‘I can help you too, Chieftain. We can use the back way. If you go to the fork instead of the spoon and turn right, you’ll be on the servants’ path. No-one will bother you there.’

I frowned. ‘I’m not a chieftain. Thank you for the information about the path though. I’ll use it.’

‘I can come with you if you want,’ she added eagerly.

‘It’ll be better if you stick with Brochan. I don’t want you drawing attention to yourself by being seen with me.’

She looked like she wanted to argue. I placed my hand on her arm in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. ‘I’ll be fine.’

‘Yes, Chieftain.’

I sighed, exasperated. ‘My name is Integrity.’

‘Yes, Chieftain.’

I obviously wasn’t getting anywhere with this. Brochan looked amused. ‘What’s your name?’ I asked her.

‘Lily Macquarrie. Macquarrie Lily.’

Ah. That explained a lot. ‘Pretty name,’ I said aloud.

‘Thank you, Chieftain!’ she beamed.

‘Lily, before you go, could you point out Byron Moncrieffe’s room to me?’

Startled, she jerked her hand up towards the castle. ‘It’s next to the flagged tower. The fourth window down.’

I made a mental note. ‘Excellent.’

‘He’s a good man,’ Lily said, with a hint of anxiety. ‘Not like some of the others.’

He was good at putting on an act, at least. I didn’t want to upset her so I refrained from commenting.

‘We should go now.’ She pointed to her left. ‘We can take that path, sir. We won’t bump into anyone that way.’ She dipped a curtsey, displaying odd-coloured stockings. One was striped black and white while the other was adorned with flowers. The effect was rather kooky and cool.

‘Let’s do it,’ Brochan said. He gave me a meaningful glance. ‘I’ll see you soon.’

‘Call me and I’ll come.’

‘You won’t have any choice,’ he grumbled. ‘Toodle pip.’

Chapter Fifteen

As soon as Lily and Brochan vanished from view, I started making my own ascent to the castle. I quickly reached the fork in the path and turned right. As Lily had promised, other than a few scurrying figures, none of whom were Sidhe but all of whom were laden with goods, it was empty. No one stopped me and no one bothered me. They apparently had their own problems to worry about.

Soon I was high enough to see the commotion going on in front of the grove. A large group had assembled there and there appeared to be a lot of hand wringing and shouting. Excellent. The more arguments, the better. It would give me more time to do some real investigating.