Broken (22 page)

Jonathan looked like he had something to say, but then silenced
himself. The nature of his heritage must have come as a shock to
him.

I was next on the Queen’s list.

“As for you,” she said. “Half-breed that you
are, you are welcome in my Court or you may return to your —
how is it you humans put it — concrete jungle. You will
always have access to the Faery realm, but I suspect after this,
you’ll want to go back to the life you had.” She
motioned for Chris to be released.

When he got up I ran over to
him. I looked him over to make sure he was unharmed. Then I kissed
him, hard. He put his arms around me, and it felt right. Safe.
Tears slipped from my eyes.

“It really is too bad I lost my Troll,” Maeve
said. “If you tire of her, you can come back and see me. I
will have a special place for you.”

Chris lowered his head. He blushed.

“Thank you,” I said.

The Queen nodded. “You may leave. You’ve given me
quite the entertainment and much to gossip about for many months.
I’m sure the Summer Court will be interested in this. Morgana
was high in their Court when she gave birth to you. She came to us
in great shame. We take all of the vagrants they dispose of. If it
wasn’t for your human half, you’d be one of theirs.
Don’t be surprised if they pay you a visit.”

I planned on getting back to my concrete jungle as fast as I
could. I took the red brooch from Jonathan.

“Ah, yes,” the Queen said. “I gave that to
Marigold. She needed to remain out of sight of the Faery realm, not
only to save her skin from Morgana, but to help her with raising my
son.”

I looked at Jonathan. It was the one thing that had bothered me
about Thomas wearing it. How he had remained hidden without
Jonathan there. It had been Marigold that had loaned it to him.
“I’m guessing I didn’t need you near me all that
time?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “Marigold told me I had to be near her when
she wore it.”

Maeve’s smile was cunning. “It was meant to hide both of
you, my son. In your youth you were vulnerable, and I needed to
have you hidden from those that might do you harm. Now that you
know your true heritage, I’m going to have to ensure you remain
hidden once more. You will remain here, in the Winter Court, until
I think you’re ready, and I can safely let you out into the
world. The King of the Summer Court will likely come searching for
you now that your identity is known. He’s fond of eliminating
anyone he thinks is a threat to his throne.”

“Will this still hide me?” I asked, fingering the
brooch.

“Since you are not really human, it will not hide you. It never did. You had the ability to hide yourself. But if you wish to keep it, it
is yours.”

I nodded and turned, marching back to the ring from which
I’d come. Chris followed on my heels.

Jonathan ran after me, but before he could grab my arm, Chris
stepped between us. His size increased considerably. “Back
off,
half-breed
,” he growled. “You’ve caused
enough hurt.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear anything Jonathan had to
say. All of this had been too much.

Jonathan leaned around Chris. There was sorrow in his eyes.
“I meant what I said, Katherine.”

I nodded, turned and walked away, taking my dignity with me as I
made for the portal. I didn’t look back, nor did I pause.

I reached into my dress and removed the carved fox. I let it
fall to the floor and reached back for Chris’s hand. He took
it with all the warmth and strength I needed.

Then we slipped through the ring to the sound of Jonathan
calling my name.

Chapter 27

I didn’t rush to fly home after all.

I discovered that fear was quite the deterrent — almost
crippling at times.

The aftermath of leaving Maeve’s Court manifested in me
in not being quite ready to fly. I needed to know that Morgana
wasn’t going to come after me, whether she was my birth
mother or not.

So Chris took me on a tour of England until I felt my nerves had
settled enough to go home.

It turned out the police weren’t looking for us after all,
with the exception of wondering if we were alive after they had
found the car wreck. They had assumed that we’d come to the house, and
my aunt had had a heart attack. They knew we’d tried to phone them
due to the records of our call and assumed we must’ve gotten lost
after going on foot.

The interview was brief. Then we were free to go about our
business.

Strangely, they’d never asked who had been driving the car that
hit ours. I suspect Maeve had found a way to intervene.

What Chris managed to glean from the Winter Court, both during
his time there and after, was that Jonathan and Morgana were an
item, and had been for some time. Eventually, Jonathan had betrayed
Aunt Marigold, but led her to believe he was still helping her.

I suspect Aunt Marigold knew.

Chris also learned, as I had assumed, that Jonathan had been
leading me along. Everything he had done was to get me to the
house, hoping I would invite Morgana in. Jonathan was meant to
trick me into trusting him. He had been duped by Morgana. She had led him to believe she could help him gain entry into the Summer Court. He had also mistakenly sent me to the Winter Court. The toadstool ring had been meant to take me somewhere else.

It also turned out that Geoffrey wasn’t as much to blame
as I thought. One of his fag hags was actually Morgana, and
she’d been worming her way into his life. When the time came,
she had planned to take care of him as well.

