evening bag hanging from his wrist. ‘That’s Adelaide’s. He’s a thief too.’

‘No, let me explain.’ Kit looked around. Adelaide was beloved by the household. From the expression on the faces watching him, the servants would gladly tear him limb from limb!

‘Better come inside before something bad happens,’ Charles growled.

There was no love in his father’s eyes. Explaining would be impossible.

He had only one choice. He needed to go join Adelaide, Silas and Valentine, as he should have all along.

He wrenched himself free and waded towards the bridge, reaching into his pocket for the final piece of lilac but before he could enact the magic, Crossle the butler plunged into the river beside Charles and the two men grabbed hold of his arms.

‘He’s a wrong ‘un, sir. Locked a woman in the plate room, though I begged him not to. Left her to die.’

Crossle dashed the lilac from Kit’s hand, flowers unstripped. They tumbled into the water and were washed away by the current under the bridge which, to Kit’s dismay, remained just a bridge. The fight went out of Kit, seeing his way back lost forever, and he slumped, allowing the two men to manhandle him to the bank and restrain him.

* * *

‘His mind is quite broken. It’s not his fault. Sergeant Lawn, you must see that.’

Kit listened to his mother’s pleas echo down the passageway and into his cell. He lay on the bed that was bolted to the floor; hands lightly clasped across his chest. His clothes were still damp, since he had not been permitted to change them before being taken to the police station in Helmsley. Now he lay on a mattress that was so thin it might better be described as a blanket, listening to his mother begging to see him.

He tried not to worry. Adelaide knew he should be coming and when he did not appear, someone would come looking for him but how could they imagine what he was going through? His skin grew cold. He had no idea how much time had passed in the Faedemesne. A day? A week? Was Adelaide and Silas’s son now a strapping young man?

His mother’s entreaties had no effect and now his father was blustering and threatening. Demanding access to his son as soon as the family solicitor arrived. Time passed. It grew dark. His clothes dried. He was fed. Made use of the chipped pot in the corner. Lying down on the bed, he slept.

The next day was exactly the same. As night fell again, he allowed himself to give into his despair and weep. Bars of iron surrounded him. He’d been placed in iron cuffs while they brought him here. Even if his friends knew where he was, they would be powerless to assist him in escaping.

His father and the family solicitor visited the next morning and Kit was taken to a room with a table and chairs. Mr Lohan was the same age as Charles. They’d gone to school together. He was a local man and had returned to practice in York. That he had come over to speak to Kit personally was a great favour.

‘Christopher, you need to tell us exactly why you did what you did. From the outside it looked as though you abducted Miss Wyndham and intentionally drowned her. Can you offer any alternate explanation?’ Mr Lohan asked.

‘Adelaide was planning to elope with a Hungarian nobleman. Father, you remember him. Mr Wilde, who was at our engagement party.’

‘So you decided to abduct and drown her before she was able to break off your engagement.’

Kit jerked forward. ‘No! I like him. I’m happy for them both. He was meeting us under the bridge. As Addie was too weak to walk, I had to carry her.’

Mr Lohan appeared unimpressed.

‘Nobody was seen beneath the bridge before or afterwards.’

‘They must have gone quickly while everyone was busy detaining me,’ Kit suggested. It sounded feeble as he said it.

‘They must have heard the furore, yet this alleged nobleman and Miss Wyndham left you to your fate.’

“Don’t leave me!”

Kit bowed his head, seeing how bleak his future looked. Mr Lohan removed his spectacles and polished them on a handkerchief, looking up at Kit.

‘In the absence of Miss Wyndham, or her body, the charge will be murder. Charles, I am very much afraid he will be found guilty, and the penalty will be capital,’ he said.

Kit saw his father stiffen. ‘But he’s my heir. That can’t be allowed to happen.’

‘I find it very unlikely, given his inadequate explanation for events, that Kit will be able to convince a jury of his innocence. Surely, if Miss Wyndham and her lover were aware of your current predicament, they would come forward to prove that she is alive and well?’

‘I don’t know how to contact them,’ Kit protested. His chest grew tighter by the minute. ‘I had the means and I’ve lost it.’

Mr Lohan made a few notes on his pad of paper, the scratching of his nib being the only sound. He replaced the lid and put down the fountain pen. He looked at Kit almost kindly.

‘Christopher, you have suffered a lot in the service of our country. It’s possible that your mind has been damaged as a result of your injuries and your ordeal. I will represent you and I suspect the best defence will be insanity. An asylum might be your best chance.’

‘I’m not going to plead insanity,’ Kit said.

‘Then you’ll most likely hang.’ Mr Lohan turned to Charles. ‘I’m sorry, Charles, but as he’s being this obstinate I can do very little. I will defend him, of course, and we could plead insanity with or without his consent.’

Kit shoved his hands deep in his pockets and his fingertips brushed against a single lilac blossom that had somehow escaped destruction. He took it out with excitement, threw it in the air and blew on it, hope rising that he would see the means of escape, only for it to fall to the cell floor as nothing happened. Charles and Mr Lohan exchanged a look that said everything Kit feared.

‘I’m not mad,’ he said urgently, but his words sounded hollow.

Was his mind damaged? He didn’t think so, but he supposed that mad people didn’t.

Charles looked at Kit. Kit stared back. His father appeared to have aged ten years.

‘I’ll speak to my son alone now,’ he said coldly.

The solicitor left.

‘I asked you not long after your engagement party whether your mind might have been affected by your ordeal. You swore it hadn’t. But I cannot see any other reason for your irrational behaviour. Either way, you have left me no alternative but to disinherit you.’ He pressed his hands together. ‘Either they will hang you or imprison you or incarcerate you in an asylum. No outcome will leave you in a position to inherit Meadwell and you’ve shown me that you aren’t capable in any case. Alfred will have to step up to the role.’

‘I have no doubt he will do the job admirably,’ Kit said.

Charles walked around the table and leaned close to Kit. ‘It is my greatest sorrow that he was not the eldest.’

Kit gritted his teeth before answering. ‘It is mine, too. I’m sorry, Father. I did what needed to be done.’

‘And so shall I.’ Charles knocked on the door. Just before exiting, he turned back to Kit. ‘It will be better if they hang you.’

Kit put his head in his hands. Given the alternatives, it was hard to disagree with that assessment.