The Iron Legends: Winter's Passage\Summer's Crossing\Iron's Prophecy (11 page)
Read The Iron Legends: Winter's Passage\Summer's Crossing\Iron's Prophecy Online
Authors: Julie Kagawa
Chapter Six
AND ROBIN SHALL RESTORE AMENDS
“Darlings!”
Standing in the long grass in front of the cabin, Leanansidhe
beamed at us as we stepped outside, the girl still fast asleep in the prince’s
arms. “You found her, darlings! I knew you would. I had complete faith in your
abilities. Oh—” she sighed, bringing a hand to her chest “—I wish I could see
the look on Titania’s face when she discovers her little toy is missing.”
Ash stepped forward. “Our deal is finished,” he said firmly.
“We found what was stolen and brought it back to you. I’ve upheld my end of the
bargain. I owe you nothing else.”
“Of course, darling.” Leanansidhe smiled at him. “You’ve done a
marvelous job. So, if you would just set her down there, dove, my servants will
take her off your hands.”
Ash didn’t release the girl. I felt him hesitate, then take a
furtive breath. “Now,” he continued in a quiet voice, “what will it take for you
to let her go?”
“What?” Leanansidhe blinked, staring at the Winter prince, who
faced her calmly. “
What
did you say, pet? I’m not
quite sure I heard you correctly.”
I quickly stepped up beside him.
“She’s a kid, Lea.” The Exile Queen spun on me, bristling like
an enraged cougar. “You can’t keep her like this. She has a family, somewhere.
She needs to go home.”
“
I
am her home, pet.” Leanansidhe
swelled indignantly, her copper-gold hair whipping madly around her. “And the
girl belongs to me! Ash, darling.” She glanced at the Winter prince. “I cannot
believe this. Your own queen does far worse to the humans in her court. And
you—I know what
you
have done to mortals over the
years, you and Goodfellow both! How dare you judge me? Have you gone soft,
darlings? Have you forgotten that we are fey?”
Jeez, pissing off two volatile faery queens in one day. We must
hold some kind of record. I stepped up before Lea could turn Ash into a
harpsichord.
“Not at all,” I said quickly, smiling in the face of the
enraged Exile Queen. “Calm down, Lea. It’s not like we’re going to take the kid
and run. We’re prepared to offer a trade.”
Leanansidhe calmed somewhat. “A trade, darling?” she mused,
feigning disinterest, though I knew she was curious. She couldn’t help it; it
was part of our nature. “And what, may I ask, could you possibly offer for the
girl’s freedom? The price will be high, my pet, just so you know. The girl is
one of my favorites, after all. I’m afraid that your offer will have to be
quite—”
I reached into my shirt and held up a mirror, letting it flash
in the sun. A small, golden hand mirror, with jeweled flowers around the rim and
silver vines curled around the handle. It sang as I brought it out, a sweet,
piercing note that made all the nearby birds start chirping and drew a curious
pair of deer out of the forest.
Leanansidhe’s eyes went wide. “That…that is…” She blinked at
me, astonished, then threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, Robin, you naughty,
brilliant boy. You
did
take it, after all. How in
the world did you manage?”
“That,” I said, “is a very long story. One that should be told
another time.” I tossed the mirror in the air and caught it again, holding it
out to Leanansidhe. “So, Lea, do we have a trade, or not?”
“Take the girl back to her family, pet.” Leanansidhe plucked
the mirror from my hand with obvious delight. “I found her in some tiny little
town in the Ozarks. She can probably tell you where she lives…I haven’t had her
for very long. In any case, I believe our business here is concluded.”
“One more thing, if you would.” Ash stepped forward before the
Exile Queen could depart. “Grimalkin. We need to find him. You said you knew
where he was.”
“No, pet.” Leanansidhe admired herself in the mirror’s surface,
pleased as a full cat. “I said I could perhaps point you in the right
direction.”
“And what direction would that be?”
Leanansidhe tore her gaze away from the mirror, smiling at us.
“Well, darlings,” she said, waving an airy hand, “there is a trio of witches who
live somewhere in the Wraithwood. I would start there. It is as good a place as
any. Now, my pets, I really must dash. I have a violin to replace. Good luck
finding Grimalkin. If you do manage to catch up to the devious creature, be a
dear and tell him I said hello.
Ciao,
darlings!”
A swirl of glitter and light, and we were alone.
