The Lady
I made my way through the darkness of the Forgotten hive, keeping to the shadows, pressed flat against rocks or behind boulders. In a real cave, with no artificial light, it would be impossible to see your hand in front of your face. Here, in the Between, the cave glowed with luminescent crystals and mushrooms, scattered on the walls and along the ceiling. Colorful moss and ferns grew around a clear green pool in the center of the main cavern, where a small waterfall trickled in from the darkness above.
Forgotten drifted through the tunnels, pale and shimmery against the gloom, though there weren’t as many as I’d first feared. Maybe most of them were out hunting exiles, since they had to feed on the glamour of the regular fey to live. Some were just transparent shadows, while others seemed much more solid, even gaining some color back. I noticed the less “real” the faery was, the more it tended to wander around in a daze, as if it couldn’t remember what it was doing. I nearly ran right into a snakelike creature with multiple arms coming out of a tunnel, and dove behind a stalactite to avoid it, making a lot of noise as I did. The faery stared at my hiding spot for a few seconds, blinking, then appeared to lose interest and slithered off down another corridor. Breathing a sigh of relief, I continued.
Hugging the walls, I slowly made my way through the caverns and tunnels, searching for Keirran and the lady. I hoped Kenzie and Annwyl had gotten the others out, and I hoped they were safe. I couldn’t worry about them now. If this lady was as powerful as I feared—the queen of the Forgotten, I suspected—then I had more than enough to worry about for myself.
Past another glittering pool, a stone archway rose out of the wall and floor, blue torches burning on either side. It looked pretty official, like the entrance to a queen’s chamber, perhaps.
Gripping my weapons, I took a deep breath and walked beneath the arch.
The tunnel past the doorway was winding but short, and soon a faint glow hovered at the end. I crept forward, staying to the shadows, and peeked into the throne room of the Lady.
The cavern through the arch wasn’t huge, though it glittered with thousands of blue, green and yellow crystals, some tiny, some as big as me, jutting out of the walls and floor. Several massive stone columns, twined with the skeletons of dragons and other monsters, lined the way to a crystal throne near the back of the room.
Sitting on that throne, flanked by motionless knights in bone armor, was a woman.
My breath caught. The Lady of the Forgotten wasn’t monstrous, or cruel-looking or some terrible, crazy queen wailing insanities.
She was beautiful.
For a few seconds, I couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t even tear my eyes away. Like the rest of the Forgotten, the Lady was pale, but a bit of color tinged her cheeks and full lips, and her eyes were a striking crystal blue, though they shifted colors in the dim light—from blue to green to amber and back again. Her long hair was colorless, writhing away to mist at the ends, as if she still wasn’t quite solid. She wore billowing robes with a high collar, and the face within was young, perfect and achingly sad.
For one crazy moment, my brain shut off, and I wondered if we had this all wrong. Maybe the Lady was a prisoner of the Forgotten, as well, maybe she had nothing to do with the disappearances and killings and horrible fate of the half-breeds.
But then I saw the wings, or rather, the shattered bones of what had been wings, rising from her shoulders to frame the chair. Like the other Forgotten. Her eyes shifted from green to pure black, and I saw her reach a slender white hand out to a figure standing at the foot of the throne.
“Keirran,” I whispered. The Iron prince looked none the worse for wear, unbound and free, as he took the offered hand and stepped closer to the Lady. She ran long fingers through his silver hair, and he didn’t move, standing there with his head bowed. I saw her lips move, and he might’ve said something back, but their voices were too soft to hear.
Anger flared, and I clenched my fists around my swords. Keirran was still armed; I could see the sword across his back, but he wouldn’t do anything that would endanger Annwyl. How strong was the Lady? If I burst in now, could we fight our way out? I counted four guards surrounding the throne, eyes glowing green beneath their bony helmets. They looked pretty tough, but we might be able to take them down together. If I could only get his attention…
A second later, however, it didn’t matter.
