‘You didn’t want them?’
‘The groves are sacred. The Foinse even more so.’
I licked my lips. ‘It regulates all the magic, right?’ He nodded. ‘And the magic affects everyone in some way or another, whether they have Gifts or not.’
‘That’s true,’ he agreed.
‘Well then, don’t keep the Foinse hidden away. It shouldn’t be a matter of privilege. Everyone should be able to see it. It would solve your problem of these soul keys if that were the case.’
He looked speculatively. ‘You’re a lot like your father.’
I blinked. I wasn’t expecting that. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked, carefully.
‘He always thought that power should be spread more evenly. He advocated opening the magical barrier and letting the Clan-less come and go as they please. The other species who work for us receive a higher wage, thanks to his efforts.’
Apart from Lily’s ramblings, this was the first time I’d heard someone say something positive about my father. ‘What was he like?’ I asked, suddenly desperate to know more.
‘He was a good man,’ Aifric said heavily. ‘A very good man. Better than the rest of us put together – but what he did was wrong. It changed the course of history, and not in a good way. But his wife, your mother, died during childbirth and he just couldn’t take it. He went mad.’ Something dark crossed his eyes. ‘Not like the Macquarries, you understand. Theirs was true insanity. No, something dark took hold of your father and wouldn’t let go.’
‘Like a demon?’
Aifric looked at me sympathetically. ‘I’ve heard that story too but it wasn’t that. It couldn’t have been.’ He shook himself. ‘Such a waste,’ he muttered.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear any more. ‘What about my mother?’ I asked.
He smiled, although his eyes were tinged with melancholy. ‘Everyone wanted your mother. She was truly beautiful, inside and out. There were a lot of happy men around the day she rejected the Bull. Of course, she only had eyes for your father.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘C’est la vie.’
I twirled a strand of hair round my finger. I needed to tread carefully. ‘I was in the library the other day. The Cruaich one, I mean. I couldn’t find anything about the Adairs. Anywhere.’
Aifric took my hands. ‘It was a difficult time in our history,’ he said. ‘We tried to keep it as quiet as we could. There are a lot of people in the Clans. We didn’t want the Clan-less to realise we were vulnerable and we definitely didn’t want anyone else getting ideas.’
‘Ideas of genocide?’ I was confused.
‘Some things are better forgotten.’ He squeezed my fingers. ‘Anyway, will you come and eat?’
I was tempted to try and hold him back, to pry out more information. From the look on his face, however, I’d pushed him as far as I could for now. Nevertheless, I decided that it might be worth cultivating my relationship with Aifric Moncrieffe, no matter how his son felt.
I was passed a plate as soon as I sat down. My fingers brushed inadvertently against the Kincaid Chieftain’s as I took it from him. I’d never seen anyone flinch so obviously.
I cocked my head. ‘Do you think that you’ll catch a disease by touching me?’ I asked. ‘Or are you afraid that I’ll take offence that you touched me and murder you tonight in your sleep?’
His younger Clan companion joined him, expression blazing. ‘Adair,’ he snarled. ‘You think you’re important now. Once the Foinse is dealt with, you will crawl back to the dirty hole you came from. You’re no one.’
Aifric threw an arm round his shoulders. ‘Relax, Malcolm. We are all friends here.’
Malcolm Kincaid didn’t look happy but he didn’t throw off Aifric’s arm either. He subsided in a series of grumbles before eventually going to the other side of the fire –as far away from me as possible.
Aware of Byron watching me, I picked up a hunk of crusty bread then said to no-one in particular, ‘A man asked his friend, “Want to hear a joke about butter?” His friend was like, “Sure.” The man thought about it then changed his mind. “Nah, I butter not tell you. You might spread it.”’
They all stared at me. ‘Not my best, I admit,’ I said, then ignored them all and ate my dinner.
*
The next day, as we started to ride again, my muscles screamed with pain. I couldn’t stop thinking about Darth Vader. He was evil. In fact, he was arguably one of the best science fiction villains ever created. When Taylor introduced me to Star Wars not long after I joined him, I was utterly terrified. But I was convinced that, while I might tread on the wrong side of the law and I was far from perfect, I wasn’t evil. And, in the end, as well as the beginning (although I refused to dwell too much on those films), Darth Vader wasn’t bad. He was also Luke Skywalker’s father.