Brothers: Legacy of the Twice-Dead God (111 page)

“Am I at war with Faery, Sir Elf?” I asked
calmly.

“No, your Lordship,” he replied, not rising
out of his bow.

“Are humans at war with Faery, Sir Elf?” I
asked.

“No, your Lordship,” he replied, still not
rising out of his bow.

“Yet you arrive under a flag of truce. Truce
from what?”

“Considering the unprecedented manner in
which his Lordship achieved his position,” the harlequin said
calmly, still bowed, “Her Majesties felt it would be wise to assure
all parties involved that we intended no harm in our first contact
with you.”

Sounded reasonable and he looked like he was
telling the truth. “Very well,” I said. “How do you know who Seth
McClure is?”

“Before leaving Faery, both Queens gave me
what I believed was a partial image of you. Upon seeing his
Lordship, I now understand it was not a partial image.”

I barked a short laugh out. “Seth McClure
accepts the greetings of the Queens’ envoy as well as the peaceful
intentions of Her Majesties.” The elf rose smoothly out of his bow.
If he noticed that I excluded the titles he listed, he made no
mention of it, but his aura positively glowed with curiosity,
amusement, and fear. I suppose I could understand all three as I
had just attacked and killed someone theoretically as powerful as
those he served directly. He thought he was a flea in monsoon
compared to me. Marty was more of a threat right now than I was,
not that I was gonna tell him that.

In one fluid motion, the eight elves
dismounted from their steeds and the horses walked slowly forward,
turning as sharply as creatures of their size can in a circle until
they faced forward again in the rear of their group, mirroring the
formation of their masters. I watched with a detached interest. It
was eerie.

“Lord Daybreak, may I present—” the harlequin
started, but I interrupted.

“A moment, Sir Elf,” I said, glancing back at
the Castle steps. My family had moved to the edge of the moat along
with pretty much everybody else. “My history with the elves in
general is well known. You are no doubt aware that I have little to
no knowledge of the necessary protocols required of this or,
indeed, most other meetings with Elven Royalty. I have no wish to
create any real or perceived slights to anyone at this juncture and
certainly not to either of the Queens of the Fae.”

“Certainly, Your Lordship,” the harlequin
said, bowing his head and smiling most curiously at me. “You have
our assurances that none will be offended here today.”

“Very well, then. At least for today, let’s
dispense with the Lord crap. I’d prefer to be called by my name,” I
said.

“As you wish, Daybreak.”

Not what I had in mind, but whatever. I was
amusing to them.

“Let’s start there, then,” I said. “How do
you come by that name, ‘Daybreak’?”

“Other than to say it is the closest English
word to the Faery word that is your name, I do not know. I was told
it by her Majesties.” Okay, that was certainly oblique enough. I
shrugged to idea back then for another day.

“And what is the purpose of tonight’s
visit?”

“Merely introductions and assurances,
Daybreak,” said the harlequin. “Though I understand the firsts bear
a gift. Where shall I begin?”

“You,” I responded. Yeah, how stupid did they
expect me to be, pick Winter over Summer?

“Me?” He seemed surprised but pleased with
himself. “I am Avenour, a herald of the Summer Court. I am
dispensable should you mistrust the banner of truce.”

“Avenour,” I nodded to him. The elves then
began forming into a reception line behind Avenour, separating into
their disparate courts. Glancing back over the ley moat, I caught
Ferrin smirking at me. He shouldn’t oughta have done that. I caught
Ethan’s attention and waved him over. He jumped the moat from where
he stood—standing broad jump, no running leap or anything, just
jumped it. It didn’t bother the power flow of the moat in the
least. Let one of the elves try that.

“Would you get Felix to watch Ian?” I
whispered to Ethan. “I’d like you guys over here and he’s a bit
young to face them.”

“So are you!” he said laughing, then
backflipped back into his footprints on the other side. His
performance was noticed on both sides of the moat, and certainly by
my father. Ethan knelt at Ian’s eye level and said a few words. Ian
looked up at Mike, grinning. He ran across the aisle to stand with
Felix’s wheelchair, who wrapped an arm around his shoulder
protectively. I wrapped portals around the six men I wanted and
moved them across the moat.

