“Good. Then there are some things you understand already. You seek answers. The cost of knowledge will be higher still.”
“I don’t want knowledge,” she whispered, shaking her head. “I only want him back.”
She paused as the fox stepped before the fire, spooning the contents of the cauldron in a bowl and placing it before Silva. It was some sort of meat in a heavy broth, with what appeared to be root vegetables. The only meat she knew how to identify was red and raw, and she could not tell what this was.
“Eat.”
Like the other commands she’d been given, it was clear she had no choice. Whatever it was, Silva admitted to herself ruefully, it was good. Her little wing turned, kicked, turned again. It was the most active they’d been in weeks.
“You will keep searching for him even without my permission.” Again, the fae woman did not pose it as a question. “That is a mistake.”
“I won’t,” Silva said quickly.Maybe this is all a dream. You need to hurry up and make promises so that you can wake up. “I swear I won’t.”
“You will,” the Queen countered steadily, “because you are unwise. The Court of Flowers will pick their teeth with yourbones, girl. Spring borrows what Autumn will demand repaid. You will be presented with a choice, and the road you follow will determine your story’s end. Do not become another debt collected.”
They will trick you. They will trap you. They will make you a slave to their queen. Silva couldn’t tell which this was.
Across the small table, the Queen smiled again, her thin lips tight and nearly invisible. “I already told you, child. Here, we do not take what is not ours to claim. Winter does not give up what is hers. But unlike the courts of my sisters, we know the difference.”
A third fae entered the room, escorted by the moth. The girl had brilliant, nearly glowing blue eyes, rich mahogany skin, and a quick, mischievous smile. Behind her, a thin, whip-like tail swished.
“And what of Summer, Your Majesty?” Silva blurted out, needing to finish this conversation before whatever happened next.
The Queen held up her hand, halting the others at a small distance. Another tight smile, draining her cup, her slush-grey eyes growing sharp. “My sister,” she began, letting the fox refill her cup once more, “consumes. Summer does not care what it devours. Only that it is fed. And Autumn collects the balance. The Bonfire Court doesnotforget debts owed. The one you seek was a promise repaid. I fear your bravery, while foolish and admirable, will be for naught, sweetling. The harvest must be reaped. He who collects will always take what is due.”
“And Winter?” Silva asked, knowing full well she was betting above her odds.
“Winter endures.” The Queen’s eyes were as cold as her smile. “That is what we do.” Her attention rose to the newcomer, gesturing towards Silva. The moth and the blue-eyed girlstepped forward. “This one possesses Winter’s Bone. She came through the gate. She seeks Autumn’s Princeling.”
At that, Silva’s head snapped up.Autumn’swhat?
“He’s here?” The be-tailed girl had a slight cockney accent, her voice enthusiastic, and Silva nearly wrenched her back, twisting in her chair. “He’s crossed back, then?”
“Apparently so. Which means he was collected, and that will only end badly. I’ll not have the bloodshed of my sister’s consort and court impact our people. I want all of the gates sealed and guarded, inside and out. Set a watch.”
The moth gave a brief bow, leaving the way he’d come in. Silence stretched long and slow.Duration. This was where he’d wanted to come, Silva remembered suddenly. The land of always winter.Winter endures. “He liked it here,” she blurted again, her face hot. “He told me so. The land of always winter. He said winter was the only acceptable season for doing anything.”
A ghost of a smile, a pull of those thin lips again. “Winter values pragmatism.” She turned to the newcomer.The lamplighter, she said. “She carries our blood,” the Queen began slowly. The other fae’s head whipped around, her blue eyes fixing on Silva intently, sparkling with curiosity, a knowing grin brightening her face. “You are to escort her back to the gate and see that she crosses safely. She isnotto return.”
The realization that she was being permitted to leave was a rush of giddy heat, her eyes filled with relieved tears, as all the air in her body left in awoosh. “You’re letting me leave? I can go home? I-I appreciate your kindness, Your Majesty.”
“It is not a kindness.” The Queen rose, the fox quickly following her back to the throne. “We do not wish to be involved in Autumn’s messes. My sister’s consort has chosen his fate. And we will choose ours. Consider this your permission for passage revoked. You are a vessel of our blood. Be glad of it, for you will not find such courtesies afterward. And you,” she went on as sheclimbed the ice block steps to her throne, continuing to address Silva, but clearlynotSilva, “you have tarried too long.Wake up.”
Silva jumped when a hand wrapped around her wrist. It was warm,normal, the first warm thing she’d felt since her arrival at the cemetery that day. The blue-eyed fae grinned.
“A small mercy before you go,” the Queen called out, reseated on her frozen throne. “You will soon face a choice, child. Knowledge or nurture. The cost of one will cancel out the other, and you cannot bear them both. Do not come back to this side.”
They were silent, leaving the hall of Winter. Silva spared a single glance back as the doors to the chapel swung open. The Queen of Ash and Silence remained unmoving, as frozen as everything around her.Winter endures. And so will I.
“You know Tate,” she choked out as they crossed through the cemetery once more, the blowing snow swallowing up her voice.
“I do,” the lamplighter fae agreed cheerfully. “He’s a cheeky hoor, isn’t he. I’ve shot pool with him on more than one occasion. Rang me up not long ago, maybe a year or two. Asked me to dispose of some trash for ‘im.”
Her grin was too wide, her canines pointed and sharp as she giggled. It was an unsettling sound, and Silva forced herself to remember that she wasn’t out of danger just yet, not as long as she was in this place.
“You’re able to come and go?” she demanded, puzzle pieces slotting together rapidly in her mind. “You-you’re a Wisp.”
“That’s right.”
