‘I had no idea,’ Niamh says, shaking her head. ‘Although… perhaps it was one of the things I sensed when I met Rose. One of the things I sensed when I met you.’
‘Huntsman!’
We turn to face Vincenzo. One of his men is beside him, the man Niamh identified as having been in the bar that night.
‘I have a job for you. Two, actually.’
I take a deep breath, knowing what he’s going to say. ‘Vittoria and Matt.’
‘Not as stupid as you look,’ he says, but although his words are clearly intended to wound me, there’s no avoiding the defeat in his posture.
‘If Niamh is correct, your daughter killed Kin with no justification. And she has admitted to attempting to kill Niamh more than once. There is a price to pay for that, Vincenzo.’
His shoulders slump, then he whirls on me. ‘I expect you to show her the same leniency that you showed?—’
‘Look,’ Niamh says, gesturing at a spot above The Seelie Court alcove. She opens her palm and looks down at the necklace in her hand. On the wall, I can see the same oval shape, only much larger, the size of a person, covered in the same filigree design formed of earth and tree roots. And behind them is a figure. Vittoria. Her eyes closed, her face the most peaceful I have ever seen it. Trapped by her own actions in the Court chamber. Maybe forever.
‘Get her down!’
‘I can’t,’ Niamh states calmly. ‘It wasn’t me who put her there.’
‘Then, who?’ Vincenzo demands.
‘This Court? The Seelie Court? I really don’t know, I’m sorry.’
Vincenzo lets out a cry of anguish, stumbles as he crosses the chamber, never taking his eyes off his daughter. For a while, no one moves or makes a sound. No one dares. Until Vincenzo turns. As he stalks towards us, his posture straightens, an aura of some large creature shimmering into place behind him.
‘I won’t rest until I find a way to free her. She didn’t know you were Kin, you can’t blame her for merely trying to secure her future,’ he says, and I move between him and Niamh, determined that she won’t suffer any more at the hands of this family.
‘Her not knowing doesn’t change anything,’ Niamh says, stepping around me to stand beside me. I reach for her hand. ‘Perhaps the Court is deciding her fate. Perhaps there’s more to her story and it’s waiting for it to be revealed before making a decision.’
‘She can’t be blamed for something she didn’t know she was doing!’
Niamh smiles. ‘Then neither should I.’
Vincenzo looks up at Vittoria again, his shoulders slumping. It’s as if he ages years in a few seconds before he glares at me.
‘I deserve to see the one who took my son from me punished,’ Vincenzo demands. ‘Bring me the heart of Matthew Muir.’
‘But—’ Niamh starts, but I put a hand on her arm and stop her.
‘The Court let him go,’ I tell Vincenzo. ‘Do you think that would have happened if he had been guilty?’
‘It’s likely one of you who helped him escape,’ Vincenzo says. ‘You’ve claimed to be our allies, but it was all a lie. Consider our alliance truly severed. You will not allow him sanctuary a second time, Cillian Hunter. It’s the least that you can do. He must pay for his crimes.’
‘He’s not guilty,’ Rose insists coming to stand beside me. ‘At the very least he deserves a fair trial in this court.’
‘Is that even possible with you as King, Vincenzo? So many of the people I hunt down are your personal enemies. So many now plead with me, assuring me of their innocence.’
‘The Court instigates the hunt?—’
‘Based on evidence provided by you,’ Rose points out. ‘And we have all just witnessed your daughter presenting the Court with strategically altered evidence. Why should anyone trust in its decisions anymore.’
‘I agree.’ Alec Carruth stands up and makes his way forward, ending up standing altogether too close to Rose for my comfort. ‘Perhaps the Blight is affecting the Court in more ways than we have realised. Cillian called for us to work harder to eradicate it a few weeks ago, and I agree.’
‘The Court is fine,’ Vincenzo insists. ‘The Blight is here to stay. We must learn simply to work around it. With it, even. We don’t have the resources to destroy it.’
‘One day, Vincenzo, I will be The Unseelie King, and I will ensure that the Blight is eradicated, whether that means I profit or not.’
