APPLE ORCHARD OF DOOM
“Bad kitty!” Razor buzzed again from Keirran’s shoulder. His huge ears flapped as he bounced up and down. “Evil, bad kitty! Shave off fur! Throw kitty off mountain! Burn, burn!”
The prince sighed.
“What do you want, Grimalkin?” Keirran asked, putting a hand over Razor’s head, muffling his snarls, hisses and death threats. “Did my parents send you to find me?”
“Please.” Now that he had everyone’s attention, Grimalkin closed his eyes and began washing his paw. “Do you think I have nothing better to do than scurry about like a clueless mortal, searching for another clueless mortal? No, human. The Iron Queen and Prince Consort do not know I am here. They are both busy looking for you.” His yellow gaze slid to me. “Both of you.”
Keirran and I shared a glance. Something didn’t seem right. That Grimalkin had found us wasn’t unusual, but why would he come looking in the first place if Meghan hadn’t sent him? The cat never did anything for free. I remembered something Annwyl’d said earlier that week—that she hadn’t been able to find Grimalkin, he was either unreachable or ignoring her inquiries. Where had he been? Why was he here now?
“How did you find us?” I asked, frowning at the cat. “And if you knew we were going to be here, why didn’t you let Meghan know?”
The cat yawned. “Must you be so tedious?” He sighed. “I am not a dog, to come to every ruler’s beck and call. And chasing down the Iron Prince as he goes gallivanting across the mortal world seems very tiresome. I knew you would come here, eventually.”
“How?”
“You ask a wearisome amount of questions.” Grimalkin stood and stretched, curling his tail over his back. “Honestly, I do not know how mortals came up with that ridiculous phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat.’ Certainly they have never been around the lot of you.” Straightening, he gazed up at me, waving his tail. “Come, now. Time is of the essence. Do you wish to get into the Summer Court or not?”
“What?” I blinked at him. “How did...?” The cat stared at me, and I raised my hands. “You know what, I don’t care anymore. You’re here to take us to Titania, right? Fine. Lead the way.”
“Finally.” The cat sniffed and gave me a look of triumph. “I never thought I would see the day when a human said something sensible.”
* * *
It was obvious when we crossed the border from the wyldwood into Arcadia. The dark, murky twilight of the wyldwood fell away, and the sun blazed down on us, hot and bright. The forest was suddenly full of color, the leaves were extra green, the flowers screamingly bright, almost to the point of ridiculousness. Birds chirped overhead, bees and other insects spiraled through the air, some monstrously big. When an orange-and-black bird landed on Kenzie’s shoulder, I jumped, only to realize it was a huge butterfly with wings the size of dinner plates.
“This way,” Grimalkin said, slipping through the rails of a wooden fence, the kind that kept in cows or horses. “The mound and the entrance to the Summer Court are on the other side of this field. We are not far, but I will issue this warning only once. Do not, under any circumstances, steal, pick up or take anything from this property. I would suggest you hold your breath for the duration of the passing if I did not know humans are quite incapable of not breathing. Such an inconvenience, but we shall have to deal with it. Let us go.”
“Wait, I know where we are,” Keirran said, looking reluctant as we slipped over the fence into the pasture. “Puck took me here once. Father was furious. This isn’t a good idea, Grimalkin.”
“Mmm.” The cat seemed unconcerned, leaping onto an old log to face us. “This is the quickest way to the Summer Court, and all the other entrances will be guarded,” he stated. “We can find a way around, but it will take time. I thought you wanted to reach the court as quickly as possible.”
“I do. I just...” Keirran gave a helpless shrug. “Fine. We’ll just have to be careful. Lead on, then.”
“What is this place?” I asked as we continued across the field. Bees and butterflies floated everywhere among the flowers, sparkling like living jewels, and I could feel the sun’s warmth beating down on us. Everything looked peaceful, but I knew what a horrible lie that was in Faery. If everything appeared this tranquil, there was probably something stupidly dangerous lurking nearby. “If you visited this spot with Puck, that means you weren’t really supposed to be here, right? And you probably got into trouble with whatever lives here.”
“It’s sad that everyone knows him so well.”
“That’s just great.” I sighed, looking back for Kenzie. She walked quietly behind me, looking at everything. I dropped back a pace and took her hand, wanting to be close in case a dragon or other nasty creature burst out of the flowers and attacked. “Just let me know when I should be running,” I called to Keirran.
