“He had his chance.” The gaze was glacial. “His king was two rooms away. If he had a warning to give, he could have done it.”
“There wasn’t time, and Arthur—” I broke off, because explaining that the king had planned to defraud the fey—including Caedmon—wasn’t likely to help my case. Arthur was never going to admit that. “There wasn’t time,” I repeated. “And there’s less now. The duel is about to start, and when it does—”
“You see? She has no excuse,” Jo said, talking over me. “I apologize for allowing her to cause such upheaval, but if you will help me—”
“You’re not a Pythia!” I snapped.
“It’s true, Gertie,” Hildegarde said. “For once in your life, stop being so stubborn and listen.”
“I’ve listened enough.”
“You haven’t listened at all—you never did!” She appealed to Lydia, whose black robes stood out in stark contrast to the more colorful garb around her. “You know how she is—”
The little white-haired woman nodded. “Aye, I do. And I know how ye were, too, always so softhearted. That’s why I trained her. This job takes a thick skin—”
“And a clear head,” Gertie added, her eyes still fixed on me.
“Damn it all! I haven’t been influenced!” Hildegarde thundered.
“And if ye had, what would ye say?” Lydia asked her, not unkindly.
“And what about me?” Abigail demanded. “Have I been influenced, too? You can’t believe—”
“I believe what I’ve seen!” Gertie said, throwing out a hand in my direction. “Five times she’s escaped me! Five times I’ve had to hunt her down—”
“And who else besides a Pythia could do that?” Hildegarde demanded.
“A rogue heir,” Jo said quickly. “I misspoke before. She was an acolyte, until I recently promoted her, something I can assure you—”
“You lie!” I said, feeling my hands clench and blood flood my face. God, how I wanted to—
“Don’t do it, Cass,” Billy said, suddenly zooming in.
I stared upward in surprise, and no little anger. “You took your time!”
“We got held up. First with the posse and then—”
“And then what?”
“—with some rogue spirits headed this way.”
“Somebody had given them a power boost,” the colonel said, zooming in behind him, his mustache twitching. “And we’d expended most of our extra. Otherwise, three on two is hardly sporting—”
“But delicious,” Daisy said, burping.
“You see?” Jo asked. “To my horror, I discovered that she’s a necromancer, using illegal skills in unprecedented ways—”
“You’re the necromancer!” I said, furious.
“Then whose ghosts are those?” she asked sweetly.
“We’ll show you,” the colonel snarled, diving for Jo before I could stop him. Forcing me to snatch him out of the air, to keep this from descending into chaos.
And then pausing, when I noticed everyone staring at me.
“That . . . probably wasn’t your best move,” Billy murmured as Johanna practically crowed.
“See?” Her eyes flashed. “Did you see? I told you—”