Ash sighed. “The Wraithwood,” he said, shifting the girl into a
more comfortable position. She mumbled and snored in his arms.
“That’s…unfortunate. I was hoping we’d never have to go back.”
I grinned at him. “What, you mean because of the ogre tribe we
pissed off, or the giant dead god we accidentally woke up?”
“
You
accidentally woke up.”
“Details.” I waved my hand. “So, are we going to get this
adventure started, or what?”
Ash shook his head, but I saw the shadow of a smirk on his
face. “You know I’m probably going to kill you soon, right?” he muttered as we
headed off into the trees.
“Old news, ice-boy.” I chuckled, falling into step beside him.
“And you know I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“You May Have Heard of Me”
Iron’s Prophecy
Chapter One
Darkness surrounded me.
I stood in the center of a familiar room, the walls and shelves
covered with the macabre and strange. Snakes floating in jars, teeth scattered
among feathers and bones and pestles. A skeleton in a top hat grinning at me
from the corner. Frightening, but I wasn’t afraid. I knew this place. I just
couldn’t remember from where.
An old wooden rocking chair creaked softly at the edge of the
light. It was facing away from me, and I could see a body slumped in the seat,
withered arms dangling over the sides. I took a step closer and smelled the
decay, the stench of grave dust and rags and ancient newspapers, crumbling in
the attic. Walking around to face the chair, I gazed down at the shriveled
corpse of an old woman, her nails curved into long, steely talons, her head
slumped on her sunken chest.
Then she raised her head, and her eyes burned with black fire
as she opened her mouth and breathed the words that stopped my heart in
fear.
And I awoke.
* * *
My name is
Meghan Chase.
And I’ve been working way too hard, lately.
I lifted my head from my desk, blinking at my computer and the
nonsensical words scrolled across the screen. A quick glance at the clock
proclaimed it 6:32 a.m. Had I pulled another all-nighter? I yawned, shaking
cobwebs from my mind, as memory returned. No, I’d come here only an hour ago, to
check the status of the new railroad system that was going up around the Iron
Realm. It was a pet project of mine; the Iron Realm, despite being the smallest
and newest realm in the Nevernever, was still large and sprawling. It needed a
way for its citizens to travel safely and quickly, particularly if they were
coming to Mag Tuiredh to see their new queen. The railroad was the perfect
solution, though it would be a while before it was finished.
I rubbed my eyes, the remnants of a dream fading from my mind.
Something with a skeleton and a creepy old corpse…I couldn’t remember. Maybe I
needed to slow down, take a break or a vacation, if the Iron Queen was allowed
such things. It wasn’t such an impossible idea now. The Iron Court, despite all
the fear and hatred it still faced from the other courts, was doing well. There
were a few hiccups, particularly involving the Winter Court, as Tir Na Nog’s
boundaries rested very close to Iron, but as a whole things were going far more
smoothly and peacefully than I could’ve hoped for.
Which reminded me. Today marked the first day of Winter. The
Winter Court Elysium was this afternoon in Tir Na Nog. I groaned at the
thought.
At my feet, Beau, my German shepherd, raised his head and
thumped his tail hopefully, and I smiled down at him.
“Hey, boy. You need to go out?”
The big dog panted and surged to his feet, wagging his tail. I
ruffled his fur and stood, then winced as the floor swayed and a cloud of nausea
bloomed in my stomach. Frowning, I put my hand on the desk to steady myself,
clenching my jaw until the spell passed. Beau nudged my hand and whined.
I patted his neck, and the sick feeling faded and everything
was normal again. “I’m okay, boy,” I assured the dog, who gazed up at me with
worried brown eyes. “Working too hard, I guess. Come on, I bet Razor is waiting
for his daily game of catch-me-if-you-can.”
We slipped into the hallway of the palace, where I was
instantly trailed by several gremlins, tiny Iron fey that lived for trouble and
chaos. They laughed and skittered around me, climbing walls and hanging from the
ceiling, taunting poor Beau, until we reached the doors that led to the gardens
surrounding the palace. As soon as I opened the doors, the gremlins shot
through, buzzing challenges, and Beau took off after them, barking like mad. I
rolled my eyes and shut the door as quiet returned to the Iron palace, if only
temporarily. I couldn’t help but smile as I headed back to my chambers, nodding
at the Iron knights who bowed as I passed. This was my life now, crazy and weird
and strange and magical, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
* * *
As soon as I wandered back into the bedroom, my gaze
strayed to the large bed along the wall and the lump beneath the covers. Pale
light streamed through the half-open curtains, settling around the
still-sleeping form of a Winter sidhe. Or a former Winter sidhe. Pausing in the
door frame, I took advantage of the serene moment just to watch him, a tiny
flutter going through my stomach. Sometimes, it was still hard to believe that
he was here, that this wasn’t a dream or a mirage or a figment of my
imagination. That he was mine forever: my husband, my knight.
