De Florinville spoke up. ‘I told him what the Stone is.’
I wasn’t sure it mattered but curiosity won out. ‘So?’ I asked. ‘What is it?’
‘There’s only one Stone they can be referring to,’ he said with a heavy sigh. ‘The Stone of Scone.’ He pronounced the word ‘scoon’, in Gaelic fashion. ‘Also known as the Stone of Destiny.’
I frowned. ‘But that’s in Holyrood. It’s the thing the King is crowned on, right?’ If there ever was a king. The monarchy was based in England these days.
‘You’re only half right. Yes, the Stone of Scone is what the Kings and Queens of Scotland are traditionally crowned on. It’s heavy and ugly and has been around for centuries. It’s also fake.’
I stared at him. ‘Excuse me?’
He shrugged as if it were a matter of little consequence but it was bloody big news to me. ‘It’s fake. The real one disappeared centuries ago. King Edward of England wanted it so the Scottish Crown took measures to hide it. They put a fake stone in its place.’
‘We’re talking about a lump of granite here, right? A slab of stone? Who cares?’
‘It’s not granite,’ he said softly. ‘It’s red sandstone. It can be traced as far back as Jacob and the Book of Genesis. The power and magic contained within it are immense. The Stone in Edinburgh is merely ceremonial; the Stone the goblins are looking for possesses very real power. If one of them is crowned using the original Stone, they will have the power and the right to usurp the government. They’ll be able to take over Scotland, maybe even beyond. The world as we know it will never be the same. You can forget about democracy.’ He put his hands in his pockets and gazed into the distance. ‘This is why,’ he said softly. ‘This is why the goblins are fighting over this scrap of land and refusing to give in.’
‘It is here,’ Ange said, her voice so quiet it was barely audible. ‘The real Stone is in Stirling.’
All of three of us looked at her. She coughed and ducked her head. ‘I mean, the goblins are convinced it’s here. They think I know where it is but I don’t. I really don’t.’
‘Why do they think you know?’ I asked, nervously glancing towards the exit. I half expected an army of Filits to storm in at any second.
‘Bernard,’ she said.
‘Your ex? Becky’s dad?’
Ange nodded. ‘He’s dead now. Sepsis or something.’ Her face twisted. ‘Good riddance to him. He might have been a bully who preferred using his fists to solve his problems but apparently he could trace his lineage back to the people who first hid the Stone. He left me his stuff in his will so I could pass it on to Becky. I thought there would be food or money, something useful, you know? There were a few things. He was a cunning bastard who had more on his shelves that most but other than food, there were just some old clothes, a watch and a worthless little trinket box.’
The same worthless little trinket box that Becky had shown me; the one Ange had hidden in their secret stash and which she knew wasn’t worthless at all. I hummed in disappointment but otherwise kept my mouth shut. Neither Ange nor I were stupid enough to discuss it further.
I looked at de Florinville. ‘Big deal.’
His mouth dropped open. ‘Pardon?’
I shrugged and repeated myself. ‘Big deal. We’ve had to deal with goblin rule for three years. We’ve managed. Lots of us are dead, lots of us are starving, but no one’s come running to our rescue. Not you, not the Prime Minister, not anyone. If the Filits or the Gneiss find this Stone and end up ruling all of Scotland instead of all of Stirling, it’s probably not going to change my life or Ange’s or even Marrock’s. It’ll just be more of the same.’
De Florinville’s dark eyes held mine. ‘There are lots of reasons why we couldn’t get involved. We wanted to, believe me – the last thing any of us wanted was to leave Stirling to goblin rule – but our hands were tied. Believe me, Saiya. I’d have fought for Stirling if I could have.’ His voice dropped. ‘I’d have fought for you.’
‘But you didn’t.’
He wasn’t going to give up. ‘The Stone changes things. With the goblins actively searching for it, the treaty is broken. The protectorate doesn’t hold. We can retake Stirling. Things can go back to normal.’
‘None of that does us any good,’ I pointed out. ‘We’re still trapped here. And that’s even if they don’t find the bloody rock.’
