Page 71 of The Faerie Handmaid

Braithe drew a little breath. “Oh! Priestess, I know one of the others.”

Morgana and Emerlyn turned to her in surprise. “Do you?”

“I identified her on the same day Faolin magicked me.”

“Is there a chance you know her name?”

“I heard it clearly. Ursula.”

“Ah,” Emerlyn said. She fell back in her chair, and her shoulders slumped. Her attitude was one of dejection and defeat, and Braithe felt the swell of shame from her. “I should have guessed. In this I have failed you.” She made a small, deprecating gesture with one hand. “She is one of our most difficult delegates, obsessed with the Rule.”

“That misbegotten Rule!” Morgana exclaimed. “You should abolish the thing.”

Emerlyn nodded wearily. “That has always been my position.”

“Tell me, Emerlyn,” Morgana said. “Do the delegates know there is no queen?”

Emerlyn shrugged. “Some suspect, I think.”

“Why not just tell them?” Braithe asked.

“There are reasons.” Emerlyn paused. “I would prefer to discuss this later. We have problems to solve that can’t wait.”

It was frustrating, but Emerlyn was right. They had to put an end to fae interference with Lloegyr, and do it as swiftly as possible. Braithe said, “Where is Gwen?”

“At my house. She has asked to be one of my servants.”

“Not to leave the White City?”

“No. It’s the only place she has known since she was very young.”

Braithe couldn’t see the sense in that, but she supposed Gwen was too defeated, too damaged, to want to start her life over again. She could imagine there was no one left for her in her home, no one who would remember her or would understand what had happened to her. It was a heartbreaking thought.

Morgana said, “We need to go in search of this Dama Ursula now.”

Emerlyn said, “Yes, of course.”

“Very good. Braithe, you will need to stay here with Idhri.”

Braithe wanted to protest, but she didn’t. Morgana had said it out of kindness. It was a precarious moment for Idhri. The awful events he had remembered were as fresh in his mind as if they had just happened. From his perspective, his mother had been murdered yesterday. He needed time to heal, and it would have been heartless to expect him to do it alone.

She said, “Of course,” but she knew it would be easier to go after Ursula than to share Idhri’s pain.

Emerlyn put her hands on the table to push herself up. “I know where she lives, but I warn you. This will not be easy.”

Morgana asked, “Does she not respect your authority?”

“She respects nothing, and no one. Sadly, she is not the only delegate to think that way, but she is one of the worst.”

“You think she is dangerous,” Morgana said as she rose.

“She will become dangerous the moment she knows she is caught.”

When the councillor’s servants arrived, they were pulling a sort of covered cart behind them, a vehicle Morgana had never seen before. “Emerlyn, what is that?”

“It is called a palanquin, and I asked for it to be brought,” Emerlyn said. “Long walks are not easy for me, and this will be much faster.”

“But how did you know you would want it?”