My faery with a soul.
He lay on his stomach, arms beneath the pillow, breathing
peacefully, his dark hair falling over his eyes. The covers had slipped off his
lean, muscular shoulders, and the early-morning rays caressed his pale skin.
Normally, I didn’t get to watch him sleep; he was usually up before me, in the
courtyard sparring with Glitch or just prowling the halls of the castle. In the
early days of our marriage, especially, I’d wake up in the middle of the night
to find him gone, the hyperawareness of his warrior days making it impossible
for him to stay in one place, even to sleep. He’d grown up in the Unseelie
Court, where you had to watch your back every second of every day, and centuries
of fey survival could not be forgotten so easily. That paranoia would never
really fade, but he was gradually starting to relax now, to the point where
sometimes, though not often, I would wake with him still beside me, his arm
curled around my waist.
And given how rare it was, to see him truly unguarded and at
ease, I hated to disturb him. But I walked across the room to the side of the
bed and gently touched his shoulder.
He was awake in an instant, silver eyes cracking open to meet
mine, never failing to take my breath away. “Hey,” I greeted, smiling. “Sorry to
wake you, but we have to be somewhere soon, remember?”
He grunted and, to my surprise, shifted to his back and put the
pillow over his head. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to go without me,”
he groaned, his voice muffled beneath the fabric. “Tell Mab I’ve been eaten by a
manticore or something?”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous.” I snatched the pillow off his
head, and he winced, peering up at me blearily. “It’s our first Elysium
together, Ash. They’ll be expecting us. Both of us.” He moaned and grabbed
another pillow, covering his eyes. “No playing hooky and insulting the Winter
Queen. I’m not doing this by myself.” I took the second pillow, tossing it on
the floor, and mock-glowered at him. “Up.”
He regarded me with a wry smile. “You’re awfully perky for
someone who kept me up all night.”
“Hey, you started it, remember?” I feigned defiance, but it
still made my heart soar to see him like this. It was like tiny pieces of his
wall crumbled every day, showing me the bright, beautiful soul that lay beneath.
I knew it was there, of course, when he had returned from his quest at the End
of the World, but it had been new and fragile and overshadowed by his past, by
his Unseelie nature and ruthless upbringing. Now, though, I could see more of it
every day. He was still Ash the ice prince to everyone else in the castle, and
sometimes that frozen barrier sprang up when he was angry or upset, but he was
trying.
“So, come on.” I poked him in the ribs, making him grunt. “If I
have to suffer through this, you do, too. That was part of the deal when you
married me.”
I went to poke him again, but his hand shot out faster than I
could see, grabbing my wrist and pulling me forward. I gave a startled yelp and
fell on top of him, and his arms immediately snaked around my waist, trapping me
against him.
“I don’t know,” he mused, giving me a lazy smile, as my heart
started pounding in my chest. “What would you do if I just kept you here all
afternoon? We could send Glitch to Tir Na Nog in our place—I’m sure he’d smooth
things over.”
“Oh, yeah, that would go over well—” But my voice was lost as
Ash leaned up and kissed me, cutting off any protest. My eyes closed, and I
melted into him, savoring the feel of his lips on mine, breathing in his scent.
God, he was like a drug; I could never get enough. My fingers roamed over his
bare shoulders and chest, and he sighed against me, sliding his hands up to
tangle in my hair.
“This…isn’t going to get you out of it,” I breathed, shivering
as Ash gently kissed my neck, right below my ear. “You’re still…going to
Elysium…” He chuckled, low and quiet, and brushed his lips across my cheek.
“I am yours to command, my queen,” he whispered, making my
heart clench in complete, helpless love. “I will obey, even if you order me to
cut out my own heart. Even if you order me to the hell that is the Winter Court
Elysium.”
“It’s…not that bad, is it?” I managed to get out. Ash gave a
rueful smirk.
“Well, let’s put it in perspective, shall we?” he mused,
brushing a strand of hair from my eyes as he gazed up at me. “How many Elysiums
have you been to?”
