CHAPTER29
Aodhan met Kevin on the stairs down to the entrance hall. Or, to be more accurate, ran into him. They’d both been going so fast—Aodhan hurtling down three stairs at a time, Kevin charging up—that Aodhan had to grab the boy to avoid sending him flying.
“Aodhan!” Kevin clutched the front of Aodhan’s robes, panting. “Am I glad to see you.”
“I was about to say the same.” Aodhan steadied the boy, feeling his chest heave for breath. “I was on my way down when all hell broke loose. What’s happened?”
“Ferghal sensed the wards go off.” Kevin’s eyes were wide and round. “He says someone’s trying to get in.”
That would explain why the house was buzzing like a kicked wasps’ nest. The bulk of Ferghal’s war band was still Herne-knew-where on the border, but the knight maintained a small defensive force at his home. The high sidhe warriors usually just lounged around, composing bad poetry and picking fights with each other, but now they were all hurrying to take up defensive positions around the estate.
“An enemy?” Aodhan pulled Kevin aside to let another guard clatter past. “Prince Morcant?”
Kevin shook his head. “Ferghal would know if it was an unseelie attack. It’s someone from another seelie court. That’s why he told me to go inside.”
In case the unexpected visitor caught sight of the changeling and got bright ideas about taking him for their own court, of course. Ferghal wouldn’t risk showing off his prize until he was certain no one would be able to glamour Kevin away.
Aodhan let go of Kevin, balancing on one leg to attempt to shake sensation back into the other. In the teetering confusion of the collision, he’d accidentally put a foot through Noodle. This hadn’t harmed the incorporeal puppy, of course, but the cold shock still tingled through his own veins.
“Did you see—” He very nearly slipped and said your mother. “Ah, that is, did you see Lady Rose? I was on my way to meet her. I sensed her calling me.”
Kevin stiffened a little. He always did that whenever someone mentioned Cathy. Aodhan wondered if he was aware of it.
“She’ll be with Ferghal, I guess.” Kevin pointed down the stairs, toward the front of the house. “Last I saw, they were getting ready to ride out.”
“What?” Obviously Ferghal would want to see who was knocking on his wards, but why would Cathy go with him? “Was that Ferghal’s idea?”
Kevin shrugged. “Don’t think so. I heard him trying to persuade her to go into the house too, but she didn’t listen. Just got up on that big wooden moose thing.”
The bond around his wrist pulsed again, in pale echo of the deeper, more primal pull in his heart. Whatever was going on, Cathy needed him, now.
“Go to Lady Rose’s chamber.” Aodhan swapped places with the boy, pushing him further up the stairs. “I’ve set wards on it, so you’ll be safe there. Don’t come out until I get back, all right?”
Kevin lingered, looking mulish. “Where are you going?”
“To see what in Herne’s name is happening.” Aodhan pulled out his wand. “Send Noodle if you run into trouble. I’ll come as fast as I can.”
Kevin frowned. “Noodle?”
Well, that screwed that plan. Aodhan silently cursed himself. So much for using the puppy as a focus to unblock Kevin’s memories.
Still, he had bigger things to worry about at the moment. “The dog. His name’s Noodle. Go!”
For once, Kevin actually obeyed a command without question. He bolted up the stairs, Noodle at his heels. Aodhan lingered just long enough to confirm that the boy really was heading to safety before turning, sprinting for the entrance hall.
Fortunately, no high sidhe ever did anything in a rush. When he burst out the front door, Ferghal was still barking orders at his harried-looking servants. From what he could catch, Aodhan wasn’t quite sure whether the knight was commanding them to prepare for an attack, or a party. Possibly both. It was sometimes hard to tell the difference when it came to high sidhe.
Cathy sat on her oss a little way apart, looking bored and regal—but he could see the simmering tension under her icy facade. He hurried over to her, murmuring the words of a privacy spell as he went.
“I felt your call.” He kept his voice low, barely moving his lips. No spell was fool-proof, and there were a lot of people around. “I gather we’ve got company.”
Cathy dipped her chin in a slight nod. “And we just found out who, since Eislyn flew out to take a quick look. Have you heard of someone called the Golden Knight?”
The name didn’t ring a bell—but then, it had been a long time since he’d lived amongst the seelie. “No. Should I have done?”
“Apparently, since everyone else seems to know about him. He’s some kind of masked vigilante, from what I gather.” Cathy’s blue eyes sparkled—not with agitation, he realized, but excitement. “He always wears full armor, and never shows his face. No one knows who he really is, or where he comes from. And he’s completely unpredictable. Sometimes he’ll defend a village from unseelie raiders single-handed. Other times, he rides into a court and challenges a noble to a duel to the death, for no reason whatsoever. There’s no telling what he might do.”
He squinted at her. “And we are happy about this development… why?”