November 1070

"Uuuggghhh..."

Helga's long groan of resignation was a thing of legend, something that deserved to be captured on tape and replayed for centuries to come. Too bad I could never get a recorder to work around me.

"Am I the only normal one here?" she demanded once she was done.

"Seems so," I said in a distracted tone. The athame wasn't as obvious about its power as Amoracchius was; it didn't blaze with light or set my teeth to chattering. But now that I knew there was something to look for, I could feel a sense of tension in the air, like a spring stretched and stretched until it was the breaking point.

"That's... new," I continued, also processing the fact that apparently Bonea's delivery was going to involve a lot more knifing and trepanning than I felt comfortable with. "But what can that actually do for us, in concrete terms?"

"Simply put, I can open a stable Way large enough for Salazar's basilisk to fully emerge," she said. "Or to keep his head peeking out, if that's all we wish. It should also make me less useless in a fight."

"Useless?" I asked.

"The only time I have ever really used evocations, actually fought, was against Ursiel. And my contribution there amounted to throwing a number of stakes at him. We won't have the time to prepare similar projectiles amidst the White Court," she said. "And carrying them with us isn't a solution either."

"Then wouldn't it be more useful in my hands, or Salazar's?" I asked. "Since we have combat experience? Or Helga's, though I'm not sure how much you have."

"Before Ursiel it was all... small enemies," Helga said. "I can handle myself, guard us, obstruct the vampires, but you and Salazar are just better at actually fighting."

"Agreed. Now, if you had weeks or months to grow accustomed to how to use the athame safely, I would allow one of you to wield it for this occasion," Rowena said. "But we don't have that time, and it would not be a good idea for you to wield it unprepared. The athame can magnify the potency of spells and rituals, but it is not always exactly consistent and the result can be both dangerous and difficult to control. You'd be as likely to kill us as you would the vampires. More, perhaps."

"Okay, so, not that." I frowned as something came to me, and asked, "Wait. When you were testing the... ley line insertion, did you cut into them with the athame?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that incredibly dangerous?" I asked incredulously. "Like, 'blow up a shire and everything in it' dangerous?"

"Yes. Which is why I have said I am the only one who can do it; I know how to not cause an explosion of power that would destroy everything for miles," she said.

I blinked and leaned back in my chair. "Wow. That's crazy, but also impressive."

"Indeed. It makes me think we may actually come out of this alive," Salazar said.

I shot him a look. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Your plan, simple as it is, supposes we walk into a convocation of vampires and threaten the White King. That is not something we would survive if we did not have an edge. Preferably multiple."

"Then why are you going ahead with this?" I asked.

"Because your actions have already set us against the White Court, so we have little choice," he said. "At least this way we know where they are meeting, in force, where they are not prepared for our arrival. And if we do fall, our combined death curses will devastate the White Court and leave them vulnerable for the Council. Though I would obviously prefer to avoid such a fate."

"That's morbid."

"It's practical," he insisted. "The White Court congregates only rarely precisely to avoid a strike like the one we're planning. If we had the time I would go to Constantinople and try to rally more support, but... well, it's your task. Do you believe we have the time?"

I scratched the stubble on my chin. "Hard to say. Mab said the formal meeting was supposed to start tonight. How long it'll go on, how long it'll take to get there, that I don't know. How long would it take to go to Constantinople and find others willing to walk into vampire central with us?"

"At least... two days, and that is with the Edinburgh-Constantinople Way you mentioned to me," he said.

"It works? I mean, it still exists?"

"It does."

I rubbed my temples, thinking. "Okay... so, let's be optimistic. Unwarranted assumption, I know, but let's work with it. Two days to gather support. If Mab expected me to crash the party tonight, then call it about a day, in terms of mortal time, to get there. So at best, we'd arrive there three days later." I sighed. "I don't think it's going to last that long."

"Then we do it alone," Salazar said. "But none of this matters if we cannot get there in time. And I do not know the Ways to this Gauthier's castle. Do you?"

"No," I said. "But I know someone who can get us there. Two people, in fact."

There was a brief pause there, as they tried to figure out what I meant, and then Helga hesitantly asked, "...the vampires? How can they help?"

