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"I hate to be picky," I said, "but did she receive any punishment for following Cel's orders and trying to assassinate me?"
"Yes," Doyle said, "but it has been months, Meredith, and the punishment is over."
"How long was the punishment?" I asked.
"A month."
I shook my head. "A month, for nearly killing a royal heir. What kind of message does that send to everyone else who wants me dead?"
"Cel gave the order, Meredith, and he is experiencing one of our worst punishments for half a year. No one expects his mind to survive. They see that as the punishment."
"And have you ever been in Ezekiel's tender care for an entire month?" Rhys asked.
Ezekiel was the court torturer, and had been for many mortal lifetimes. But he was mortal. The queen had found him plying his trade for a human city and so admired his handiwork that she'd offered him a job.
"I've never been in the Hallway of Mortality for a month, no, but I spent my share of time there. Ezekiel always said he had to be so careful of me. He'd spent so many centuries with the immortals that he was afraid he'd kill me by accident. 'I 'ave to be so careful of ya, Princess, so delicate, so fragile, so human.' "
Rhys shivered. "You imitate his voice well."
"He liked to talk while he worked."
"I apologize, Merry, you've done your time, but that means you understand what it meant for Siobhan to be in his care for a month's time."
"I understand, Rhys, but I'd have felt better if she'd been executed."
"The queen is loath to lose any noble-born sidhe," Doyle said.
"I know, there aren't enough to spare." But I wasn't happy about it. If you tried to kill a royal heir, the punishment should have been death. Anything less and someone might try again. Come to that, Siobhan might try again.
"Why does she want war?" I asked.
"She likes death," Rhys said.
I looked at him.
"I wasn't the only one who used to be a death deity, and I'm not the only one who lost a great deal of their weirding when the Nameless was cast. Siobhan was not always her name either."
That reminded me. "Tell Doyle what you discovered at the murder scene today."
He told Doyle about the elder gods and their ghosts. Doyle looked less and less happy. "I did not see Esras do this, but I know the queen gave the command for it. One of the agreements between us and the Seelie was that some spells were never to be performed again. That was one of them."
"Theoretically, if we could prove that a sidhe from either court did the spell, would that negate the peace treaty between us?"
Doyle seemed to think on that. "I don't know. In the actual agreement, yes, but neither side wishes all-out war."
"Siobhan does," I said, "and she wants me dead. Could she have done it?"
They both paused to think for a few silent minutes. Kitto just lay quietly beside me.
"She wants war, so she would have no qualms about doing it," Doyle said eventually. "But whether she is such a power, I do not know." He looked at Rhys.
Rhys sighed. "Once she was. Hell, so was I, once. She might have been able to do it, but that would mean she was here in California. You don't send them out of sight and expect to be able to control them. Out of sight of their magical keeper, they'll just wander around slaughtering people. They won't hunt Merry, not specifically."
"Are you sure of that?" Doyle asked.
"Yes, of that much I am sure."
"Wouldn't Barinthus have mentioned if Siobhan was missing from court?" I asked.
"He specifically said she's being a pain in his ... ass."
"So she's there," I said.
"But that doesn't mean that she didn't leave for a time."
"But it still wouldn't get Merry killed," Rhys said.
"Good to know," I said, then I added, "But what if my death is only a sideline? What if the real purpose behind it all is war between the courts?"
"Then why not have the elder ones doing their horror in Illinois near the courts?" Doyle asked.
"Because whoever did it wants war, not an execution for themselves," I said.
Doyle nodded. "That is true. If the queen discovered anyone had performed one of the forbidden spells, she would execute them in hopes that Taranis would be appeased."
"And he would be," Rhys said, "because neither ruler wants all-out war."
"So in order to get their little war started, they have to get away with it," I said. "Think about it; if it's proven to the courts that it's sidhe magic at work, but can't be proven which side did it, then suspicion mounts on both sides."
"And the Nameless," Doyle said, "only a sidhe could have freed it. Only a sidhe could have hidden it from both courts."
"Siobhan isn't capable of freeing the Nameless," Rhys said. "That I am sure of."
"Wait," I said, "didn't the queen say that Taranis is refusing to help search for it? Refuses to admit that anything so terrible could be part of his court?"
Doyle nodded. "Yes, she did."
"What if it's somebody from the Seelie Court?" I said. "Would we have more trouble tracking it?"
"Perhaps."
"Are you saying that the traitor is Seelie?" Rhys asked.
"Maybe, or maybe we've got two traitors. Siobhan could have raised the elder gods, and someone from the other court could have freed the Nameless."
"Why free the Nameless?" Rhys asked.
"If you could control it," Doyle said, almost as if he was talking to himself, "it would give someone access to all the most elder and frightening powers of faerie. If you could control it, you might become unstoppable."
"Someone's preparing for war," I said.
Doyle took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I must inform the queen about the elder ghosts. I will share some of our speculation about the Nameless, as well." He looked at me. "And until we are certain that the elder gods ca
"Can the wards hold them off?"
He frowned and looked at Rhys, who shrugged. "I saw them let loose in open battle. I know that wards can keep out anything that means harm, but I don't know how powerful these things will become. Especially if they are allowed to feed. They may grow to be able to breach nearly any ward."
"Thanks, that was comforting," I said.
He turned a serious face to me. "It wasn't meant to be comforting, Merry. Just honest." He gave a wistful smile. "Besides, we'll all give our lives to keep you safe, and we're pretty hard to kill."
"You don't think you'll win," I said. "How do you fight something that's invisible, and untouchable, but can see you and touch you? Something that can drink the life out of your mouth, like we'd empty a soda bottle. How do you fight that?"
"For that, I will speak to the queen." Doyle stood up and went for the bathroom, with its smaller mirror. Apparently, he wanted privacy.
He stopped at the door. "Call Jeremy and tell him we won't be back today. Until we know if this is a direct threat to Merry, we guard her and her alone."
"And what do we do for money?" I asked.
He sighed, rubbing his eyes as if he was tired. "I admire your determination to owe no one. I even agree with it. But things would be simpler if we took a stipend from the court and had only court politics to worry about. There will come a time, Meredith, when we ca
"I don't want to take her money, Doyle."
"I know, I know. Call Jeremy, explain that you will be sitting with Kitto. When you tell him that Kitto's fading and you've saved him, Jeremy will understand."
"You don't want him to know about the elder ghosts?"
"This is sidhe business, Meredith, and he is not sidhe."
"Sure, but if the sidhe go to war, then so do all the fey. My great-grandmother was a brownie. All she wanted to do was stay near her human's home and tend it, but she got killed in one of the last great wars. If they're going to be dragged into it, then shouldn't they know about it beforehand?"