“Three,” I said immediately. “At least…this will be my third
one.”
“And how many Elysiums do you think
I’ve
been to?”
“Um. More than three?”
“I do appreciate your gift for understatement.” Ash kissed me
once more and let me go, shaking his head. I stepped back, because if I stayed
there any longer, staring into that gorgeous face, I wouldn’t be going anywhere.
“Very well.” He sighed, putting on a mock-affronted air. “I guess I can suffer
through another Elysium.” He shifted to an elbow, watching me beneath the
covers, looking so sexy I was tempted to say the hell with it and miss Elysium
myself. “You do realize that I’m probably going to be challenged at least once
by some Winter Court thug who thinks I’ve turned traitor.”
“Yes, well, try not to kill anybody, Ash.”
“Majesty?” A soft tap came on the door. I opened it a crack to
find three wire nymphs gazing up at me. “We are here to help you prepare for
Elysium, your majesty,” one said with a deep curtsy. “Councilor Fix insisted
that we arrange a dress for you, one suited for your status as queen.”
“Did he now?” I smiled. Fix, my chief packrat adviser, had been
quite busy of late, researching Elysium, the other courts and all the customs
that went with it. He was incredibly efficient and probably knew more about the
event than most of the traditional fey did.
The wire nymph shuffled her feet, looking uncomfortable. “Yes,
your majesty. He also wished us to remind her highness that it would be highly
inappropriate to wear human jeans and a T-shirt to the Winter Court, and that
sneakers are not considered proper court attire.”
A quiet noise came from the bed, sounding suspiciously like a
snicker. I spared Ash a quick glare over my shoulder, and he gazed back
innocently. Last night, when Fix was going over the rules with me one more time,
I
jokingly
had mentioned the event was so stuffy and
formal, maybe I could go in casual clothes this year. Then I’d at least be
comfortably frozen. I’d thought Fix was going to have a heart attack squeaking
in horror, and quickly assured him I was kidding. Packrats were wonderful little
fey and fiercely loyal, but they tended to take everything seriously. Puck would
have a field day with them.
Puck.
I felt a twinge of sadness at
the memory of him. Where was he now? What was he doing? I hadn’t seen my best
friend since the day we defeated the false king and I claimed the Iron throne.
Ash had; Puck had accompanied him to the End of the World in his quest to gain a
soul so he could be with me in the Iron Realm. But they’d parted ways soon
after, and no one had seen any sign of the Great Prankster since.
I wished I knew where he was. I missed him.
“All right,” I told the wire nymphs, smiling to ease their
nervousness. “Then I’m at your mercy, I suppose. Lead the way.”
An indefinite time later, after being poked, prodded, stuffed
into a gown, my hair teased into curls and my face touched with makeup, I went
back toward the bedroom, relieved that it was done. This was one of the things I
didn’t particularly care for; these extremely formal affairs that required me to
look the part of a powerful faery queen. I understood Ash’s reluctance. Faery
politics were tricky, conniving and, if you weren’t careful, extremely
dangerous. I’d had to learn the ropes fast. Thankfully, Glitch and Fix were
there to offer guidance when I needed it, and now Ash was here, as well. And the
youngest son of the Unseelie Queen was no slouch when it came to the power
struggles between the faery courts.
Speaking of which…
He was waiting for me outside our chamber doors, leaning
against one of the pillars, arms crossed. Seeing him, I paused to collect
myself. Ash in his black-and-silver uniform cut a striking figure against the
white marble column, his cloak draping his shoulders and his sword at his side.
It reminded me of our first dance together, my first Elysium, when I’d seen the
cold, dangerous son of Queen Mab up close for the first time and was completely
lost. Call it fate, destiny or just blatant hardheadedness on both our parts,
from that moment on, there was no turning back.
As I approached, he smiled and pushed himself off the column,
extending a hand. He had this uncanny ability to see everything about me in a
single glance without taking his eyes from my face. I sensed he was doing that
now. His expression looked a bit dazed, for just a moment, before he took my
hand and kissed the backs of my knuckles, a perfect gentleman even now.
“Well.” I sighed, ignoring the butterflies set loose in my
stomach. “Here am I, all fancied up and ready to go to Elysium.” I glanced down
at the metallic gray-and-white fabric of my dress, befitting colors for the Iron
Queen, and shook my head. “I hope this gown is heavy enough. Mab’s palace isn’t
exactly the warmest place in the Nevernever.”