I turned back to Avenour. “Are introductions
necessary on my side? Your intelligence of us always appears to be
so much more complete.”

Avenour hesitated before answering. “It
would, perhaps, be advisable for the gentlemen you’ve brought over
here. Most of the ladies and gentlemen on the other side are known
to us.”

“On my right, my father, Robert McClure, only
recently returned from a long absence,” I said, holding my right
hand out by way of presentation, turning slightly to him. “I
believe that Her Majesties are aware of his departure but not
necessarily his return, though he was with me when I left the
battlefield and that they are aware of.”

Avenour started to say something but I moved
too quickly. “My brother and my master, Ehran, I believe is known
to Faery. It is under his tutelage that we gained position in the
Games some weeks ago.” Dad’s aura spiked in surprise.

Kieran leaned over and whispered, “You ain’t
heard nothing yet.”

“This is Ethan, my brother, who also
participated in our battles at the arena and was instrumental in
defeating the Loa,” moving down to the last on the right and
cutting Kieran a quick look. I left the details of Ethan’s
parentage private and turned back to the center. “This is Peter
Borland, another of my brothers. He accompanied and assisted me in
the battle against the Rat Bastard as well as in his last games.
Next to him is Gordon Cahill, son of Felix Cahill, Duke and owner
of the lands on which you are standing, brother of the man
currently guarding the Castle. Gordon also accompanied and assisted
in that battle. The man next to him is Michael Ferrin, the last
winner of the Sealbreaker’s Games and quite an effective fighter.
He, too, stood with me against –” Pushing a little energy out I
used the troll name, as grating to my bones as it was.

“Perhaps I should amend that,” I said,
turning back to face the elves as a whole. “The three of them held
MacNamara’s army at bay while he and I fought.” There were one or
two raised eyebrows in the elven retinue at the idea that three men
could hold back an elven army even for a short time. That was the
affect I was going for.

“Daybreak,” Avenour asked, “should I consider
the brevity of your introductions as a model for our own?”

“If it offers no insult,” I said. “It’s late
and I still have work to do today.”

“I believe no insult is taken, Daybreak,” he
answered smiling. He had an interesting curl to the corners of his
smile, almost turning into a spiral.

“A moment, Avenour,” called a melodious voice
to our left. A Winter elf dressed in dark blue fading into lighter
shades and highlighted in green across his chest stepped forward.
One of the guards on the Unseelie Court. “Daybreak, it has been
said that you, even prior to taking the mantle of Liege-Killer, are
able to ascertain the loyalty of our kind with but a glance.”

“Is that difficult to discern?” I turned and
asked Peter. He nodded a yes and I shrugged. “I can tell, yes, but
I’m not sure I’d say ‘at a glance.’”

“I wonder if you might entertain a wager on
that talent?” he asked coyly. I raised my eyebrows and waited for
him to continue. “That we can ascertain how you’re doing it and
disguise our loyalty before you get to the end of the line.”

“And the wager?” I asked.

He acted like he was considering it for a
moment, then said, “Perhaps we could arm your companions more
suitably against, say, one of the empty cages?”

I laughed out loud, barking really, his
suggestion caught me flat and I kind of cramped up. Peter came up
beside me, gently patting my back and making sure I didn’t choke in
front of so many people.

Peter said to the still smiling elf, “I
believe what Seth is saying here is that to even entertain the idea
of giving away a gift of your liege would be too much of an insult
to both. Considering he hasn’t even been offered it yet and none of
the six of us would agree to the wager, you should also be glad
that he has agreed to hold no ill will from this meeting.”

“My apologies, Your Lordship,” the elf bowed
low, almost touching his forehead to the ground. “I was rash in
your apparent youth and took an unwise gamble. I shall discuss an
appropriate penance with my Queen.”

I’d regained my composure listening to him,
still wore a smile over it.

“Don’t worry about it, big guy. Like Peter
said, I hold no ill will. Consider this a learning experience. And
I have a counteroffer that I actually think you’re gonna love.”

I leaned back into Peter, sharing the view of
the property that I was getting. Very hard to see. Eighteen that I
found, spread out across the grounds.

