Dance with the Fae

Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

T he case made the national papers. The rejected suitor who drowned his fiancée and attempted to steal her jewels. With Kit’s inability to account for actions and Mr Lohan’s clear reservations, the verdict was almost a foregone conclusion before the trial had even started. Mr Lohan’s efforts to suggest that Kit’s actions had been an act of mercy towards the catatonic woman –that he was unable to bear seeing Adelaide in her state – fell on deaf ears. Especially as reports of the puzzling illness suggested many sufferers were beginning to wake of their own accord.

Kit’s declarations that Adelaide and Mr Wilde would appear at any time to prove him right sounded like the ravings of a desperate man and as the hours in court passed, his faith wavered until his repetitions sounded hollow even to him.

The judge’s words echoed in Kit’s mind as he was led from the courtroom, numbly putting one foot before the other.

Hang by the neck until dead.

They hadn’t come.

‘Well, this is a pretty pickle you’ve got yourself into,’ Doctor Smith sniffed. He’d managed to wangle a visit to Kit in Armley Prison where he’d been taken awaiting his execution after the passing of three Sundays. That the entrance resembled a castle and reminded him of Silas’s home was an irony Kit did not find amusing.

‘I think that’s an understatement,’ he said wryly. ‘I don’t suppose you can vouch for me that I was trying to help Adelaide? Word of a medical man and all that.’

He sagged into the uncomfortable wooden chair.

They hadn’t come and his hopes faded with each passing day.

‘I wish I could help you, but it’s beyond my capabilities,’ Doctor Smith said. ‘I don’t blame you, by the way, for refusing to plead insanity. I don’t think I could bear life in an asylum as a sane man. I don’t think a person’s sanity would last very long under those circumstances. A quick death is a much more attractive prospect. Assuming that is your only choice.’

‘I think it is.’ Kit dropped his head into his hands.

“Don’t leave me, Kit.”

Andrew’s words echoed in his ears. Begging. Condemning. Mocking. He couldn’t quite shake the idea that this was his punishment.

‘I’m trapped here, and I don’t even have a way of contacting them. It’s too much to hope that somehow they’ll find out. Silas gave me some lilac to use, but I lost it.’

Doctor Smith cocked his head. ‘I thought it was walnuts you used.’

A hot sweat washed over Kit. ‘You’re a genius! I’m an imbecile!’

He sprang from his chair, causing it to clatter to the floor. ‘I need to see my great-aunt Merelda. I left a third walnut in her keeping. It’s always the third! Can you ask her to crack and seal it as you saw me do?’

‘I will speak to her. I don’t imagine we’ll see each other again so let me wish you the best of luck. I truly hope you manage to escape to your fairyland.’

Doctor Smith stood and shook Kit’s hand. ‘Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. Do you remember the little boy who fell asleep at the fair? He woke a day after you returned, fought his father with strength and skill quite remarkable for a child of his age, then announced he was going to become a watchman and hasn’t been seen since. Do you know anything about that?’

‘I couldn’t possibly say.’ Kit smiled. It was good to know that at least one of the sleepers’ tales had had a happy ending.

* * *

The days until Merelda visited were the worst of Kit’s life. He could barely sleep and when he did his nightmares were plagued with the faces of those he’d loved and lost.

Her arrival was announced the afternoon before his execution was due to take place.

‘I’ve been ill. I’m sorry,’ she said, settling onto the chair that the warden put in Kit’s cell. ‘I have started to feel recently that I am almost done here.’

‘You’ve got years left in you,’ Kit said gallantly.

‘I hope not. Oddly, now that my toad has gone I feel slightly bereft. I had not expected to be outliving you.’

‘I’m hoping you won’t,’ Kit said. ‘I mean that in the nicest possible way, because I intend to live for a very long time. Do you have the walnut?’

‘Yes. At first, I couldn’t think what you were asking for, but then Enid reminded me. She’s so clever.’

‘Yes, she is. You’re lucky to have her.’ Kit smiled. ‘You’re lucky to have each other. Not many people manage to find their heartmate and keep them.’

‘I told Enid you knew.’ Merelda’s eyes crinkled then grew solemn. ‘But then I think there are reasons you might be more aware of our situation than the rest of the family, my dear.’

‘There are.’ He told her about Andrew. Not the dreadful death, but the laughter and tenderness they had shared. Even under the dire circumstances, his heart felt lighter. If everything went horribly wrong and he died, at least one person would know the truth. When he had finished, Merelda had tears in her eyes.

She blew her nose then gave him the walnut. The shell had a faint shimmer to it that greeted Kit like an old friend. Silas had indeed cured his eyes and he had none of the blurred outlines on common everyday objects, so this little reminder of the Fae was quite heartening to his general despair. The two halves were sealed together with red wax.

‘Red for luck. Do whatever it is you need to do and go be with them. That’s what you’re planning, isn’t it?’

