Chapter Fifty-Three

If Bran hadn't felt the magic himself Charles would have done, but I sent a time's-up signal to Adam anyway, letting him know I was already outside. By the time I'd reached the front door Warren and several four-legged pack were waiting, he, Charles, and Anna were coming through it, and he told me with an image that Bran would be watching on TV with Jesse, not putting his face in front of however many billion people. A second image of three Agents guarding the bathroom with fierce scowls while Sawyer waited his turn told me the man would be along when they'd taken care of business, and I gave him a grin.

"Good one, love. How was it?"

"Productive and promising. Some of our stuff, and a briefing from the Marrok about Fae negotiating postures that made the man sit right up. That was some statement you gave Taylor."

"You were watching?"

"Jesse messaged me you were about to be on, once you got to Baba Yaga's flying mortar we were all listening, and you were pretty compelling again, even without using magic. Bran just sighed, but I bet the man that by this time tomorrow at least a million emails will have been received by members of Congress, and he expects to lose."

"Huh. What's the stake?"

"One Benny's pie with three double toppings of choice."

I laughed. "Well, you can afford that."

"Won't have to, love. A lot more than a million won't surprise me at all. Or him."

It was what I wanted but I still wasn't going to think about it now.

"Maybe. Oh, and Fisher's found adjacent L and T units vacant somewhere off Duportail. Told Westfield I think it'd work for now if they fill the T with futons and give Ramona the L, with its first floor as pack space."

He thought about it, and nodded. "Sounds good, and Bran will be relieved."

The earth magic was picking up speed, and I was relieved myself to see the man and Sawyer come out, agents fore and aft before spreading out to juggle spacing with Warren and the pack members. One of them tried ordering George to give way, and got a wolf sneer with half a growl before George shifted maybe an inch. Adam fixed the agent with a stare and the Alpha was rich in his voice.

"You're talking to a twenty-year police veteran who could take your leg off with one bite and has an absolute obligation to take station on me, Agent. If you can't manage professional respect you can at least be polite."

The man shot the agent a look too. "Brain before mouth, Hembley. Second and last warning."

I wondered what the first had involved, but the man was moving on.

"Can you explain what this pulsing is, Ms Hauptman? Is it what was happening Tuesday night?"

"Pretty much, Mr President. Call it the heartbeat of earth magic, coming closer. Charles?"

"I would say the spirits have begun to dance joyful welcome to Medicine Wolf and the Elders, but Mercy is not wrong. Those coming are powers of magic, and the earth responds to their tread."

What the man made of that I wasn't at all sure, but as Medicine Wolf came into view loping down the middle of the Columbia I didn't much care. Our river frontage was mostly guarded by wolves, the Feds being more concerned about snipers or whackjobs in cars than mad Russian frogmen or acquatic fae, and I felt Adam's command that had them peeling back to clear a path. As Medicine Wolf hit the shallows a salmon that looked a lot more like the extinct sabretooth variety than anything I'd ever eaten leaped into the air beside it, transforming mid-leap into salmon-headed Salmon, and air shimmered as the others popped into existence around them, all in animal forms. Thunderbird, Hawk, Raven, and Owl dived from empty sky to join Salmon in animal-headed solidarity, and the beating magic dropped to a thrumming bass-note. A glance told me the man was still feeling it, and as I was next to him I told him something else he and Sawyer didn't know and would need to think about.

"Full house, Mr President, Mr Secretary, as far as I know, except for Bison, who's still in a bad way from being pointlessly slaughtered far too many times. You do realise getting those captive herds in Yellowstone and elsewhere back to proper migration routes is a serious card you can play? Beefalos really don't cut it."

I felt Adam's amusement as we stepped forwards — we were the hosts, not the man — and more distantly Coyote's flash of approval for an opportunity taken, but my attention was on Medicine Wolf, who'd dropped its pace to match that of Elder Spirits on two legs. So had their animal-form brethren, and seeing Bear, Snake, Wolf and the others deliberately strolling — not that snakes can stroll, exactly — was a serious blast. My hand found Adam's, and we matched deep nods and extended outer arms as Medicine Wolf stopped in front of us and lowered its head, silver-on-gold eyes bright.

