“Yeah. Shit.” Because she did see, Blair raked her hands through her hair. “Yeah.”
“Blair, I’m afraid of what’s been asked of me. Of what I need to do, of what’s to come. I’m asking you to help me do this thing tonight, as a friend, a fellow warrior, and as a woman who knows how cold the path of destiny can be.”
“And if I refuse, you’ll do it anyway.”
“Of course.” Now a glimmer of a smile. “But I’d feel stronger and surer with your understanding.”
“I do understand. I don’t have to like it, but I can understand.”
Moira set her wine aside, got to her feet to take Blair’s hand. “That’s enough.”
They’d made it into a kind of party, Blair thought. Torches blazed, lining the field of play. Flames rose up toward the sky where the nearly full ball of moon beamed like a spotlight.
People crammed into the stands, jostled for position behind wooden barriers. They’d brought children, she noted, rig
ht down to babies—and the mood was festive.
She was armed—sword, stake, crossbow—and heard the murmurs as she passed through on her way to the royal box.
She slipped in next to Glenna.
“So what do you think the insurance would go for on a gig like this? Fire, wood, all this flammable clothing.”
Glenna shook her head as she scanned the crowd. “They don’t understand it. They’re like fans waiting for the concert to begin. For God’s sake, Blair, there are vendors selling meat pies.”
“Never underestimate the power of free enterprise.”
“I tried to get to Moira before we were brought here. We don’t even know the plan.”
“I do. And you’re not going to like it.” Before she could elaborate, there was a blare of trumpets. The royal family came into the box. “Just don’t blame me,” Blair said over the cheers of the crowd.
Riddock stepped forward, raising his hands to quiet the crowd. “People of Geall, you are here to welcome home Her Highness, the princess Moira. To give thanks for her safe return to us, and that of Larkin, lord of MacDara.”
There were more cheers as Moira and Larkin stepped up to stand on either side of Riddock. Larkin shot Blair a quick, cocky grin.
He doesn’t know, she thought, and felt her stomach twist.
“You are here to welcome the valiant men and women who accompanied them to Geall. The sorcerer Hoyt of the family Mac Cionaoith. His lady Glenna, cailleach dearg. The lady Blair, gaiscioch dorcha. Cian, of the Mac Cionaoith, and brother to the sorcerer. They are welcome to our land, to our home, to our hearts.”
The cheers rolled. Give them a few hundred years, Blair thought, and there’d be little witch and wizard action figures. If the world survived that long.
“People of Geall! We have known a dark time, one of heartbreak and of fear. Our beloved queen was cruelly taken from us. Murdered by what are not men, but beasts. On this night, on this ground, you will see what has taken your queen. They are brought here by order of her Royal Highness, and through the valor of Lord Larkin, the lady Blair and Cian of the Mac Cionaoith.”
Riddock stepped back, and by the way his jaw tightened, Blair thought he knew the drill—and wasn’t happy about it.
Moira moved forward, waited for the crowd to subside. “People of Geall, I have come home to you, but not to bring you joy. I come to bring you war. I have been charged by the goddess Morrigan herself to fight what would destroy our world, the world of my friends, all the worlds of humankind. I am charged, with these five whom I trust with my life, with my land, with the crown I may one day bear if the gods deem it, to lead you into this battle.”
She paused, and Blair could see she was judging the tone of the crowd, the murmurs, pacing herself.
“It is not a battle for land or wealth, not for glory or vengeance, but for life itself. I have not been your ruler, I have not been a warrior, but a student, a dutiful daughter, a proud citizen of Geall. Yet I would ask you to follow me and mine, to give your lives for me, and for all that come after. For on the night of the feast of Samhain we will face an army of these.”
The vampires were dragged onto the field. Blair knew what the people saw. They saw men in chains, murderers yes, but not demons.
There were shouts and gasps, there were calls for justice, there were even tears. But there was no true fear.
The guards fixed the chains to the iron posts, and at Moira’s nod, left the field.
“These that killed my mother, that murdered your queen have a name. It is vampire. In her world, the lady Blair has hunted them, destroyed them. She is the hunter of this demon. She will show you what they are.”