WE DO NOT FORGET
“Nyx!” I lunged, catching her as she collapsed to her knees, winking out again for a fraction of a second. Coaleater snorted in alarm, and Meghan and Ash came forward, their gazes somber, as the Forgotten flickered and sputtered in my arms like a dying flashlight.
“Nyx. Hey, look at me.” I gripped her forearms, feeling helpless and terrified as she slumped against me, going transparent for a heartbeat. Golden eyes met my own, her expression solemn but calm. “Focus,” I urged in a whisper. “Talk to me, assassin. You can’t leave us yet. If you Fade out now, I’m going to have to tell Keirran that the Iron Realm was too much for you to handle after all, and having to say ‘I told you so’ for the next hundred years would be exhausting.”
A faint smile crossed her face, even as she wavered at the edges for a moment. “Are you...trying to annoy me into staying, Goodfellow?”
“I play to my strengths. Is it working?”
“Well, you have succeeded in making me want to stab you,” Nyx whispered, but she had stopped flickering like a weak candle and was slowly regaining color. Or at least not looking like a transparent wraith. She took a deep, careful breath and straightened, gripping my arms for balance, testing her range of motion. “It’s over,” she told me. “I think...I’m all right now. Whatever happened, it seems to have passed.”
“You didn’t tell us you were Fading,” came Ash’s voice over my shoulder, and part of me bristled at the proximity. “We could have helped you, had we known.”
“The Iron Realm has some of the most advanced healers in the Nevernever,” Meghan added, stepping forward. “They can’t stop the Fade, but they might be able to slow it for a time.”
But Nyx gave her head a stubborn shake and rose, drawing me up with her. “There’s no need,” she insisted. “I’m grateful, Your Majesty, but I think I just need to rest. My apologies, I didn’t know I was that close to Fading, but it’s done. I’ve always been fairly certain my time here was limited.”
“Screw that,” I said, angry now. “If you’re so close to Fading, chasing down some big monster who nearly killed us before can’t be great for your health.”
But Nyx met my gaze, calm and unruffled, and she gave a wry smile. “I am fine, Puck. Whatever that was, it must have been a fluke, or a reaction to the sun and the Iron Realm at the same time. I know my duty, and this will not stop me from continuing the mission. I am in no danger of disappearing, at least not for a while.” I took a breath to argue, but she overrode me. “And even if I was, what could you do about it? Some things are beyond anyone’s reach.”
I crossed my arms. “You’d be surprised.”
“Regardless.” She raised her chin. “I’m coming with you. I don’t plan to return to Keirran until I’m certain the creature is dead.”
I snorted. And that would be the end of it. Unless I wanted to physically restrain her, which would probably result in a knife to the ribs, she would go chasing down the monster—the monster that had nearly killed us—with the rest of the group. Weakened, possibly Fading away, but as stubbornly persistent as the most stubborn faery I knew.
Me.
“If you are certain,” Meghan said, and gave a decisive nod, gazing around at us all. “Tonight, then. We’ll meet in the courtyard when the moon rises. And we’ll get to the bottom of what is happening in the Nevernever once and for all. Fix, if you would please show Nyx and Coaleater to the guest chambers. Puck...” She glanced at me with a warm smile. “You know the way. Now, if you would all excuse us,” she went on, and looked to Ash, who nodded grimly, “we have a few things to take care of before this evening.”
And with that, the rulers of the Iron Realm strode from the room, closing the doors behind them as they left.
Fix waddled forward, looking troubled as he turned to Nyx and Coaleater. “If you would both please follow me,” he said. “I will show you where you can rest until this evening.”
Nyx gave me a brief glance, and I shrugged. Stubborn assassin would do what she pleased, regardless of consequences. I would just have to make sure she didn’t Fade away on me, even if I had to risk getting stabbed to do it. “Don’t worry about me,” I told her as she still hesitated. “I know this place like the back of my hand. I’ll see you tonight.”