He glanced back with a humorless smile. “Oh, you’ll know,” he said ominously and gestured to something ahead.
I blinked. Rolling fields spread out before us, teeming with flowers and thick grass, but rising out of the dirt, planted in rigidly straight lines marching to the horizon, were hundreds upon hundreds of apple trees. I knew they were apple trees because the nearest one, a huge gnarled giant, had bright red clusters hanging everywhere. The branches were bent under the weight, and the grass around the trunk was scattered with red, bulbous fruit. And the smell... The breeze shifted, and the heady, powerful smell nearly knocked me down and made my mouth water. I didn’t even like apples that much, but I was suddenly filled with the desire to stuff my face with them.
“Oh, wow,” I heard Kenzie breathe, and her hand tightened on mine. “Does anyone else have a craving for pie?”
My stomach growled. Annoyed, I turned to Keirran. “Okay, hundreds of apple trees, all begging me to pick up an apple and eat it. What’s the catch here? Will I turn into something? Fall asleep for a century? Or will I just keep stuffing my face and be unable to stop eating until I burst?”
“No,” Keirran said solemnly. “They’re just regular apples. They don’t do anything special.”
“But...?” Kenzie prodded.
“But look at the ground beneath them. The branches. Do you see anything else eating them? Birds, deer, even insects?”
“No,” I muttered, casting another glance toward the lines of fruit trees. He was right; the apples hung full and untouched on the branches or rotting on the ground. The orchard was still, with no birds pecking at the fruit, no signs of deer, raccoons, rodents or anything. Except for the bees hovering around the flowers, nothing moved out here except us.
“The trees are guarded,” Keirran said, confirming my suspicions. “Nothing is allowed to eat the fruit here. The owners chase off anything that comes through the orchard. If they catch someone poaching their apples, they grind their bones—”
“To make their bread?” Kenzie joked. I snorted a laugh despite myself. Keirran rolled his eyes.
“To fertilize the trees,” he finished. “The point is, we don’t want to let them catch us trespassing, and we really don’t want to steal their fruit. They’re quite protective of it. Puck and I found that out the hard way.”
“Humans.” Grimalkin’s furry head poked out of the grass, tail twitching in annoyance. “Are you coming? Or are you going to stand there and talk until the guardians return and crush your bones to powder? And at the expense of repeating myself—do not touch any of the apples as we are making our way through the orchard. Do not even look at them. Please attempt to have some semblance of self-control, as small as it might be.”
Razor made a disgusted noise on Keirran’s shoulder as we followed after the cat. “Yuck,” he stated, curling his lip. “Nasty apples. Bleh!”
Well, at least we didn’t have to worry about the gremlin.
* * *
The rows of trees seemed to stretch on forever, marching up and down the lazy hills like soldiers in a line. They were all massive, ancient things, with thick trunks and gnarled branches overly full of bright red fruit. Plump apples dangled enticingly from the limbs or were scattered everywhere in the grass, not even a nibble taken from the skin. The scent was intoxicating, and I breathed as shallowly as I could to avoid being tempted by the sight and smells of the orchard.
“These guardians seem awfully greedy,” Kenzie remarked when we were deep between rows of trees. “I mean, they obviously have far too many to eat. What’s a few apples to them?”
“It’s the nature of the fey, sadly,” Keirran said. “We’re not really known for sharing.” On his shoulder, Razor had buried his face in his shirt and hadn’t come up since we’d entered the orchard. Kenzie gave the prince a puzzled look.
“You say ‘we,’” she observed, “but you don’t think of yourself as fey, do you?”
Keirran paused. “It’s hard to explain,” he said at last. “Would it be confusing if I told you I’ve been raised to be both? Human and faery, I mean. Dad taught me everything I know about fighting and magic and the Nevernever, and how to work the politics of the courts. But Mom...the queen...she made certain I understood that I was human, too. That I didn’t get so caught up in magic and glamour and faery politics that I forgot I wasn’t one of them.”
“Was it hard?” Kenzie asked, looking sympathetic. “Growing up human, being the only non-faery in the Nevernever besides your parents?”
“Not as bad as you might think.” Keirran smiled. “My parents were always there for me, no matter what happened, so I can’t complain about that. And growing up with gremlins and hacker elves and gliders, well, let’s just say I drove Glitch and the guard pretty crazy. But yes...” His smile faded, and he looked away, over the hills. “Sometimes, it did get...kind of lonely.”