The Lady suddenly stopped talking to Keirran. Raising her head, she looked right at me, still hidden in the shadows. I saw her eyebrows lift in surprise, and then she smiled.
“Hello, Ethan Chase.” Her voice was clear and soft, and her smile was heartbreaking. “Welcome to my kingdom.”
Dammit. I burst from my hiding spot, as Keirran whirled around, eyes widening in shock. “Ethan,” he exclaimed as I walked forward, my blades held at my side. The guards started forward, but the Lady raised a hand, and they stopped. “What are you doing here?”
“What do you think I’m doing here?” I snapped. “I’m here to get you out. You can relax—Annwyl is safe.” I met the Lady’s gaze. “So are Todd and all the other half-breeds you kidnapped. And you won’t hurt anyone else, I swear.”
I wasn’t expecting an answer. I expected Keirran to spin around, draw his sword, and all hell to break loose as we beat a hasty retreat for the exit. But Keirran didn’t move, and the next words spoken weren’t his. “What do you mean, Ethan Chase?” The Lady’s voice surprised me, genuinely confused and shocked, trying to understand. “Tell me, how have I hurt your friends?”
“You’re kidding, right?” I halted a few yards from the foot of the throne, glaring up at her. Keirran, rigid beside her, looked on warily. I wondered when he was going to step down, in case we had to fight our way out. Those bony knights at each corner of the throne looked pretty tough.
“Let me give you a rundown, then,” I told the Forgotten queen, who cocked her head at me. “You kidnapped my friend Todd from his home and dragged him here. You kidnapped Annwyl to force Keirran to come to you. You’ve killed who knows how many exiles, and, oh, yeah…you turned all those half-breeds mortal by sucking out their glamour. How’s that for harm, then?”
“The half-breeds were not to be harmed,” the Lady said in a calm, reasonable voice. “We do not kill if there is no need. Eventually, they would have been returned to their homes. As for losing their ‘fey-ness,’ now that they are mortal, the Hidden World will never bother them again. They can live happier, safer lives now that they are normal. Wouldn’t you agree that is the better option, Ethan Chase? You, who have been tormented by the fey all your life? Surely you understand.”
“I… That’s…that’s not an excuse.”
“Isn’t it?” The Lady gave me a gentle smile. “They are happier now, or they will be, once they go home. No more nightmares about the fey. No more fear of what the ‘pure-bloods’ might do to them.” She tilted her head again, sympathetic. “Don’t you wish you could be normal?”
“What about the exiles?” I shot back, determined not to give her the upper hand in this bizarre debate. Dammit, I shouldn’t even have to argue about this. Keirran, what the hell are you doing? “There’s no question of what you did to them,” I continued. “You can’t tell me that they’re happier being dead.”
“No.” The Lady closed her eyes briefly. “Sadly, I cannot. There is no excuse for it, and it breaks my heart, what we must do to our former brethren to survive.”
A tiny motion from Keirran, just the slightest tightening of his jaw. Well, at least that’s something. I still don’t know what you think you’re doing, Prince. Unless she’s got a debt or a glamour on you. Somehow, I doubted it. The Iron prince looked fine when I first came in. He was still acting of his own free will.
“But,” the Lady continued, “our survival is at stake here. I do what I must to ensure my people do not fade away again. If there was another way to live, to exist, I would gladly take it. As such, we feed only on exiles, those who have been banished to the mortal realm. That they will fade away eventually is small comfort to what we must do, but we must take our comfort where we can.”
I finally looked at Keirran. “And you. You’re okay with all this?”
Keirran bowed his head and didn’t meet my gaze. The Lady reached out and touched the back of his neck.
“Keirran understands our plight,” she whispered as I stared at him, disbelieving. “He knows I must protect my people from nonexistence. Mankind has been cruel and has forgotten us, as have the courts of Faery. We have just returned to the world again. How can we go back to nothing?”
