Aifric moved to the front of the pack and turned to address us. From my position, I had to crane my neck to look up at him although his aura, a vivid scarlet, remained visible. ‘You should all be proud of yourselves,’ he intoned. ‘What we do will secure the Clans for generations to come. Your children’s children will thank you.’
My shoulders tightened. I wasn’t doing this to ‘secure’ the damn Clans. Aifric seemed to sense my thoughts and continued. ‘By ensuring the safety of the Foinse, we will save countless lives, both Clan and Clan-less.’
That was better. I noticed the two Darroch reps nudge each other at the mention of the Clan-less. I narrowed my eyes at them. Unfortunately they didn’t notice.
‘We will return victorious,’ Aifric boomed. ‘Because for the Sidhe, there is no other way.’ He gazed at us meaningfully then, with a flourish, turned his horse round and took off.
The others followed in his wake. I tried to remember what I was supposed to do to get Barbie to move. I squeezed my legs together but nothing happened; she simply kept on chewing. I gripped the reins. ‘Giddy up!’ She swung her head round as if vaguely curious, blinked once, and returned to chewing.
I gritted my teeth. This couldn’t be that hard. ‘Come on, girl,’ I whispered. ‘You can do this.’ Even Lily was managing her horse perfectly. If I didn’t get Barbie to get a wiggle on, the others would disappear out of sight.
The red-faced man who’d been holding Byron’s horse walked over. I opened my mouth to ask him what on earth I was supposed to do to get her going. He didn’t say a word, just smacked Barbie on her rump. Startled, she burst forward into a canter. I was so unprepared for the sudden movement that I almost fell off backwards. Hanging on for dear life, I bellowed out a thank you. I don’t know whether he replied; I was concentrating too hard on not falling off. Barbie might not look like much compared to the others but, given the right incentive, she really could move.
I followed the others for some distance before we caught up. Aifric still led the way but Byron was at the rear. As soon as Barbie reached him, she started eyeing the stallion’s backside in a manner that had me very worried. She trotted up and gave him a nudge. The stallion was unimpressed, whipping his head round and giving a good imitation of a horsey glare. Before she could try it again, I tugged her reins. She swung her head round at me as if to ask what on earth was wrong with me.
I shrugged. ‘Sorry, Barbs,’ I told her. ‘I don’t think messing with the monster is a good idea.’
Byron, turned his head and frowned.
‘I didn’t mean you,’ I explained. ‘You’re not a monster.’ I thought about it. ‘Well, you’re a blackmailing monster. And a manipulative monster. But…’
‘Integrity,’ he sighed. ‘I thought we were past all this. What kept you, anyway? Were you admiring the scenery?’
‘I have a dozy mare,’ I pointed out. ‘You have a stallion.’
Byron slowed down until we were neck and neck and looked at me critically. ‘You need to relax,’ he instructed. ‘Sit back in the saddle. You’re not a jockey and this isn’t the Grand National. You’ve been hanging around with your old mentor for too long.’
‘You mean instead of spending more time with stand-up guys, like the Darroch women who can’t even pretend to care about the lives of the Clan-less?’ Byron opened his mouth to answer but I didn’t give him a chance. ‘Or with the Kincaids who think it’s okay to sneer openly at another Clan? You lot spend all this time telling the world that you’re better than everyone else when you all hate each other, snipe at each other and apparently go around trying to kill each other.’
His jaw tightened. ‘I’ll admit,’ he said stiffly, ‘that there are some Sidhe who need to learn both manners and humility. And Sidhe politics can be … bloody. But we are not bad people, Integrity.’
‘Neither are the Clan-less.’
‘Point taken.’
I sniffed. Well, good. Rather than continue spelling out the flaws of the Sidhe, I focused on something less controversial. ‘The Foinse?’ I said, a question in my tone.
‘What about it?’
‘How do you know it’s failing? The magic is still working, right? I’ve almost died twice as proof of that.’
Byron considered my question. ‘You’d know if you spent more time on Clan lands,’ he said. ‘The magic is easier to sense here so it’s easier to notice changes. You’re aware of the change in atmosphere before a storm?’