She nodded once. “Tonight,” she murmured, almost a promise. And then she and Coaleater followed the waiting packrat out the double doors. I watched them leave, watched Nyx until she had turned a corner and was out of sight, and told myself that this was not the last time I would see her.
“Well, then,” I muttered as the doors slowly swung shut, leaving me alone in the room. The stillness was suddenly resounding. “Guess I’ll go see what kind of trouble I can get myself into.”
“You’re falling for her.”
It was early evening in the Iron Realm. The sun hung low in the sky above the Iron Palace, and the clouds were streaked with pink. I had wandered down to the palace gardens because, one: they were the closest thing to a forest I could find in Mag Tuiredh. And two: I was bored and trying to avoid the temptation to start a gremlin riot in the castle. Meghan had not been amused the last time.
So, I was leaning against a metal trunk in the sprawling palace gardens, watching a flock of tiny blue birds flit around a steel fountain, when a deep, familiar voice echoed behind me. I glanced up to see the Ice Prince himself at the edge of the walk, watching me with a look of wry amusement.
“The Forgotten,” Ash said, as if there were any question as to who he meant. “Nyx. I’ve seen that look before, Goodfellow. Not often, but enough. You always seem to go for the ones that can kill you.” He shook his head with a faint smile. “She’ll be fine, by the way. There are no further signs of Fading. I spoke to a healer, and he believes that as long as she stays out of the sun, she should be all right. So, you can stop worrying and tell me how you two met.”
Relief for Nyx flared, but it was drowned in the flood of memories that roared through me as soon as I heard his voice. “Is that why you came out here, ice-boy?” I drawled, pushing myself off the tree trunk. I felt Robin Goodfellow’s evil smile tugging at the corners of my mouth, the demonic, toothy grin that made kings blanch and dragons hesitate, and forced it back. Not yet, Goodfellow. Not here. Patience. “Was castle gossip not juicy enough today?” I went on, smirking at the former Ice Prince across the courtyard. “Or were you just curious about my new lady friend?”
“You’re avoiding the question,” Ash said, frowning. “But yes, as a matter of fact, I was curious. About a lot of things.” Abruptly serious, he took a few steps toward me, his expression grave. “Meghan is worried about you,” he went on. “We both are. You’re not acting like yourself.”
“Is that so?” I challenged. “And how do you think I’m acting, ice-boy?”
“I’ve heard the stories, Puck. My brothers would sometimes tell me about the Puck of the woods, the Robin Goodfellow that caused so much chaos and pandemonium, even they were hesitant to face him. For a long time, I thought they were exaggerating, that they were simply trying to scare me. Because the Puck I knew wasn’t like that.”
Ash hesitated. He had stopped a few feet away, those bright silver eyes boring into me. His posture wasn’t overly cautious or suspicious, but an aura of wary concern surrounded him.
I snorted and turned away, gazing out over the gardens, because if I kept looking at him, I might be tempted to start another feud right here.
Ash didn’t come any closer, either. Though I could still feel that intense gaze on the back of my neck. “But then,” he went on, “the more I got to know you, the more I realized those stories weren’t exaggerations. Because I’ve seen that side of you, Puck. Not often. And never without cause. But every once in a while, when you’re truly angry and think I don’t notice, I see the Goodfellow everyone was afraid of.”
“Observant of you, ice-boy,” I said without turning around. Anger was stirring, not vindictiveness or spite, but real anger, and I clenched a fist to shove it back. “What exactly is your point?”
“My point is that I see him right now,” the Ice Prince finished in a somber voice. “More than I ever have before. He showed up today, in the middle of the Iron Palace, with horns and hooves and that look in his eyes, and he hasn’t left yet. And that worries me. Meghan doesn’t know this side of him, she hasn’t been around long enough, but I’ve seen what this Robin Goodfellow can do, and I know what he’s capable of. So my question to you is, what exactly did that creature do to you, and when do we get the real Goodfellow back?”
“How do you know this isn’t the real me?” I turned, smiling broadly, and saw Ash stiffen for the barest second. “Maybe I’ve been playing a huge, elaborate prank on you for years. Or maybe this is who I always was, I just never showed anyone.”