His hand reached out as if he were going to caress my cheek. Something in my expression must have changed his mind because he pulled back at the last moment. ‘Not for long,’ he said grimly. ‘It’s imperative that we get news of the Stone to James. He’ll have no choice but to act.’
Except James would still be on the outside. If this Stone really was that important, then leaving the city meant leaving it to the Filits. All the armies in the world wouldn’t do any good if Prime Minister James couldn’t get them into Stirling to retrieve the Stone.
Another chilling thought occurred to me: in the event that James couldn’t put his regal mitts on the Stone of Scone, maybe he’d do everything he could to ensure that no one else would either. And that would mean obliterating the city. I glanced at de Florinville from under my eyelashes but if he knew what I was thinking then his face didn’t show it. Thinking on my feet, I pulled back my shoulders and met his eyes. ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘But we have to focus on Ange as she’s the one who might know where the stupid Stone is.’
‘And Becky,’ Ange interrupted, twisting her hands. ‘We can’t leave Becky.’
I nodded. ‘Don’t worry. I have a plan.’ Sort of. I pointed at de Florinville. ‘You need to go back to the goblins. Delay them. Talk to Ghrashbreg and tell him you saw Ange’s dead body. Mine too. It’ll take them time to clear away the rubble from the Tolbooth and find out the truth. That’ll give us a chance to collect Becky and get her and Ange out of the city.’
The Dark Elf’s expression was a mask. He certainly wasn’t giving much away but I could tell from his tone of voice that he wasn’t happy about the idea. ‘That’s all very well,’ he said. ‘But how will you get out of Stirling without being noticed? It’s not just the Filits who are after Ange. The Gneiss goblins are obviously aware of her existence. There was a reason why they targeted the Tolbooth – they knew the Filits were getting close and they wanted her dead.’
I thought of the other wraith who’d been moments away from wrapping his shadowy hands round Ange’s throat. ‘Indeed.’
‘I can solve the problem of the Filits,’ Marrock said. ‘I have a route. We normally use it for bringing in supplies for the black market. It tunnels under the city.’
I flung him a look. ‘A tunnel?’
‘Truthfully, I have more than one. Besides the one that will help you escape, which is located on the outskirts, there are others that start from here. One leads to the Tolbooth in case I ever need to mount a rescue. One is an escape route should I ever end up besieged.’ He returned my look. ‘I take care of my own.’
I sniffed. ‘Don’t the Filits know about it?’
‘They tend to turn a blind eye to my activities.’ He bared his teeth in a semblance of a smile. ‘I know which palms to grease and, until recently, I didn’t upset them.’
‘Except now you have upset them very much,’ I said. ‘They know you have interest in Ange. You asked about her. Your henchman died because of that interest.’
‘That was at your behest,’ he said, as if I needed reminding.
I didn’t rise to the bait. ‘I’m aware of that but it doesn’t change the fact.’
Marrock rubbed his chin. ‘They also know that I received the warning loud and clear and have pulled back from my … enquiries. Plus, I can contact Lord Ghrashbreg and inform him of your earlier visit. That should provide us with some leeway.’
So it was us now. What strange bedfellows I’d found.
‘I’m coming with you,’ de Florinville interjected. ‘It’s too dangerous outside the city walls with the Gneiss goblins prowling around. Besides, you’ll never gain access to the Prime Minister quickly enough without me.’ He held up his hands before I could argue. ‘I’ll still go to the Filits and provide the diversion that you need but then I’ll meet you at Marrock’s escape point and we can travel together.’ His gaze held mine, making it impossible for me to look away. ‘You know it makes sense, Saiya.’
It did. Being with de Florinville would offer protection that I couldn’t manage myself, not without my shadow form. What he didn’t know was that I was not going to leave the city. I’d see Ange and Becky out and wave at de Florinville as he tripped off with them. Then I was going to turn right back around and find this damn Stone before the goblins did. Now that I knew of its existence, I couldn’t just forget about it. Hell would come to the Highlands before I’d let the goblins take over the country. One city was bad enough.