"Because the Renouths are vampires," I said. "They've got more of a connection to the Nevernever than a regular person, or a wizard or witch. Not as good as a faerie's, but they can instinctively navigate it to a limited degree. Unlike us, who have to work a lot harder at it. It's how I got to York from Berkhamsted on my first try without knowing any of the stops in between. I forged a link between twin sister and twin brother and followed Lucille through the Ways. In this instance, I won't need to forge a link; Renouth Castle, or whatever it's actually called, is the place these two grew up in. The place these two learned they were vampires. The place they ran away from. They can find it again."

"Are you certain?" Rowena asked.

"Well, Mab said so. I suppose she could've been yanking my chain, but I don't think she lied about this," I replied, a degree of anger leaking into my voice as I said her name.

"You propose that we put a pair of vampires at our backs while we go to face down the White Court?" Salazar asked. "Are you mad?"

"No. Just confident they're runaways," I said. "But if it makes you feel better we can leave them in the Nevernever." I looked at Salazar's nose. "So?"

He let out a long sigh and grudgingly nodded.

The three of them left soon after that, going back to where the Berkhamsted Forest Way opened up. Helga said she would wait for me by the edge of the forest and then guide me in. In the meantime, I had a few people to speak to.

Eva was first on my list. I had to explain a few things for her, and arrange something in the event of my death. I'd screwed up that step with Molly and left her exiled and hunted; I wasn't about to repeat the same mistake with Eva.

It took a bit of questioning, but I was finally directed to her room. When she let me in however, I found she wasn't alone. On the other side of the room, sitting in a chair, was Elfleda. She wasn't wearing the necklace I'd given Mab.

I froze once I saw her, shocked. The air grew... warm. That threw me for a loop, and her greeting completed the discombobulation.

"Wizard Dresden," she said politely, and with a slight quaver to her voice.

I pursed my lips. "You're the changeling," I said slowly.

"Indeed I am," she replied.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "You were supposed to stay away from Eva."

"You forbade the Queen and her court from involving themselves with Eva," she said. "I am no longer of the Winter Court."

I furrowed my brow. "What?"

"I am free now. Unbound. Wyld," she replied. "And I mean neither you nor dear Eva any harm."

"Then what are you doing here?" I demanded.

"I was explaining to her what had happened," she said.

I looked over at Eva. She looked lost, afraid. She sat on her bed, her body language closed in, closer to me than Elfleda. When she saw me looking at her though, she slowly nodded.

"I'm... I'm alright," she said. "I just don't understand."

"You were a bystander in a plot that progressed far past the point of sanity, Eva. Once again, I apologize for deceiving you. But I think that right now your master is in a rush, so any further discussion is going to have to wait." Elfleda straightened her posture and shifted to look at me.

I stared at her. "Who are you, really?"

"I am Elfleda. Not the name my father gave me, but the one I've adopted. I've used it for a century now."

I frowned. "You don't look older than thirty."

"One of the benefits of being an undecided changeling," she replied. "I don't age, not really. I look the same now as I did when I was twenty."

My frown deepened. "You've been a changeling for a century?"

"Thereabouts."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I do not wish to be mortal and powerless and helpless, but I don't wish to be like my mother either," she replied. "Being a changeling affords me a degree of freedom and luxury I wouldn't possess as a lone, orphaned, and landless noblewoman. But that meant I was forced to associate with the Winter Court, to deal with them from a position of weakness. So I sold my services. I am capable of glamours, veils, illusions, of seeing emotions, and perhaps most importantly, of acting convincingly, of lying. That made me invaluable to certain elements in the Court. Necessary for certain deceptions." She took a deep breath. "I never imagined the Queen would take such an interest in me. But when she did, when she described the task, I saw it as an opportunity."

"To lie to me," I said.

"That was the essence of the task, yes," she replied. "You must understand, at the time I did not know you, and I did not particularly care about you. What I cared about is what the Queen agreed to during negotiations: to be severed from all my responsibilities to the Winter Court. To be free." She fell silent for a second, and in a quieter voice added, "I imagine you can understand that draw."

I let out a long, long sigh. "Yeah. I can," I said.