As they talked, I continued to scan the orchard, trying to keep an eye out for these mysterious guardians and not to stare at the apples at the same time. From what Keirran had said, I guessed they were giants of some sort, but unless they were hiding behind a tree, I couldn’t see them.
A raven cawed somewhere overhead.
Normally, this wouldn’t have caught my attention. Except that the orchard was so very quiet that the sound of a bird’s call in the absolute stillness made me jerk my head up, searching the branches.
A dark shadow swooped overhead and alighted on a branch, making my stomach jump. Bright green eyes peered down from the raven’s dark, intelligent face as it ruffled its feathers and gave a chiding caw.
“Oh, great,” Keirran said as the raven shook itself once more...and exploded in a cloud of black feathers and dust. I blinked, taking my eyes off the bird for a split second, watching the feathers spiral to the ground. When I looked back, a figure stood on the branch with his arms crossed, smirking down at us. The sunlight streaming through the leaves caught in his red hair, making it glow like an ember.
“Hey, kiddies,” Robin Goodfellow greeted with his usual nonchalant flair. “We meet yet again. What are the odds?”
What the hell. First Grimalkin, now Puck? Did everyone know we’d entered the Nevernever? I wondered if Meghan realized we were here and had sent Puck after us. I wondered how long it would be before Ash showed up. That wasn’t a pleasant thought.
As if reading my mind, Puck grinned at me. “Don’t worry, kid. Your sister didn’t send me to drag you home by the ear. I was just in the area and heard the rumors drifting through Arcadia. Can’t keep dryads from gossiping, I’m afraid.” His gaze slid to Keirran, and he shook his head. “Princeling, you are in soooooo much trouble,” he announced. “Your dad has been looking everywhere for you.”
Keirran’s gaze narrowed, and Razor flattened his ears at Puck and hissed. “You’re not going to tell him, are you?”
“Well, that depends.” The Summer jester leaned back against the trunk, regarding us with a smirk. “What are you three planning now? I seem to remember the last time we met, you told me you wouldn’t get into trouble. And then you did. So, you tell me.” He shrugged, though his gaze never left me and Keirran. “I could go find ice-boy and point him in your direction, and trust me when I say he is not happy at the moment, or you can tell me what you’re doing right now. But hey, it’s your call.”
“We’re going to see Titania,” Keirran answered. “We came to Arcadia to seek an audience with the Summer Queen, to request a favor. I would use the regular channels, but Oberon isn’t at court right now and...”
“And our lovely Summer monarch might deny you entrance to the court,” Puck finished, nodding thoughtfully. “So, you’re planning to sneak in, I take it. That’s why Furball is here.”
Grimalkin looked up from washing his paws on a nearby rock, where nothing had been a moment before. “Please. As if they could have found a way in themselves.”
Puck rolled his eyes, then turned a serious gaze on Keirran. “Why do you want to see Titania?” he asked, his tone suspicious beneath the cheerful demeanor. “No offense, princeling, but the only other person she dislikes more than you is...well, me. And maybe Mab. If you’re going to be requesting any kind of favor, it’s not going to go well for you.”
“I know,” Keirran replied.
“And you’d be putting the queen’s brother in danger,” Puck went on relentlessly. “Meghan’s not going to be happy if Scowly over there gets turned into a gerbil.”
“I’m right here,” I announced, tired of being ignored, “listening to everything you say. You can talk to me like I’m a real person, you know.”
Puck’s amused gaze flicked to me, though I still saw the shadow of concern in his eyes. “Why are you here, Ethan Chase?” he asked, his emerald stare suddenly piercing. “You should go home—there’s no need for you to be tromping all over the Nevernever with the princeling. I can take him to Arcadia from here.”
My skin prickled. That secret again. The one about me and Keirran. The reason Meghan had disappeared, cut herself off from our family and never told us she had a son. The vision of me dead on the ground, a horrified Keirran standing over my body, came back in a rush, and I shivered. Everyone in Faery had known, it seemed. Everyone...except Keirran and me.
Kenzie spoke up before I could answer, putting her hands on her hips and frowning up at the Summer prankster. “Why are you so eager to ship us home?” she demanded, and Puck’s eyebrows rose. “We’re fine. We’re here to help Keirran and we’re not going back until it’s finished. So everyone can stop telling us to stay out of it.”