I shook my head, incredulous. “I hate to break it to you, but I promised someone I wouldn’t leave without the Iron prince, there.” I stabbed a sword at Keirran, who raised his head and finally looked at me. I glared back. “And I’m going to keep my promise, even if I have to break both his legs and carry him out myself.”
“Then, I am sorry, Ethan Chase.” The Lady sat back, watching me sadly. “I wish we could have come to an agreement. But I cannot allow you to return to the Iron Queen with our location. Please understand—I do this only to protect my people.”
The Lady lifted her hand, and the bone knights suddenly lunged forward, drawing their swords as they did. Their weapons were pure white and jagged on one end, like a giant razor tooth. I met the first warrior bearing down on me, knocking aside his sword and instantly whipping my second blade at his head. It happened in the space of a blink, but the faery dodged back, the sword missing him by inches.
Damn, they’re fast. Another cut at me from the side, and I barely twisted away, feeling the jagged edge of the sword catch my shirt. Parrying yet another swing, I immediately had to dodge as the others closed in, not giving me any time to counter. They backed me toward a corner, desperately fending off blindingly quick stabs and thrusts. Too many. There were too many of them, and they were good. “Keirran!” I yelled, ducking behind a column. “A little help?”
The knights slowly followed me around the pillar, and through the short lull, I saw the Iron prince still standing beside the throne, watching. His face was blank; no emotion showed on his face or in his eyes as the knights closed on me again. Fear gripped my heart with icy talons. Even after everything, I still believed he would back me up when I needed it. “Keirran!” I yelled again, ducking as the knight’s sword smashed into the column, spraying me with grit. “Dammit, what are you doing? Annwyl is safe—help me!”
He didn’t move, though a tortured expression briefly crossed his face. Stunned and abruptly furious, I whirled, stepped inside a knight’s guard as it cut at me, and lunged deep. My blade finally pierced the armored chest, lancing between the rib slits and sinking deep. The warrior convulsed, staggered away, and turned into mist.
But my reckless move had left my back open, and I wasn’t able to dodge fast enough as another sword swept down, glancing off my leg. For just a second, it didn’t hurt. But as I backed away, blood blossomed over my jeans, and then the pain hit in a crippling flood. I stumbled, gritting my teeth. The remaining three knights followed relentlessly, swords raised. All the while, Keirran stood beside the throne, not moving, as the Lady’s remote blue eyes followed me over his head.
I can’t believe he’s going to stand there and watch me die. Panting, I desperately fended off another assault from all three knights, but a blade got through and hit my arm, causing me to drop one of my swords. I lashed out and scored a hit along the knight’s jaw, and it reeled away in pain, but then another swung viciously at my head, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to completely avoid this one.
I raised my sword, and the knight’s blade smashed into it and my arm, knocking me to the side. My hurt leg crumpled beneath me, and I fell, the blade ripped from my hands, skidding across the floor. Dazed, I looked up to see the knights looming over me, sword raised for the killing blow.
That’s it, then. I’m sorry, Kenzie. I wanted to be with you, but at least you’re safe now. That’s all that matters.
The blade flashed down. I closed my eyes.
The screech of weapons rang directly overhead, making my hair stand up. For a second, I held my breath, wondering when the pain would hit, wondering if I was already dead. When nothing happened, I opened my eyes.
Keirran knelt in front of me, arm raised, blocking the knight’s sword with his own. The look on his face was one of grim determination. Standing, he threw off the knight and glared at the others, who eased back a step but didn’t lower their weapons. Without looking in my direction but still keeping himself between me and the knights, he turned back to the throne.
“This isn’t the way, my lady,” he called. Cursing him mentally, I struggled to sit up, fighting the pain clawing at my arms, legs, shoulders, everywhere really. Keirran gave me a brief glance, as if making sure I was all right, still alive, and faced the Forgotten Queen again. “I sympathize with your plight, I do. But I can’t allow you to harm my family. Killing the brother of the Iron Queen would only hurt your cause, and bring the wrath of all the courts down upon you and your followers. Please, let him go. Let us both go.”
