CHAPTER25
Aodhan saw all the blood drain from Cathy’s face, and had a split second to make a decision. Ferghal was already turning. If the high sidhe saw Cathy’s expression at that moment, he would know beyond a shadow of a doubt who she must be. And at that point, they would all be screwed to fuck.
So Aodhan did the only thing he could.
He dropped his transformation spell.
Fifteen hundredweight of alicorn exploding out of nowhere made quite a distraction. Ferghal leaped back with a strangled yell. Kevin’s mouth rounded in a thrilled, astonished ‘O’. Only Cathy didn’t react, still staring motionless at her son.
“So sorry.” Aodhan muscled past the frozen Cathy, half spreading his wings to shield her from view. With deliberate clumsiness, he let his pinions knock into a nearby table, toppling it with a crash. “In all the excitement, my transformation seems to have worn off. Give me a moment, and I’m sure I’ll be able to restore it.”
Ferghal appeared to have been struck speechless with sheer outrage. He pointed a finger at Aodhan, mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
Kevin took full advantage of the knight’s distraction. The boy darted across the room, yanking open a small door concealed in the paneling. Flinging Aodhan a last fascinated, grateful look over his shoulder, he vanished into the servants’ corridors.
“I really don’t know what’s come over me,” Aodhan announced, hoping to distract Ferghal from Kevin’s disappearance. With a silent apology to whatever long-dead librarian had once curated this collection, he blundered into a bookcase. Tomes cascaded to the floor in a cloud of dust. “I usually have perfect control over the spell. How embarrassing.”
Ferghal had gone an interesting shade of puce, which badly clashed with his orange hair and fae marks. With a sweeping gesture, he drew his ether sword from thin air, leveling the blade at Aodhan.
“Lady Rose!” the knight barked. “Control your animal, or I shall do it for you!”
Aodhan had a much wider field of view in this form. He saw Cathy take a deep, shuddering breath. She was still pale, but she drew herself up, recovering some of her composure.
“That’s enough, Aodhan,” she said. “My sincere apologies, Sir Ferghal. If you could give us a moment in private? I need to speak with my companion.”
“Of course, lady.” Ferghal lowered his sword, still glaring at Aodhan. “Shall I have one of the grooms fetch a horsewhip?”
“Oops.” Aodhan snagged the tip of his horn on a tapestry depicting Ferghal’s coat of arms, tearing a long rip straight down the middle. “Oh dear. How clumsy of me.”
Cathy laid a warning hand on his flank. “Thank you, sir knight, but I can handle this. I think it best if I retire for the evening, though. I have much to ponder.”
Ferghal shot Aodhan a final scowl before giving Cathy a grudging nod. “Indeed. Now that you have met the changeling, you can fully appreciate the challenge he presents. No doubt it will take you some time to concoct a suitable spell to tame him. I bid you good night and good luck, Lady Rose. A servant shall show you to your chambers.”
Aodhan waited until Ferghal’s heavy footsteps had faded into the distance before resuming his preferred form. He moved to embrace Cathy, but stopped as she held up a hand.
“I am very disappointed in you, disgracing me like that in front of our noble host.” She spoke in clear, ringing tones, her expression set in cold lines. “We shall speak more of this shortly, in private. I am sure you do not wish any of Sir Ferghal’s servants to overhear your chastisement.”
“No, my lady,” Aodhan said, recognizing the hidden warning. He ached to comfort her, but he bowed his head, in case there were any hidden spies watching them. “My sincere apologies.”
Cathy’s caution proved well-founded, as a servant appeared a scant moment later, stammering out an invitation to show the great sorceress to the guest chambers. Aodhan took care to trail two steps behind Cathy as the servant led them through the house to a lavishly appointed suite. There was a large bedroom with a grand four poster bed for Cathy, along with an adjoining dressing room and separate private lounge.
The staff had evidently been somewhat perplexed by what to do with Aodhan himself. Someone had evidently decided to cover all possibilities, as the small servant’s chamber adjoining Cathy’s suite had been outfitted not only with a bedroll, but also a large pile of hay and a salt lick.
“Thank you,” he said dryly to the nervous servant. He escorted the man to the door. “We shall be very comfortable. Now, Lady Rose requires total privacy for her meditations. No one must approach these chambers until I send word otherwise, understand?”
The servant fled without requiring further encouragement. Aodhan suspected all the staff would be only too happy to keep a healthy distance from the intimidating changeling sorceress. Just to be sure, he set privacy wards over the room, along with alarm spells to warn him if anyone attempted to breach his magical shields.
“There,” he said when he’d finished the final sigil. “No one will be able to overhear us now. Well, not unless Sir Ferghal has a tame mage lurking around somewhere, which I highly doubt. The wards around the estate are powerful, but ancient. And he wouldn’t have been so desperate to bring us here if he already had an arcane expert at his command. Within these rooms, we’re safe to drop the act.”
Cathy gave no sign of having heard. She stood by the wide marble fireplace, straight and rigid as an icicle. The servants might as well have still been in the room.
“Cathy.” He ached to go to her, but something in that locked down, frozen stance held him back. He had a sudden, irrational fear that if he touched her, she might shatter like spun glass. “It’s all right. You can let go now. Whatever you feel, you don’t have to hide it. Not here. Not with me.”
“He didn’t know me.”
Her voice was the barest whisper. The sound of it went through his chest like a saw.
“He looked right at me, my son, my baby, and he didn’t know me.” Cathy’s fists clenched at her sides. Her remote, emotionless expression never changed. “I wasn’t enough.”