Puck grinned at her. “Wow, don’t you remind me of someone I know,” he exclaimed, and Kenzie blinked. “Okay, fine. You’re not going back to the safe, boring mortal world where you belong. Point taken. That doesn’t really answer my question, princeling.” He eyed Keirran again. “Why are you trying to get an audience with the Harpy Queen? You might as well tear out your heart and offer it to her on a silver platter. With sprinkles.”
“It’s for Annwyl,” Keirran said firmly. “She’s Fading, and the only way to stop it is if she returns to the Summer Court. I want to ask Titania to raise her exile. It wasn’t fair, how she was banished. I just want to be able to send her home.”
“Ah.” Puck sighed, shaking his head. “I was afraid it was something like that. Well, then.” He straightened on the branch, briskly rubbing his hands together. “I guess I’ll just have to come with you.”
Startled, I gave him a wary look. “What? You’re not going to tell Ash or Meghan where we are?”
“What can I say?” Puck shrugged and walked along the branch, balanced perfectly on the slender limb. “I’m a sucker for forbidden love. Besides, you’ll need someone watching your back when you’re talking with our lovely Summer Queen. Spread the loathing around a little bit... Whoa.”
At that moment, the ground vibrated, making the limbs of the trees rustle and shake. Puck jerked, catching himself on the branch as a single apple fell from a cluster above him, bounced off his head and dropped with a thump to the grass.
“Uh-oh,” Razor commented, and Grimalkin vanished.
The ground shook again, this time accompanied by an angry rumble that seemed to echo through the orchard. Puck grimaced and raised his hands.
“Oh, come on! I wasn’t even trying this time.”
The rumble turned into a roar as a few yards away, one of the trees shook violently, shedding apples everywhere, then began to rise from the ground. Dirt and apples tumbled away as a huge gnarled face pushed itself up from the grass, glaring at us with glowing yellow eyes. With a creaking and groaning of massive limbs, the creature stood up, towering forty feet in the air: a tangled giant of roots, moss and tree branches, its arms dangling past its stumpy legs to brush the ground. The apple tree was perched on its head, still shedding fruit that bounced off its massive body, and it would’ve been comical if it wasn’t completely terrifying.
Puck groaned and leaped from the branch, pulling two daggers as he landed beside us. “You know, you guys have got to learn to share!” he called up to the monster looming over us. “I bet it would really cut down on those ugly stress wrinkles!”
The giant roared. Stepping forward, it smashed down with a huge, bristling fist, and we all dived aside. The limb struck the earth like a wrecking ball, sending dirt and apples flying and making the ground shake.
Scrambling for shelter, I pulled Kenzie around a tree and pressed back into the rough bark, panting. She squeezed close, hands clutched in my shirt, shaking. “What now?” she whispered.
“I don’t know.” I drew one of my swords, though I wasn’t sure what I could do with it. Hack at the giant’s ankles, maybe? It would be like trying to cut down an oak with a pocketknife. If the oak was dancing around. And trying to step on you.
The giant rumbled and stepped closer. We sidled around the trunk, watching as the creature moved between the tree aisles, crouching and peering over the branches as it searched for us. At one point, it passed right by the trunk we were hiding behind, making the ground shake as it stepped close. Kenzie hid her face in my shirt, and I wrapped my arms around her, feeling her heart pound until the giant moved away.
“Ethan! Kenzie!”
Keirran’s hiss caught our attention. The prince crouched behind another tree, sword drawn, beckoning to us. With a quick glance at the giant to make sure its back was turned, we bolted from our hiding place, crossed the open aisle and dived behind the trunk with Keirran.
The giant spun, creaking and groaning, as if it sensed we were close. With heavy, laborious steps, it began trudging toward us.
“I hope you have a plan,” I growled at Keirran, feeling the earth tremble as the thing behind us got closer. “Right now, ‘run like hell’ is looking pretty appealing.”
Keirran nodded. “On my signal,” he said, his blue eyes hard as he watched the giant’s progress. “Puck will provide the distraction. When it comes, run as fast as you can and don’t look back. And let’s hope it hasn’t called its friend.”
“Oh, great. There are more of them.”
A massive foot smashed down a few yards from the trunk, and the tree rustled and hissed, dropping apples everywhere, as the giant parted the branches overhead and spotted us.
It roared in triumph. But at that moment, a screaming flock of ravens erupted from the branches, flying in the giant’s face. With a bellow, the monster lurched back, swatting at the birds, which swooped around him, pecking and cawing. Keirran leaped to his feet.
“Go!” he yelled, and we didn’t need encouragement. Bolting from our hiding place, we tore across the field, hearing the giant’s angry bellows grow fainter as we ran.
