November 1070
I wrote a letter to Rashid after that, and sent Elric on his way. I doubted the owl would go directly to the Gatekeeper, that seemed incredibly unlikely, but I figured a guy like him would be able to set up some kind of magical PO box for owls. My hope was that if things did go south, then Rashid could respond somewhat quickly. Maybe not immediately in person, but somehow. As you can tell from the fact that I'm writing this, that turned out to not be necessary, so I won't spend any more time on the letter.
The Renouths were the next stop on my list. After burning their dad to a crisp down in Maine, we'd done away with the appointments rule. Benefits of being the subject of both their trust and abject terror. But that didn't mean arranging a meeting was exactly fast. I found Tim first, out show-practicing in the courtyard. I'm not sure if he just enjoyed the attention or if he could somehow feed off it, but he seemed to show off a lot. I told him I needed to see him and his sister, fast, and he told me to wait for them in a secluded section of the castle, a little used storage room.
It took fifteen minutes for the twins to show up, time I spent chewing on the question of Elfleda. I didn't want to be around her, and I didn't exactly know her. But she'd seemed sincere and scared of me when confessing, and I believed that she cared about Eva, to some degree. I knew I wanted her to leave, I just didn't know if I wanted to keep in touch with her. Maybe offer her a job later. She was a good impersonator.
And I just realized that Mab was the one who had gone to talk to Odo. No wonder she'd asked about a "gift."
The moment the twins closed the door of the storage room behind them, I said in Etruscan, "I'm going to kill your father tonight."
That brought them up short. Tim blinked and stared, while Lucille looked a mix of confused and enthused. "That is good news," she said slowly. "I think."
"And I need your help to do it," I continued.
"Ah," Lucille said. "That explains it. How can I help?"
"You remember how we got to York?" I asked.
"...ah. Is this... truly necessary?" she asked.
"Yeah. But don't worry; this trip won't be as exciting," I said.
"I thought you said Faerie was hostile to you. What changed?"
"The Queen that was barring me from the Ways held them back until I had sex with her. Then last night she raped me and asked me to do something for her," I said curtly. "So that changed."
The twins both frowned. "You went out with Elfleda," Tim said. "And came back a little battered. What happened?"
"Take a wild guess," I replied acerbically. "What's your first coherent memory of Elfleda?"
"She was already at Robert's court when we attached ourselves five years ago," Lucille said.
"Do you remember meeting her? Talking to her? What did you say? Or do you just have a vague recollection that you met her?" I asked.
Lucille frowned.
"The first detailed conversation you remember about her. The first detailed interaction. How long ago was it?" I asked.
"Two years ago," Tim said slowly. "It was the third time I had... made advances. She told me I was too pale for her and to spend more time out in the sun."
"Really?" Lucille asked, and Tim nodded. Then she looked over at me. "He's not much more tan than you."
I ignored Lucille's comment and addressed her question. "That's because prior to about two years ago, Elfleda Aldrich did not exist. She's a fabrication, planted here to snare me." My lips curled into a snarl. "It succeeded."
"But I remember her being here earlier," Lucille said.
"False memories. Probably not even that, just impressions. Did she ever actually do anything in those supposed first three years, anything notable, memorable?" I asked.
Tim and Lucille slowly shook their heads after a few seconds. "And now you are going to kill my father for this... Queen?" Lucille asked.
"No. I'm going to kill your father because he attacked me and mine. I'm going to do it while crashing a meeting of the White Court because that's the way I get rid of her," I replied.
"A meeting," Lucille repeated.
"With the King, and probably all the higher ups," I said.
"That sounds dangerous."
"It is. Which is why I'm not asking you to do anything more than guide us, me and my friends, through the Nevernever," I said.
Lucille sighed. "How? Through another glove?"
"No. The meeting is being held at your father's castle. Your family home."
Lucille worked her jaw in response. "And you believe we can lead you there."
"I do. So does the Queen, and she can't speak a falsehood," I said. "And if it turns out you can't, then you can't. I bring you back and we look for another way."
Lucille nodded and folded her hands together. "Much of the White Court is going to be there, you say."
"At least the important ones, from what I've gathered," I replied.
"And you believe you can... what? What is your goal?" she asked.
"I need to force the White King to sign a document," I said. "I expect that's going to be messy, and violent. That's the way things usually go for me with these kinds of jobs."
"The White King," Lucille said slowly. "I do not know much about him, but from what I remember Father never wished to cross him. And you do."
I shrugged. "I want to be free. I want to stop the White Court from coming after me. I need the recognition that would come from telling the White King to sit down and shut up. And I think we stand a decent chance of it. Four angry wizards and witches, one phoenix, one giant snake that kills with a glance. Yeah."
"No sword?" Lucille asked.
"No," I replied. "It requires a very... particular mindset to use. One I can't muster anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because it needs to be wielded out of compassion. Love. If you try to use it out of anger or hatred it's worthless," I replied, more heat in my voice than I wanted.
Lucille furrowed her brow. "Then how did you wound my father?"
I looked away, at the wall, and didn't say anything for a while. "You two remind me of my brother," I said quietly.
"Your brother?" Lucille asked.
"The vampire I told you about. The one who told me everything."