The Lady regarded him blankly, then raised her hand again. Instantly, the bone knights backed off, sheathing their weapons and returning to her side. Keirran still didn’t look at me as he sheathed his own blade and gave a slight bow. “We’ll be taking our leave, now,” he stated, and though his voice was polite, it wasn’t a question or a request. “I will think on what you said, but I ask that you do not try to stop us.”
The Lady didn’t reply, and Keirran finally bent down, putting my arm around his shoulders. I was half tempted to shove him off, but I didn’t know if my leg would hold. Besides, the room seemed to be spinning.
“Nice of you to finally step in,” I growled, as he lifted us both to our feet. Pain flared, and I grit my teeth, glaring at him. “Was that a change of heart at the end, or were you just waiting for the last dramatic moment?”
“I’m sorry,” Keirran murmured, steadying us as I stumbled. “I was hoping…it wouldn’t come to this.” He sighed and gave me an earnest look. “Annwyl. Is she all right? Is she safe?”
“I already told you she was.” My leg throbbed, making my temper flare. “No thanks to you! What the hell is wrong with you, Keirran? I thought you cared for Annwyl, or don’t you care that they left her in a cage, all alone, while you were out here having tea with the Lady or whatever the hell you were doing?”
Keirran paled. “Annwyl,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry. Forgive me, I didn’t know....” Opening his eyes, he gave me a pleading look. “They wouldn’t let me see her. I didn’t know where she was. They told me she would be killed if I didn’t cooperate.”
“Well, you were certainly doing that,” I shot back, and pushed him toward one of my fallen weapons. “Don’t leave my swords. I want them in case your wonderful Lady decides to double-cross us.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” Keirran said, dragging me over and kneeling to pick up my blade. “She’s more honorable than you think. You just have to understand what’s happened to her, what she’s trying to accomplish—”
I snatched the weapon from him and glared. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”
That tortured look crossed his face again. “Ethan, please…”
“Never mind,” I muttered, wincing as my leg started to throb. “Let’s just get out of here, while I can still walk out.”
We started across the floor again, but hadn’t gone very far when the Lady’s voice rang out again. “Prince Keirran,” she called. “Wait, please. One more thing.”
Keirran paused, but he didn’t look back.
“The killings can stop,” the Lady went on in a quiet but earnest voice. “No more exiles will be sacrificed to keep us alive, and no more half-breeds will be taken. I can order my people to do this, if that is what you want.”
“Yes,” Keirran said immediately, still not looking back. “It is.”
“However,” the Lady went on, “if I do this, you must come and speak with me again. One day soon I will call for you, and you must come to me, of your own free will. Not as a prisoner, but as a guest. An equal. Will you give me that much, at least?”
“Keirran,” I muttered as he paused, “don’t listen to her. She just wants you under her thumb again because you’re the son of the Iron Queen. You know faery bargains never turn out right.”
He didn’t answer, staring straight ahead, at nothing.
“Iron Prince?” The Lady’s voice was low, soothing. “What is your answer?”
“Keirran…” I warned.
His eyes hardened. “Agreed,” he called back. “You have my word.”
I wanted to punch him.
* * *
“Dammit, what is wrong with you?” I seethed as we left the queen’s chamber. “Have you forgotten what she’s done? Did you happen to see all the half-breeds she’s kidnapped? Did you see what they did to them, drained all their magic so they’re just shells of what they were? Have you forgotten all the exiles they’ve killed, just to keep themselves alive?” He didn’t answer, and I narrowed my eyes. “Annwyl could’ve been one of them, or are you so enamored with your new lady friend that you forgot about her, too?”
The last was a low blow, but I wanted to make him angry, get him to argue with me. Or at least to confirm that he hadn’t forgotten the atrocities committed here or what we’d come to do. But his blue eyes only got colder, though his voice remained calm.
“I wouldn’t expect a human to understand.”
“Then explain it to me,” I said through gritted teeth, though hearing him say that sent a chill up my spine.
