After walking through the depths of the shadows, we break through the trees and, holy crap, there is a freaking moon. It’s not very big, but it gives off enough light that I can see a little more than I have since landing in the Shadow Realm.
I gasp and Grimly chuckles before telling me that we’re almost there. I’m glad. It’s growing colder out and I’m beginning to get hungry. After seeing how the imps reacted to my fruit, I don’t want to show it off in front of Grimly in case he decides that he wants to add my bag of apples to close out this “debt” of his. The sooner I can get the deets on what he’s basically blackmailing me into doing, the sooner I can sit down, take a load off, and have something to eat.
Does he know? He already proved to me back at the inn that he could tell that I was human, and that I wore the brand of a fae’s touch on my skin. He said it was his nose, like how he could track me down in the darkness by his sense of smell alone. Can he tell I’m hungry? That I’m growing tired? That my poor feet are beginning to ache?
Maybe since, after we go a little further, he leads me into a clearing that is exactly the type of shelter I was hoping to find earlier.
It’s so weird. The ground is still covered in snow, but not all of it. The trees have thinned out, leaving a wide patch of open space about the size of a small park back in the city. While the tree trunks aren’t touching, the branches reach high into the purple sky, tangling together, branches from different trees wrapped around each other, providing some kind of cover.
And that’s not all. In the middle of the space, there’s a ring of dark green grass that appears almost black in the moonlight; it’s lush and it’s springy, nothing like the stray spots of grass trying to break through the snow and the ice in the rest of this realm. Surrounding the grass, I see a circle of tall flowers that are such a pristine white, they seem to glow. The actual flower has a bell shape, and a sweet fragrance that fills the clearing.
“Lily of the valley,” explains Grimly. “You find a circle of ‘em in Faerie, you can be sure you’re safe. No one can cross the circle without permission from them’s who imprinted on it. Go on. Walk inside of it. If it’s not been claimed, you can make it yours.”
“What if it has been claimed?”
A shrug. “Just hope that it hasn’t.”
Yeah. Because that fills me with such confidence.
Not gonna lie, though. I love the idea that this circle of flowers can protect me if I make it mine. I don’t have much—and I have no idea what he means by “imprint on it” like that—but I figure it’s worth a shot.
Taking a deep breath, I move past the gnome, easing toward the circle. I hesitate when I reach the point where the ice and the snow begin to melt away before setting my shoulders, exhaling softly, and stepping over the nearest flower.
My foot lands on the other side of the circle without anything happening. And though I can’t really explain it, I know instinctively that this circle was meant to be mine. It’s warm inside the space, the sweet scent of the lily of the valleys caressing me as a comforting breeze sends the bottom of my cloak billowing around my ankles.
“Okay,” I call out to Grimly. Not because I want to, but because I know that while I might have this desire to stay inside of this circle forever, the gnome would probably just wait right outside of it until I did what he wanted. Might as well get this over with. “Now what?”
“Now you have to imprint on the circle.”
I’m a freaking human. He can’t honestly believe I know how to do that. “Yeah? How?”
“It’s simple, girly. Give it something of yours.”
Ah, jeez. Another sacrifice.
Who didn’t see that coming?
Oh, wait. That’s right.
Me.
Ugh. What am I supposed to give it? In case I have to go sneaking around the shadows again, the cloak is out. So is my leather jacket. Unless I want to deal with the monstrous cramps I get when I go without faerie food, I need to hang onto my bag of apples. Siúcra has my promise ring and that’s the only jewelry I wear. The bag of gold coins in my pocket is my emergency stash.
Do I have anything else?
Just the clothes on my back and the boots on my feet—
Ah-ha!
I drop to the ground. The grass is just as soft and springy as it looks, and I’m glad that the inside of the circle is as dry as a bone. Sitting on my ass, I kick out my right foot, untying the laces on my boot before jerking it off. I can’t give up my boot, not when I’ve got plenty of walking in my future if I want to get back to Rys, but maybe I can go without one of my socks.
I yank it off, then shove my bare foot back into the boot. Cringing at how clammy it feels without my sock, I stand up and hold the scrap of fabric up so that the gnome can see it. “Will this do?”
“Might. Give it to the circle and we’ll find out.” My frustration must be obvious because Grimly chuckles. “Don’t you know anything? The earth. Put it in the earth. Go on. Find a patch of dirt between the flowers and see if the circle accepts your gift.”
I can’t believe I’m doing this. Even as I crouch down, digging my fingers into the dry dirt, creating a small hole and then burying my sock, I seriously can’t believe I’m doing this. I cover the sock with dirt once I’m done, patting the mound flat with my palm before wiping my hands against my jeans.
Did it work? I don’t know what I’m waiting for and I’m just about to ask Grimly when a sprout pushes its way out of the dirt. It’s like watching a flower grow at super-speed. One second it’s just a sliver of green. The next? Another fully bloomed lily of the valley is standing in the exact place where I buried my sock.