outside.
Well, thicker’n it had been. Storm had passed a while ago, and I could hear the growl and toot of distant flivvers again. And, almost inaudible on top of everything else, hoofbeats. Not from the horses pulling us along, either, but to either side of us.
Looked as though we’d picked up an escort when Queen Mob climbed aboard.
“If that’s the case—” I began.
“Because none of us can allow any of our
rivals
to have it, can we? What if we’re wrong? What if the spear’s magic yet holds some use of which we’re unaware? No, better safe…”
“Than skewered,” I finished for her. I leaned back and thought, not bothering to blink or fidget since I didn’t need to hide what I am from anyone here.
Mostly I thought about how to take a clean sneak from this whole deal, but, like I said, I had squat in the way of loopholes.
Now, I’m nobody’s sap, see? She was feedin’ me more lies than a public defender. No way was this just a precaution; no way was everyone goin’ to all this trouble for just “some relic.” Either this spear was more’n she was sayin’, or something else was going down. Maybe both.
But knowin’ all that didn’t make my current position any less bent-over.
“Fine,” I said eventually. “I try to find this pigsticker for you and we’re square. Debt’s paid.”
“Ah, no.”
Gotta admit, I didn’t expect that. “No?”
“Your task isn’t to
try
to find the spear, it’s to
bring me
the spear. I don’t give a chewed marmot how hard you
try
. You fail? You still owe me.”
“
What?
”
I was outta my seat, standin’ straight as I could without cracking my melon on the ceiling.
“You’ll get my best effort, ‘boss,’ but you are
not
gonna hold me accountable for shit beyond my control. That’s totally friggin’ un—”
Grangullie was standing, too, bayonet pressed against my gut. The boggart was somehow looming
over
me, even though my head was pressed against the ceiling. Goddamn shapeshifters.
I even heard the hoofbeats get louder on the street outside, like whatever was escorting us had moved in close.
Real
close.
Eudeagh hadn’t budged, hadn’t flinched, just looked at me—well, whatever her equivalent of “look” is—and waited.
Well, wasn’t this a fine jam of a pickle of a mess?
In a Fae conclave, I mighta been able to make an argument that Eudeagh’s demands went too far, that her interpretation stretched the bounds of what I could be expected to owe. Or maybe not. We do a lotta grey areas, us Fae.
Problem was, I didn’t think she’n her boys would be inclined to just step aside for me to leave if I demanded an arbiter. In these confines, I didn’t think much of my chances in a dust-up, especially not knowing what was waiting for me outside.
But if I agreed… Well, that was it. I’d be bound by her interpretation, even if I didn’t think it was legit.
Which left me exactly fuck all for options.
“… Un… unimportant and not worth arguing,” I finished.
Pretty sure I’d had to have been three weeks pushing daisies to sound any
less
enthused, and I was so hot under the collar at the whole ugly mess of ’em that I’m amazed my head didn’t catch fire. Far as I was concerned, what I owed ’em now was a heap more’n just a debt.
A lot less pleasant, too.
I slump-slid back into my seat, letting Téimhneach find his own way clear before I ended up in his lap.
“Fine. I bring you the spear, and we’re clear.”
“That,” Eudeagh said, like I’d never popped my top, “is indeed what I’m offering.”
Heh. “Offering.” That’s rich.
Yeah, I was sulking. Probably shoulda kept my chin up, made like none of this bugged me at all. Honestly, though, it didn’t seem worth the effort. Somehow I wasn’t feeling as if I owed the Unseelie much in the way of good manners.
“Yeah. Swell, Whatever.”
“Oh,
good
!” The little twist actually clapped, smiling three times over. “I just knew we could come to some
Well, thicker’n it had been. Storm had passed a while ago, and I could hear the growl and toot of distant flivvers again. And, almost inaudible on top of everything else, hoofbeats. Not from the horses pulling us along, either, but to either side of us.
Looked as though we’d picked up an escort when Queen Mob climbed aboard.
“If that’s the case—” I began.
“Because none of us can allow any of our
rivals
to have it, can we? What if we’re wrong? What if the spear’s magic yet holds some use of which we’re unaware? No, better safe…”
“Than skewered,” I finished for her. I leaned back and thought, not bothering to blink or fidget since I didn’t need to hide what I am from anyone here.
Mostly I thought about how to take a clean sneak from this whole deal, but, like I said, I had squat in the way of loopholes.
Now, I’m nobody’s sap, see? She was feedin’ me more lies than a public defender. No way was this just a precaution; no way was everyone goin’ to all this trouble for just “some relic.” Either this spear was more’n she was sayin’, or something else was going down. Maybe both.
But knowin’ all that didn’t make my current position any less bent-over.
“Fine,” I said eventually. “I try to find this pigsticker for you and we’re square. Debt’s paid.”
“Ah, no.”
Gotta admit, I didn’t expect that. “No?”
“Your task isn’t to
try
to find the spear, it’s to
bring me
the spear. I don’t give a chewed marmot how hard you
try
. You fail? You still owe me.”
“
What?
”
I was outta my seat, standin’ straight as I could without cracking my melon on the ceiling.
“You’ll get my best effort, ‘boss,’ but you are
not
gonna hold me accountable for shit beyond my control. That’s totally friggin’ un—”
Grangullie was standing, too, bayonet pressed against my gut. The boggart was somehow looming
over
me, even though my head was pressed against the ceiling. Goddamn shapeshifters.
I even heard the hoofbeats get louder on the street outside, like whatever was escorting us had moved in close.
Real
close.
Eudeagh hadn’t budged, hadn’t flinched, just looked at me—well, whatever her equivalent of “look” is—and waited.
Well, wasn’t this a fine jam of a pickle of a mess?
In a Fae conclave, I mighta been able to make an argument that Eudeagh’s demands went too far, that her interpretation stretched the bounds of what I could be expected to owe. Or maybe not. We do a lotta grey areas, us Fae.
Problem was, I didn’t think she’n her boys would be inclined to just step aside for me to leave if I demanded an arbiter. In these confines, I didn’t think much of my chances in a dust-up, especially not knowing what was waiting for me outside.
But if I agreed… Well, that was it. I’d be bound by her interpretation, even if I didn’t think it was legit.
Which left me exactly fuck all for options.
“… Un… unimportant and not worth arguing,” I finished.
Pretty sure I’d had to have been three weeks pushing daisies to sound any
less
enthused, and I was so hot under the collar at the whole ugly mess of ’em that I’m amazed my head didn’t catch fire. Far as I was concerned, what I owed ’em now was a heap more’n just a debt.
A lot less pleasant, too.
I slump-slid back into my seat, letting Téimhneach find his own way clear before I ended up in his lap.
“Fine. I bring you the spear, and we’re clear.”
“That,” Eudeagh said, like I’d never popped my top, “is indeed what I’m offering.”
Heh. “Offering.” That’s rich.
Yeah, I was sulking. Probably shoulda kept my chin up, made like none of this bugged me at all. Honestly, though, it didn’t seem worth the effort. Somehow I wasn’t feeling as if I owed the Unseelie much in the way of good manners.
“Yeah. Swell, Whatever.”
“Oh,
good
!” The little twist actually clapped, smiling three times over. “I just knew we could come to some
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