“Have you been there before?”
“Yeah. When I first came through the fairy circle, I landed there. It’s just the second one brought me here. It’s time I go back, though.”
“And you know how to get there?”
Since Morgan knows about my struggles to navigate the twisty, dark woods of the Shadow Realm, I’m not surprised she asks me that.
“Well, no, but I’ll figure it out.” With a smile and a shrug, I say, “I always do.”
And ain’t that the truth?
Morgan doesn’t say anything for a few moments. When she finally does, it’s the last thing I expect.
“Oh. Okay. Sounds like fun. I’ll go with you.”
“What? No. I can’t ask you to do that—”
“Don’t be silly. You’re not asking me anything. And, even if you were, Elle, I’d only have to refuse.”
Huh? “Then why would you say that?”
Morgan cocks her head, her long, dark hair settling over one shoulder. “Do you want to owe me a favor?”
After my experience with Grimly, no. Not particularly.
I shake my head.
“Precisely. See, if you think I’m coming along with you because you asked me to, it puts you in my debt. Neither of us wants that. I’ve come to treasure your visits. You’ve told me so much about the human world. What better way to make us even than for me to show you my world?”
I… I guess that makes sense. In a backward, fae sort of way maybe. And, if Morgan is going to help me find my way to the Seelie Court, that kind of kills two birds with one stone: it gives me time to explain myself while also keeping her away from Grimly and his plotting when he figures out I bolted.
“I mean, if you insist.”
“I won’t leave the Shadow Realm, though,” Morgan clarifies. “Once we hit the divide, you’re on your own. I’m Unseelie, Elle. Not only will it weaken me, but I won’t risk running afoul of the Summer King’s guards.”
The Summer King. Oberon.
The ruler of the Seelie Court, and the fae who might have been pretty pissed when he discovered two of the prisoners in Siúcra managed to escape.
“Is… is he really that bad?” I ask.
“Have you ever had a ruler who’d rather see his subjects suffer than thrive? Who only cares about his own happiness, and would step over the dead if they got in his way?”
I blink. “You really don’t know anything about the human world, do you?”
“It’s a few days’ journey between my cottage and the Courts’ divide. You can tell me even more about it.” Morgan laughs. It’s such a sweet sound, completely at odds with the somber way she described Oberon. “By the time you’re back in the Summerlands, I’ll be an expert.”
7
I don’t know how big I thought Faerie was but, honestly, I totally underestimated its size.
Two days into this journey and we’re still deep in the Shadow Realm. When I mention that to Morgan, she reminds me that she said it would take a few days. Turns out, when Morgan says a few, it means a lot more than I would’ve guessed.
Lovely.
Still, it’s not so bad. Once Morgan leaves the sanctity of her cottage, I discover that she’s equally suited to traveling through the woods. I have to admit, I had my concerns, but my Unseelie friend has a couple of talents that come in handy.
I find out almost right away why she purposely lives in an area of the Shadow Realm that’s as warm as my old circle. Not only does any revealed skin gleam against the shadows, like a beacon she can barely contain beneath her cloak, but Morgan is as cold as ice. Seriously. Ice crystals form on her breath, even in the chilly Shadow Realm, and she can create snow in the palm of her hand.