"Medicine Wolf, welcome to these negotiations and the hospitality of the Columbia Basin Pack."

Hello, Adam, and Mercy. How was Underhill?

"Interesting. Do a quick read, if you like."

I was already meeting its eyes, the magic only lasted for a second, and its voice was for us alone, though I still had no idea how I knew that.

You did well, Mercy. I think it is a long time since Underhill took a human form, but it was a way for us to speak. Your power has increased again, also.

"I know. And I'd like to talk about the other when we can" — it hadn't occurred to me that Underhill might have been obliged to human form for other reasons — "but for now we need some introductions. Mr Secretary Sawyer, you already know." Sawyer gave a smile and a nod while I took a breath. "And this is the President of the United States. Mr President, meet Medicine Wolf, an avatar of the Great Manitou of the Columbia Basin."

It was a moment for the history books, and I had to give the man points for dealing with being sniffed up and down. He didn't say anything about the six federal dead we'd started with either.

"It's good to meet you, Medicine Wolf, and I'll take the chance to thank you straight away for Hanford. That's a real boon, and I'm looking forward to those conferences at Wazzu."

I am pleased to meet you also. Medicine Wolf was back on a general band and Taylor was repeating him into a small hand-mike. And you are welcome, so far as Hanford is concerned. To be rid of the radioactive material is good for me too. It itched. But know that you are very fortunate that it was Mercy and Adam to whom this form first spoke. Their unusual natures and bond were a sharp new interest that countered my disgust with the way humans have treated my earth and water. You do well to heed them both now. And you must listen carefully to the Elder Spirits also — they still understand the harmony and balance most of your humans seem to have lost in the pleasure of your technology.

"I'm here to do just that, Medicine Wolf. And I do know that Mr and Ms Hauptman have added a lot of good to a week with a lot of bad." The man gave me a glance with some understandable nerves and some welcome amusement in it. "Who does the introductions?"

The animal forms made basic ID pretty clear, but Medicine Wolf pulled back a little, and Adam and I took the man and Sawyer along the line, each oversize animal becoming the fully human version as we did so. The ones already on two-legs were at one end, so it was the birds and Salmon first, and Gordon set the tone by naming himself only as Thunderbird but accepting a handshake. I thanked him for the feather, and asked if it did anything except look good, and he gave me a smile.

"Maybe, Mercy. Wait and see."

I had better luck with Salmon when I asked him if we could talk sometime soon about any contribution three talking seals could make to fish management during the re-engineering, and got a surprised blink before he shrugged.

"If you want, She Doesn't Only Fix Cars. It sounds interesting."

The man was giving me a sideways look that I thought was about keeping pushing, or maybe my Blackfeet name, but that was his problem. So far the Elder Spirits had all gone male, and I wasn't surprised when Wolf did too, though I was glad to know that the Freed Pack had made a good, clean kill, even if it squicked the man a bit, and that Asil had been with them before Wolf had left them feeding. But Bear became a very striking old woman in beaded buckskins I thought was Shoshone, maybe Yahandeka, and the man blinked twice.

"Ah, hello, um, Ms Bear."

She gave him a very ursine look.

"It's just Bear. I know I looked male on Tuesday night, but we are all our kinds. Good call, She Doesn't Only Fix Cars."

"Jesse and I thought having some more women who aren't fae involved would be a fine idea, Mr President, not only on principle."

He stared at me for a second. "If you say so, Ms Hauptman."

Snake was also a serious woman warrior who looked Apache, and Bobcat a younger Navajo girl with a really wonderful braid. The prey species were all male, though, and Coyote, waiting at the end of the line nearest the camera and, I'd bet, within range of Vince's boom mike, gave the man a poker face and as he became fully human held up a hand, palm out.

"How, Chief Paleface of the Government." He cracked a grin. "I know I already did that joke with you, Glen Sawyer, but it's a good one, and we weren't on camera then."

The man got himself more points by solemnly holding up his own hand.

"How, Chief Coyote." He offered the hand instead, and they shook. "You have a very interesting not-exactly daughter."

