‘You guys don’t mess around, do you?’ I asked, feeling faintly sick at the wanton destruction and the thoroughness with which the Adairs had been treated.
He looked as if he knew what I was thinking. ‘It was before my time. And tempers were running high.’
‘I’ll bet.’
‘The grove here at the Cruaich will serve just as well,’ he continued, as if I’d not spoken. ‘Every Clan is represented here.’
‘Even the murderous Adairs?’
He held my gaze. ‘Even them.’
‘Fine. So what do I have to do?’
‘You enter alone.’ He pulled out a scroll and tossed it in my direction. ‘You read this aloud, asking your ancestors to guide you. Then you’ll receive your true name. Your Gift should emerge within a few days.’
‘You’ve got more than one Gift. Maybe I will have too.’
‘Maybe. I only have two. Your father had three.’
I was surprised. Three Gifts? I’d known he was powerful. I just hadn’t realised by how much.
‘Of course,’ Byron continued, ‘you might not get any. Your body might not be able to handle the shock as it’s already in the full bloom of adulthood. Your system might just reject it.’
Such a scenario would probably be the best for everyone. I didn’t need a Gift to open the Foinse. Perhaps whoever had tried to kill me would back off if I were essentially powerless.
‘I know you have telekinesis,’ I said. ‘What’s your other Gift?’
‘Do you care?’ he asked softly.
I guessed not. I shook myself and changed the subject. ‘That’s why there’s a fever,’ I mused. ‘It’s the body fighting against the Gift.’
Byron gave me an approving nod. ‘Indeed.’
‘It’d be better if that didn’t happen. Then we can leave for the Foinse immediately.’ My tone was decisive. I ignored Byron’s sharp look .
‘The onset of the fever happens almost immediately,’ he admitted. ‘You’ll know you’re getting sick before you leave the grove. The sicker you are, the stronger your Gift. Because I received two, I was ill for a fortnight. It wasn’t … pleasant.’
That sounded like a considerable understatement. Great. I didn’t need a temperature and sweats to add to my already aching body. I sighed. ‘There was something else I wanted to ask.’
‘You wanted to know what Rebekah meant.’
‘Rebekah is the ginger nut?’
He stiffened slightly. ‘She wouldn’t take kindly to being called that but, yes, that’s her. There have been many Sidhe who wondered why you didn’t come back to take revenge for what happened to your Clan.’
These guys were all about knee-jerk reactions. Maybe I should try harder to borrow Bob’s DS9 box set and force them all to sit down and watch it. They might learn something from Commander Sisko. ‘I suppose I might have once taken revenge on the Bull for making my childhood so miserable. But I’d be more likely to thank him than punch him. If he hadn’t been such a wanker, I might not have left when I did. Then I’d never have met my real family. The ones who count.’ My eyes narrowed accusingly. ‘The ones who you’re messing with.’
Byron cocked his head, gazing at me as if he were trying to work me out. ‘You should never have been placed with him. My father made a mistake, even if he had the best intentions.’
I didn’t want to discuss the past. It was, after all, the past. ‘From what I was told, what happened to my Clan was my father’s fault. And I can’t take revenge on a dead guy.’
Byron stepped back and ran a hand through his hair. ‘You’re not your father,’ he said.
I searched his face. He was telling the truth. Unlike most of the other highborn Sidhe in this place, neither he nor Jamie seemed to care whose daughter I was.
‘Sir? Byron?’ someone interrupted. ‘You’re wanted in the grand hall.’
Both of us turned. It was a nervous-looking pixie who was doing everything he could to avoid eye contact with me. Interesting. Perhaps these people really were afraid of me. I could use that.
