Page 92 of The Falconer

The clicking stops, and suddenly I’m blinded by light.

Chapter 30

Iclose my eyes against the onslaught; images in negative and colours and dots pulse behind my eyelids. Soft warmth envelops me.

When I open my eyes, the golden light is still overwhelming. It blazes in a column up to the sky, surrounding me and illuminating the chapel ruins. Rain shimmers as it falls through the light, as if I’m surrounded by shooting stars.

I finally look down at the device, surprised to see that the top plate has slid open to reveal intricate golden gears inside. They are incredibly delicate, the metal thin enough to be slightly transparent.

I’ve never seen such detailed work. So many gears and pinions whirling smoothly around each other with tiny golden levers interspersed between them. Seven rings increasing in size from the centre of the circle outwards, forming an ever-moving mechanism covered in symbols, not unlike an elaborate clock face. The symbols on the gold rings nearest the middle are the most elaborate, evolving to broader swirls on the outer rings. I think of the brand on the inside of Kiaran’s wrist, how similar it is to these designs, how utterly beautiful and detailed.

Gold markers are positioned at each of the cardinal points around the largest ring, with smaller notches between them. It’s both a compass and a clock, I realise, beautiful and mesmerising.

I feel power around me. Pure energy, soothing elation, a heat inside me that’s like bathing in sunlight. This is the kind of device I long to make. Something that unifies me, calms me. And it’s a part of my heritage I had never dreamed possible. It belongs to me.

Amid my elation, I look at Kiaran. He stands ever so still at the edge of the golden light.

‘It’s beautiful,’ I say. ‘Come over here – you should see this.’

He hesitates, gazing up at the aurulent light. ‘I can’t.’

‘Don’t be silly.’ I push to my feet and reach through the light to grip his hand. ‘See? Just come inside—’

When his fingers pass into the light, he sucks in a breath and jerks his hand from mine, clutching his wrist.

‘MacKay!’ I hurry to his side to see what’s wrong. The column of light wavers, then settles into the ground. The power is gone so quickly and I shiver against the cold. ‘What is it?’

‘Nothing,’ he says stiffly.

‘Of course it’s not nothing.’ I try to peek over his shoulder but he shifts away. ‘Show me.’

I pull his arm towards me, despite his resistance. When I see his hand, I let out a strangled gasp. There are blisters and torn red and black flesh at his fingertips, even bone peeking through, as if they have gone through fire.

‘The device is warded against anyone who isn’t a Falconer,’ he says.

I feel a pang of guilt, then. He told me he couldn’t come in and I didn’t even bother to ask why. I watch the miraculous faery healing process spread across his hand. Gleaming pale skin is already peeking through the charred black, healing over the bones of his fingertips.

‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘I shouldn’t have—’

‘Don’t apologise – the light is meant to protect you against thesìthichean.’ He nods to the device. ‘Can you make it work?’

‘I certainly hope so.’

As soon as I step back inside the circle, the light rises around me again. I crouch to the ground and slide my fingers along the gold rings. Power buzzes beneath my palms, an electric current that feels embedded in the smooth, silken metal. It’s incredible craftsmanship.

Kiaran sits on a boulder and leans forward. ‘What does it look like from above?’

‘Complex,’ I reply. ‘Highly sophisticated. I don’t recognise the technology at all. How could they possibly have built this two thousand years ago?’

Kiaran looks at me, rather pityingly. ‘Thesìthicheanwere far more advanced then than humans are now.’ He inclines his head towards the device. ‘That issìthicheantechnology. A reverse-engineered and alterediuchair– the Seelie used it for confinement.’

Of course. I have never thought of the fae as innovators of any kind. It seems strange that such destructive creatures could build something so beautiful.

‘How did the Falconers get hold of it, then?’

He looks away. ‘They had help.’

I trace one of the swirls etched into the gold. ‘From whom?’

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