Page 28 of Ulune's Daughter

A rainbow aura bursts around the cup in Faery’s golden light.

“I haven’t seen that before,” Teddy says, turning the cup from side to side.

“It’s a divine aura. The statue of the shark god I recovered has it, too. I could tell the cup was authentic before I even touched it.”

“Divine ... Kells, this isn’t the bloody grail, is it?”

I chuckle. “No, it’s the sacrificial chalice of Sulis Minerva. Forged in Bath during the first century A.D. It disappeared for centuries when the Romans withdrew from Britain. It showed up in what’s now Poland in 966 as a baptism gift to Mieszko the First, which is a pretty ironic use of a pagan cup. It stayed in Poland for almost a thousand years, housed in the Polish royal collection, until the Nazis invaded. Last seen in 1940.”

“And you stumbled across it, where?”

“Black market antiquities dealer’s safe.”

Teddy laughs. “Of course, you did.”

“He’d arranged a sale to the fu—er, freaking—jackal clans. They would not have used it for anything good.”

Teddy turns the cup around in the light. “How much power would it have in magickal hands?”

“I’ll measure it’s punch when I’m back home but way too much to let the jackals have it.”

“Any idea what they’re planning?”

I shake my head. Even being held prisoner by Jakob Maher and his boys for more hours than I care to remember didn’t give me any insight into what they’re planning. “But Sulis Minerva was a healing goddess. Her element was Water and her cup, used correctly, should have prodigious healing powers.”

Teddy rocks on her stool, examining the cup. “Sulis Minerva didn’t only heal. I’ve been to Bath. School holiday trips and all. They found like a hundred curse tablets when they excavated the Roman baths. Throw a curse into her waters and it was guaranteed to come true.”

I eye the cup. “I don’t remember that from my research.”

“Prolly kept it quiet for fear of scarin’ off the Yank tourists.” Teddy gives me a toothy grin. “But if the cup can be used for powerful curses, youdefinitelydon’t want the jackal clans getting their claws on it.”

“Definitely not,” I echo her. “C’mon, Professor Nowak-Tate-Wilson-Miller-Dùbhghlas. Come to Bevvy for a week and help me test and research this thing. Arch has left it up to me where I place it. If it’s too dangerous, I’m thinking Column in Boston. That place is tighter than a vestal virgin’s butt. I’d love for Bevvy to have it, but not if it could endanger students.”

Teddy snorts at the vestal virgin quip. “I can’t do that to the boys. Leave the two terrors with them while I jaunt off to Bevvy for a week? They’d murder me. And things are ... tense right now between Dar and his father. Bad time for me to be away.”

The twins have started yawning more than they’re playing. As I scoop up Gal and Teddy collects Honour, I ask her, “What’s going on between Darwin and Callan?”

She sighs. “Evan Lords. That last lead into the Aedis Astrum was a dead end.Anotherdead end. We’re running out of ideas. Anything that showed a glimmer of promise to clear his name, we’ve run it to the ground. There’s nothing left. And Rachel’s holding on by a thread. I asked Callan to help and he agreed. The cost is higher than Dar wants to pay.”

“What’s the cost?” I ask, feeling worry tighten my shoulders.

Teddy tips her face into Honour’s damp curls. Around kisses, she says, “Dar and the twins take their places in the line of succession again. And I take up a Darkswerd.”

I kiss Gal on the forehead. I understand why things are so tense. Darwin and Teddy successfully negotiated Darwin’s release from the fae court’s line of succession back when we were at Bevvy. Darwin’s still had duties to the court, but they’ve only been the usual noble fae duties: tithing part of his income, making appearances at holiday celebrations, sponsoring one of the court’s squires. Darwin was free of the burden of the throne and the twins were safe.

Evan Lords’ release for a future on the Thistlemist throne? It sounds like an easy trade. A man’s freedom for what should be an honor anyway. But Darwin and Teddy don’t see it that way; I wouldn’t if I was in their shoes. I’ve seen some of the decisions Darwin’s father’s had to make. I wouldn’t wish that burden on my worst enemy.

“How do you feel about it?” I ask cautiously.

“I think it’s necessary,” Teddy responds, keeping her face buried in baby curls.

“I didn’t ask what you think. I asked how you feel.”

Teddy lifts her face to me and smiles. “You never did shy away from asking the hard questions.”

“Always been a pushy bitch,” I agree.

She chuckles. “I feel ... conflicted, I guess. When we were freshmen, the thought that Dar might have to take the throne someday was overwhelming. Everything I’d seen of court politics was bad. Callan’s own princess betrayed him. The preparation for it had crushed Dar’s soul. I hated the very idea. We’re older and stronger now. It doesn’t feel as overwhelming. But I still fear for Dar and the twins. What the burden of rulership will do to them. I don’t want that for them.”

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