Chapter 110

There was a slight delay before Talusi and I set off for Keldravan, though this was not something anyone had an objection to. Her mother, Melusa, was ported in to greet her daughter and the pair of them were given some privacy to deal with any personal business.

Soon enough though we set off in the noonday sunshine to walk the distance to the gate of Keldravan. Talusi no longer looked the terrified mouse expecting to die but rather walked with a new sense of pride in her gait. The new armour looked good on her and the house colours of Skarlett in blue and silver (yes, I expected red as well, but it isn’t as Skarlett has nothing to do with the colour in the Fae tongue) outlined her figure to perfection.

“They will make us wait at the gates, even if an escort is available. It’s a power thing with them,” Talusi explained.

“Makes no odds. If they keep us waiting too long, we’ll just turn around and walk away,” I said with a shrug.

“But ... but, that simply isn’t done,” she finally replied, looking shocked.

“It is by me, there’s no excuse for rudeness when dealing with a herald,” I chuckled.

“I honestly don’t think they care, John,” she replied after a moment’s thought.

“I suspect Oonagh might with me. She’s been dying to get a look at me since I came to her attention,” I stated with a grin.

“Why?”

“Damned if I know. She just appeared once in a projection and called me her nemesis,” I chuckled.

“Oh, well, I know nothing of a nemesis, but if she called you that I’d be careful, she may kill you on the spot,” Talusi warned.

“She may, but I doubt it. The damage to her image would be too great,” I replied, missing out the part about a destiny.

“Oh, well, let’s hope so,” she replied nervously.

“Don’t worry, the worst that’s going to happen is verbal abuse. The rules about heralds and their sponsors are sacrosanct until the representation is withdrawn,” I stated calmly.

“Yes. I have to specifically state that Queen Verenestra awaits a response in person,” Talusi acknowledged.

“That and be polite. The last thing we need is Oonagh or one of her court deciding that sending you back in a box for insulting them is a good idea.”

“I will be very polite, despite the fact she sent me out to die,” Talusi replied.

“You were lucky Mage Morgana was there to speak up for you.”

“I had no idea of the rules. It was just ‘take this message, speak it as given to you and await their response’, nothing about stating a physical return,” she explained.

“I think Morgana realised that. It was fairly obvious you were not a real herald ... so to speak.”

“I had no training, simply a demand that I go, say the words as spoken or die.”

“No wonder Verenestra’s winning if that’s their attitude,” I said with a wry smile.

“They are so used to command. They simply demand and expect it done. They have no concept of how it affects their subjects.”

“Stupid, that will only breed resentment,” I replied as we reached the gates.

“It does,” she nodded as she sent out the request to enter under the arcane heraldic rules the Sidhe used.

Two minutes passed without a response and I decided to up the ante ... as it were.

“Are the gates part of the sacred ground?” I asked.

“These? No, the inner wall is where it begins,” was her confused reply.

I stepped up, placed a Null medallion on the gate near where I believed the lock to be, pulled out my Ferfrans special operations assault rifle and used it to punch out a circle around the lock with a ring of bullet holes. One hefty kick later using a bit of enhanced strength and the gate flew open, as Sidhe from the guard house spilled out to face us.

“Coming?” I said to Talusi, totally ignoring the confused Sidhe.

“But...” she gasped.

“A herald may not be impeded by barriers until he or she reaches the outer sanctum and waiting area for his or her request to be made. This place isn’t the waiting area. That is before the inner gate,” I explained, quoting the rules a little as we walked forward ignoring the guards.

“Stop!” commanded a Sidhe officer.

“To prevent a herald from gaining access to the outer sanctum may be punishable by death,” I stated to his face and watched him scramble out of my way.

“So many rules,” Talusi murmured.

“Yes, but it all boils down to - don’t mess with a herald,” I chuckled.

We reached the outer sanctum surrounded, but not impeded, by the confused guards. There were no seats but I solved that by pulling a couple of folding chairs out of a pocket universe. And so we sat and waited, with many Sidhe on the walls observing us, some yelling abuse, but no one using force.

“How long should we wait?” Talusi asked.

“Two of my Earth hours,” I replied. “If they haven’t responded by then, then they’re just messing us about,” I replied.