Of course, nothing was ever that easy.
About two hundred yards or so from the first giant, I was just thinking of slowing my all-out run to a jog, when we went up a little hill and the enormous bulk of a second giant rose up out of nowhere, howling as it saw us.
Dammit.
We changed direction and kept running, but instead of lashing out at us, the giant plunged its thorny claws into the ground as we passed. The ground shook, and gnarled roots erupted from the earth, curved and wickedly barbed like the giant’s fingers. They shot out of the grass in a shower of dirt, trapping Kenzie between them, a cage of spiky wood and thorns. She screamed as the fingers began to close around her, like a fist crushing an egg.
“Kenzie!” I whirled, swords flashing, sinking one blade into the tough wood. The edge bit deep, but didn’t cut through, and I yanked it out to hack at it again. Kenzie had fallen to her knees as the roots closed around her, thorny talons stabbing in, ready to crush the life from her. I could barely see her through the cage of branches now, and desperation flared up to suffocate me.
“No!” I screamed, and at that moment, the claws stopped moving. They trembled, shaking and groaning, as if straining against a force that held them back. I didn’t pause to wonder about it. Raising my arm, I slashed down with all my strength, shearing through one of the talons, snapping it off. A few more hacks, and there was a space just large enough for Kenzie to squeeze through. I could see her, lying on the ground, curled up to escape the wicked points of death stabbing in from all sides.
“Kenzie,” I gasped, dropping to my knees and reaching an arm through the space. The cage shuddered, the talons moving a few inches, as if ready to crush the barrier holding it back. She crawled forward, wincing as the thorns snagged her hair and clothes, then reached out and grabbed my wrist.
I yanked her to me, through the space, as the cage gave a tremendous groan and curled in on itself, crushing anything that might’ve been inside. Gasping, we scrambled away from it as the fist sank into the earth again and disappeared, leaving a giant hole behind.
Keirran, standing a few yards away, collapsed to the ground.
Panting, we crawled over to him. He was still breathing, his chest rising and falling in shallow waves, and his blue eyes were closed. His skin was pale, his hair damp with sweat as if he’d run several miles. The color had faded out of him once more, the silver in his hair leached to white, an ominous gray pallor settling over the rest of him. Razor buzzed in alarm and bounced on his chest, tugging at his shirt.
“Master!” the gremlin howled, sounding distressed. “Master, wake up!”
“Keirran.” Shooing off the gremlin, Kenzie took his hand, and his eyes fluttered open. For a moment, the pupils were colorless, but he blinked, and they returned to their normal piercing blue once more.
“Kenzie, you’re all right.” Keirran’s voice was faint, but he offered a relieved smile, struggling into a sit. “Thank goodness. I tried to hold the roots back, but the giant was strong. I’m glad Ethan was able to get you out in time.”
“So that was you.” I remembered the way the fist had stopped moving, straining to close. It had been Keirran’s Summer glamour holding it back. “Dammit, Keirran. You can’t keep using glamour like that. You’re going to kill yourself.”
“Would you rather I’d let Kenzie be crushed to death?”
An angry roar jerked us upright. The giant had apparently opened his fist and found it empty, instead of the broken body it was expecting.
“Humans.” Grimalkin appeared in the long grass, tail lashing, glaring at us in exasperation. “Stop your infernal talking and run.”
A raven swooped overhead with an impatient caw, seeming to agree with the cat. Scrambling to our feet, we did.
Zigzagging between trees, we ran until we reached the other side of the field, marked by the inconspicuous wooden fence. With the giants still bellowing behind us, I flung myself over the railings, tumbling to the other side in the grass. Kenzie and Keirran were right behind me, and we staggered a safe distance away from the fence as the giants glowered menacingly from inside the field, before turning away and lumbering back over the hill.
I collapsed to the grass, panting, while Keirran stood with his hands on his knees, breathing hard, and Razor gibbered and bounced on his back, throwing insults at the retreating giants. Kenzie plopped down beside me, and I pulled her into my arms, listening to her heartbeat as our breath caught up to us. She leaned back against my chest, closing her eyes and wrapping one arm around my neck.
“I don’t think...I’ll look at apples the same way...ever again,” she panted.
“Oh, come on. You can’t be tired now.” Puck appeared from the long grass, shaking feathers from his hair. Tossing an apple in one hand, he crunched into it with a grin and winked at us. “The party’s just getting started.”