Spellbinder (Moonshadow #2)

“Triddick told me this morning, when I went to beg some breakfast from him. I don’t know how he heard of it.”

“I must say, you’re taking the news quite calmly.” Kallah gave her a quick, keen glance.

Sid compressed her lips into a tight smile. The casual contempt buried in Kallah’s assumptions was like having her skin rubbed with sandpaper. As Sid had performed regularly in front of thousands of people in almost every type of venue imaginable, she hadn’t given the great hall a second thought.

However, she was going to have a serious struggle with not being able to practice three times in the great hall before the performance.

She managed to bite back the snarl that wanted to come out. Instead, she said blandly, “I’m not concerned about where I will be playing. The only person’s opinion that really matters is her majesty’s.”

Kallah’s voice turned wry. “True enough. I also wanted to warn you. It’s possible you play well enough that you might rouse one or two of the harmonics set in the hall.”

Sid’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

“There are spells in silver glyphs set throughout the hall that respond to music. Lights and colors may appear. True masters can evoke images. If any colors appear, you mustn’t be startled into faltering.”

So the Light Fae had their version of a light show. She managed not to roll her eyes. “Got it.”

Kallah’s expression turned curious. “You and Triddick have struck up an acquaintance?”

Sid watched her lay the outfit over the top of the table. “I’ve been too busy to keep to the meal times, and he’s been good enough to accommodate me.”

“I am somewhat surprised,” Kallah remarked as she pulled folds of the garment straight. It was a dress. “He can be temperamental.”

“We came to an understanding. He wishes for the Queen to know he supports her love of the arts in any way he can.”

“I will be sure to pass that on.” Kallah let go of the fabric and straightened. “This dress is for you to wear tonight. Your other two outfits won’t do.”

Angling her head, Sid inspected the dress. It was brown, which was seriously unfortunate. She had never been a big fan of plain brown. But despite the color, it was a much richer, finer outfit than her regular brown dress, made of velvet with black decorative stitching at the wrists and the hem.

“Okay,” she said.

Kallah turned to face her, eyes narrowed. “Is there anything you want to ask me about this evening?”

She shook her head and shrugged, then thought better of her surly attitude. “Actually, I do. How am I supposed to behave when I get to the hall?”

“You should eat a light supper before the evening starts,” Kallah instructed. “You will be expected to play while others eat their supper, so you won’t be given food, although you may have as much drink as you wish. You will get a few short breaks. Other than that, it’s difficult to plan ahead. If her majesty doesn’t care for your music, the evening will be brief for you.”

If this was a movie, Sid thought, that would be a cue for an ominous swell of music. “Understood,” she bit out.

Kallah looked mildly taken aback. She continued, “If her majesty does enjoy your music, you should expect to play for a couple of hours, so be sure to come to the hall well rested. I will send a page to collect you when it is time.”

“Fine.” She bit back a sigh. All the impending doom was working on her last nerve. “I’ll go back to my room this afternoon. Anything else?”

“No, I believe that should cover everything.” Kallah paused, and her eyes narrowed. She murmured, “I don’t remember you wearing earrings when I cut your hair.”

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Sid snapped. “What else do you people want to take from me? Sometimes I wear my earrings, and sometimes I put them in my pocket. Why, do you want them?”

If nothing else, she thought, this place has taught me one thing. I have learned how to lie like a champion while telling the absolute truth.

The other woman drew back in affront. “Of course not,” she snapped back. “Now, if that will be all, I need to return to my own duties.”

“See you in the great hall,” Sid said shortly.

The other woman turned to go. When Kallah turned back the irritation had faded from her plain features. In a sober voice, she said, “I know you must be feeling an extraordinary amount of stress right now. Good luck tonight. I hope you do well.”

The starch left Sid’s spine, and she made an effort to soften her own voice in reply. “I appreciate that, Kallah. Thank you.”

*

After leaving, Morgan returned to his cottage, ate mechanically, and tended to his healing wound.

It looked better than it had last time. The black streaks shooting out like jagged thunderbolts had faded somewhat, and the wound itself had closed over solidly. It felt better too. Now it was a dull, irritating ache as opposed to a burning spike of pain. Nothing he and Sidonie had done in the night had broken it open again.

He guessed he had two weeks at most before the geas forced him to return to Isabeau. He needed to take another wound before then.

After dealing with necessities, he began work on solving the problem of how to get the battle spell to Sidonie.

As much as he railed against the conclusion he had come to, trying to cast the spell in person was not the best choice. If he cast the spell, it would begin to work immediately, and Sidonie needed to be able to control when it was activated. He would have to set the spell into an item and then figure out how to get the item to her.

The other challenge was, while he was certainly proficient in magic and not without a capacious bag of tricks, the thought of trying to move about in the daytime was daunting. There were areas of the castle where he could move around much more freely, hidden nooks and private spaces that had been forgotten by everyone centuries ago, except for him.

But the well-trafficked area around Sidonie’s room was not one of those spaces. Also several other Hounds and courtiers were proficient in magic, including Isabeau and Modred, and Morgan didn’t have the puck’s ability to change shape at will.

So delivering the battle spell in person was not the best option. The risk of discovery was too great.

Perhaps Myrrah might help. She was kind-hearted and a talented healer, and one of the few people Morgan trusted, at least somewhat. She wouldn’t like not knowing why he wanted to get a magic item to Sidonie, yet she might do it if he asked her.

But he didn’t like the uncertainty in that either. What if Myrrah felt too uneasy with the request? Then he would have not only exposed his presence, but he would also have exposed his link to Sidonie.