Page 57 of Crown of the Fae King

We stared at each other for a long second, then she nodded and slipped out the door.

I made a mental note to tell Everly that it was time I started learning how to do more than kick a wall.

24

From Moire, With Love

An excited tension built in the house for the next hour, waiting for the big reveal from the Muir brothers. If they found enough answers, we might be able to get down to the business of saving lives and move O’Ryan off the board right away.

Wickham sat on the back of the loveseat, and the Muir brothers squished together at the end of the table, facing Wickham’s computer. The maps had been covered with a white sheet, and the computer screen was projected onto it so we could all see.

After a drawn-out explanation of the books they’d brought with them and how pleased they were to have found them helpful, Flann addressed the page on screen.

“First of all, to the question of the monsters. Though they themselves were never described nor identified, there is a passage in this first set of pages, so there is mention of an event called The Naming. A gift fromMoirebefore the Fae came to ourrealm?Possibly ourworld?The translation is not exact, could mean either.”

“In either case,” Brian took over. “It says afterward, none of them would continue…in themode--possibly the manner--roimh ainm,pronounced,riv aimn,which meansbefore name. Essentially, after the naming, everything changed.”

“Now, the pair of us was thinkin’ that if these creatures claim to be before name, it could mean they weren’t given this gift of naming. But interpret it as ye will.”

“Thank you,” Wickham said, then gestured for them to go on. “You have more?”

The brothers preened. “Indeed we do,” Flann said, then changed the picture on the wall. Yet another page with scribbles that meant nothing to me. How they saw words or pronounced them was a miracle. So many consonants that shouldn’t go together…

Brian got up and moved to the wall to point at some of those words. “Right then. The second set of pages talks aboutuaillmhianof all things—the word forambition.It’s mentioned a few times in each of these pages, as ismian,which meansambitionorwish. Then it seems Ambition is reference to someone. We suspect this might be your O’Ryan character, if indeed your bookmarks understood your question.”

“What’s interesting,” Flann added, “is that in Fairy, or rather, in their previous world or land—could be either—ambition is the most grievous of sins.”

Brian came back to the table and consulted a notebook. “You said the second question you asked was ‘who was the gold fairy who calls himself O’Ryan?’ But these pages do not mention that name. Nor do they mention gold per se. We founda hunger for power, but that power,cumhacht, includes force, influence, might, reach, and violence. No mention of wealth or riches. So either your bookmarks know who he is and where he was mentioned, though not by name, or they were confused and marked these pages for no reason.”

“I think they knew,” I said, automatically feeling the need to defend my four flat friends. “If they are as old as those books, I wouldn’t bet against them.”

“I think she’s right,” Wickham said. “Anything else on the subject?”

“Not at the moment. We plan to go over these again, at our leisure. We might find something useful.”

Flann changed the screen. “Next, the question of the elusive Covenant.”

No one moved, but the tension between Wickham and his sisters crowded out the oxygen in the room. Still, it had been Wickham who had asked that question in the first place.

“There are two copies of The Covenant between a special contingent of men and the King of the Fae. King or God or head. Not sure. He is called all three things in these pages.”

“Two.” Wickham sighed with relief. “Does it say where to find them?”

Brian’s brows rose, but he nodded. “One must remain in this realm…and one must remain in the land before. One for man, one for Fae.”

No one spoke. We all understood. If Wickham didn’t know how to get to the land of Fairy and back, then Oxford was our only choice.

Thankfully, Lorraine and Loretta sat with their backs to their brother…so he couldn’t see those smiles. It seemed they weren’t as afraid of death as they were happy to be right.

Brian waited a moment for questions,but when no one spoke he announced they had thus far found nothing else revelatory. “We are eager to learn about thisspecial contingent of menand what made them worthy of dealing with the King of the Fae. Perhaps the Grandfather—the former Grandfather--knew who they were. It might explain why he knew of The Covenant in the first place, so it might.”

Both brothers looked at Wickham, their brows high and hopeful.

Wickham growled and wrenched himself from his perch to face us all. “I have no knowledge of it. I can see ye expect that all his secrets magically passed to me, but they did not.”

“But what about the white—”

Wickham cut off Lorraine’s words with a slash of his hand. “I ken only what the man told me, so ye can cease wonderin’.” He faced the brothers and offered a little bow. “I thank ye for yer time and attention, sirs. Stay as long as ye like. We’ll be eager to hear of anything else ye might find.” To the room at large, he said, “We’ll meet here in the morning to discuss our next moves. We’ll split up in twos. One pair to Corsica, and another to Tunisia.”

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