A Little Knowledge (The Split Worlds #4) - Emma Newman Page 0,132
her was fundamentally the right thing to do. She didn’t want to be the kind of person who’d keep another woman trapped out of spite. “Listen, I’ll help you get the wedding sorted, but you have to tell me the truth: is Elizabeth really happy about it?”
“Catherine, he’s rich and not particularly bright. She knows she’ll have everything she wants and rule the roost, too. She couldn’t be happier.”
Satisfied, Cathy nodded. “Come on, then. Coffee first and then we’ll sort everything out. But I’m not going to put up with any bobbins from Elizabeth, I’m telling you that now.”
• • •
A day in the forge was definitely the best way to handle the fallout from exposing Copper’s ugly secrets. As Des fielded threatening calls from the rest of the Court, he crafted chain links and thought about the strange woman who’d come from the Sorcerer.
When he went back to the house for lunch, Des ran through the messages, each one full of expletives and read in a deadpan monotone. Sam listened as he chewed his sandwich, knowing that at least half of the threats were just grandstanding. They couldn’t afford to cut him out entirely.
“Anything from Nickel?”
“No, sir.”
“And where’s Beatrice?”
“She said she was going for a walk. She made it clear she’d find her own food when she returned.”
“She’s a strange one,” Mrs Morrison said, returning from the pantry with a selection of spices. “I told her I were making a curry for tonight, and she just looked at me like I’d spoken bloody French at her. Didn’t have a clue.”
Sam chuckled. “I don’t think she’s very well travelled, Mrs M.”
“I lent her m’wellies and me coat too. Does she live in Australia or something? Did she not know how cold it is here at this time of year?”
“Something like that.”
“How long is she staying for?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. A few days at least.”
“It’s no trouble,” Mrs Morrison said. “I just thought a curry would make a nice change. Them guests you had before were a bit set in their ways. Fussy eaters. Can’t you have someone normal to stay for once?”
Des looked at her, wide-eyed, but Sam didn’t mind. Having someone around who was willing to speak to him like he was a normal person wasn’t just nice, it was necessary. “Sorry, Mrs M. Should I find a nice wife to settle with?”
She nodded. “Not some stuck-up fancy woman neither. Someone with a bit of sense.”
“I’ll bear that in mind. I’ll be in the forge if anyone needs me.”
He worked for the rest of the day, pausing only for the odd cup of tea on the doorstep into the forge, enjoying the heat on his back and the freshness of the air on his face. Here, a world away from corporate bollocks, with the breeze in the trees and the robins digging for worms nearby, he felt at ease. He thought of Leanne in the early days at university and smiled without a choking grief for the first time. He worried about Cathy and whether he should drive down to check if she was okay but felt that would be crossing a line. She knew where he was. But what if she couldn’t phone? What if they’d done something to her?
“Are you making the chains?”
Beatrice was heading over to him, the lower half of her dress spattered with mud. Mrs Morrison’s wellies and coat looked odd, but at least she was warm.
“I’ve been practising the technique,” Sam said, chucking the dregs of tea onto the grass as he stood up. “Not the pure iron bit, though. Not quite sure how to approach that.”
“There are two ways,” she said, almost at the door. “One is to remove the impurities from yourself so you might better recognise those in the metal and remove them.”
“Errr…”
“But that will take too long. The other is to use the old way.”
“The only way I know about is hitting it. Or using tech.”
“Did he teach you nothing at all?”
Sam shook his head. “Amir—the one who was Lord Iron before me—was a bit screwed up about this stuff. And the rest of the Court, too. They don’t know anything about the Fae or anything that isn’t totally normal.”
“They are inferior,” she stated. “Iron is the blood metal, the foundation of all earthly magic.”
“Isn’t copper important too?”
“It only obstructs the flow of Fae magic. It does not break it. Only when in concert with iron does it reach its full potential.”