Fairest

Chapter 31

Cillian

This changes everything.

The chamber erupts into chaos, everyone talking, shouting, at once.

Carruth is furious, MacGowan is yelling.

And then there’s silence. A silence only achievable using magic.

Niamh and I remain exactly where we are.

I can’t take my eyes off her. I thought I knew her; I do know her.

I’ve watched her for four years. How could I not have seen … seen what she truly is?

It’s broken when Vincenzo scrapes his chair back to stand.

‘Well, Cillian. It would indeed seem like we did not fully understand the situation. Your choice of bride, it seems, will not preclude you from remaining as Kennard, nor from potentially becoming king. After me, of course. Vittoria?’

Vincenzo sounds utterly despondent, and now he looks around and frowns.

‘Where is she?’

With no answer, the Kin search the chamber, until it’s established that she’s no longer present. Vincenzo grows more and more frantic, before he’s finally persuaded to return to his throne. ‘What have you done with them?’

‘Them?’

‘Don’t act ignorant with me, Cillian. Matthew Muir has gone, too.’

‘One minute he was there, and the next he was gone,’ Niamh says. ‘You saw as much as we did.’

Beside us, there’s a soft tinkling sound, and Niamh crouches down to pick something up.

‘My necklace,’ she says, standing. ‘The remains of it, at least.’

The chain is broken, and little of the gold surround remains.

The garnet heart is still intact, however, pulsing gently with light.

The plain gold oval now a delicate filigree of symbols and knotwork reminiscent of the designs in this very chamber.

Similar, but different. And suddenly I understand – this is Seelie magic.

I touch the hard red stone and feel the beat of a heart within it.

Low laughter echoes through my head. Niamh closes her fist around it and smiles.

‘You … you’re Kin.’

‘It would seem so.’

‘You didn’t know?’

‘No.’

‘Your parents?’

‘They hid me. They were in hiding, too. I think the whole Seelie Court is. But they told me stories, and I’m slowly remembering them now the magic has been undone.’

‘But they’re still out there?’

She turns to look at the alcove that used to house the entrance to The Seelie Court and, for the first time, I see the light above the door is glowing. It’s barely there, but even as we watch, it grows a little stronger.

‘I think so.’

‘There were times when I sensed magic around you that I didn’t fully understand,’ I tell her. ‘And this explains it.’

‘I had no idea,’ Niamh says, shaking her head. ‘Although … perhaps it was one of the things I sensed when I met Rose. One of the things I sensed when I met you.’

‘Huntsman!’

We turn to face Vincenzo. One of his men is beside him, the man Niamh identified as having been in the bar that night.

‘I have a job for you. Two, actually.’

I take a deep breath, knowing what he’s going to say. ‘Vittoria and Matt.’

‘Not as stupid as you look,’ he says, but although his words are clearly intended to wound me, there’s no avoiding the defeat in his posture.

‘If Niamh is correct, your daughter killed Kin with no justification. And she has admitted to attempting to kill Niamh more than once. There is a price to pay for that, Vincenzo.’

His shoulders slump, then he whirls on me. ‘I expect you to show her the same leniency that you showed—’

‘Look,’ Niamh says, gesturing at a spot above The Seelie Court alcove.

She opens her palm and looks down at the necklace in her hand.

On the wall, I can see the same oval shape, only much larger, the size of a person, covered in the same filigree design formed of earth and tree roots.

And behind them is a figure. Vittoria. Her eyes closed, her face the most peaceful I have ever seen it.

Trapped by her own actions in the Court chamber. Maybe forever.

‘Get her down!’

‘I can’t,’ Niamh states calmly. ‘It wasn’t me who put her there.’

‘Then, who?’ Vincenzo demands.

‘This Court? The Seelie Court? I really don’t know, I’m sorry.’

Vincenzo lets out a cry of anguish, stumbles as he crosses the chamber, never taking his eyes off his daughter.

For a while, no one moves or makes a sound.

No one dares. Until Vincenzo turns. As he stalks towards us, his posture straightens, an aura of some large creature shimmering into place behind him.

