The Iron Daughter by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Charles and the Redcaps

I hate waiting. I hate standing around with nothing to do, cooling my heels until someone gives

me the go-ahead to move. I hated it while I was at the Winter Court, and I certainly didn’t like

it now, in Leanansidhe’s mansion, waiting for complete strangers to bring word of the missing

scepter. To make things worse, there were no clocks anywhere in the mansion and, even

weirder, no windows to see the outside world. Also, as most faeries did, Leanansidhe hated

technology, so that of course meant no television, computers, phones, video games, anything to

make time pass more quickly. Not even a radio, although the crazy humans wandering the

mansion would often spontaneously burst into song, or start playing some kind of instrument,

so the house was never without noise. The few exiled fey I saw either fled my presence or

nervously told me that I was not to be bothered, Leanansidhe’s orders. I felt like a mouse

trapped in some kind of bizarro labyrinth. Add in my constant worry for Ash, and it started to

drive me as crazy as Leanansidhe’s collection of gifted but insane mortals.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one going nuts.

“THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE,” Ironhorse announced one day—night?—as

we lounged in the library, a red-carpeted room with a stone fireplace and bookshelves that

soared to the ceiling. With an impressive collection of novels and mostly fashion magazines at

my fingertips, I managed to keep myself entertained during the long hours that we waited for

Leanansidhe’s spies to turn something up. Today, I was curled on the couch with King’s The

Dark Tower series, but it was difficult to concentrate with a restless, impatient Iron faery in the

same room. Puck had vanished earlier, probably tormenting the staff or getting into some kind

of trouble, and Grimalkin was with Leanansidhe, swapping favors and gossip, which left me

alone with Ironhorse, who was getting on my last nerve. He was never still. Even in a human

body, he acted like a flighty racehorse, pacing the room and tossing his head so that his

dreadlocks clanked against his shoulders. I noticed that even though he wore boots, he still left

hoof-shaped burn marks in the carpet, before the glamour of the mansion could smooth it out

again.

“PRINCESS,” he said, coming around the couch to kneel in front of me,

“WE MUST ACT SOON. THE SCEPTER IS GETTING FARTHER AND FARTHER AWAY,

WHILE WE SIT HERE AND DO NOTHING. HOW CAN WE TRUST THIS

LEANANSIDHE? WHAT IF SHE IS KEEPING US HERE BECAUSE SHE WANTS THE

SCEPTER FOR HERSEL—?”

“Shh! Ironhorse, be quiet,” I hissed, and he immediately fell silent, looking as

contrite as his expressionless face would allow. “You can’t say those things out loud. She could

hear you, or her spies could rat us out. I’m pretty sure she has them watching our every move.”

A quick glance around the library revealed nothing, but I could still feel eyes on me, peering

unseen from cracks and shadows. “She already has it in for all Iron fey. Don’t add to it.”

“MY APOLOGIES, PRINCESS.” Ironhorse bowed his head. “I CANNOT

ABIDE THIS WAITING. I FEEL AS IF I SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING, BUT I AM

USELESS TO YOU HERE.

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