Last Wish (Highland Magic #4)(45)

I peered at it. Bloody Gaelic again. I tried to translate it. ‘Arrive here for all Fomori to ask for…’ I frowned. Er… ‘A fox?’

‘We come here on behalf of all Fomori demons,’ Byron corrected, ‘to request a peaceful settlement between the Highlands and the Lowlands.’

Oh. ‘No foxes?’

‘No. But,’ he said, in a bid to make me feel better, ‘the words are fairly similar. It’s an easy mistake to make.’ It was unfortunate that the magic inside me assured me he was lying. He offered a half smile and stepped out. ‘The demons came here to petition my father for peace. And they ended up dead.’

I gave another quick glance at the three Fomori bodies. Whatever other secrets they’d held, they were never going to reveal them now. This document was all we had. ‘When they say peace, what do they mean exactly?’

Byron’s expression was cold. ‘It’s all written down here. In return for the Sidhe dropping the Veil and returning the Lowlands to their former state, the Fomori were prepared to open trade negotiations and make amends for wrongs done in the past.’

I rocked back on my heels. ‘Wow. Aifric never mentioned this to you?’

‘As far as I know, he never mentioned it to anyone. Maybe he never saw it. He might have killed these three before they got the chance to make the offer.’

I mulled it over. Aifric had mentioned that he’d made a deal with the Fomori but what he’d actually said was that he’d killed my entire Clan at the Fomoris’ insistence to stop them from coming to the Highlands and killing many more. He’d told me this over the telephone so I couldn’t be sure of the veracity of his words, but it seemed as if they’d had a kernel of truth. All the same, I’d seen nothing from any of the Fomori demons I’d encountered that suggested they wanted to broker a deal with us now. Of course there was May, but she was unique. The Fomori demons were vicious monsters who had annexed half our country. They lived in darkness and, to all intents and purposes, kept other races as slaves. How could we ever come to an agreement with them? Nevertheless, my skin tingled. Something like this really could change the world. A niggling voice at the back of my mind whispered ‘prophecy’ and every part of me seemed to light up. Don’t jump to conclusions, Tegs, I warned myself.

‘What was it really like for you?’ I asked. ‘After the demons grabbed you, I mean.’

Byron grimaced. ‘I was unconscious for most of the time. They certainly weren’t kind to me.’

I bit my lip. He’d been in a sorry state when I’d found him. A group of demons looking for peace wouldn’t have tortured the Steward’s son. Something else occurred to me. ‘If someone like me was discovered to have infiltrated the Moncrieffe Lands, what do you think your father would do to me?’ Byron looked at me impassively. I waved my hand. ‘Okay, bad example. How about if it was the MacFie Lands?’

‘They’d probably hurt you. Are you trying to make excuses for the Fomori demons? Justifying the fact that they hurt me because I intruded on their turf? Because they’ve killed people here, Integrity. Recently.’

I spoke quietly. ‘I know. You killed one of them too.’ Byron scowled at my reference to the demon he’d barbecued in Perth and I held up my hand. ‘I’m not trying to make excuses for them. I’m just…’ I shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Maybe trying to see things from their point of view. I’ve been a criminal for most of my life, Byron. I guess that makes me a bad person ? but I’m not evil.’

‘You’ve never killed anyone,’ he pointed out.

True, and I wasn’t planning to do so. I persisted. ‘Most of the world believes that my father was a mass murderer. Clan Adair is being wiped from existence. Even the history books mentioning us have been … amended.’ I leaned forward, suddenly animated by the idea. ‘What if it’s not the first time? What if we believe the Fomori are evil for no other reason than we’ve been told they are? What if history is wrong?’

Byron looked at me for a long moment. It was good that he was no longer dismissing my theories out of hand but he still didn’t buy it. ‘It’s a big leap.’

‘Yeah, but it’s possible. Maybe they’re not the villains, Byron. Maybe we are.’

He sighed and glanced at the three bodies. ‘Regardless of what’s going on with the demons either now or in the past, we need to get a move on. I wasn’t expecting the, er, delay upstairs.’

‘Is that what you’re calling it?’

Amusement flickered in his eyes. ‘Come on.’

‘You went to all the trouble of sneaking in past the border,’ I told him, ‘and yet you’ve left a great big pyrokinesis-induced hole in your father’s study. Isn’t that going to be something of a giveaway?’

‘I knew I’d have to cover my tracks,’ he said. ‘Just as I knew that having the library next door was going to be an advantage.’

I was still confused. ‘What do you mean?’

He smiled sadly. ‘Watch.’ He strode out and opened the library door.

I gaped; it was a beautiful space. Say what you like about Aifric, this was magnificent. Even in the gloom of the wee hours, shelves upon shelves stretched out. I couldn’t stop myself reaching over to the nearest one and trailing my finger along the leather-bound books. ‘This is wonderful,’ I breathed.