"I am sorry for what happened to you. The groundwork for the deception took six months, tricking Robert into accepting the Queen's aid, altering memories in ways that got the court to accept the persona of Elfleda Aldrich as one that had been around for years. That was followed by the months spent building up a consistent routine and place for Lady Aldrich so that you wouldn't find her presence or lack of firm history suspicious, though I don't believe you ever went looking. Then Timothée was sent out, and you were brought in. From there I imagined it would be the work of weeks or months to build enough interest to lure you into bed, and that would be it. I certainly did not plan to be in this role for so long, or for the deception to progress as it did. I thought it extremely unwise, that it could not last, and that you would react poorly when the truth finally came out. I told the Queen as much. She never listened. When she came to me last night and concluded our arrangement, I knew I had guessed correctly."

"How did you keep your stories straight?" I asked. "I mean, you were switching back and forth, right?"

"We were. The Queen would take my memories when she took on the role of Elfleda, and would return them, along with whatever new ones she had accumulated that were relevant to the role, once I stepped back in. Now that the arrangement is over, I remember only parts. Your lessons, shorn of any interactions with you or Eva or any emotional significance therein. My time at court. My guardianship of Eva. As for the times when my physical presence was inconvenient, I was provided a small home in town, as well as a Portkey that bridged that home and my room in the castle. When traveling, I glamoured and veiled myself and hid as another servant, with the Queen's aid."

I shook my head. Of course Mab would take Elfleda's memories; wouldn't want me commiserating with her, after all. "Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I very much don't want to be the victim of your righteous fury," she said. "And the easiest way to do that, as I see it, is to cooperate fully. I don't agree with what happened to you, what she did, but I was under a geas to act the part; I was powerless to stop it, to do anything contrary. She dictated practically everything regarding how to act around you. The only real freedom I had in my role, past the particulars of how to play the court, was how to look after Eva. And I must say, I came to enjoy that role. So many of my tasks have involved acts of cruelty that the job of looking after Eva and her brother, of teaching them, was a relief. And more, it was fun. But now it is likely over."

I stared at Elfleda. After a year of hearing her, that voice, speak in a fae-like manner, the directness coming from her then was unnerving. "Yeah," I said. "I don't think I can see... be around you anymore."

"I understand. It won't be difficult to fake my death, or arrange my departure," she replied. "If Eva weren't a consideration I'd also ruin the standing of the Aldrich persona to lessen the blow to you, but since I must worry about Eva's own standing I must be more careful regarding how I end the masquerade. I estimate that it will take a few weeks at most, to put everything in order. But I do have one final offer for you, while you are here."

"What's that?" I asked warily.

"You are going off to fight the White Court," she said. "You need someone to watch over Eva, to take care of her, temporarily or not, should you fail. I can do that."

"Can you? Really?"

"I am not much of a fighter, admittedly. Even a century of practice has only brought me so far, my power being what it is. But I am, to put it simply, an excellent deceiver. If Eva is threatened, I can disguise her, take her to safety. Make it so that she can't be found. I can't protect her family in the same way, but I assume you have a plan for that."

"I have an idea," I said, and turned to look at Eva. "What about you? Do you want that, her... protection?"

"Will I need it?" Eva asked quietly.

"You might," I said. "I'd like to say you wouldn't, but I can't guarantee I'll come back from this, and I don't know when or even if another wizard might find you. Soon, I hope, I plan to send a letter to put things in motion in case I and my friends all die. But..."

Eva swallowed and breathed out through her nose. "I... this is so complicated."

"I know, and I'm sorry," I said.

"I..." She looked over at Elfleda and took a deep breath. "I'll stay with her. Until you come back."

I nodded and looked over at Elfleda. "Swear on your power that you'll keep her safe, until either I come back or a man called Rashid comes to figure things out with Eva."

"My word isn't enough?"

"You just said you're a deceiver," I pointed out. "And that your job was to lie."

Elfleda's lips twitched. "True enough." She stood up and took a deep breath. "I swear on my power that I will keep Eva Hildasdottir safe until your return, or Rashid arrives for Eva."

I turned her statement over in my head, then nodded. "Alright." I stood there for a few seconds, unsure what to say. "I get what you did, and why. And... I guess I'm grateful for some of it. But all the same, I never want to see you again."

"I understand. I'll stay out of your way once you return," she said. "And I'm confident you will."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because while I do not remember much of you anymore, I know enough to say that you won't let a mild obstacle like death stop you from keeping your word."

That managed to draw a faint snort out of me. "That's more true than you know."