"Don't I just? She's really on a roll this week. I couldn't be prouder. Well, I could, of course, but still. Adam's a pretty interesting more-or-less son-in-law as well. We Coyotes have excellent taste." I glared at him and he gave me another grin. "Well, we do. And I'm being very restrained, for me. I didn't think you'd like it if we made all the prey species female, though it'd be pretty funny."

"You thought right." I was conscious of the camera's closeness. "I expect you'll all want to come out again to see the Fae arriving, but meantime we should head round to the back."

"Nah, no point with these tight intervals of yours. And now we're all out, so spectacularly, we can use the screen-time."

The others had shifted into a circle, with Medicine Wolf at 12 and us at 6, and they'd let Adam's wolves, two- or four-legged, hold their positions, as well as Charles and Anna, but not the man's agents, who were awkwardly shifting to get behind us. Coyote gave the nearest a hard look.

"Settle down, you. No-one's going to eat the President, but if you go on being silly we might eat one of you. It'd only take Bear or Cougar a couple of bites, and it'd give the week a nice symmetry." He turned back towards the man, whose eyes had gone suspiciously bright, but then gestured to Caroline. "And you can come closer, Ms Taylor. Ignore that Fed."

To be fair the poor Feeb knew when he was outmatched, and simply stood back, letting Caroline, Al, and Vince move in. Coyote gave the man and Sawyer a serious look.

"What we all want is actually pretty simple." Saving Coyote and Salmon they all reverted to their animal forms. "Look at us. Give it a pan, Al the Camera. Aren't we magnificent? The First People forms are pretty good too, but it's about the animals and you Anglos, mostly, because your kneejerk reaction when you see almost any of our children is to want to shoot them, or poison them, or at best drive them away. Stop it. We understand hunting to eat just fine, but this killing-for-fun stuff was always a lousy idea and it's still way out of hand. Wean yourselves off it, or we'll have to think about our own Path of Assertion, and start hunting the hunters. That would mean that every time some NRA obsessive with bloodlust was lining up a shot at some poor deer or bear they had absolutely no need to kill, the nearest coyotes, wolves, bears, cougars, rattlers, ravens, rabbits and whatever would all be zeroing in on them. You're not afraid of rabbits now, but you soon would be — they've got big teeth, they're fast, and they come in large numbers. Think about it. An obituary saying you got eaten by rabbits is not going to look good, or console your families much, and you're going to feel very silly indeed if you end up mounted as a head in a warren somewhere. And on top of that, while we could go proactive everywhere, in the Basin Medicine Wolf could add the land and water to the list of your enemies, and believe me you do not want to be hunted by the grass or rock you're walking on, nor the stream you've camped beside. Wet bedrolls are the least of it when every frog and fish is aiming for your mouth. And then there's all the land you spoil. It's not just the Basin that needs cleaning up, it's almost everywhere. Planting Cadillacs in a ranch is weird, if quite funny, but just dumping old pickups and whatever to rust and leak oil is nasty. So are the roadkill numbers. You need to slow down some, and push these hybrid cars too, to cut down on the exhaust fumes. And there are things you can all do for each of us, so listen hard a minute."

Adam and I had gone from mild irritation through faint horror to mingled amusement and agreement, and so from their looks had Charles and Anna. What Bran thought was something I didn't really want to know, but he could take it up with Coyote himself — we were just nominally neutral hosts, as ordered, and the Elder Spirits were getting on with it anyway. They became human again, and as Coyote led the man and Sawyer round the circle, Al and Vince tracking them, they had seriously practical ideas to offer. They knew their pollution, had particular places and contaminants they really disliked, and Sawyer was happy to promise that, given precise information, some of the savings from Hanford could fund a very severe crackdown on the culpable companies and individuals, and that the lists of banned chemicals could be reviewed. They also had very clear ideas about some NPS policies that were not ecologically motivated, as well as the need for smaller sanctuaries from the NRA, what they called urban co-operation, and the crying need for wildlife crossings more or less everywhere. That last came with strong endorsements for what the Canadians had done in Banff National Park with the Trans-Canada Highway, and the Floridians with Interstate 75, as well as a firm offer from Medicine Wolf to assist within the Basin by raising or lowering land to reduce construction costs.

