“That’s enough,” Jem snarled, and started across the street. But Julian put a hand on his shoulder.
“Wait,” he said, and we all stared at him. You know I have utter faith in Julian, but for a moment even I wondered if he’d gone crazy.
And then. Then there was this huge noise. I thought it was a helicopter at first, or maybe a bunch of helicopters, but I realized no, the sound was stranger than that—it was hooves, beating against the sky. They passed over us and it was Gwyn and Diana! I mean, it was the whole Wild Hunt, a couple dozen of them, some on horses, others on winged creatures I’d never seen before. But in front was Gwyn, with Diana on another horse right behind him, her hair streaming out behind her.
Diana swooped down and grabbed Mina right out of Mother Hawthorn’s arms. Gwyn was right behind her and seized Mother Hawthorn in one arm—that guy is, uh, pretty strong, I guess—and slung her over the back of his horse. It looked pretty dangerous for Mother Hawthorn, but you know, not a lot of sympathy for kidnappers here.
Diana swooped (the Wild Hunt does a lot of swooping, as you may recall) over to us, and gently handed Mina off to Jem and Tessa. Then Diana winked at us and rose back into the sky, and she and Gwyn and the whole rest of the Hunt ascended faster than I would have thought possible. They disappeared into the clouds with Mother Hawthorn and were gone.
I have to say, Diana’s wink was a badass move. It made me miss doing badass stuff a little. I think I’ll take Cortana out back tonight and seriously behead some weeds.
So anyway. Kit ran back toward us. Tessa was crying in relief. Jem was staring at where the Wild Hunt had disappeared. Mina, of course, was fine. She kept saying,“Horsies!” which was hilarious, and then Kit got there and started fussing over her, and Julian and I stepped away to give the four of them space for their reunion.
Julian had one of those Looks on his face, and I had a hunch. “That was you, right?” I said. “You contacted the Wild Hunt.”
He shrugged. “Mother Hawthorn said not to contact the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, but the Wild Hunt is neither. They don’t swear allegiance to anybody.”
“Neither does Mother Hawthorn,” I said. “So it was like, ‘Wild fae, come get your wild friend, she is getting too wild’?”
“Something like that,” he said. His voice was casual, but I could tell he was pleased with himself. And all right, fine, I was pleased with him too, and I told him so.
On the way back to the house we asked Kit what it was Mother Hawthorn even wanted. He said she wanted to tell him he was the descendent of the first you-know-who (I know Kieran has told you something about Kit’s faerie heritage, but not all of it, and most people don’t know) and she had come to take him to live in Faerie where he belongs. He tried to make it clear he didn’t want to live in Faerie, that he was satisfied with the life he had (although he kind of looked over at Jem and Tessa while he said it and I think satisfied is maybe less embarrassing to say than how he actually feels, which is much better than that). She just kept telling him it was his destiny and his duty, his fate would come for him soon enough if he didn’t bend toit, blah blah faerie stuff, you know how they are. (Uh, no offense if you’re reading this too, Kieran.)
I don’t think he was telling the whole truth, though, because Mother Hawthorn went to a lot of trouble just to send a message like that. I mean, she could have put that on a postcard. It wasn’t anything Kit didn’t already know. I could tell from his expression there was more she said and Kit didn’t want to share. I hope he’ll tell Jem and Tessa when he’s ready. At least we can be fairly sure Gwyn will make sure Mother Hawthorn stays away from him, for now.
That’s about all the news from here, and I’m so relieved to be able to share it with you finally. I guess if Kieran needs more information he should reach out to Gwyn; I’ve told you pretty much all I know.
Take care, and talk to you soon, and love to K and M!
Emma
JEM & TESSA
Memo to Consul Alec Lightwood
Re: Wild Fae Relations
After several days of tension, we’re relieved to report the threats to Christopher Herondale and Wilhelmina Carstairs appear to have been resolved. We have liaised with Gwyn ap Nudd, of the Hunt, and he assures us the unsworn faerie known as Mother Hawthorn has been relocated to a remote location and her place there will be maintained by the Hunt going forward.
Unfortunately, the long term safety of Christopher Herondale is still in question. Please see attached pages of personal correspondence for more informal thoughts and questions at your leisure.
Undersigned,
James Carstairs
Tessa Herondale-Carstairs
***
Dear Alec,
I made Jem do the formal part of the report because it makes my eyes cross. I felt bad for asking him, but he waved me off—apparently none of us would believe how much paperwork the Silent Brothers file. I was surprised because “paperwork” and “City of Bones” don’t really go together in my mind, but hey.
Anyway, the report is accurate. Julian Blackthorn, clever boy that he is, reached out to Gwyn, who agreed to deal with Mother Hawthorn. Julian also didn’t tell anyone he did this, of course, because he also loves a dramatic reveal, which I’m sure we all remember well from past events. After being so terrified, it was certainly a great relief when the whole Wild Hunt swept in and seized Mother Hawthorn and brought Mina back to us.
Mina, by the way, is happy and healthy and not the least bit shaken, unlike her parents. She was nothing but delighted by the Wild Hunt and has been excitedly and repeatedly telling us she met a lot of horses and the horses are her friends. Kit, of course, is at least as shaken as we are, possibly more. He’s barely let her out of his sight since she got back. He’s even been sleeping on the floor of her room. (We did move a daybed in there after the first couple of nights.) He has taken this quite hard. Hehasn’t wished to talk about it, but it’s obviously weighing heavily upon him, and there is a familiar troubled look behind his eyes that has remained since the incident. He is, we fear, beginning to understand what his heritage might actually mean, as hard as we have tried to insulate him from it.
Despite Gwyn’s helpfulness, neither we nor Julian know what exactly has happened between the Hunt and Mother Hawthorn, and we’re disinclined to ask. We know Faerie can be brutal, and most brutal to its own, and it has its own sense of justice and discipline, which often seems very… inhuman. That said, we do trust Gwyn, not least because we trust Diana Wrayburn. If he says Mother Hawthorn won’t be bothering Kit again, we believe him.
