“Yet water swims in my blood.”
The creature cranes his neck to peek at me behind Aspen. “What about her blood?”
“Her blood is not up for discussion. She made you a bargain that you accepted, and she bested you. It is not her fault you agreed to it. Now you will let us go without further argument.”
The kelpie stomps its hoof, creating a furrow in the ground beneath him, teeth peeling back. Aspen’s posture grows defensive. He leans forward, hands clenched into fists as a snarl escapes his lips.
The kelpie paws the earth again, then freezes. His head swivels on his sinuous neck toward the fog in the distance and the faewall I know is behind it. I follow his line of vision and see figures moving in the mist. When I look back at the kelpie, it’s gone.
I remember what Cobalt had said about sending guards to stop Aspen from killing too many humans during his rage. “We need to leave. Now.”
Aspen doesn’t utter a word as he shudders from head to toe and shifts back into a stag. He lowers himself for me to climb on his back, then we take off. I don’t dare look behind me, terrified of what I’ll see. I can only hope Aspen is fast enough to outrun Cobalt’s guards. To my horror, Aspen doesn’t run away from the faewall, but parallel to it. The dense fog remains in my periphery as we speed through the forest.
“How will we get back in time?” I ask him, arms wrapped around his neck as I lean into him. “In fact, how did the kelpie get me here so fast? It took nearly a full day to get from Sableton to Bircharbor by carriage. How will we get there by midnight?”
“We’ll get there.” His words sound far away again, but his tone is more alert, more aware. “Each section of the wall falls on a different axis. Each axis belongs to a different court. Sableton is near the Spring axis.”
“What exactly does an axis mean in this instance? Is that just where a court’s lands touch the wall?”
“Perhaps a better word for a human would beportal. These portals run along the length of the wall and allow us to travel quickly to and from courts that, without them, wouldn’t be anywhere close to the wall. When you first came here, Foxglove had the carriage bypass the axis line to take you to Bircharbor by traditional means in what’s considered the long way to Autumn.”
“Why?”
“To give you time to adjust,” he says. “I didn’t want you bombarded with interaxis travel on your first day. That’s what we’re doing now. We’ll travel along the wall until we reach the Autumn axis.”
“That must be what the kelpie did as well,” I say, trying not to dwell on the missing logic and just be grateful instead. If this strange method of travel hadn’t been available to me, Aspen would have crossed the faewall into my village.
“I don’t think I would have hurt your people,” he says as if he can read my thoughts. “I was looking for you. That’s all I remember.”
I stroke his neck but say nothing. There’s no use wondering what might have happened if I hadn’t stopped him, and there’s no use holding anymaybesagainst him. Cobalt is to blame for this. I’ll save my anger for him.
We fall into silence, and my eyes begin to grow heavy.
“Sleep,” Aspen says. “I’ll make sure you stay righted on my back.”
I close my eyes and let nightmares of blood and waves take me.
* * *
“I can see the palace just ahead.”
I jolt awake, craning my neck to look around Aspen. Soon I can see the palace too. It glows gold in the moonlight, bright against the black sky. You’d never know by looking at it that a dangerous coup is taking place inside. Once we reach the front steps of the palace, Aspen lowers himself to the ground so I can dismount, then shifts into his seelie form. I grimace as I shake out my aching limbs.
Aspen takes my hand and we dart inside. Guards stand at attention as we enter, expressions concerned. “Is the council in session?” he barks at them.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” one says, brow furrowed.
“Should I carry you?” Aspen asks under his breath.
I remember how good it felt to be in his arms, head against his chest. Was that just this morning? Part of me wants to say yes. “No,” I say with a sigh. “I want to stand on my own two feet when we confront Cobalt.”
“And I want to tear his head off,” he grumbles.
I shiver at his tone. It occurs to me I have no idea what to expect of the confrontation. How do fae handle situations like this? I’ve seen Aspen send his servants to the dungeon and order their execution, but will that be punishment enough for his brother? I can only imagine this ending in blood and teeth.
“Where is the meeting held?” I ask as we move higher in the palace.
“The balcony,” he says.