The underlying point was that it was all perfectly practicable — they weren't demanding miracles, just a decent concern for the planet and all its denizens, and the man did seem to get it, agreeing that serious efforts could be made without quite committing himself to anything. His time in oil had actually given him a fair knowledge of ecological impact studies, even if their recommendations had tended to be ignored whenever profits could be boosted, or they thought no-one was looking, and like any sharp politician he'd also understood immediately that Coyote was using the camera, much as I had, to push an agenda that already had rapidly increasing public support. He'd always be the man on whose watch Wyoming had happened, but he'd already ensured the history books would call him the President who'd abolished Cantrip, and he was beginning to see that if he went with the whole anti-pollution and stop-avoidable-killing thing he could use his remaining two years in office to become the first truly green president and secure photo-ops to make any opponents weep. The present one was already a doozy, and I wondered what the audience had grown to. It was all going to cost a great deal, but there really would be billions in savings to reallocate, and Wolf added to the mix by slyly suggesting that once the Cascadia quake was done and dusted the big insurance companies should tithe from whatever Medicine Wolf saved them in payouts, which made both Sawyer and the man grin.

Charles and Anna had drifted to stand beside Adam and me, and though both were listening carefully, Charles with some reverence showing, after a moment Anna gave me a little nudge and spoke softly.

"Only just short of 5, Mercy."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm not interrupting until I have to, and as the Fae want their own show I imagine they'll let us know when we need to look."

"There's that."

Gwyn ap Lugh had been precise about the intended timing, and at 5 exactly, just as Elk was saying something to Sawyer about getting his children to co-operate with the brucellosis vaccination program, I saw the northern sky begin to lighten in a way that had nothing to do with sunlight.

"Excuse me, Elk, Mr Secretary, everyone, but we have an inbound faery rade, and I doubt any of us will ever get to see another. Mr Hersch, you want your camera pointing due north."

Even with what he was presently filming Al didn't need telling twice, and everyone turned, though Caroline was professional enough to slide over to stand by me with her extra mike.

"A faery rade, Ms Hauptman?"

"Yup. Like ride, but 'rade' is the proper term. The Gray Lords and entourage are about to enter the building. Or the garden, anyway. Just watch."

A great circle of the northern sky was continuing to lighten, and I could feel fae magic building, underlyingly familiar and not unlike Underhill's but still with a quality I'd never sensed before. The cloak rustled happily, wafting roses, and Manannán's Bane was warm in my hand as horns sounded somewhere in the distance and were joined by a murmur of bells. In pretty much all the accounts I'd read humans heard a rade before they saw it, so that made sense, and we weren't kept waiting long for the full show.

How far away the light was I couldn't tell, but when the rade began to emerge from its centre the figures were clear — some of ap Lugh's knights leading, and the others flanking the column, all on the same unnatural and I'd bet spectral horses they'd ridden in Boston, without saddles or bridles but gorgeously caparisoned in cloth of gold, and with what I'd bet were silver bells woven into ribboned manes and tails. Ap Lugh himself led the parade, also mounted, as were Nemane and others I didn't recognise behind him, all in their finest glamour. Putting on shades would have been gauche, but I thought about it. Nemane was flanked by two women who had to be the rest of the Morrígan, Babd and Macha, and beside them strode a very large man — or perhaps middling-size giant — with the bushiest beard I'd ever seen and a serious staff. The Dagda was the name that popped into my head with the thoughts that their family dinners must be something else, and that horses clearly weren't compulsory for non-giants because Baba Yaga was in her flying mortar, its pestle sticking up beside her knees, while — I swallowed — Edythe, still with spinning yo-yo though it now gleamed with jewels, was astride what might have been a really beautiful pony if it weren't for the long silver horn jutting from its head. Unicorns, yet, but you had to give her points for style. Þorgerðr and Irpa were both walking, a relief as I couldn't think of anything they might ride except dragons, if there were any, and both were in exceptional evening dresses that still made me think Chanel and did not make it any less weird to see them in mid-air. Especially as they both had troll clubs, and I'd happily believe those things did indeed work on almost everything. Zee, still in warrior-mode, was back to two swords and a gorgeous leather tunic anyone on Game of Thrones would have killed for, riding a jet-black horse with fiery eyes and breath that steamed. Further back there were other trolls, some riderless horses I thought might be kin to the Fideal, and smaller fae as well — oakmen, coblynau, brownies, selkies, and pixies I recognised, and other kinds I didn't, though I'd bet the green ones wearing tunics embroidered with shamrocks were leprechauns, unless they were something else playing a fae joke with their glamour.

