People could see the fey, I finished in a whisper.
Meghan nodded. Thankfully, after you revived, the Veil came back quickly, and minutes afterward, everyone forgot what theyd seen. But, in that short time, the human world was in chaos. Many people were injured trying to escape, kill or capture the faeries they came across. Some went mad, or thought they had gone mad. A great many half-breeds were hurt, some even killed, when the humans saw them for what they were. It was only a few minutes, but the event still left its mark. Both our worlds are still recovering, even if one doesnt know from what.
I felt sick and tried not to think of what I knew could have happened the night I had died. Mom and Dad? I asked in a strangled voice. I never thought Id have to worry about the ones I left behind in the mortal realm, the normal world, but all bets were off, it seemed. Where were they that night?
Theyre fine, Meghan assured me, sounding relieved herself. They were both asleep when it happened, and your anti-faery charms kept their house safe. By the time they woke up, everything was mostly back to normal. Though there was a lot of confusion, fear and anger in the days that followed.
I breathed deep, dispelling the knot of panic in my stomach. At least my family was all right, safe from the faery madness that had apparently swept the world. Though something else nagged at me. Frowning, I raked my fuzzy memories of that night, trying to recall what was real and what was nightmare. There was something I was forgetting...or someone. Keirran and I had gone to Ireland together to meet the Forgotten Queen, but we had left someone else behind...
Kenzie! I gasped, feeling my gut knot once more. Kenzie had had the amuletit had saved her life a few times while we were in the Neverneverbut shed given it back to me when Id left her in the hospital that last night. My mind swirled with memories of a slight, defiant girl with dark brown eyes and blue streaks in her hair. Mackenzie St. James had been the third part of our little trio, a girl who bargained with faery queens to gain the Sight, argued with obnoxious talking cats and blatantly refused to stay safely behind in the mortal world. Cheerful, stubborn, relentless, she had followed me into Faery, ignoring all my attempts to keep her at arms length, and I had, against all my better judgment, fallen completely in love with her.
Id told her as much, the night Keirran and I had gone to Ireland to meet the Forgotten Queen. Wed had to leave her behind because Keirran had picked a fightwith Titania, of all faeries, the freaking queen of the Summer Courtand Kenzie had gotten caught in the middle. I remembered my whispered confession that night in her hospital room, remembered my promise to return, and felt like throwing up. How much time had passed in the real world? Was Kenzie all right? Was she still waiting for me?
Or had she moved on, convinced that Faery had swallowed me whole once more, and I wasnt coming back this time?
Wheres Kenzie? I asked Meghan, who gave me a concerned look. She was in the hospital the night I left with Keirran. Is she all right? Where is she now?
Meghan sighed. I dont know, Ethan, she said, making my pulse spike with worry. I wasnt aware the girl was injured. Had I known, I would have sent someone to check up on her. But between you and Keirran and the upcoming war, I havent had time to think of much else. Im sorry.
War? What war?
For a moment, Meghan seemed to stare right through me, her expression one of guilt, anger and grief. But then she rose, and the persona of the Iron Queen filled the room, composed and resolved, making the air crackle with power.
The Forgotten Queen has grown strong enough to invade the Nevernever. Meghan answered calmly, though her eyes were hard. Her army of Forgotten have left the mortal realm and have crossed into the wyldwood. There is to be a council tomorrow night in Tir Na Nog to decide what must be done. If it is to be war, we are at a disadvantage.
Why?
She paused, a thread of anguish creeping into her voice as she answered, turning my stomach inside out.
Because Keirran is leading them.
CHAPTER THREE
CRASHING THE UNSEELIE COUNCIL
I stared out the window as the carriage rattled through the streets of Mag Tuiredh, the Victorian steampunk city of the Iron fey. The wide cobblestone streets teemed with faeries, and the dying evening sun glinted off bright metal, copper, wire and clockwork, mostly from the fey themselves. Gremlins skittered over the walls and towers, flashing neon blue grins. A trio of wraiths made of rags and iron cables fluttered across the street, leaving the smell of battery acid in their wake. A green-skinned faery in coattails and a top hat paused at a corner and bowed his head as we passed, a rusty clockwork hound sitting patiently beside him.