Lucille's eyes widened. "You had a vampire for a brother?"
"Yeah. Half-brother, admittedly, but the distinction didn't really matter after I found out. He was older. My mother was caught up with a Raith. Had him, then had a change of heart. I loved him. Like a brother. Which I realize doesn't actually say much considering some White Court practices, but I mean that in a purely familial sense. He tried to be better. He... was better."
"What happened to him?" Tim asked.
"He was captured, and tortured. Hurt to the point of madness, then given a woman. He drained her until she died. Rinse, lather, repeat," I said dully. "It broke him." I looked at Lucille. "Like I figure it would've broken you."
"And then he died," she said.
"And then he died," I lied. "Yeah. I did it for his memory, and to protect your ability to choose. To be. But I can't... I can't muster that anymore. There's too much hate right now. And you hate your father to a degree I can't entirely connect with, understand, and none of my friends want to wield it either, so that's that. No Sword."
"What about me?" Tim asked.
We both turned to look at him, Lucille and I. He rolled his eyes. "Come now, sister, I know exactly what you're thinking. You want to be there to watch father die if not kill him yourself, tear down everything he's worked for, and maybe piss on his grave too. You've already decided to go, you're just wondering if you'll survive."
Lucille gave Tim the kind of annoyed look you'd give a sibling who said something that was entirely on point, but in a dickish way.
"And I don't truly care as much about Father as you, either way. I care about you." Tim turned to face me. "So?"
"I... it... might work," I said. "It also might refuse to let you draw it. Or just burn your hand clean off if it feels you're not an appropriate wielder."
He frowned and took a half-step back. "It can think?" he asked.
"It can judge," I replied. "Not quite the same thing. You can try and draw it if you want, and we can see what happens. Who knows, maybe you'll take it off me."
"And if I can't?"
"Then we do this with no Sword," I said. "I was going to do that anyway."
Tim looked over at Lucille and arched an eyebrow. She sighed with sisterly contempt. "Fine, Tim."
Tim winced.
"How long will this take?" Lucille asked, turning to face me. "In terms of how much time will pass... out here."
"Pessimistically, I'd plan around a few days," I replied.
"Then I need to make excuses for the both of us," she said, glancing at Tim. "I expect it to take an hour, two at the worst. Shall I meet the two of you at your house?" The your there was directed towards me.
"Meet us at the edge of the woods," I said. "That's where we'll be heading into the Ways. Assuming you can get out of town."
"It should be trivial," she said.
We split up after that, Lucille going off to schmooze and cover for the both of them, Tim went to get his gear, and I went back to my place. I'd just made it to my front door when he caught up with me in full panoply, a long cloak concealing his armaments.
I left him in my foyer, then went back upstairs to my bedroom for the first time since Mab. The rime had long since disappeared and the water had alternately soaked into everything or dried up. Amoracchius was right where I'd tossed it, its scabbard laying where it had fallen after I'd drawn the Sword. I noticed the scabbard wasn't remotely wet or even stained, like everything else in the room. The rime must not have formed over it.
I sheathed Amoracchius, refusing to handle it by the hilt, and took it downstairs. I left it in the main room, on a chair - my table was still broken in two, and the unlit candles and Accords had been moved over to the shelves. I'd fix it when I got back. I packed a few potions, primarily for aftercare, though there were two meant for use beforehand. One gave me the strength of a horse. The other was experimental, new. The idea had been to try and deaden emotions, make it so I couldn't be influenced by a vampire. I hadn't tested it, and I wasn't sure about its effects, but I packed it anyway. Then I took my staff, packed my blasting rod, strapped Snickers to my waist, put the Accords into one of my pockets, slung my bag over my shoulder, and took Amoracchius by the scabbard.
Tim was still waiting for me in the foyer, looking at my coat hangers. "These are ingenious," he said. "Simple, and yet I don't believe I've ever actually seen any before."
"I'm an innovator," I said. "Simple solutions for irritating, everyday problems." I held Amoracchius out to him, hilt first. "Moment of truth."
He looked at it with a substantial, understandable degree of nervousness. "Would a glove or gauntlet help?" he asked, glancing up at me.
"No," I replied.
He took a deep breath and nodded. "Very well." Slowly, Tim reached out with his right hand, fingers hovering over the hilt. He held that pose for a few seconds, then closed them all at once with the speed of a viper.
Nothing happened, and nothing continued to happen as Tim slowly drew the Sword out and out of its scabbard. My teeth didn't start chattering once he pulled it all the way out, but the hairs on the back of my neck did stand up.
"Looks like it works," I said quietly, surprised.
I should have taken that as a sign of good things. That regardless of whatever had happened to me, whatever I'd done, I'd helped someone, fixed something. Tim and Lucille were genuinely brother and sister again, because of me and what I did. But the moment passed all too quickly for me, and at the time I could only think of the way all those vampires would react when Tim drew that Sword.
"Now put it back and let's go," I said. "Walking around with a naked blade, particularly a holy sword like that, is a great way to grab attention."
"Why would I not want attention?" he asked.
"The 'hellish, demonic bear and all its friends' kind of attention."
"Ah, I see. Yes, going unremarked seems the better idea."