I thought it was probably a good sign that there were no overtly predatory creatures, nor any hell hounds, saving the Gray Lords themselves, and the whole thing made any Macy's Thanksgiving Parade I'd ever seen look like the work of hopeless pikers. But it was only the Gray Lords, Þorgerðr and Irpa, and Zee, with ap Lugh's fifty knights still flanking them, who from a point somewhere above the Columbia began to circle down in a great sweep that brought them to land just on the shore where Medicine Wolf had arrived. The rest of the rade spread out in the air, looking down at us with bright and compelling eyes, while at a slightly lower altitude sixteen of the knights peeled off and took station around the house like the points of a compass-rose. I sent Adam my earnest hope that we wouldn't be getting any horse manure from that high up, and heard him swallow his laugh. By the time I dragged my attention back to the ground ap Lugh was pulling up about ten yards in front of me and Adam, and Baba Yaga's mortar had set down to let her step out before it neatly vanished. Good housekeeping. Ap Lugh swung gracefully off his horse, the others and the remaining knights matching him, and while I couldn't say he was at his most remote, he was certainly in high formal mode as he met my eyes and gave a fractional nod.

"Mercedes Hauptman, Daughter of Coyote, Elf-friend, we come upon your invitation and at our promised hour."

With Adam's very willing agreement, and a mental sigh, I took point as we stepped forward, offering our own version of something hovering between a bow and a deep nod.

"Prince Gwyn ap Lugh, you keep your word exactly, as always. I and my husband and mate, Adam Hauptman, Alpha of the Columbia Basin Pack, welcome you in peace and honour, with all Gray Lords and fae accompanying you, to our land and house, and offer the hospitality of the Columbia Basin Pack for quiet conversations, free and non-magical intellectual exchanges, and negotiations with the other great human and preternatural powers already here assembled. I name to you and all fae those who are your fellow-guests and -delegates — the President and Secretary of the Interior of the United States; Medicine Wolf, an avatar of the Great Manitou of the Columbia Basin; the Elder Spirits" — I named them all — "and the Marrok, who waits within." The temptation to add that the Marrok was badly camera-shy was strong, but nothing like strong enough. "I ask you now to name yourselves to your fellow-guests and -delegates."

Ap Lugh's expression hadn't changed at all but I thought he sounded approving all the same.

"We will be glad to do so, Mercedes Elf-friend, Daughter of Coyote, and wife and mate of Adam Hauptman, Alpha of the Columbia Basin Pack, as we acknowledge and are glad to accept your hospitality. I am Gwyn ap Lugh, once and again Prince of the Gray Lords and Master Underhill."

I noted the new addition and that missing 'of'. I very much doubted that any fae was ever Underhill's master, but it and ap Lugh were clearly becoming more deeply aligned, perhaps bonded. I expressed my gladness for the gift of his name and further title, and we proceeded. Edythe was still just Edythe, and she wasn't any of Ériu, Banba, or Fódla, because they were all present, so we were back to square one, but she knew it and was amused, so that was a plus of sorts. I'd been right about the bits of the Morrígan, and The Dagda, but some of them used what I thought were very old Gaelic or Celtic names I didn't recognise — more ex-gods, I suspected, several who had to be connected by war and two very voluptuous women with scary eyes who must be fertility types. They were all still practising high formal, with measured nods, and for now that suited me fine, because each one was an acceptance of guestright and so also guest obligation, which included not magicking anyone without at least fair warning. And I was going to work on that.

Ap Lugh's knights were still nameless, so with the Gray Lords done I was left with what had to be the guard detail, and consciously dropped my register a little.

"Dark Smith, Þorgerðr, and Irpa, be most welcome here also. I am glad to see you all again. Given those troll clubs and swords, would I be right to think you're on security duty?"

