The Faeman Quest

Twenty-Six

Companion Ysabeau showed them to a magnificently appointed suite of rooms and left them to freshen up. Aisling was ecstatic.

‘See?’ she said. ‘See? Didn’t I say we’d be treated like visiting dignitaries? Didn’t I tell you?’ She raced into her bedroom and, moments later, raced out again. ‘My God, Culmella, come and see this!’

Mella dutifully followed her back in. Aunt Aisling had opened a massive wardrobe. ‘Look!’ she exclaimed. ‘Look what she’s given me!’ There were dresses and frocks, evening wear and daywear, there were suits, there were jackets, there were tops, there were shirts, there were blouses, there were trousers, there were slacks, there was silk, there was satin, there was cloth-of-gold, there were hats, there were tunics, there were scarves, there were overcoats, there were furs and skins and fabrics with patterns and fabrics with prints and fabrics that had magically moving pictures. ‘They fit!’ Aisling exclaimed. ‘They’re all my size!’

Of course they fit, Mella thought crossly. That’s your basic clothing spell – where have you been?

‘Look!’ In her enthusiasm Aisling jerked a drawer out of its fittings so that the contents cascaded in a glittering pile on to the floor. This one even brought Mella up short. The drawer was packed with accessories, mainly jewellery and gemstones. Mella recognised opals, sapphires, amethysts, rubies, emeralds, tourmalines, spinels, aquamarines, moonstones, agates, sunstones, turquoises, amber, topazes, aventurines, bloodstones, polished coral and garnets, jade, olivines, zircons and, most common of all, diamonds. Some were crafted into brooches, bracelets and pendants, some clearly meant as a gem dusting for clothing, but all, without exception, had been carefully hand-painted with spell coatings. As a result, they sparkled brightly, sang gently and emitted the most heavenly of scents. Some even moved sinuously or slowly revolved.

‘I just want to…’ Mella said, glancing at the door.

‘But you simply have to see this! ’ Aisling sang, flinging open yet another wardrobe cabinet. Mella groaned inwardly. ‘Shoes!’ screamed Aisling delightedly.

The cabinet had been treated so that it expanded once the door was opened, converting into storage space equivalent to a small warehouse. Within it were racks upon racks, stacked like shelves, each one displaying thousands of pairs of shoes. Pinpoint spotlights flashed on and off at random to highlight one pair after another for inspection. Mella had seen the system before, but only in commercial premises and on a markedly smaller scale.

‘You can walk in,’ she said, hoping to get rid of Aisling. She needed to think. She mistrusted Companion Ysabeau – and all the other sinister hooded Companions – with every fibre of her being. She needed to get away from her over-excited aunt and take a little planning time to herself, away from the girlie concerns of clothes and shoes. She needed to warn her parents about the invasion of the Empire.

Aisling did walk in, a trance-like, blissed-out expression on her face, and Mella took the opportunity to leave the bedroom. She was in the living area – vast, brightly lit, with ormolu furnishings and more spell coatings per square foot than she’d seen anywhere else in the entire Faerie Realm – when Aunt Aisling reappeared, noticeably taller than she’d been a few moments before.

‘Look!’ she cooed. ‘Oh, Mella, look! ’

Mella groaned inwardly. She had to stop this nonsense. They were in trouble – she knew they were in trouble – and they had to figure a way out. ‘Aunt Aisling -’

But Aisling wasn’t listening. She had put on a gold lame, off-the-shoulder, ankle-length evening gown that somehow accentuated her height even more, and now twirled in the centre of the floor to show it off. ‘See? Look at the shoes!’

Mella looked at the shoes. They were gold and jewelled high-heels and they floated – levitated – almost three inches above the surface of the floor, carrying Aisling aloft with them.

‘Aren’t they divine? ’ Aunt Aisling sang out. ‘Aren’t they just the most amazing things you’ve ever seen? And so comfortable! Honestly, Mella -’

But Mella had had enough. ‘I’d like to show you something, Aunt Aisling,’ she said firmly and walked to the door of their suite that led into the corridor outside. She waited.

‘Well, there’s no need to adopt that tone,’ Aisling said sulkily. ‘If you look in the wardrobe in your room I’m quite sure you’ll find some very nice clothes that are perfectly suited to a girl of your age. Companion Ysabeau most certainly will not have left you out, so there’s no need to be jealous. I tell you what, why don’t we both go to your room together and I’ll help you pick something appropriate. I think they’re planning some sort of reception, probably a banquet in my – our – honour, so you’ll need to be looking quite the proper little princess. I mean, you can hardly go in what you’re wearing now, can you? Much too informal.’

Mella glared at her. ‘Come… over… here! ’

Aisling blinked. ‘Honestly, Mella, I don’t know what’s got into you.’ But she glided across just the same.

‘Try the door,’ Mella said quietly.

‘What?’

‘Try the door,’ Mella repeated. She gestured towards the gilded handle.

Aisling frowned at her suspiciously. ‘Why?’ she asked. ‘Why do you want me to go outside?’

‘Try the bloody door!’ Mella hissed furiously. She’d picked up the word from her father who’d once told her it had an impact on humans that was entirely missing in the Faerie Realm, where the adjective was strictly descriptive.

It had an impact on Aisling, all right. She recoiled visibly and her expression of suspicion changed instantly to one of shock. ‘Mella!’ she exclaimed. But all the same she floated forward, circled round Mella as if she might be exuding some miasmic plague, and reached for the handle.

The door was locked, as Mella knew it would be.

From the outside.