Glitch, Meghans first lieutenant, sat across from me, the strands of neon lightning in his hair making the walls of the carriage flicker like a strobe light. It was giving me a headache, and Id already been feeling kinda sick. Between Meghans news last night and the nagging dread about where we were going now, I could probably puke with very little effort.
Also, I was still recovering from being run through with a sword. That mightve had something to do with it.
Are you well, Prince Ethan? Glitch asked, regarding me with concern.
I glanced his way, trying not to be sullen. The slight faery lounged in the opposite corner, watching my every move. Like all Gentry, Glitch looked young, no older than me, though I knew hed been in the Iron Realm since before Meghan became queen. I also knew Meghan put him here to babysit me, and, though it wasnt his fault, I resented being under the watch of some punky-looking faery with purple plasma-globe hair.
Yeah. I sighed, staring out the window again. Im fine. I wanted to tell him not to call me prince, but it would do no good. I was the queens brother. Therefore, at least to the faeries of Mag Tuiredh, I was a prince.
Although, where we were headed, I doubted even being the Iron Queens brother would do me any good.
Tir Na Nog. The Winter Court, home of Queen Mab and the Unseelie fey. And the last place I wanted to find myself in the Nevernever. All of Faery was dangerous, of course; even Meghans kingdom was not completely safe, but it paled in comparison to Mabs realm. The Iron fey were a weird, quirky, eccentric bunch; They could be annoying, They could be deadly, but from what Id seen, They wouldnt rip your face off just for the fun of it. The same could not be said for the Unseelie Court, which boasted entertaining things like goblins, redcaps and ogres. And all the dark, twisted creatures you did not want to meet in a dark alley or under your bed.
You wanted this, I reminded myself. You insisted on coming.You argued with Meghan to be here.This is your own damn fault.
A lump settled in my stomach as I remembered the heated words from this morning and the hasty actions that led to this trip.
* * *
Sire, youre not supposed to be up.
A lump settled in my stomach as I remembered the heated words from this morning and the hasty actions that led to this trip.
* * *
Sire, youre not supposed to be up.
I glared at the faery in the long white coat, wondering if he had been lurking outside my door, waiting to pounce as soon as I got out of bed. It was early afternoon, and Id already been poked, prodded and fussed over far longer than I thought was necessary. Meghan was off ruling the Iron Realm, so I had been left to the mercy of several attentive but annoying healer fey, who swarmed around me with needles and thermometers, asking multiple times if I was in any pain. My repeated assurances that I was fine seemed only to convince them that I was not. Finally, after deciding for themselves that I was in no danger of dying a second time, the swarm had left me, with firm instructions to stay in bed and not push myself.
Yeah, like that was going to happen.
Im fine, I told this new healer, who arched his bushy eyebrows at me, making me wince. Im fine seemed to be their code for Im really feeling quite awful and need immediate medical attention. Where are my clothes? I went on, hoping to stall him from calling the rest of the swarm. I dont need to restI need to talk to my sister. Where is she?
He gave me a dubious look. I glowered back. Truthfully, I wasnt feeling the greatest. My legs were shaking, and just standing up was making the room sway, a side effect from being horizontal the past several weeks, I guessed. But I couldnt lie there like a vegetable while so many things were happening around me. Last night, after Meghan had dropped that bombshell about Keirran, the healer swarm had arrived, preventing me from asking the ten thousand questions swirling through my head. Id tried waiting until they left to resume talking to my sister, but whatever faery concoction they made me drink mustve been a sleeping potion of some kind, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up.
I didnt need more sleep. I needed to know what was going on, with Keirran, the Forgotten and the entire Nevernever. I needed to contact my parents, let them know I was all right.
And Kenzie. My insides churned. Where was she now? What had happened to her in the time Id been gone? Was she still waiting for me? Or had she given me up for dead and moved on, returning to her old, normal life, one without dangerous faeries and deadly magic?
A chill crept up my spine, and I almost dropped onto the bed again. One month in Faery likely meant several had passed in the real world. How long had it been since I last saw Kenzie, lying in that hospital room? Her illness...