Ash didn’t smile. “If that were true,” he said, in an almost pained voice, “then we would still be enemies. The journeys we had, the times before Ariella, where we traveled to all corners of the Nevernever, those years would have never happened.”
“Yeah,” I husked out, and suddenly, both daggers were in my hands. I didn’t know what I was doing; I didn’t know where this rage was coming from, but now that I’d started down this path, I couldn’t seem to stop. “Here’s a notion, Your Highness,” I said, pointing at him with one dagger. “Did you ever think that maybe I never quite forgave you for stealing her away from me all those years ago?”
“We are way past that, Puck.” Ash’s voice was soft; he hadn’t drawn his weapon or even put a hand on his blade, but his whole posture was stiff.
“Really?” I sneered. “How long did you try to kill me after Ariella died, Ash? How many years?” I swept my other weapon up, pointing at the towers of the Iron Palace looming overhead. “More than the years you’ve spent with Meghan, that’s for damn sure. And for what?”
Reaching up, I hooked two fingers in my collar and yanked it down, revealing a thin white gash across my collarbone. “This is yours, ice-boy,” I spat at him. “Remember that? I have more than a few scars from the times you almost killed me, because you swore an oath of vengeance over a girl. Do you ever think about that? Do you ever think that maybe I was just as angry as you when I lost the one I loved? So, don’t tell me we’re past it, Your Highness. You know as well as I do, we’re fey. Grudges last a lifetime with us.”
“So, what do you want to do, Goodfellow?” Ash wondered quietly. He raised his arms in a resigned motion, watching me with bleak silver eyes. “Enact your own oath? Swear vengeance on me, right here?”
“No.” I gave him a vicious smile. “Not my style, ice-boy. You know my general dislike of obligation and responsibility. I’m not going to bind myself to some ridiculous vow and then regret ever making it.” Stepping back, I sheathed my daggers, grinning at him all the while. “I just want you to remember, I haven’t forgotten, prince. So, you had better watch your back. This thing isn’t over yet.”
Ash said nothing. He just watched me, his expression unreadable. With a final sneer, I turned and left the gardens, heading back into the palace.
I could feel his gaze on me the entire way.
Back in the guest quarters, I went to my personal room and wandered onto the balcony, gazing out over the city below. In the shadowy twilight, Mag Tuiredh glimmered like a valley of fireflies, glowing with streetlamps, vehicles, even the Iron fey themselves. Leaning against the railing, I watched the sun set over the city of the Iron fey and thought back to my last conversation in the courtyard, when I basically told my best friend we were still enemies, and he’d better watch his back.
What the hell is wrong with me?
I wasn’t born yesterday. I’d been through enough curses to know I wasn’t acting like myself. Ever since the fight with the big bad, I’d been sliding further into my nasty, more primal nature. So, I knew this situation wasn’t normal, that whatever the monster did, it had awakened something I’d thought was buried. But the anger I’d felt toward Ash was real. I couldn’t just shut it away and pretend it wasn’t there. Puck might’ve been able to do that, for friendship’s sake. But I wasn’t him any longer. I was Robin Goodfellow, and right now, a bit of old-fashioned retribution sounded like a lot of fun.
After we’d killed this monster. I could be patient until then.
“Admiring the view?”
I jumped and whirled around. “Geez, Nyx! Don’t do that to me.” I shook my head at the cloaked Forgotten who had somehow poofed onto the balcony with me. Not even shadows and wraiths had an easy time sneaking up on yours truly; a lifetime of playing pranks had made me somewhat paranoid of retaliation. “Is that your personal brand of assassination, then?” I asked the faintly smirking Forgotten. “The heart attack special? If you ever want to give up the assassin thing, you’d be a natural at surprise parties.”
“Generally, I find a dagger is a much better alternative to stopping someone’s heart than a surprise party,” was the wry response. “There’s far less of a chance they’ll stab you back.”