Irpa's coyote tattoo gave me a wink, and she gave me a grin

"You would, Mercy. And livestock control — the horses hear us, and the unicorn."

"Excellent. If they need to graze, the grass between here and the Columbia is safe enough, but there are oaks in the woods, as well as a yew or two, and I can't speak for what other plants might be growing in the eaves. Charles will know."

Irpa was amused, and so was Zee.

"They will not eat anything they shouldn't, Mercy, but we are glad of your offer and your care."

"Good to know, Dark Smith. Do you need to co-ordinate with any non-fae security?"

"Not really, but to meet and speak would be sensible."

"Right." I swung, finding the senior agent present. "You, sir — come and be co-ordinated, please. Adam?"

"Warren and Darryl for the Pack, please. Make sure everyone is as on the same page as possible."

I looked around again. "And AED, you as well, please, so the FBI on site are plugged in and up to date. Ms Taylor, Mr Hersch, Mr Dilman, stay well away from that colloquy. You're all going to be busy anyway, because it's time for the photo-call. I know, everyone, but you know too. We do it now, and it's done, unless and until, so Gray Lords and others capable of fogging photographs, please don't this one time, though do of course adjust your glamour if you wish." I could feel ap Lugh's gaze, but really, what did he expect? "Medicine Wolf, you've been the driving force in all this, and anything agreed here will be the Medicine Wolf Accords, so if you're central everyone can take station on you." I thought that name would satisfy most, and it just seemed right anyway. "So, Elder Spirits and Wolves, left please, Fae and Humans right. Pack to flank Medicine Wolf with Adam and me."

"Isn't she wonderfully bossy?" Coyote sounded admiring. "Can't think where she gets it from."

"That's left, converging father. Maybe we're a Fibonacci Series."

Both Wolf and Gordon laughed, though others looked mildly bemused, which I thought had to count as progress. More importantly, even the Fae were obeying, caught still in their own formality and my acknowledged power as host, and I completely flummoxed Caroline by pulling out my phone, turning on the camera, and asking her to take the shot.

"There'll be the KEPR footage, Ms Taylor, but take the formal stills. My copyright, but we'll sort something with your lawyer and KEPR's, including the tithe to Clean Up the Basin."

She gave me another look before drawing a deep breath "Right. And what is the proper Fae equivalent of 'Say cheese!', Ms Hauptman?"

"Excellent question, Ms Taylor." I turned, seeing everyone in position, expressions ranging from genuine amusement to po-faced incredulity, but I knew the late sunlight was catching the cloak and feather beautifully, and hostesses hostessed. "Do please look as happily dignified as possible, everyone. Doing so will make me very glad. Today is a good day, and by your collective grace the start of better days for all. And wolves, no tongue-lolling or you'll already have eaten your last brownie for a long while."

I put a little punch into that last, and Adam gave me a gorgeous grin as I went to stand beside him and Medicine Wolf lowered its great head so Caroline didn't need to back up too far. Easily professional, she was holding my phone one-handed, and with the other counted from three, spread fingers folding down, immediately repeating the process. After five shots, she stopped, flicked through them swiftly and nodded at me.

I went to retrieve the phone, thanked her, took one glance, swallowing a laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all, and sent the lot to Jenny and Andrea as well as ap Lugh, the man, Adam, Jesse, and Bran before I pocketed it again, and turned once more.

"Honoured guests of all kinds, given Medicine Wolf's size and the preference of many among you to be under the sky, we are set up out back. Please now follow Adam and the pack members around the house."

Once they were under way I told Caroline that was it, officially, until there was something to announce, but that she, Al, and Vince were welcome to stay, front exterior only unless specifically invited, and to try to talk to any being who — or that — was around, as long as they didn't impede or annoy security. The knights wouldn't utter a word they didn't have to, and were best avoided, but anything Irpa, Þorgerðr, or Zee might have to say about unicorns ought to make pretty decent TV, and those of the rade who hadn't descended were still watching, though I didn't know how clear an image Al might be getting when he swung up to include them. At least I didn't have to think about feeding anyone who hadn't landed. Then I joined Warren, and we went to collect Bran and Jesse to join the merry throng.