As I watched, the spider halted in its attempts to spin its web and did what I could only describe as a flounce. I smiled. ‘I hope Taylor’s alright,’ I half-whispered.
The spider stared at me again then twisted round and scarpered out through the gap in the bars. I tracked its movements until it was completely out of sight. Thanks, Bob, I said silently. It made a big difference knowing he was around. If everything really did fall into total shite, I could fall back on a wish. It was a last resort, and there was a part of me that was curious to see just how Aifric was going to play things tomorrow, but at least I knew I had a Plan B of my own.
***
I tried to stay awake for as long as I could, waiting for Bob the spider’s return but my spirit was far more willing than my flesh. After an hour or two, despite my best efforts, I succumbed to unconsciousness again. In fact, I’d probably have stayed under for another forty-eight hours if a bucket of icy water hadn’t been flung at me.
‘Get up!’
Freaked out by my sudden awakening, I sprang to my feet. I shook off the freezing droplets and glared at my attacker. It was a different guard this time – a burly Moncrieffe Sidhe male. He took out some kind of truncheon and slammed it against the metal bars.
‘Sort yourself out!’ he screamed like a stereotypical drill sergeant. ‘We are leaving!’
I rubbed the back of my neck. I still hurt all over but at least it was a dull ache rather than an all-encompassing pain that made it difficult to think. I straightened my wet clothes as best I could and glanced up to see if Bob was there. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any sign of spiders or a genie. There was, however, a long length of web stretching from one side of the cage to the other. I squinted: it looked like a T followed by a squiggle. I couldn’t work out for the life of me what the squiggle was though. T what? T bloody what?
Something smacked me in the face. More stunned than anything, I gasped. The new guard laughed. ‘Put those on.’ When I didn’t move, he let out an impressive snarl and rattled the cage bars once again. I winced at the noise, bent down and picked up a pair of handcuffs. I considered refusing but it wouldn’t help matters. I snapped them on and looked up again, still trying to work out what Bob’s impenetrable message meant.
The guard unlocked the cage door and beckoned. ‘Come on, then. This isn’t summer camp. Get the hell out, scum!’
Scum? ‘Surely you can come up with better invective than that,’ I said, acting cheerful to throw him off his game. He glowered at me dumbly. ‘Use your imagination,’ I suggested, in a bid to help him along. He still didn’t answer. Oh. ‘A better insult,’ I amended. ‘Surely you can come up with a better insult.’
‘Adair witch! Get the fuck out!’
Hmm. Not really better. I shrugged and shuffled forward. There were parts of my body which hurt that I hadn’t realised existed before now. I supposed I could at least be certain that I wasn’t dead.
‘Hey!’ Candy yelled. ‘What about me?’
The guard ignored him. Damn it, I wanted Candy with me as much for my sake as for his. Safety in numbers. ‘He needs to come too.’
The guard reached forward, grabbing me painfully by the shoulder in a bid to shove me along the corridor. Behind us, Candy gripped the bars of the cage. This wasn’t the Cruaich dungeon – these bars were reinforced and no match even for a Wild Man. All the same, the metal creaked and shuddered. ‘Let me out!’ he roared.
‘Look,’ I said, biting my lip to take my mind off the rest of my pain. ‘Tipsania Scrymgeour won’t go ahead with the wedding until she sees him. You’ll only have to come back later. It makes sense to bring him along now.’
The guard didn’t pay me any attention but propelled me at speed through a maze of dark wooden corridors. I could still hear Candy shouting; it wasn’t until I was dragged up a set of shaky stairs and taken out onto the deck that his voice finally faded away.
As good as it felt to get some fresh air into my lungs, I remained rigid with tension. Although the boat was busy with deckhands, the sky was still dark. Not just that, there was a fair wind gusting and repeatedly making my loose hair fly into my face. Cuffed as I was, I couldn’t brush it away so, effectively blinded, I tripped and stumbled my way along.
I stretched out my senses. There had to be useful magic here that I could steal. The guy holding me was definitely Sidhe. I concentrated on pulling on the thready tendrils of his Gift but it was no use. It refused to come. Another strain of violent magic, then. With Morna dead, the MacQuarries corralled and Taylor seriously injured, maybe sticking to my pacifist guns wasn’t such a good idea.
I was forced to stop, the guard’s heavy hands pushing me downwards until I was on my knees. The good thing was that I was more sheltered from the wind and could see again; the bad thing was that I was eye-level with his groin.
He cupped himself. ‘You like what you see? Right now, you’re in the perfect position. We’ve got time. The Steward won’t mind if I enjoy myself a bit first.’
I drew back my lips. ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘I’ve still got teeth. This could be fun.’
His face twisted. Suddenly a surge of power sprang from him, striking me in the chest. Cold spread across my body, numbing me down to my arteries.
‘Not so funny now, are ya?’ he spat.
Someone shouted from behind and, distracted, he turned to talk to them. At the same moment, a merman strolled down the deck towards me, his large arms wrapped around a box entitled ‘wedding favours’. He didn’t glance at me as he went past but I could see his gills flapping rapidly at the back of his neck. If I hadn’t appreciated how dire the situation was before, the sight of Brochan on a boat of all things would have hammered it home.
Brochan paused at the gangplank and shifted his burden, ostensibly to get a better grasp on it, as the guard returned his attention to me. He was holding a swathe of dark shapeless material.
‘Black?’ I enquired. ‘I’m not sure that’s an appropriate colour for a wedding. Before we go any further, could I get something to eat? Something sugary would be best. I’m feeling rather shaky.’
The guard’s lip curled. He shook out the material and began to pull it down over my head.
‘A boiled sweet would do!’ I called out before the hood completely covered my face. ‘Even just a barley sugar… I’m sure I saw some below deck.’