“I don’t agree with her methods,” Keirran said as two piranha-palm gnomes stepped aside for us, bowing to Keirran. “But she’s only trying to achieve what every good ruler wants—the survival of her people. You don’t know how horrible it is for exiles, for all of them, to face nothingness. Losing pieces of yourself every day, until you cease to exist.”
“And the harm she’s caused so that her people can survive?”
“That was wrong,” Keirran agreed, furrowing his brow. “Others shouldn’t have had to die. But the Forgotten are only trying to live and not fade away, just like the exiles. Just like everyone in Faery.” He sighed and turned down a side tunnel filled with crystals and bone fragments. But the farther we walked, the more the gems and skeletons faded away, until the ground was just normal rock under our feet. Ahead, I could see the end of the tunnel and a small paved path that cut through the trees. The shadows of the cavern fell away. “There has to be a way for them to survive without hurting anyone else,” Keirran muttered at last. I looked at him and frowned.
“And if there isn’t?”
“Then we’re all going to have to choose a side.”
* * *
We left the cave of the Forgotten and stepped into the real world from beneath a stone bridge, emerging in Central Park again. I didn’t know how long we had been in the Between, but the sky overhead blazed with stars, though the air held a stillness that said it was close to dawn. Keirran dragged me to a green bench on the side of the trail, and I collapsed on top of it with a groan.
The prince hovered anxiously on the edge of the path. “How’s the leg?” he asked, sounding faintly guilty. Not guilty enough, I thought sourly. I prodded the gash and winced.
“Hurts like hell,” I muttered, “but at least the bleeding’s slowed down.” Removing my belt, I wrapped it several times around my leg to make a rough bandage, clenching my jaw as I cinched it tight. The gash on my arm was still oozing sluggishly, but I’d have to take care of it later.
“Where to now?” Keirran asked.
“Belvedere Castle,” I replied, desperately hoping Kenzie and the others were already there, waiting for us. “We agreed to meet there, when this was all over.”
Keirran looked around the dense woods and sighed. “Any idea what direction it might be?”
“Not really,” I gritted out and glared at him. “You’re the one with faery blood. Aren’t you supposed to have some innate sense of direction?”
“I’m not a compass,” Keirran said mildly, still gazing around the forest. Finally, he shrugged. “Well, I guess we’ll pick a trail and hope for the best. Can you walk?”
Despite my anger, I felt a tiny twinge of relief. He was starting to sound like his old self again. Maybe all that madness down in the Lady’s throne room was because he’d been glamoured, after all.
“I’ll be fine,” I muttered, struggling to my feet. “But I’m going to have to tell Kenzie that you’re really not at all helpful on camping trips.”
He chuckled, and it sounded relieved, too. “Be sure to break it to her gently,” he said, and took my weight again.
Fifteen minutes later, we still had no idea where we were going. We were wandering up a twisty, narrow path, hoping it would take us someplace familiar, when Keirran suddenly stopped. A troubled look crossed his face, and I glanced around warily, wondering if I should pull my swords. Of course, it was going to be really awkward fighting while hopping around on one leg or leaning against Keirran. I had hoped our fighting was done for the night.
“What is it?” I asked. Keirran sighed.
“They’re here.”
“What? Who?”
“Master!”
A familiar wail rent the night, and Keirran grimaced, bracing himself, as Razor hurled himself at his chest. Scrabbling to his shoulders, the gremlin gibbered and bounced with joy. “Master, master! Master safe!”
“Hey, Razor.” Keirran smiled, wincing helplessly as the gremlin continued to bounce on him. “Yeah, I’m happy to see you, too. Is the court far behind?”
I frowned at him. “Court?”
They emerged from the trees all around us, dozens of sidhe knights in gleaming armor, the symbol of a great iron tree on their breastplates. They slid out of the woods, amazingly silent for an army in plate mail, until they formed a glittering half circle around us. Leading them all was a pair of familiar faces: a dark faery dressed all in black with silver eyes, and a grinning redhead.
