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current state he couldn't hope to weave that much magic himself, and he was loathe to reveal the fullness of his weakness. But then again, he was not the only Sidhe they might call upon. "I suggest that we summon one or more of these Unseelie to assist in the efforts."
    "They would gut you as soon as look upon you." An elf at the far side of the table pointed with his steak knife at Lugh. "The Unseelie are outspoken about the Collapse of the Mounds, and who was at fault. You're safe enough among the fey who reverence all Sidhe, but among the Unseelie, who owe you no fealty, you should scant find that the case."
    "Gareth." Kev reached out a hand. "Surely the Seelie never meant for the Collapse and Fade to happen."
    "Blinded by ambition and greed, I doubt it not that they expected nothing save to triumph over the Unseelie and over all magic, but it was folly! And we all knew it! The Unseelie have been fleeing the Mounds for a hundred years, knowing that the Collapse would come. Blimey, we all knew it. The prophecy was clear enough. The Seelie would crush the Dark Court and consume it into themselves. But Light and Dark can never unite. The magic is too unstable. But the Seelie denied what we all knew!" The elf stabbed his knife into the table. "And so you had your way, year by year, weakening the Unseelie for your own hunger for power. So when you at last crushed the Unseelie Court beneath your boot, so too did you destroy the Mounds, and cast forth this plague of the Fade that will consume us all!"
    Lugh recalled that final day when Jhear himself spoke nearly the same words. It was as if the ghost of the Unseelie Elite himself railed through this elf, possessing him with the very fury he spat at Lugh that day.
    Gareth snarled, "There are those who believed that no Seelie survived the Collapse, and got no less than they deserved because of it!" The elf shoved himself away from the table, flipping his plate of food in an angry gesture that sent it flying, scattering the remaining food in the process, in effect and symbolism casting aside this communion with Lugh and those at the table.
    King Mckenna quickly laid a hand upon Lugh's arm. "Forgive him, Lord Lugh. His wife and children were in the Mounds the day of the Collapse. Grief has stricken his mind."
    "I know his grief, for I lost many whom I loved as well." Lugh's voice strained with emotion, and this time he allowed it to show. He wasn't the cold, calculating wretch the Unseelie would have them to believe. "And it was not unification of the courts that caused the Collapse, I assure you, but an act of treachery and rebellion. In the very moments as the Collapse cascaded though the Mounds, I found the true cause of it. The All-Mother, Danu, was slain. A silver dagger stabbed into her heart."
    Murmurs of disbelief circled the room. Even Gareth spun about to stare at him with shock. Lugh pledged, "Once I have secured the magicraft to reverse the Fade, I shall seek the traitor that slew her. I harbor no doubts that the villain must have prepared an escape, for all fey knew the Mounds and the All-Mother were as one, and to murder her was to destroy our world."
    "See, Gareth?" argued the king. "It was not the Seelie, but this assassin who was responsible." Turning to Lugh, he said, "If there is any way we might assist, Champion."
    "Just that which we have spoken of. Search among your possessions for the relics. Your spellweavers and I shall see to the Great Veil."
    Although Gareth held his peace as the feast broke up, his sidelong glare lost none of its accusation.
     
    Chapter Six
     
    Lugh had the excuse of unfamiliarity with the Fortress Braeden to avoid suffering the embarrassment of explaining why he was loathe to teleport himself. The wood elves' lead enchanter did the honors of bringing Lugh with him to the tower room of the fortress. Since the moment King Mckenna summoned him, Cai spoke almost continuously to Lugh in his low, intense way, recounting what measures they'd