36
I dial quickly as the limo heads towards the river and the tunnels deep beneath Seville where the group challenge is about to commence.
I need a distraction from what’s about to occur, and Falcon’s troubles have always been very distracting. Moreover, I need to get to the bottom of what’s happening in his household that would prompt a woman so hell-bent on never accepting hupotasso to suddenly beg for it.
If Falcon and Angie intend to keep this secret from me, I need another source of intel.
“Brother.”
“Lynx, I don’t have a lot of time. What’s going on with Suzume?”
“It’s good to hear from you, too,” he sighs, “and you know I can’t talk about anything that happens in House Dragonspur while you’re still exiled — Falcon would gut me.”
“I know something’s amiss. I know he needs my help. I’ll be back in the fold soon, and I can be thinking on things while I’m rotting away on this show.”
“No.”
“Lynx, Falcon isn’t the only one you need fear once I’m back in that castle. I’ll royally kick your ass if you place loyalty over your employer over that of your family.”
“Brother,” he groans. “What kind of a procurer would I be if I didn’t give total allegiance to the house I serve? Wasn’t it you who drilled that into me as a boy? Honour and faithfulness above all else?”
‘Chastised by my baby brother. If only I’d heeded my own advice I wouldn’t be where I am today.’
“Yes,” I sigh. “Forgive me, it’s just…I want to ensure the safety of that house as much as you do.”
“I know. I don’t doubt that, Jag. Look, all I can tell you is that the little sparrow is keeping company Falcon and Angie would rather she didn’t.”
“And?”
“And some of that company is unsavoury. Some is downright dangerous, or so they believe, although personally I don’t think Eleanor, I mean, ah..”
“Ah-ha. I knew you’d slip up sooner or later.”
“You bastard.”
“Spill it. What has Eleanor got to do with all this?”
He groans.
“Lynx.”
“God, OK. Sparrow discovered Eleanor. Or rather, Eleanor is using the girl to gain a foothold back into Falcon’s life.”
“How the hell can that old woman still be meddling?”
“Don’t you keep up with any court gossip when you’re off on your sulks?”
“I will beat you, Lynx.”
He chuckles. “Sorry, brother. But it was the talk of the Court and a big scandal just a few years after you left. I thought you’d have heard for sure.”
“Lynx, for Christ’s sake, spit it out.”
“Eleanor’s as young as ever. Hupotasso again, although she remains unmarried and won’t reveal who did it.
The Queen was ropable. It’s said that had Eleanor not retained friends in high places, and had the Queen not witnessed Falcon’s vow of protection for his family, Eleanor would have lost her head for it. ”
“Good God! After all the suffering that woman endured under the former Lord Dragonspur. She must have rocks in her head to place herself under someone’s power once more.”
“You know she’ll do anything to regain the love Falcon once had for her.”
“So she’s got her talons into his daughter and is either blackmailing them that she’ll reveal Sparrow’s true birthright or she’s still planning on sacrificing the girl as a template.”
‘Fuck! Yet another reason for Angie to feel she must become immortal — all the threats she once faced have returned. But why didn’t she tell me this? Why hasn’t Falcon told me this?’
“No,” Lynx goes on. “Eleanor wouldn’t go that far.
I don’t think she could reveal the subterfuge with the children without incriminating herself, and one more slip-up on her behalf will definitely see her head roll.
Personally I don’t see why Sparrow can’t know she’s not a bastard.
That would stop her running around doing stupid shit with people beneath her station. ”
“The only thing protecting her is her belief and the world’s belief that she is a bastard, Lynx.”
“She’s smarter than you know,” he says quietly, “she’s remarkable.”
“And if you want to keep her that way, keep your mouth shut and keep her as far away from Eleanor as you can. In the meantime, I’ll consider how to mitigate her threat; it’ll give me something other than this disgusting game to consider.”
“You sound troubled, brother,” he says quietly, “more than troubled. Did you lose your sense of joy and humour while you were off doing whatever these past thirty years or more?”
“No, brother,” I sigh. “I lost nothing. I’m exactly as I was the day I left. More’s the pity.”