‘I won’t rest until I find a way to free her. She didn’t know you were Kin, you can’t blame her for merely trying to secure her future,’ he says, and I move between him and Niamh, determined that she won’t suffer any more at the hands of this family.

‘Her not knowing doesn’t change anything,’ Niamh says, stepping around me to stand beside me. I reach for her hand. ‘Perhaps the Court is deciding her fate. Perhaps there’s more to her story and it’s waiting for it to be revealed before making a decision.’

‘She can’t be blamed for something she didn’t know she was doing!’

Niamh smiles. ‘Then neither should I.’

Vincenzo looks up at Vittoria again, his shoulders slumping. It’s as if he ages years in a few seconds before he glares at me.

‘I deserve to see the one who took my son from me punished,’ Vincenzo demands. ‘Bring me the heart of Matthew Muir.’

‘But—’ Niamh starts, but I put a hand on her arm and stop her.

‘The Court let him go,’ I tell Vincenzo. ‘Do you think that would have happened if he had been guilty?’

‘It’s likely one of you who helped him escape,’ Vincenzo says. ‘You’ve claimed to be our allies, but it was all a lie. Consider our alliance truly severed. You will not allow him sanctuary a second time, Cillian Hunter. It’s the least that you can do. He must pay for his crimes.’

‘He’s not guilty,’ Rose insists coming to stand beside me. ‘At the very least he deserves a fair trial in this court.’

‘Is that even possible with you as King, Vincenzo? So many of the people I hunt down are your personal enemies. So many now plead with me, assuring me of their innocence.’

‘The Court instigates the hunt—’

‘Based on evidence provided by you,’ Rose points out. ‘And we have all just witnessed your daughter presenting the Court with strategically altered evidence. Why should anyone trust in its decisions anymore.’

‘I agree.’ Alec Carruth stands up and makes his way forward, ending up standing altogether too close to Rose for my comfort. ‘Perhaps the Blight is affecting the Court in more ways than we have realised. Cillian called for us to work harder to eradicate it a few weeks ago, and I agree.’

‘The Court is fine,’ Vincenzo insists. ‘The Blight is here to stay. We must learn simply to work around it. With it, even. We don’t have the resources to destroy it.’

‘One day, Vincenzo, I will be The Unseelie King, and I will ensure that the Blight is eradicated, whether that means I profit or not.’

‘Such idealism,’ Vincenzo sneers. ‘But you’ll learn. And one day you’ll be just like me. Now, excuse me while I go and try to find a way to free my daughter from whatever you have done to her. I will not lose both my children. There must be a way…’

He glances at Niamh, his face twisting in disgust, before he heads for the doors, followed by the rest of his Kin.

And with that, most of the other Kin follow. All glancing worriedly at us and up at Vittoria before they go.

Niamh places her hand on my arm and when I look at her she smiles and shakes her head. No, I will never be like them, I will be ruthless but fair, and the Underworld will prosper. I just need Vincenzo to die – and that is something I can arrange.

‘Where does this leave us?’ MacGowan asks, coming towards us, although I notice he doesn’t come too close.

‘You should bring the King what he wants,’ Carruth says, joining us. ‘He’s within his rights to ask.’

‘But Matt is innocent,’ Niamh says.

Carruth looks her up and down, then smiles. ‘As you well know, Miss Whyte, no one is truly innocent. Somehow Matt needs to prove that he’s not guilty and in the end, that’ll be for the Court to decide.’

‘The Court set him free tonight,’ Niamh argues. ‘Perhaps we should see that as a sign.’

‘Perhaps,’ Carruth concedes. ‘Time will tell.’ Then he and MacGowan leave together and only myself, Niamh and Rose, remain.

‘Where did Matt go? she asks. ‘He was right there with you and then— What have you done with him?’

‘I didn’t do anything with him,’ I say gently.

‘Are you really going to do that?’ she asks me. ‘How can you, when you know it’s wrong.’

‘Rose, I—’ I stop. Rose doesn’t expect me to answer. She’s looking directly at Niamh.

‘Did you know?’