The cold spread to all parts of my body, and I was suddenly torn between curling into a ball on the bed and punching the walls until my knuckles were bloody. What if...what if shed never left that hospital? What if I went back home, and Mackenzie St. James was no longer there?
Sire. The healer stepped forward, a note of concern in his voice. You really should lie down. Youve gone quite pale.
No, I rasped, waving him off. Id done enough sleeping, and I couldnt get home to see Kenzie now. I had to get out and do something before I drove myself nuts. Im fine. I just...need to find my sister.
He blinked. Her Majesty is in the war room with the prince consort and her advisers. But theyre in a private meeting and have ordered that no one disturb them. Are you sure you dont want to lie down, rest a bit?
I left him sputtering protests and walked into the hallway, pausing a moment to get my bearings. I had no idea where the war room was and didnt think the healer would give me directions. An Iron knight, tall and imposing in full plate armor, shot me a sideways look from where he stood at the end of the hall, but the stern face and large sword made me nervous. A gremlin, bat-eared and razor-toothed, peered down from a chandelier and gave me a sharklike grin, but I was not going to waste time trying to have a sane conversation with a gremlin. Two packratsshort, hunched faeries carrying enormous mounds of junk on their backswaddled down the hall, chittering in their strange, squeaky language, and I pushed myself off the frame.
Hey, I called. Wait a second. They stopped and blinked up at me as I stepped in front of them. I need to find my sister. Wheres the war room?
They cocked their heads, and I wondered if this had been a good idea after all. I knew they could understand me, but I didnt speak packrat and didnt have time for a game of charades in the middle of the Iron Palace. I dont need a detailed map, I went on. Just point me in the right direction.
They held a short, squeaky conversation with many head bobs and hand gestures, before turning and beckoning me to follow. Relieved, I trailed the faeries down several long, winding hallways, passing knights, gremlins and countless other Iron fey. They stared at me with varying degrees of curiosity, wariness and awe. As if I was the monster, the thing out of place.
I supposed I was.
Finally, they took me through a wide-open doorway into an antechamber Id seen once before, large and airy, with a massive iron chair at the end of a long carpet. Meghans throne room. It was mostly empty now, only a few Iron knights standing in corners and one wire nymph polishing the steps of the dais. The packrats hung back in the doorway but pointed across the chamber to another door on the far wall, guarded by a single Iron knight. I smiled and nodded, letting them know I was grateful without thanking them outright. I didnt know the particular rules of the Iron Court, but saying the words thank you in Faery was generally a no-no. The packrats smiled back, chittered something I didnt understand and waddled away.
I took a deep breath, clearing the faint light-headedness, and walked across the throne room to the door on the other side. The Iron knight watched me approach, narrow face impassive, and didnt move. I raised my chin and tried to sound authoritative, like I was supposed to be here.
I need to see my sister. Its important.
He stared at me long enough to make me wonder if I was going to be escorted back to my room for my own protection, before he bowed his head and calmly stepped aside. Trying not to shake with relief, I walked through the door and followed a short hall until it ended at another door, this one unguarded. Carefully, I tested the handle, expecting it to be locked, but it turned easily in my palm, and familiar voices drifted through the crack as I eased the door open.
And you are certain it was him? said a low voice that I recognized instantly, making my hackles rise. Of course,he would be here. I caught myself, trying to banish the feelings of anger and resentment toward that particular faery. They were just habit now, part of the lingering grief from when Id thought he had stolen my sister from me. It wasnt Ashs fault that Meghan never came home. She loved him, and she had chosen to stay in the Nevernever, to become the Iron Queen. I was tired of being angry, tired of the bitterness that ate at me from the inside. I didnt like the thought that I had died hating part of my family.
Yes, sire. This second voice shook a bit, as if its owner would rather be anywhere else. I saw him myself. He was with a small contingent of Forgotten, in the wyldwood. Right outside Arcadias borders.
Scouting the area.
I believe so, sire. Though, when we tried following them, they disappeared. Its as if they vanished into thin air.