To pass the time, Talusi and I talked about her life, growing up on a Sidhe farm with slaves, most of whom she considered to be friends as well as the horrifying moment when as part of a militia under the Unseelie court of Oberon they’d been forced by the will of Oonagh to submit.

“We couldn’t resist and she had our King,” she explained.

“We know of this. That’s why you have the amulet,” I replied.

Finally my innate time sense told me that two hours had passed and so we both stood and I packed the chairs away.

“It seems Queen Verenestra was mistaken and the Daoine Sidhe and the court of Oonagh have no concept of honour and the rights of a herald. We will pass this information onto her. The stain on your honour will be noted,” I said loud enough for all to hear as we turned around and began to walk back.

Within seconds a squad of warriors scrambled out of the inner area along with some form of scribe calling upon us to halt.

“You wish to address me?” Talusi asked.

“Forgive our tardiness,” the scribe replied, looking as if he’d bitten into a lemon. “The court will see you now.”

“Lead the way,” I replied in my role as sponsor.

The scribe led the way with the warriors surrounding us in total silence, though exuding a threat of unrestrained violence in their manner, which frankly slid off me like water off a duck’s back. Talusi was taking her cues off me and was affecting an air of nonchalance far better than when she’d turned up alone with no sponsor in Verenestra’s headquarters.

Normally the Sidhe who didn’t farm led a nomadic existence, moving around from encampment to encampment. Usually as with the Unseelie court these camps looked an utter shambles, though I’d been told by Morgana that the Seelie court was a lot neater. The last great building projects the Sidhe had gone into had been the fortresses and they generally had been monstrously effective until we decided to destroy them, not take them. We weren’t suicidal after all. Most of the farms used cut stone to form the living areas and wood for anything else and basically looked exactly what they were. Keldravan though was clearly from another time and place. The buildings were neat, avoided straight lines and looked both strong and graceful. Silken screens covered parts of the streets to offer shade and there were fountains and clean pools everywhere.

In the centre of the city there was a large domed area and this was clearly where the court was being held. White marble gleamed in the sunlight and guards in glittering adamantium armour stood in various places and simply watched as we passed through the entrance and into a cool, well-lit interior.

Finally, two huge doors of burnished bronze were thrown open before us and we walked into the court of Queen Oonagh. The room itself was circular with the nobles sitting on benches surrounding us and Oonagh sitting on a throne, for want of a better word, in the centre.

We walked three metres into the room when the scribe and the guards all went to one knee. Talusi was about to follow them when I just touched her elbow, gave her a wink and walked on, to the consternation of the Sidhe watching us. We walked steadily forward hearing the guards scrambling to their feet behind us until we were about two metres from the raised dais the throne was on and stood in the precise place the rules stated a herald and sponsor should stand.

There was no doubt Oonagh was regal, tall even by Sidhe standards at 230cm high, slim though with a well-developed figure, long, black, straight hair, pale white colourless skin, thin cruel lips, a slim nose and almond shaped eyes with pale red irises to go with the delicate pointed ears. Though my first thought was that I now knew where Mattel got the idea of the Barbie body from.

There was a long pause as it was clear Oonagh was hoping we were going to bow or kneel. I’d already told Talusi we weren’t to under any circumstances as we represented a rival Queen who had been grievously insulted and her family threatened.

“You may speak,” Oonagh finally said through gritted teeth.

“I sponsor the herald Talusi and will bear witness to her treatment, representing the free allies of Queen Verenestra,” I stated, seeing Oonagh suddenly start and her eyes narrow as she really looked at me for the first time.

“You!” she hissed.

I just gave her a grin and nodded.

“I should have you killed out of hand, nemesis!” she added as her court stirred uneasily.

“Feel free and see just how long you remain Queen here,” I chuckled.

Oonagh sat back as if slapped as she realised that she was on very delicate ground with regards to the treatment of a herald and sponsor. Her position grew worse when she realised the subtle insult Verenestra had thrown her by making Talusi her herald.

“We will have a reckoning, you and I, nemesis, though not today,” she stated in icy tones, making the court relax somewhat.

“As you wish, Oonagh,” I replied foregoing her title.