Beyond the Highland Mist

Page 107

Hawk closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. “Like what? You saw them vanish into thin air. I don’t even know where to look.”
Grimm pointed to the smoky crest of Brahir Mount in silence, and the Hawk nodded slowly.
“Aye. The Rom.”
Grimm and the Hawk passed a moment staring silently into the swirling gray mists.
“Hawk?”
“Hmmm?”
“We’ll get her back,” Grimm promised.
CHAPTER 33
IT TOOK MORE THAN A MONTH OF FRUSTRATED SEARCHING TO find the Rom. They’d moved on to warmer climes for the winter. It was Grimm who finally tracked them down and brought Rushka back to Dalkeith. Unknown to the Hawk, recovering Adrienne had become Grimm’s personal penance, and finding the Rom had been but a minor step along the way.
“Who is Adam Black, really?” Hawk asked.
Everyone gathered in the Great Hall had wondered that same question at some point during the strange smithy’s stay, and they all leaned closer to hear the answer.
“You Highlanders call his people the daoine sith. Adam is the fairy fool. The jester at the Fairy Queen’s court.” Rushka sighed and ran worried hands through his silver hair.
“Fairies,” Grimm echoed carefully.
“Oh, don’t go getting spooked on me, Grimm Roderick,” Rushka snapped. “You heard the banshee yourself the night your people were killed. You saw the bean nighe, the washerwoman, scrubbing the bloody gown of your mother before she died. Just makes me wonder what else you’ve witnessed of which you speak naught.” Rushka broke off abruptly and shook his head. “But that’s neither here nor there. The simple fact is that the Fairy inhabit these islands. They have since long before we came, and they probably will continue to do so long after we’re gone.”
“I’ve always believed,” Lydia said softly.
Hawk shifted uneasily by the fire. He had been raised on legends of the Fairy, and the fairy fool—the sin siriche du—was the most dangerous of the lot. “Tell me how to beat him, Rushka. Tell me everything there is to know.”
Keeping track of the past was an astonishing feat of memory, and not all of the Rom could maintain such exhaustive records in their heads. But Rushka was one of the finest lorekeepers, and he was revered for being able to recite the ancient tales word for word—his father’s words, and those of his father’s father before him—back fifty generations.
“It was told to me as follows.” Rushka took a deep breath and began.
“There are two ways to be certain one is safe from the Fae. One is to exact the Queen’s oath upon the pact of the Tuatha De Danaan. That is nearly impossible to obtain for she rarely bothers herself with the doings of mortals. The other is to secure the true name of the fairy with whom one is dealing. One must then pronounce the name correctly, in the being’s own tongue, while looking directly into the fairy’s eyes, and issue one command. This command must be explicit and complete, for it will be obeyed precisely and only to the letter. There is no limit on the length of the command but that it must be spoken unbroken, conjoined, never-ending. One may pause, but one may never finish a sentence until the entire command is complete. If the command is broken to resume conversation with anyone, the extent of obedience summarily ends.” Rushka paused a moment studying the fire. “So you see, our histories say that if you look directly into his eyes while calling his true name, he is yours to command.” Rushka paced uneasily before the fire in the Greathall.
“What is his true name?”
Rushka smiled faintly and sketched several symbols in the ash of the hearth. “We do not speak it aloud. But he is the black one, the bringer of oblivion. He has many other names, but ’tis only this one that concerns you.”
Hawk was incredulous. If he had only spoken Adam’s name in Gaelic, he would have had it. “That simple, Rushka? You mean to tell me he was so smug and sure of himself that he called himself Adam Black?” Amadan Dubh. Hawk echoed the name in the privacy of his mind. Literally translated it meant Adam Black.
“Aye. But there’s still a catch, Hawk. You have to find him first. He can only be compelled if he is present and you utter his name while looking directly into his eyes. And they say his eyes can send a man swiftly into madness.”
“Been there already,” Hawk murmured absently. “Why didn’t you tell me this when he was still here? Before he took Adrienne back?”
Rushka shook his head. “Would you have believed me if I had told you that Adam was of a mythical race? That we believed he had brought the lass here for some strange revenge? Lydia tells me you wouldn’t even believe she was from the future until you finally saw her disappear yourself.”