"This is a lot of food," I said. "Is anyone else joining us?"
"No, it's just us." A woman showed her a bottle of wine, Briony nodded, and the woman poured it into her glass. The liquid was bright purple like the fruit that was in Buach's basket. "When we are finished, they will sit and eat what is left over."
"Oh, I see."
"Now, leave us," Briony said in a commanding tone. The room emptied, and she adjusted in her seat to look at me. "So, what brings you to Tearmann? I assure you we are allies. This is your father's home. Carrig is one of our greatest Sentinels. Your father must be proud of you."
Tears stung my eyes at the thought of him. I wished he were in Tearmann with me. He could show me his home, the people he knew. I didn't want to think about what would happen if he never woke up.
Briony covered my hand resting on the table with hers. "What is it, dear one?"
"He's in a coma."
Her face was questioning. "A what?"
"It's like an endless sleep." I picked up the napkin on the table and dabbed the wetness from my eyes. "The thing is, his wife, Sinead, is also in a sleep. They're tied to each other or something."
"So she's Fey." She frowned, removing her hand from mine. "The same thing happened to my mother. When the Fey marry outside of our species, their lives are forever tied to their beloved's."
I placed the napkin back down. "Did your mother die with your father?"
She took a sip of the purple drink and nodded. "It was devastating. But enough about things we can't change. You need something here in Tearmann. What is it?"
Well, she gets straight to the point.
"I need blood from the oldest living heir of the Third Wizard." I pulled out the list Rada gave me. "A Cashel Deasmhumhain?" I totally butchered that last name.
"That is all?" She tilted her head back and laughed.
"Why is that funny?"
Recovered, she picked up her glass again. "I thought you were going to ask for an army."
"Why? Would you give me an army?"
"Of course. We're on the same side." She glanced over her glass at me, took a sip, then placed it back on the table. "Here in Tearmann, we follow the rules of the Fey. We believe all living creatures should be cared for, and no one life is more important than another. When you need us, we will be there for you."
"It's how I feel, too."
"I know you do," she said. "I felt your empathy when you entered the castle. And, about the reason you are here, I am the heir. Cashel was my grandfather. He passed last autumn. I'm the only one left in the Third Wizard's family. How shall we draw my blood?"
"Just a few drops are needed. You only have to prick your finger." I bent over, retrieved the leather canister from my boot, and removed the vial containing the other heir's blood.
"I'm curious to know why you need this, but it's best you don't say. Keep your secrets close, Gianna; not everyone is trustworthy." She snatched up a knife and poked her finger with the tip. I held out the vial, and she squeezed her finger, letting a few drops fall into it.
Tell me about it. I wish I still had my truth globe.
As I turned my foot slightly, I could feel the small silver container Mardiana had given me. I took it out and added her blood to the vial.
"Who does that belong to?" she asked, her brow slightly up as she watched me.
"The Mantello heir."
"I see. My curiosity has risen again."
I ignored her. As she said, I should tell no one what I was doing. I secured the top of the vial, eased it into the canister, and returned it to the inside of my boot.
A siren went off somewhere in the castle, and Briony shot to her feet. "Oh dear. That's not good at all. We're being attacked."
I stood, not knowing what to do.
They found me.
Chapter Eighteen
Galach and Buach rushed into the room with many guards behind them. "Your Highness, we must be leaving at once. The Asile guards be here to arrest you."
Arrest her? Not me? If they didn't know I was there, they'd find out soon. "We need to get out of here."
"What do they want with me?" Briony asked, ignoring my plea.
"It is uncertain." The expression on Galach's face held concern. "We received word that High Wizard Murtagh be arrested today during the council meeting."
Briony crossed over to him. "What reason did they give for his arrest?"
"He voted against removing all charges from Conemar's records. We haven't time. I must get you to safety."
"Um, we should go," I said. "Like, now."
Galach waved the guards to the corridor and held out his hand to Briony.
She grabbed it. "Gia is coming with us. Buach, you come, as well."
Galach rushed out with Briony and Buach and I went after them.
"I just don't understand," Briony was saying when I caught up to them. "By removing his charges, Conemar can resume his position as Esteril's high wizard. Why would the council arrest Murtagh for voting against this?"
"Who's Murtagh?" I whispered to Buach.
He darted looks behind us. "He's our highest wizard. He attends council meetings in Briony's stead."
"The council stated that Tearmann sided with the Mystik League," Galach said. "That we be traitors. They believe the covens be responsible for the recent attacks on the havens."
Briony glanced over her shoulder. "Why aren't the guards coming? And what about our people? I can't leave them."
"The guards stay to slow them down while we make our escape." Galach guided her around a corner. "Asile won't harm Tearmann's people, just her leaders."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Conemar had to be behind all the prior high wizards' deaths. This was his plan: to take over the council.
"This is bad," I said. "They can't put him on the council."
"They must have a unanimous vote," Briony said. "That is why they want me removed, and most likely my parliament. They'll replace them and me with one high wizard sympathetic to Conemar."
We entered a corridor with large paintings of regal looking people, and many statues. In the middle of the room were two marble sarcophagi with the likeness of a man carved into one and a woman in the other.
Briony must have noticed me staring at them. "My parents. They'll remain until my death. When I'm placed here, they will be moved to a crypt outside the village."
Galach pushed something under the lip of the sarcophagus of the man. The two caskets separated, exposing stairs leading down into darkness.
I created a light globe and motioned for Galach and Briony to go. Buach and I pounded down the steps behind them. The sarcophagi came back together, sealing us in.
"Where does this lead?" I asked, watching my steps. The ground was uneven, with sharp rises and potholes.
"To a different library," Briony said. "It's the national one in Dublin."
Buach was silent beside me, his breathing heavy.
"Are you doing okay?" I asked, clutching my bag to my side.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Only worrying about me ma and da."
"Sorry, Buach," Galach said. "But I could not risk you being taken and questioned. As it be now, they won't know you be part of this escape. Once safe in the library, you can jump to Tearmann. Tell them you visited friends in Mantello. Give me ma and da me love."
When we reached the end, we entered the library through a moving bookcase. I checked the time on Carrig's watch. It was nearing three in the morning in Dublin.
After calling out the charm to summon the gateway book, I glanced around waiting for the book to fly over. White wood trim crisscrossed the large dome with different shades of teal colored squares inside them. Tall arched windows wrapped around the lower part of the dome. A line of sculpted cupids, linked by garlands of fruit, encircled its base. Just below, lofty wooden bookcases surrounded the room.
I strolled down one of the many rows of desk-like tables in the middle of the room, scanning the bookcases. This book had remained strapped to the back of a bookcase and it knocked against a nearby shelf, trying to come to me. I trotted over to it, removed the binding, and carried it to the others.
Galach let go of Briony's arm. "Right then, Buach, you jump first. Don't be doing anything rash. Keep to your work and mind Ma and Da."
Buach hugged his brother. "Come back to us."
"Ah, you know I can't be promising you that." Galach clapped Buach's back. "Now on your way, you."
"See you for that pie," I said.
"That you will." He smiled and jumped into the book.
"Now, where are we going?" Briony asked.
Galach removed his helmet and dropped it onto the wooden floor with a thump that traveled up to the dome ceiling. "Do you know how to get to the Fey realm?"
Briony shook her head. "The last I went there, I was not even six years of age. I only remember a beautiful garden."
I glanced at the silver butterfly hinting on my wrist.
Of course. I blew on it. The tracer pulled from my skin, flapping its wings to hover in front of me.
"I need Aetnae, please," I said.
The tracer swooshed up above our heads, then dove into the gateway book.