‘Yes. There’s nothing for me here.’

He took her by the hands. ‘Merelda, you were right, you know. You did have a baby, and that baby was Adelaide.’

‘Thank you, Kit. I’m so pleased to know that for certain. I always did like her.’ Merelda’s face cracked into a smile that was so like Adelaide’s that it struck Kit as astounding no one had ever noticed the similarity. But who would have believed such a thing was possible?

‘You didn’t murder her, did you? I believed you didn’t, and now I’m even more certain.’

‘No, I didn’t. I took her to where she wanted to be. She is the Queen of the Fae with Silas Wilde as her king and a son that will grow up to rule after them. She’s happier than I’ve ever known her. I only wish we hadn’t caused so much distress to the family in the process.’

Merelda brushed a tear from her cheek.

‘There are always victims, however good the intentions. The recent war taught us that. Now, what about that troublesome little madam you locked in the silver vault?’

‘I dare say she’s happy, too. She’s free from what bound her. She didn’t ask me to stay,’ he admitted in a small voice, feeling the wound so deeply he almost craved the noose.

‘Did she not?’ Merelda cocked her head and her birdlike eyes gleamed. ‘And did Silas Wilde ask Adelaide that question?’

‘I wasn’t present at every conversation they had,’ Kit said.

‘Well, I’m willing to bet that request never came from him. They can entice and borrow but they can’t ask to keep. It’s one of the rules of that place. Oh, it’s so good to be able to talk freely. I can’t thank you enough,’ Merelda said, licking her lips with a toad-free tongue.

‘I think you just did,’ Kit said. He squeezed the nut tightly. ‘I asked Valentine to come here with me, but she said no, then she started sobbing. I think now that she wanted me to stay but she couldn’t ask. I’m an idiot, aren’t I!’

‘The best sort,’ Merelda said with a gentle laugh. ‘You’re away with the fairies, or at least you soon will be. Do you want me to leave you alone while you do this? I suppose a mysterious escape from gaol would be better if there was no one to witness it.’

Kit weighed the walnut in the palm of his hand and glanced at the window. Through the grille the sky was dark with clouds. ‘I don’t think it’ll work here. There’s too much iron. For whatever reason, it stops magic working. Perhaps one day a chemist will discover why. I’m going to have to wait until I am somewhere without iron.’

Someone rapped on the door and informed them they had five minutes.

Kit helped her from her chair and escorted her to the door.

‘Thank you,’ he said.

‘Thank you ,’ she replied. ‘For taking the toad away and for telling me who my baby was. It’s so good to know I’m not actually mad and never was.’

‘You and Enid could come with me,’ Kit suggested.

Merelda squeezed him tightly. ‘Don’t think I’m not tempted. But I think taking everything into account that we’ve learned, our lives have been long enough. I hope yours is as long as you deserve it to be.’

* * *

Kit was led to the prison courtyard at dawn. His hands trembled even though they were bound behind his back and his heart thumped as he walked the path that only led one way. Damp air hit him and he shivered.

‘It’s cold. I’m not afraid,’ he told the guard at his side.

The guard shrugged as if he didn’t believe Kit. ‘Aye, many say that.’

He couldn’t look at the scaffold, where a black-clad man waited and a noose swayed softly in the breeze. Outside the walls he could hear the singing of hymns from those hoping to save his soul, and shouts informing him he was a murderer and a monster.

In all honesty, he wasn’t sure who was right. Perhaps they all were.

‘Please give me a minute to pray,’ he begged Warden Evans. The warden was a kind man with three young children. He must have seen hundreds of men who had done the vilest things, but he had treated Kit with more courtesy than many would.

With difficulty Kit reached around and took the walnut out of his pocket and squeezed the two halves together so that the wax cracked and the meat fell into his hand. He’d practised the movement long into the night until he could do it in seconds, knowing seconds would be all he had. He lifted his face to the sky.

‘Silas Wilde, your man calls for aid,’ he called.

Warden Evans looked at him suspiciously.

He flicked the crumbs upwards with difficulty.

‘Valentine, Keeper of the Order of Thorns! Adelaide, blood of Fae and Meadwell!’ he called.

The wind swept upwards, catching the shards of nut and swirling them around Kit. He laughed, seeing it was obviously working.

‘What’s that?’ Warden Evans stepped towards him, alarmed.

Kit backed away and glanced around, desperately searching for the luminescence that would lead him to the Faedemesne. When he saw it, his knees went weak. In a cruel trick, the gateway had formed in the only circle available: the noose that awaited Kit’s neck. It pulsated with an indigo light, but it was too small and too high, and with his hands still bound, he had no way of clambering through it.

As he stared at it in dismay, a word echoed around the yard.

‘Sleep.’

The warden’s eyes took on a glossy look and he began smiling benignly. The other guards and the executioner appeared to be under the same enchantment. Kit wasn’t certain whether the spell extended to the crowd at the other side of the wall, but the songs and shouts grew fainter.

