Blackbird Crowned (The Witch King's Crown #3) - Keri Arthur Page 0,10
couldn’t see any sign of movement. But then, I was neither a mage nor a healer attuned to the human body. “Where’s her sword?”
“On the shelf above the hand creams. I thought the Blackbirds might want to examine it.”
“To what purpose? It’s not like they can replicate the spell to force a soul into servitude, and besides, they’ve lost the skill to mold steel into swords capable of holding souls, haven’t they?”
“As I said earlier, yes, but in truth, nothing is ever lost if you know where to look for it.” She bent to examine Noelle and after a few seconds, grunted. “Consciousness is definitely surfacing; these damn Durants can never be trusted to react as expected.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered as I typed in the search parameters.
“I suspect that’s frustration with one particular Durant speaking.”
She suspected right. The damn man had determined nothing would happen between us until the threat of a war with Darkside was over. He was also utterly ignoring my sensible response that given we might not survive said war, it would be far better to grab satisfaction now while we still could. He might not be made of stone, but he certainly had a core of steel. Nothing I’d said or done so far had changed his mind.
I glanced down at my phone as the search results popped up. “Apparently there’re eight natural structures that resemble people. Four are sleeping giants, one that supposedly resembles the profile of a queen, and three are standing stones.”
“Where are the four?”
“Bute, Arran, Powys, and Bodmin Moor.”
“Bodmin?” She rose and walked back. “That’s a definite possibility.”
“Any particular reason why?”
“Vivienne had a penchant for a couple of the lakes out that way. It was a long time ago—way before Uhtric’s time—but it’s worth checking.”
“You think the sword’s in a lake? Wouldn’t that have a detrimental effect on the steel?”
She gave me the look—one that said “don’t be daft.” “You’re talking about a weapon made by a woman who lives in water.”
“Which doesn’t mean anything given the old gods did like mixing things up when it came to humanity.”
“True, but Vivienne for the most part has a soft spot for us.”
“A soft spot that has in the past killed thousands.” I held up a hand to forestall Mo’s response. “And yes, I know she had her reasons.”
Her mouth twitched. “In truth, they weren’t always good ones. Something as simple as an unsatisfactory tithe could have dire consequences.”
“Thank god we don’t have to tithe her these days, then.” I glanced at the time. “I’d better ring Jason.”
She poured us both another cup of tea while I did so and then asked, “How long?”
“Half an hour.” I leaned a hip against the counter and plucked another biscuit out of the packet. To hell with calories or the waistline. “We driving or flying to Bodmin Moor?”
“Flying would be safer given what happened at the bridge.” She studied me for a second. “Why?”
I shrugged. “The ring only reacts when it touches my skin, which means I’ll probably have to be in human form to use it.”
“We can hire a car once we get there. No biggie.” She pursed her lips. “I might ring Barney and let him know we probably won’t make it back to Southport tonight.”
Barney was her current lover and head of Ainslyn’s witch council. “Ask him if his nephew has enhanced those photos you took of the King’s Stone yet. It might be handy to know what the inscription actually says.”
“I will.” She picked up her cup and headed for the stairs. “Keep an eye on her, just in case.”
I nodded, waited until she’d made it up to the landing, and then pulled the pink phone out of my pocket and padded across to our captive. It took a couple of tries, but I eventually positioned it correctly to recognize her face and got the phone unlocked. I rose, then hesitated. Mo might have deepened her slumber, but I doubted we could take the chance it would hold. Not given what she’d said about Durants. I shoved the phone on a nearby shelf then walked to the storage area at the rear of the shop and grabbed a long length of packing twine. She might still be able to magic her way of it, but her doing so would at least give me warning that she was awake and active.
I lashed the twine several times around her ankles and then tied it off on the nearby shelving. Once she was secured,