Laurette waved his hand, and the deer ran back toward the woods.
“They’ll return if we need them.Theo, pull up your hood if you need to hide.”
Theodore touched the finely embroidered fabric of the cloak just above the clasp.“You’re telling me to hide in this?Like hiding under the blanket to get away from the monster that lives under your bed?”
Laurette smiled at them like a shark—one of the nice ones that didn’t make a point of eating people.“Yes, though we don’t get too many of those monsters in these parts.Friendly, some of them.Others…meh.”
He turned and strode off to catch up with the group.Theodore looked up at Peter.
“There isn’t really—that’s not real, right?Wait, no.Don’t tell me.Just nod and say okay.Don’t tell me anything.I really don’t want to know.”
Peter nodded.“Okay.”
Theodore stiffened.“Okay.”
He hurried after Lord Laurette, and Peter brought up the rear.Faerie’s warm breeze caught Theodore’s borrowed cloak and blew it out behind him, and Peter thought,He truly does look like a prince.Born to sit at the head of his own table and able to decide who he will go into battle with.But no, Theodore isn’t a warrior.He’s one of the pretty, learned princes who come with their own castles, maybe a bit of land.
Peter wanted it to be a fantasy, but he also wanted it to be a reality.Then again, he knew Theodore wasn’t the castle-dwelling kind, nor the exclusively pretty kind.He was beautiful, but to Peter, he was much more than just a fancy dream.
All of a sudden, the ease of applying the blood eagle to a Fae chest mattered far less than convincing Theodore to sit on Peter’s lap wearing nothing but that soft green cloak.
Peter had not been to many of the courts of Faerie.In fact, his experience with that realm was limited, and he was glad about that.Still, the house to which Cloudtree led them was nothing like the shimmering castles or high-ceilinged halls of the Fae nobles Peter had encountered.
This house was only two stories and built of rough stone, with creepers having conquered much of the facade and several birds in turn nesting in those creeping vines.They flitted to and fro as the lot of them approached, going for the front door.
“Are we sure we don’t want to sneak in through the back?”
Peter hoped he wouldn’t be found too impolite if he didn’t address Laurette directly.The way Laurette’s eyes narrowed with that tiny smirk he was shooting in Peter’s direction told him he’d failed.
“I like going in through the front door.Don’t you?I mean, I suppose you don’t.”
Theodore snorted.“Not anyone’s business where and how he likes it.”
Laurette looked at Theodore as if he were an internet kitten.“Aww!You’re right.You know what my problem is?”
Theodore shrugged.“I figure Gertrude knows.”
Gertrude made a noise that spoke volumes.Laurette ignored her.He covered his mouth with a hand and looked at Peter again.“You know how to pick them.My.Anyway, my problem is my singlehood.Makes me all kinds of impatient.And unwilling to sneak when being direct will do.Not that I don’t like a nice back door.”
He motioned for Theodore to pull up his hood.Theodore frowned and looked at Peter, who gave him an encouraging nod.
Cloudtree straightened while Gertrude put a hand on one of her hammers.
“I can knock.I will tell my brothers you are…friends.”Cloudtree said the word like the concept was new and foreign and totally strange.
Laurette shrugged.“Sure.We’ll be hiding behind you.Except for Gertrude.Gertrude, keep an eye out.”
They continued up the badly maintained stone garden path.Weeds poked between the stones, and some had chipped and broken.Peter raised his head, hating the brightness that was making him feel hungry, and saw that the windows of the house hadn’t been cleaned in a while either.It wasn’t what he’d expected, not in Faerie.
The front door was solid wood, painted a dark brown that had once been lustrous but wasn’t anymore.Paint had chipped from the top left corner.Getrude pushed her coat back so she could easily reach her hammers, and Cloudtree raised his hand to the scratched-up metal knocker, lifting it and bringing it down three times.
Then they waited.And waited.Cloudtree turned, a tentative smile on his face.“They are never…fast.”
Theodore moved from one foot to the other.“We can break in through one of the windows, just break a bit of glass and—”
The door opened.Peter couldn’t see much, given Cloudtree was in his way, but he caught golden locks of hair—someone just as tall as Cloudtree, at least.
There was a brief pause, then: “Thereyou are, Ash Mouth!Chambord and I had a bet going on whether we’d find you.”Another pause.“I won.I said you would return by yourself, tail between your legs.Not a very good tail, not very good legs, but no matter.”
