ALICE
I’ve made a spectacle of myself, but I can’t say that I care all that much. I got my grandmother’s wedding band back.
Brahm looks like he’s trying not to laugh as he leads me to a moonlit fountain. I pause to rinse my hands, scrubbing them together in the frigid water to rid myself of the goblin’s unique aroma.
Once I’m satisfied they are as clean as possible, we continue past the manicured beds instead of returning to the ballroom. In the distance, the players begin their music once more.
Eventually, we end up in a small alcove in the hedge, a spot of quiet respite, with a statue of a winged woman at the center of the planting. Her face is turned toward the sky, with her hand extended, looking as if she’s crying. At her feet appears to be the recently deceased form of a loved one.
“This is a lovely spot you’ve brought me to,” I say with a smile.
Brahm fetched my cloak before we left the ballroom, and he drapes it around my shoulders now. “No one comes here.”
“I wonder why,” I say lightly.
A glimpse of painted wood in the hedge catches my eye. It’s hidden behind the plantings, but a tiny handle is just visible. I cross the space and pull back the limbs of a weeping willow, revealing a small blue door. “It’s tiny,” I say, wondering if it’s meant for pixies. “Where does it lead?”
“We can find out if you’d like.”
“You don’t know?” I kneel to examine the door, and my skirts bunch up around me. A child could fit through it if they crouched, but we would have difficulty. “I see a problem.”
“You see a human problem.”
“Forgive me, but that is how I tend to look at the world. How do you pass through?” Then I’m struck with a disconcerting thought. “Do you shrink yourself to fit?”
Brahm laughs, wickedly amused by the idea. “Certainly not. You only need to touch it, and it will spirit you away. It’s a gate to the human world—it leads to a fairy ring somewhere. But since the rings never show up in the same place, it’s impossible to know where you’ll end up. They’re old magic, and very few utilize them anymore.”
“So, if we were to touch it, it could take us anywhere in the world?”
“That’s right, but only tonight.”
“Why tonight?”
He nods toward the sky. “It’s a full moon. All of Faerie, and its inhabitants, are at the height of their power when the moon is full.”
Slowly, I stand, backing away from the door and letting the willow fall into place. “I don’t think I’m that adventurous.”
“I was terrified of them as a young boy,” Brahm says. “But after Father died, I was desperate to escape. I used one the full moon after his death.”
“Where did it take you?”
“To the woods just beyond the bridge.” He scoffs, disgusted. “It could have taken me anywhere, and I ended up right outside West Faerie.”
“Truly?”
He nods.
“Did you resent my sister?” I ask him quietly. “If Drake hadn’t tried to help her, your father would still be alive.”
Slowly, he shakes his head. “I believe Drake did the right thing. But often, I wish it had been me and not him. I was older. Maybe I could have slipped her away without Mother ever realizing who was to blame.”
“It’s not your fault.” I step close, wanting to offer comfort but unsure if he’d welcome it.
“I know that.”
After a moment, he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me into him. His mask makes him look too otherworldly in the light of the full moon, and for the first time, I think I can truly believe he is a prince of West Faerie.
Our gazes meet. Brahm’s eyes fall to my lips, and heat dances across my exposed skin despite the nighttime chill.