Keirran stiffened beside me.
“Well, well,” Puck announced, smirking as he and Ash approached side-by-side. “Look who it is. See, ice-boy, I told you they’d be here.”
Ash’s glittering stare was leveled at Keirran, who quickly bowed his head but, to his credit, didn’t cringe or back away. Which took guts, I had to admit, facing down that icy glare.
“Are you two all right?” From Ash’s tone, I couldn’t tell if he was relieved, secretly amused or completely furious. His gaze swept over me, quietly assessing, and his eyes narrowed. “Ethan, you’re badly wounded. What happened?”
“I’m fine.” A weak claim, I knew, as my shirt and half my pant leg were covered in blood. Beside me, Keirran was rigid, motionless. Razor gave a worried buzz from his neck. What’s the matter? I thought. Afraid I’m going to tell Daddy that you nearly let me be skewered to death? “I got into a fight with a few guards.” I shrugged, then grimaced as the motion tore the dried wound on my shoulder. “Turns out, fighting multiple opponents in armor isn’t a very smart idea.”
“You think?” Puck came forward, shooing Keirran away and pointing me to a nearby rock. “Sit down. Jeez, kid, do I look like a nurse? Why are you always bleeding whenever I see you? You’re worse than ice-boy.”
Ash ignored that comment as Puck briskly started tying bandages around my various cuts and gashes, being not particularly gentle. “Where are they?” the dark faery demanded.
I clenched my teeth as Puck yanked a strip of cloth around my arm. “There’s a trod under a bridge that will take you to their lair,” I said, pointing back down the path. “I’d be careful, though. There’s a lot of them running around.”
“Don’t hurt them,” Keirran burst out, and everyone, even Razor, glanced at him in surprise. “They’re not dangerous,” he pleaded, as I gave him an are-you-crazy look. He ignored me. “They’re just…misguided.”
Puck snorted, looking up from my shoulder. “Sorry, but are we talking about the same creepy little faeries that tried to kill us atop the castle that night? Evil gnomes, toothy hands, tried to suck out everyone’s glamour—this ringing any bells?” He stood, wiping off his hands, and I pushed myself to my feet, gingerly putting weight on my leg. It was just numb now, making me wonder what Puck had done to it. Magic, glamour or something else? Whatever it was, I wasn’t complaining.
“The killings will stop,” Keirran insisted. “The queen promised me they would stop.”
“They have a queen?” Ash’s voice had gone soft and lethal, and even Puck looked concerned. Keirran drew in a sharp breath, realizing his mistake.
“Huh, another queen,” Puck mused, an evil grin crossing his face. “Maybe we should drop in and introduce ourselves, ice-boy. Do the whole, hey, we were just in the neighborhood, and we were just wondering if you had any plans to take over the Nevernever. Have a fruit basket.”
“Father, please.” Keirran met Ash’s gaze. “Let them go. They’re only trying to survive.”
The dark faery stared Keirran down a few moments, then shook his head. “We didn’t come here to start a war,” he said, and Keirran relaxed. “We came here for you and Ethan. The courts will have to decide what to do with the emergence of another queen. Right now, let’s get you both out of here. And, Keirran—” he glared at his son, who flinched under that icy gaze “—this isn’t over. The queen will be waiting for you when we get home. I hope you have a good explanation.”
Meghan, I thought as Keirran and Puck took my weight again, and we started hobbling down the path. Questions swirled, all centered on her and Keirran. I needed to talk to my sister, not just to ask about my nephew and the “other” side of my family, but to let her know that I understood. I knew why she left us so long ago. Or at least, I was beginning to.
I couldn’t speak to her now, but I would, soon. Keirran was my way back to Faery, back to my sister, because now that we’d met, I was pretty sure not even the Iron Queen herself could keep him away.
“Ah.” Puck sighed, shaking his head as we headed into the forest. “This brings back memories.” He glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “Don’t they remind you of a pair, ice-boy, from way back when?”
Ash snorted. “Don’t remind me.”