A grey streak shot out of the glowing hole and circled around Kit’s head, then a dove perched on the wall. Around one leg was a blue ring. The bird dropped from the wall, and as it landed, Valentine took her female form. She stood with her hands on her hips looking at Kit. Hands bound and wearing prison uniform, he stared back, a sweaty mess of relief.

‘What have you got yourself into?’ Valentine asked.

‘Everything went wrong,’ Kit said.

‘Adelaide told us she didn’t wake up, but you obviously got her body through,’ Valentine said.

‘Yes, but without her body, everyone thought I’d murdered her.’

‘Of course, now you’re about to be executed you want to come through,’ Valentine said. ‘You’re lucky Silas hasn’t sealed the ways yet.’

‘I was going to come anyway, straight after taking Adelaide, but the lilac was taken from me.’

‘You were going to come back?’ Valentine looked into his eyes. He’d forgotten how thick her lashes were. How green the irises.

‘I’d have come sooner but I’d forgotten I had the means.’ He stared around him. ‘And there’s been quite a lot of iron in my life recently.’

‘Yes. I can feel it.’ Valentine shuddered.

He stepped towards Valentine. She held out a hand, and on noticing his hands were bound, she waved a hand and said a few words. The ropes fell away and he rushed to her, gathering her into his arms. Warm and soft. The smell of mimosas filled his senses, causing his throat to seize.

‘I finally took time to think about what you’re not telling me as much as what you are. You couldn’t ask me to stay, could you? I thought you didn’t want me to and it never occurred to me to ask.’

Valentine scowled. ‘One day, I’m going to be very angry with you that you doubted me so much.’

She buried her head in his chest. ‘Today is not the day, though.’

‘I’ve missed you so much,’ Kit said, gazing down at her. ‘I love you, Valentine. I want you, and I want to be with you. I want to sing songs and recite poems by campfires, and make love in the woodlands, and bathe in streams. And I want to marry you.’

He took her hands in his and ran his thumb over the bracelet.

‘If you don’t want me, then I’ll accept that, but if that’s the case then you might as well go back through the gateway and let me hang because I’d rather die here than live without you.’

‘Well, then, since you have asked me so prettily, I shall consider your request.’

She burst into peals of laughter that Kit considered highly inappropriate given his situation, then threw her arms around him.

‘Kit, dearest Kit! Did you ever believe the answer would be no?’ She put her hand to his cheek and gazed into his eyes, all merriment gone. ‘I wept solidly for a week when you left and didn’t come back. I was close to asking Silas to bedazzle away my memories of you, but I couldn’t bear it in the end. The pain of losing you was nothing compared to the joy of having known you. Of course I want you to come with me.’

She tilted her head towards Warden Evans who was staring with a glazed expression in his eyes and a rictus smile. He looked as if he was trying very hard to speak.

‘We need to go now; these people won’t stay befuddled for much longer.’

She fumbled at her wrist and undid the clasp of her bracelet. The skin where the shackle had rested was almost healed. She met his eyes.

‘I wear it constantly to remind me that it’s something I choose to do.’

She looped it around his wrist and held his hand. The frisson of desire that the touch of her skin gave him told him he was doing exactly the right thing. He looked at the noose doubtfully. It was big enough for a head but no more and he really didn’t feel too keen on putting his neck through it.

Valentine leaned in and kissed his cheek. ‘Have you ever imagined being a bird?’

‘Not really,’ Kit answered honestly. He grinned. ‘Though there’s a first time for everything.’

‘I can’t promise the magic will last for longer than will it take to get through the gateway, but we’ll have plenty of time for me to teach you.’

Kit’s heart soared. He had no idea how long his life would be but he had no doubt that every moment with her would be exciting.

He had no doubts about anything any longer.

Valentine murmured some words and Kit felt his body shrinking. There was a tightness that was not exactly unpleasant, then he felt himself soaring towards the purple haze and the world was left behind them.

* * *

Jeremy Evans considered himself a kind and fair man, even though his job was guarding evildoers and guiding them to their deaths. Moreover, he was a Methodist and couldn’t even blame it on the demon drink, so until his dying day he kept the secret of what he’d seen in the yard that morning.

One bird flying through the noose from nowhere, and then two birds flying back through to nowhere, all within the space it took to sneeze.

It was preposterous. Besides, as quickly as it had happened, they hanged the prisoner who had drowned his fiancée in a fit of madness or jealousy.

If it felt to Jeremy Evans that the prisoner felt too rigid and showed no emotion, or even many signs of life as he walked up the steps, that was something Jeremy also kept to himself.

Who would believe him?

After all, condemned men do not turn into birds and fly away, leaving wooden puppets in their place and a lingering scent of exotic flowers.

That sort of thing only happens in the stories he read to his daughters at bedtime.

And everybody knows fairy tales aren’t real.