He fluffed his feathers and settled again before speaking. “What if you knew where the amulet was? And knew it would be there for at least three days?”
I could finish this in three days. I could take the amulet, clean the spell, wake princess and convince her clan she was the one who fixed the problem. I could find Lionel a new master. “Three days? Are you sure?”
“Maeve found where Fionuir hid it. She is willing to distract Fionuir for three days. After that, it will be time for the election.”
“You trust Maeve?” I truly didn’t know if I did.
“I do. I remember the last time she was queen. It will be worth it to have her rule again.”
“Okay so, we need a plan.”
“You are the planner here.” Olan wasn’t going to cut me a break at all.
I decided to get it over and then I could become a hermit. Hermits are safe from everything in their caves. “Where is the amulet?”
“In the wall of the basement of the Sidhe court,” Olan said.
“Great. How will we know where in the wall?” Not to mention how were we going to get down into the basement.
“There is a loose brick. You will be able to tell by feel. Maeve said it was close to the door from the court.”
“Okay, we have a plan. I go down to the basement and steal the amulet. We need a distraction and a little bit of information.” I started to pull together some amulets.
Olan flew to the window ledge to look me in the eye. “What information do you need? You know where it is. All we need is a distraction, we can get in, get it and get it out.”
“Very poetic, but how do we get in? I didn’t see a basement door when I was there last night. And I don’t remember seeing one from the outside either.”
Olan tipped his head to the side. “You don’t know how to get into the court basement?”
“No, and don’t say that like I am some loser who doesn’t know how to tie his shoe laces.”
“Well, I thought everyone knew that.” He gave a little birdy shrug.
“Are you going to make me beg, bird? Remember I am pretty close to walking away from this whole thing. There’s a cave in Squamish with my name on it.”
“You get there through the back of Bank’s.” Olan flapped over to the couch and examined Princess. “I think you should cover her up again. She’s starting to burn.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
I was sitting at the bar in Bank’s. Mark was polishing glasses and chatting with a female sprite at the other end. He’d placed my Guinness in front of me and wandered back to her. He seemed to be making progress and I didn’t really need to know how to get into the basement right away. I needed to find a couple of people to help. So I didn’t interrupt.
I saw Lionel enter with a Kobold and decided to join them when they sat at a table toward the back of the room. “Good to see you out, Lionel.”
“Oh, Quinn, thanks. I couldn’t stay there any longer. I kept waiting for Cate to come in and give me a lecture about the latest spell or potion I’d screwed up.”
The Kobold looked at me and held out his hand. “Clarence.”
We shook hands; I made sure I was careful not to squeeze too hard on his spines. I didn’t need to draw blood.
“I am sorry to hear about Witch Witherspoon,” Clarence said. “She was a friend.”
Lionel nudged me and said, “He worked with Cate when she researched the fertility spell.”
That was good enough for me. “Would you like to help avenge her death?” I didn’t have time for subtlety. If he was a friend of Cate’s then he was a good candidate for our plan.
Clarence opened his mouth to respond, but Lionel beat him to it. “I would.”
I waited for Clarence to answer, and for a way to let Lionel down gently to come to me. Clarence looked from Lionel to me and then nodded. “I will help. What is it you have planned?”
“Me too,” Lionel said. “I will help with whatever you want.”
I still couldn’t tell the guy he was too young and too inexperienced to help. I didn’t want his blood on my conscience, nor did I want to bruise his ego. I told Clarence what Olan and I had decided.
He nodded, and said, “You need me to start a distraction. Where would that be best done?”
“Here, I think. Something that will draw any Sidhe out of the passageway, and keep them here until I can get to the loose brick and bring it out.”
Clarence considered for a moment and then said, “I could entice them with music.”
I tried not to wince. “Um, please don’t take this the wrong way, but Kobolds are not known for their musical ability.”
He laughed and it sounded like a gravel landslide. “Ah, but we appreciate beauty even if we cannot reproduce it. I happen to be close friends with Reardon.”
The bard, he would definitely be able to enchant everyone within hearing distance. And, no violence, that worked well for me. “If he will do it, what will we have to pay?”
“I’ll ask, but I don’t think it will be too much. He hates Fionuir.” The Kobold laughed again, this time it sounded like rocks falling down a hillside. “She criticized his performance. Well, that’s what he interpreted her remark to be. I would say more faint praise than criticism. Perhaps if he had not been blind drunk it would have blown over by now. ”
“So, that means I will come with you, Quinn. To help you get the amulet?’ Lionel spoke over Clarence’s laughter. “I could find some defensive spells.”
“I will go alone.” There was no way I was going to take an apprentice with me into the bowels of the earth. “You can stay here.”
“But, what if there are still some Sidhe in the tunnel?”
He had a point, but I wasn’t going to lose Cate and her apprentice within a week. “I will run away and we’ll try again. But, that won’t happen. If the Sidhe haven’t heard Reardon for a long time, they will fall over themselves coming out of the basement.”
“But what if something goes wrong up here? I could stand guard at the door and warn you.” The kid wasn’t going to let this go.
“What oath did you take?” If he was a spirit wizard, I was going to lock him in Cate’s basement.
“I am an air wizard. I can hurt people. Not that I would want to,” he added quickly. “I mean if you couldn’t fight, I could.”
Clarence put his hand on Lionel’s arm. “The kid is right, you will need help down there. You need a look out and someone to protect you.”
“I don’t think Lionel is the right person for either role.” There, I had said it and if his feelings got hurt he’d brought it on himself.
“I agree. Not Lionel.” Clarence patted Lionel’s arm. “You are an apprentice. I know you want to get revenge on the people who killed Cate, but you don’t know enough to help.”
The kid’s shoulders dropped. “Sure, I understand. I will just go back to my studies. You take care of the important stuff.”
I had to suppress a smile, because I remember feeling just that way, and I remember Cate saying almost the same words. “No, that isn’t what I meant. You just don’t have enough experience to get into the fight. The trick is to avoid a fight, not be good at winning one. We’ll find something for you to do.”
Clarence held up his glass and made a circling gesture with his other hand. The waiter, a sprite named Birch, brought another round. When he left, Clarence checked the room before speaking. “It would help if you had a relay of helpers. If we could get some will-o’-wisps to join us, they could run ahead and make sure the tunnel was clear and they could light your way back. You would know something is wrong if there was no light.”
“That’s a big if.” I know that will-o’-wisps would be good, but you had to get them on your side first. And, then when they made a promise, they fulfilled it as quickly as possible and took off when they thought they were done.
Clarence waved down the objection. “I happen to have a couple of markers I can put in play. It will bring will-o’-wisps in for the plan.”