“That’s your answer for everything, isn’t it? Stab it in the heart.”
“It hasn’t failed me yet.” Her eyes narrowed, and suddenly, everything about her turned dangerous. “Especially when someone I know is about to start a fight with the prince consort of the Iron Realm, and I’m wondering if I’m going to have to stab him myself.”
My grin faded. “You saw that, did you?”
“Once the sun went down, I ventured out to let you know I was all right. I figured I’d find you outside, probably in the courtyard or gardens, so I headed there.” Nyx’s voice was hard, her golden eyes cold in the shadow of her hood. “Imagine my concern when I saw you pull your daggers on none other than the Iron Queen’s husband. If anyone else saw that, you could have been killed.”
“Very doubtful.” I grinned at her, waving away the concern. “No one would dare attack Robin Goodfellow here. Besides, Ash and I have gone at it so many times, if we don’t threaten each other occasionally people will wonder what’s wrong.”
“I saw the look in your eyes, Puck.” Nyx’s lethal expression didn’t change. “I heard what you said. That was not the look of a faery who was joking.”
“I wasn’t,” I told her, sobering for the moment. “I meant what I said. This thing with me and ice-boy, it goes way back. Before Meghan, before the Iron Kingdom, before the rise of the Lady and the Forgotten. It’s not exactly a secret, nearly everyone knows the history between us.” Leaning back, I cocked my head, regarding the Forgotten across from me. “But I’m sort of struggling with why you should care.”
Nyx’s eyes gleamed dangerously. “We’re on an important mission,” she reminded me. “In case you’ve forgotten, the monster we’re chasing nearly killed us both the last time we encountered it. We need powerful allies if we want to have any hope of defeating this threat. The prince consort of the Iron Realm is one of those powerful allies. Furthermore...” She hesitated, a shadow crossing her face as she stared me down. “Keirran is my king. I swore an oath to protect him, his kingdom, and his kin for as long as I am able to do so. If you raise your weapon against Keirran’s father, Puck, I will have no choice but to cut you down.”
“That easy, is it?” I smirked at her, trying to ignore the instant flare of vindictive defiance. “Do you know how many times I’ve heard those exact words, Miss Assassin? Do you know how many times something has tried to kill Robin Goodfellow? More times than I can count. But I’m still here, and if you want to try, I’m afraid you’re going to have to get in line.”
“I don’t know that Robin Goodfellow,” Nyx said flatly. “His name does not inspire the fear that it does in others. You would just be another target, Puck.”
I clenched my jaw. It felt like she had taken one of her moonblades and driven it straight into my heart. Meeting her eyes, I forced a hard smile. “Well then, I aspire to surprise and disappoint you. No promises, but I think you’re going to find Robin Goodfellow your most difficult target yet.”
Nyx didn’t flinch. “Don’t make me your enemy, Puck,” she warned. “We’re on the same side in this. We want the same thing. If you are going to take your vengeance on Keirran’s father, at least wait until after we’ve killed this monster. Surely you can see that eliminating this threat takes precedence over any plans for revenge.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Miss Assassin.” I leaned back against the railing with a shrug. “I know what’s at stake, and I told ice-boy the same thing. Taking care of the big nasty comes first. I fully intend to indulge in some good old-fashioned Robin Goodfellow pranks, but only after I’ve carved this thing into tiny pieces and danced a jig on them.” I crossed my arms and stared her down. “So, you can relax. I’m not going to slip a dozen vipers into ice-boy’s mattress. Not today, at least.”
The Forgotten considered me without expression. “Is this the side that everyone is afraid of?” she wondered. “The faery with the reputation? Is this the true nature of Robin Goodfellow?”
“What if it is?”
Nyx shook her head and took a step back. “I liked Puck better,” she said softly, right before she shimmered into moonlight and disappeared.
Alone on the balcony, I turned and leaned against the railing, gazing down on the glittering lights of Mag Tuiredh. And I wondered if I would just keep pushing everyone away until I was, truly, all alone.