The Park
Meanwhile
Michael was already running toward Sophie when she and Josephine disappeared. “Sophie, wait!” he called out. Beau barked furiously, like he, too, was calling Sophie back. But they were already gone before he reached them. Mrs. Smith hopped down from her cart and pulled back on it, slowing its progress and bringing it to a stop just in front of him. “She must have taken her to the Realm,” he said, knowing he was stating the obvious, but needing to have what he’d observed verified.
“That should give Sophie an advantage,” Mrs. Smith said.
“Yeah, but it takes her away from her backup.”
“And away from Josephine’s. Speaking of which …”
Michael noticed then that they weren’t alone. They were surrounded by fae, and the only saving grace was that they were even more surprised by Josephine and Sophie’s sudden disappearance than Michael had been. Beau barked a warning, and Michael whirled just in time to fling a handful of iron filings at the fairy coming up behind him. “Back off!” he warned.
He scattered iron around himself, turning back to see Mrs. Smith waving a lit torch to fend off more fairies. The torch ruined Michael’s night vision, so he couldn’t see details of how many fae there were or what they were doing. He reached into his pocket to find his iron nails and slid some between his fingers so the pointed ends stuck out from his fist.
“What did you do to her?” a voice said from the darkness.
Facing the voice, Michael said, “I didn’t do anything. I’d guess Josephine took the wrong captive and found herself in the Realm.”
“She made it to the Realm?” the voice said, sounding excited rather than alarmed.
“Michael Murray!” another voice called. Michael turned to see light glinting on silver. “Where is Sophie?”
“I think she took Josephine into the Realm,” Michael said, squinting toward Eamon. Beau had stopped growling, which made Michael wonder if the other fae had scattered at Eamon’s arrival. “We should go after her.”
“That would do little good.”
“Maybe if we go now we’d get there in time to help.”
“There is no gateway near here, and we couldn’t be sure of coming out in the same place.”
“But Sophie left from right here.”
“Sophie is different. She has the ability to control the Realm and create gateways. I must find existing gateways, and I cannot control where I arrive.”
“Then what do we do?” Michael demanded, trying to fight back a rising panic.
“Emily is supposed to bring the enchantresses to the market. We should meet her there.”
Michael started to protest, but he was distracted when a white streak ran out of the nearby bushes and transformed into the woman dressed in unseasonal white, who stopped right in front of him and clutched his arm. “The traitor has the princess,” she said. “She’s in terrible danger.”
“I know,” Michael said, then realized what she’d said. “Wait, the traitor? Do you mean Josephine? That’s who you’ve been talking about as the traitor?”
“I was exiled with her when she tried to usurp the queen.”
“I thought you couldn’t tell me about her.”
“That was before she took the princess. Now I don’t care what she does to me. I will be a traitor to the queen no more.”
Eamon stepped forward, his eyes flashing angrily. Michael had always seen him as relatively harmless, but now the fairy looked frightening. “You supported the traitor?”
Her clutch on Michael’s arm tightened, but she didn’t flinch away from Eamon. “I did. Once. And I was exiled for my crime. It changed me. I had to change so I could live in this world. But I no longer believe in her cause. I want to help the princess.”
“So this means Sophie took an exiled would-be queen into the Realm?” Michael said as his heart sank. “She took her right where she wanted to go.” Suddenly he realized what it was he’d noticed about Josephine’s aura the night of the ballet. “And I should have seen it. I did see it. Her aura was fae. Sort of. It was different, but now that I think about it, it was there. How could I have missed it?”
“Was it a regular fae aura?” Mrs. Smith asked. She’d blown out her torch, which made it easier for Michael to see as his eyes readjusted.
“No, not really.”
“Then stop kicking yourself, son. I’m not sure what you think you should have done about it. She’s fae in some weird kind of way we haven’t seen before.”
“I didn’t see it, and I was there when she made her last bid for power,” Eamon said. “Her human glamour is very good, unlike anything I’ve seen before.”
That didn’t make Michael feel much better. He turned to the cat woman. “But if all her supporters were exiled, how does she have conspirators in the Realm?”
“I have not been in the Realm since I was cast out, so I don’t know what has happened there,” the cat woman said. “They have been trying to bring me back into the traitor’s company. I won’t. I know I was wrong.”
“How many of the fae do you think will support a traitor?” Mrs. Smith asked Michael.
“I don’t know. Loyalty doesn’t seem to a big consideration there. Look how many times someone’s tried to take that throne in just the past few months. Sophie seems to be the only person who doesn’t want it. Someone always seems to be after it, and there’s a good chance that there are a lot of fae who aren’t happy about having a human queen.”
“This Josephine woman can’t be full fae anymore if she’s passed so well as a human.”
“But if she was exiled while Sophie’s ancestor was on the throne, she can’t have become mortal. That’s been centuries. How did you survive?” he asked the cat woman.
“My exile was not as harsh as hers. I may enter the markets, and I may enter the Borderlands but not the Realm itself. That has been enough to sustain me. When I change form, I am like any other cat in your world.”
“How did Josephine manage? She’s done too many things that the fae shouldn’t have been able to do. That’s how Sophie figured out that her attempts to stir up a fae versus enchantress war were bogus.”
“Your princess can also handle iron,” Mrs. Smith pointed out.
“But she’s mortal. She’s not going to live for centuries unless she moves into the Realm for good. That’s the issue here. Apparently, there are a lot of fae who don’t accept a mortal—or formerly mortal—ruler.”
“They may not accept what Josephine is, once they see what she’s become.” She chuckled in that way she had that was almost a bark. “But I guess you don’t have to worry about her taking over the enchantresses anymore, do you?”
“I don’t care about that right now. I’m more worried about what she’ll do to Sophie, and I don’t think it’ll be good for us if she gets the throne.” He started walking, not because he had a destination in mind, but because he felt like he should be doing something. “Where’s this market where we can meet up with Emily?”