The days that followed were quiet and peaceful. I spent a lot of
it sleeping — with Chris. I quickly learned that Chris
actually was incapable of charming me. Being a Faery creature of
sorts, myself, proved he couldn’t do it. The intense connection we
had made was because of our Faery halves connecting with each
other.

Needless to say, he was forgiven.

We took a trip back into the Kingley Vale, and this time I was
able to enjoy it.

Brokk appeared to me then. He looked frightened and alone, but
his face lit up when he saw me. He ran over from one of the yew
trees in which he was hiding.

I bent down to pick him up. “Hello, Brokk,” I
said.

He clapped his meaty hands.

I tickled him to let him know things were fine. He hugged my
face.

Brokk looked over to Chris and offered a sheepish grin. Chris
also tickled him and smiled.

“Is he okay?” I asked Chris.

Chris nodded. “He’s scared. He thought Morgana or
Jonathan might come after him. He’s been hiding here. He also
thought we might be upset with him because he was helping
Jonathan.”

“Willingly?” I asked. I couldn’t believe that.
Brokk didn’t seem the type.

“No,” Chris said. “The homunculus is a pure
creature. He cannot lie. He had no idea what Jonathan was
doing.”

I held him out on my palms so he could look me right in the
eyes. “It’s okay, Brokk. I’ll protect you,”
I said. “You can come live with me.”

Brokk clapped those mitts of his again. I don’t know why I
agreed to it, but after what I’d been through, there was no
way I was going to let the little guy live hiding in fear.

“You’ll need to help me with the plants,” I
said to Chris. He took my hand as Brokk climbed onto my
shoulder.

“That’s not a problem,” he said. Those green
gems were smiling at me.

We took our time strolling through the Vale, Chris pointing out
a number of different creatures that were in hiding here. There
were more than a handful because of Morgana, but as I walked
along the trail, their bodies and faces lit up. Their
demeanor changed from one of despair to that of euphoria.

“They realize that Morgana can’t harm them
now,” Chris said. “Now that they see you’re
alive, they know the rumors are true, that Morgana is being held by
Maeve.”

“And now they’re free to go?”

Chris nodded and Brokk clapped his hands again.

We quieted when a small group of humans approached. I offered a
warm greeting and was about to speak further when an older
gentleman started to come up the path. He was wearing breeches and
he was pulling a mule.

I knew the man instantly. Now that I wasn’t fleeing for my life
and I’d had enough rest, the memories of what had transpired in the
days leading up to my confrontation with Morgana had become much
clearer.

I had seen this man in the Goblin Market, as well as along the
road with Jonathan.

He had a wide face, but it was kind and gentle. He smiled a set
of teeth that reminded me of Chris. They were flawless.

“Katherine,” Chris said. “I want you to meet
someone.”

I knew exactly who he was. “This is your father.”

Chris nodded. I took the man’s hand. “I’m so
pleased to meet you,” I said.

The man nodded and grinned, but said nothing.

“He doesn’t speak human,” Chris said.
“But I sent him to watch over you after I was captured. Since
I couldn’t do it myself, I needed someone to protect you. He
followed you from the Goblin Market. He also changed the ring of toadstools so you’d be sent straight to the Winter Court.” He paused. “I
hope you don’t mind.”

I decided to hug the old man. He returned it. He was powerful
and smelled of the earth.

Then I flung my arms around Chris and kissed him. There was that
girly thing again.

“I think I’m ready to go home now,” I
said.

He held me there, in the shelter of the yew trees. It felt
right.

I wasn’t whole yet, and I wasn’t sure I would ever
be.

But, I was sure of one thing.

This was a good start.

About the Author

David H. Burton was born in Windsor, Ontario to parents that
instilled in him the love of the written word at a very young age.
Throughout his childhood, David read relentlessly, often into the
wee hours of the morning.
Fantasy and Science Fiction novels have always been David’s
greatest vice and he has indulged in the likes of Terry Brooks,
Robert Jordan, Margaret Weis, Mark Anthony, J.R.R. Tolkien, George
R.R. Martin, Robert J. Sawyer, Isaac Asimov, Melanie Rawn, Marion
Zimmer Bradley, Sarah Prineas, and J.K. Rowling.
David graduated from the University of Toronto with a major in
Biology and a minor in Classical Civilization. He also dabbled in
Computer Science, to which he owes his current occupation in the
Telecommunications world at one of the large banks in Canada.
When David isn’t writing he enjoys spending time with his
partner and three boys: hiking, swimming, kayaking, biking, and
reading. David has a great fondness for Portuguese cuisine, good
wine, and all things left of centre.

***

A personalized version of this ebook is also available for purchase that includes an autographed dedication page. Visit David's web site (
davidhburton.com
) for further information.

Also by David H. Burton