The Unmaking (The Last Days of Tian Di, #2)(76)

Tariro was in any case distracted by other matters and was glad to see them go. Her husband, Nikias, had been summoned with great secrecy by Alvar, Lord of the Faery Guard, and had been gone for two days now. Tariro had invented a pretext to visit Leanda, the wife of the First Advisor Emyr. Leanda told her that Emyr was away tending to business for a short while but Tariro sensed her anxiety. Something was afoot and Tariro hated not knowing what. Her only consolation was that Leanda did not know what it was either.

Although the Faery Kingdom was very much a patriarchy, Tariro was one of the rare female Faeries to have obtained a degree of power in her own right. Though she did not herself come from an important family, she had made her connections wisely. Her wit, her intelligence and her non-threatening charm won her a place in circles to which someone of her rank would not normally have access. She listened sympathetically as her new friends discussed matters of finance and court intrigue and later she would privately make a suggestion or two that revealed her to be a tactical genius. Many prominent Faeries increased their wealth and stature, or destroyed an enemy, through her counsel and remained grateful thereafter, believing that they alone were the fortunate recipients of her startling wisdom. Because she was a useful friend to have, she was invited to important parties, and exceptions to the usual hierarchies were made to include her. Her friends made her careless promises. She remained gracious, humble, unassuming. Everybody secretly owed her a favour and everybody thought they were the only one. Then, with manoeuvres so subtle that nobody was entirely sure how it had happened, she had taken over the goldmines of Sim and the diamond mines of Harrah, and then all of the silver mines that did not belong to the king, becoming one of the wealthiest and most influential Faeries in the Realm. It was whispered that she had forged allegiances with witches and had access to potions that were strictly forbidden. Besides that, whoever controlled silver was not to be crossed. Her marriage to the High Lord Nikias had confirmed her as a rising star, a fixture in the Faery Court. Though technically she and Nikias should have been allowed only a single son, she was wealthy enough to pay the tax on another. Jalo was born and the odds of a child of hers rising to prominence were increased. Cadeyrn, both in his career and in his marriage to Alvar’s daughter, did her credit. But her younger son, Jalo, had an energy and cleverness to him that made her hope for even greater things. Her ambition for herself and for her sons was boundless. Now it was clear some great intrigue was taking place and that she was excluded from it. As soon as Jalo and his humans had left, she called for her faithful spy, Miyam.

“What have you heard?” she asked.

“Madam, all of the High Lords have gathered at Alvar’s Castella.”

“Does the King know?”

“The spies he thinks to be his have been in Alvar’s pocket for centuries now. He knows nothing.”

Tariro breathed a sigh of relief. This sounded to her like treason and Malferio was nothing if not ruthless when it came to treachery. His marriage to Nia three hundred years ago had led to the most terrible purges the Faery Kingdom had ever known as he struggled to hold on to his power. It was bold indeed of him to have married another outsider last year and to declare her Queen. He was over-confident, and something was happening. Nikias was too slow to ensure his own advantage in whatever changes came. He should have consulted her or at least arranged for a spy to bring her word of the proceedings.

“What are they discussing?”

“I do not know. Nobody but the High Lords themselves have been present at these meetings. But there is more, My Lady.”

“Tell.”

“Alvar has a visitor.”

“Who is it?”

“Nobody knows. She has not showed herself but she is staying in His Majesty’s Wing in the Castella.”

Tariro drew her breath in sharply. Every Castella had a wing for the King, reserved for him alone in case he decided to visit. “You say she. How do you know this?”

“One of the guards has seen them together.”

“Is she a Faery?”

“No. Perhaps human.”

“Did this guard say what she looked like?”

“Only that she was very beautiful and she seems to have Alvar’s ear.”

“Forsake the Ancients,” murmured Tariro. “Find a pretext to go to Nikias. I must know everything. And send me the Gem-Weaver.”

~~~

The Faery Mines were legendary throughout Tian Xia. In a Realm of Illusion, they were one of the few realities. The ores and gems within them were the finest in the worlds, both in beauty and in magical properties. As the little group approached the mines, the towering mountains all around them became, in the blink of an eye, rocky hillocks. It did not seem so much a change as a shift in perception, like realizing something you thought was far away is in fact very close, the distant mountain merely a boulder at your feet.

The mine-openings were guarded by Faeries in black silk with glinting spears. Watchful raptors glided overhead. The guards parted for Jalo, however, and so Nell, Charlie and Ander followed him into the dark tunnels beneath the rock. In one of the mines, gold hung luminous as starlight from the ceiling, like tapered stalactites, and in another, diamonds the size of boulders sparkled in the walls and on the damp stone floors.

“Still spooked?” Charlie asked Nell quietly.

“What do you mean?” asked Nell, startled.