“I’ll wager that I make yours seem like a
social gaffe, while theirs…” I snapped my fingers dramatically,
though the action had little relevance to the eighteen portals I
wrapped around the camouflaged elves. Kieran went roving about the
property a half-second after he felt me jerk them in, scanning for
more on a different level. Good, two pair of eyes are better than
one. Peter snapped up separate cages for each as soon as he felt
them land. These weren’t the same pens as Dunstan’s. These were
much stronger and resistant to anything the elves might throw at
them. The prisoners had little room to move.

“Theirs?” I continued, manifesting the armor
in full form. My hands came to rest on the grips of each Sword,
habitual now. All of the elves went positively rigid, fantastically
so. It made their previous jobs as statues look like a night in Rio
during the Carnivale. “Avenour, would delivering spies under a
banner of truce not be considered an act of war? Would this be
enough for me to mistrust this particular envoy?”

“Indeed, Your Lordship, it is,” he voice
trembled. I believed he didn’t know, but it was possible he was
just seriously surprised they were caught.

“Brothers, did I miss any?” I asked without
turning around. They responded with three negatives in various
cordial and pleasant ways. “Your name, Winter Elf?” I asked the
gambler.

“Seneca, Lord Daybreak,” he answered, bowing
almost to the ground like Avenour.

“Avenour, Seneca,” I called, waving them both
forward and dissolved the helmet to show my sincerity. Expression
and voice were all they had to work with, after all. “I have a task
for you and while I have no doubt that your Queen has charged you
similarly, I wish to add to it. First, each of you shall report to
your respective Queens first, prior to any member of this envoy. Is
that understood?”

“Yes, Daybreak,” they said in unison.

I yelled back at the rigid elves, “If any of
you has a problem with that, speak up now and we can discuss it one
on one.” No one moved a muscle. “Good,” I said calmly, not
amplified in the least, by me anyway. The elves, though, heard
every word, and Marty made sure the other side of the moat heard,
too. “I understand the desire of your kind to underestimate mine
and will consider this a learning experience for her Majesties’
upper echelons. I do not see it reflecting in any way on either of
her Majesties. However, so that I will make no associations to
names, faces, and spies, I think it best to return the entire envoy
without introduction, lest I get an attack of adolescent amnesia.”
Ethan snickered behind me. I’d missed that. Even if was only a few
days.

“I have much to do this evening and I’ve
already had a very long day. Is there anything else?” I asked
irritably.

“Should we perhaps appoint a day and time
when another envoy may have an audience?” asked Avenour.

I looked back at Gordon, stressed now.
“Cahill, may I obligate you again?” Using his family name meant I
was asking for the use of his property—the Castle—again, which
technically he had control of with Felix recuperating. Felix could
have interjected and no one would have thought any less of anyone.
I think.

“Sure, if you show us that little trick you
just did,” he said, grinning and crossing his arms across his
chest, puffing up.

“You mean finding them?” I asked him,
throwing a thumb over my shoulder at Peter’s cages. Gordon nodded,
still grinning. “I’d have done that anyway. I’m surprised one of
them hadn’t shown Marty yet.”

“Ethan and I are searching for the entry
points,” said Peter. “We’ve got fifteen of the eighteen so far.
Ehran is studying the craft used to camouflage them.”

“So far,” Kieran said, turning back from
staring at the energy cages. “I see two hundred and eighty-seven
different weaves of magic here. Of those, twenty-eight of them have
between four hundred and eleven hundred variations. Of the others,
many have variations, but not as many. This should not be a
difficult ward to build.”

“Will that satisfy your condition, Gordon?” I
asked him, smiling broadly and sweeping into a bow.

“A most excellent trade, Daybreak,” he
answered with equal facetious pomp.

“Will a week be enough time?” I asked
Avenour. “Of course it will. You threw this together in hours.” Why
give him a choice? “A week’s time, then, just before sunset. I
haven’t gotten to see the Castle at sunset yet. I’ve been told it’s
a beautiful sight.”

“As you wish, Daybreak,” they responded in
unison.

I sealed the armor for effect. “A final word
before I send you on your way, then, Lords and Ladies of Faery: an
insult to me or my host will not fare so well again. I would
suggest asking any who have stood before me in the past, but none
seemed to have survived having done so, either human or elf. Now
leave and take your trash with you.”