Niamh shakes her head, tears pooling in her eyes.

‘I’m so sorry, Rose.’ She reaches out, but my sister bats her hand away.

‘Nothing beats family, they’ve always got your back, right? They never lie to you about anything important.’ Her voice chokes off, even though her face remains calm, stoic. She never cries, but I can see she is desperate to.

‘You know I’d never want to hurt you—’ I start.

But she covers her ears with her hands and runs out of the chamber, Sean in her wake. With a final glance up at Vittoria, I offer Niamh my hand and lead her from the chamber.

‘Come on,’ I say. ‘We’ll fix things later. For now, I’m taking you home. For good.’

‘But what about Rose?’

‘I’ll give her some time, then talk to her.’

‘Will you really hunt Matt?’

‘Yes.’

‘But … Cillian.’

He puts his hands on my upper arms and gives me a slight shake. ‘I have to, Niamh. Don’t you see Vincenzo has given me no choice? But until his name appears on my palm, it won’t have a time constraint, nor will it need to end in his death.’

‘What if a hunt is never called?’

‘I don’t know. But if I don’t find him, Vincenzo’s men will. And I don’t think that will end well for Matt.’

‘But if you can’t send him back to St Marnox—?’

‘I never said I had all the answers. Why don’t you let me do my job, and—’

‘And in the meantime, I’ll do mine and work on finding a legal solution to present to the Court. Force them to provide evidence of Matt’s guilt,’ Niamh says, a new authority clear in her tone. ‘And maybe together, we can find something that resembles justice.’

I stare at her, and I suspect this will not be the last time Niamh surprises me like this. Or maybe now that our two worlds are far more similar than I ever imagined, I’ll stop being surprised by her.

‘How do you feel?’ I ask as we make our way past the torches to the exit.

‘I’m not sure yet. Surprisingly normal.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘I’m sure.’ She kisses me, pulling away with a wide smile on her face. ‘How did I not know who I was? It all seems so clear now. Although, I’m not sure what changed. Was it Vittoria taking my necklace, or when we…’ She blushes, charmingly.

I laugh and hug her, loving that even after all we’ve done together, that she still retains some of her innocent charm.

‘You know, several times in the past four years, I have meant to ask Aiden to investigate you further. I meant to ask him to look into your parents’ lives in more depth, meant to ask him to get copies of the accident reports about their accident. To find out more about your necklace.’

‘So why didn’t you?’

‘You parents’ magic was good, Niamh. Thorough. I think I just kept … forgetting. The easiest way to hide, after all, is if no one is really looking for you in the first place.’

‘My mother’s magic. It was her magic that hid me.’

‘How do you know?’

She shrugs. ‘Just a feeling.’

We walk out the main doors into the Necropolis.

Niamh smiles as she turns her face up to the summer sunshine. ‘We’re in the Underworld?’

‘How can you tell?’

We laugh as we cross the bridge, and she stops to look down into the Molendinar Burn. I stand behind her, wrapping my arms around her and pressing her against the sandstone parapet. She twists her head around to kiss me, then turns back, placing her hands over mine.

‘What I don’t really understand is why Vittoria kept coming after me? You were going to marry her, you stayed away from me, she was getting exactly what she wanted.’

‘I don’t think that was enough for her.’ I kiss the nape of Niamh’s neck. ‘She knew there was something between us, knew I would never … yearn for her, the way I yearned for you. She wanted to be the fairest in my eyes. And I just couldn’t give her that.’

She nods and is quiet for a while. I can see her looking over the Underworld’s city landscape – ironically, it’s far more idyllic than the one in the human world.

‘What are you thinking?’ I ask her.

‘That there’s a lot of open space for running.’

My lips curve into a smile.

‘And lots of places to hide.’

‘There certainly are.’

‘I love you, Gléigeal.’

‘I love you, too, Huntsman, and if you can catch me, I might just show you how much.’

She winks at me, ducking under my arm and running far away from me, her long dark hair streaming behind her, leaving only the sound of her laughter dancing in the wind.

I smile as I count to ten, giving her a chance before I commence my hunt.