When you live a life like mine, you learn that it’s best to leave the good things alone. If you give the world a chance to ruin them, it’ll take it. Every single fucking time. Case in point: I was alone, and there was no music, and no beer, and no beautiful mortal men to watch admiringly with my best friend. There was just me, and the silence, and the knowledge that this night was going to overwrite the one I’d treasured for so long. That was just the way it was going to be. Again. Always.
The chemistry building was locked. That wasn’t a problem. I peered through the glass, confirming that no one was inside before I waved my hand in the air and opened a portal. I stepped through and the door was behind me, glass unbroken, lock unpicked. It was an elegant, impossible solution to a very mortal problem. Even if I’d been here to rob the place—which I wasn’t—and even if they’d decided to spring for cameras, no security guard would have believed the footage. The illusion I was wearing would keep them from tracking me down to ask how I’d done it, and Faerie was not going to be revealed by what looked like a glitch on the tape.
I didn’t know which office belonged to Master Davies. I didn’t need to. Most of them were dark, their doors locked against the night; of all the doors along the hall, only one was cracked enough to let a sliver of light escape. It showed the scuffs and muddy footprints on the linoleum. The janitorial staff probably didn’t come until closer to morning.
As I drew closer, I heard voices from inside.
“—tried to explain that actually, I do need to show up for classes once in a while if I want a shot at tenure, but you know Toby.” The alchemist: Master Davies. Tylwyth Teg, originally from the Kingdom of Silences, currently living in the Mists and hence subject to my laws.
Wry laughter followed his words. “Oh, man, do I know Toby.” The voice was unfamiliar: the subject material was not. I sometimes thought half of my reign was going to be spent trying to explain October to people who didn’t have any context on her, and hence assumed we were all screwing with them.
“Did you know she elf-shot herself on purpose?”
“See, and here I was thinking there was something stupid left that she hadn’t done. Stop disillusioning me.”
“Sorry.”
I felt like I was intruding. But my brother was unwell, and I was Queen in the Mists, and it was time for me to make my presence known. I stepped into the sliver of light, reaching for the partially-open door at the same time.
It opened to reveal Master Davies sitting at his desk, and a woman sitting on his desk. They were both wearing human disguises—only sensible, if they were going to hang around with the door unlocked—and I didn’t recognize her at all. Sadly, that didn’t necessarily make her a newcomer to the Mists. My kingdom was large, and I’d spent more time avoiding it than I had going door to door and meeting the people whose fealty was technically mine to command.
The woman blinked at me. So did Master Davies. Then, in a tone that was pleasantly polite without being friendly, he said, “I’m sorry, but office hours happen before the campus is closed for the night. Is there something else I can help you with?”
It was the first time he’d spoken to me like I was a person, instead of just a crown. My illusions aren’t strong enough to change my voice, and so I hesitated, enjoying the feeling of being part of the scene, instead of holding myself above it.
The girl slid off the desk, landing lightly on her feet. Her hair was brown-blonde, darkening to black at the tips, and somehow didn’t look dyed. She was softly rounded, wearing cut-off denim shorts and a tank top that left her belly bare. Not the sort of clothes one wears to visit a professor at midnight—not unless the visit is a lot more social than professional. And she’d admitted to knowing October. I took a breath, and took a guess.
“I need you to return to Muir Woods with me,” I said. Master Davies’s expression went blank. I felt bad about that, I genuinely did, but I couldn’t stop. Not when Nolan needed me. “Something’s wrong with the elf-shot cure. My brother woke, but he didn’t stay that way.”
“Your Highness.” Master Davies stood and bowed, looking at the floor as he continued, “You do me too much honor by coming to me here on campus. I would have gladly come had you called.”
“It would have taken longer,” I said.
The woman looked between us, her eyes getting wider and wider. They were an unprepossessing shade of blue, the sort of thing no one would choose for an illusion unless they were natural. She was dressing up, but only in the most textile of senses. She wanted him to see her for herself, or as close as was possible under the circumstances.
“Wait,” she said. “Is this—I mean, are you—I mean—oh, shit.” Her cheeks flared red. “I just swore in front of the new Queen, didn’t I?”
“You did,” I said, unable to smother my amusement completely. It was sort of a relief. Humor makes the bad times easier to bear, even if it never lasts long enough to make a real difference. “Don’t worry. We don’t have any rules against that. I think because my father probably didn’t realize that humans had profanity. He was sheltered like that. Also, that’s exactly what October said when she met the High Queen. Clearly, you know her.”
“Ah,” said Master Davies. “Queen Windermere in the Mists, I’d like you to meet my friend Cassandra Brown. Cassandra is a student here.”
“Not one of his,” she hastened to clarify. “Nothing inappropriate is going on. We were just catching up.”
“Brown,” I said. “Are you related to Karen?”
Cassandra looked startled. “She’s my sister. How did you . . . ?”
“She came to my conclave. She seemed nice. A little shy, but I’d be shy, too, if I had one of the First accompanying my every move. Are you an oneiromancer?” Karen Brown’s powers were the kind that appeared only rarely, and even more rarely in changelings.
“No, ma’am. I mean, Highness. I mean . . .” She stopped, a frustrated look crossing her face. “I have no idea how to do this. I’m just a changeling. I’m not supposed to know how to do this. If I leave right now, will you pretend this never happened?”
I paused. Something about her tone told me she was holding something back. It might be nothing. So many things were really nothing, when looked at in the light of day. But if there was a chance she was withholding information that the alchemist had shared with her . . .
“I’m afraid not,” I said. “I need you both to come with me.”
“Cassandra’s not part of this,” protested Master Davies.
“My brother is unwell,” I said. “That means my heir is unwell. The security of the kingdom requires you both to come with me now.”
“Toby’s not even here,” muttered Cassandra. “How the hell am I in trouble when Toby’s not even here?”
I ignored her and swept my hand in an arc through the air, opening a portal to the upstairs hallway of my knowe. I didn’t want to drop us in the receiving room, where my servants might see. Most of the household staff was on loan from the local nobles, and that meant if I wanted to keep Nolan’s condition a secret, I needed to keep them from suspecting anything. The alchemist reappearing after I’d dismissed him would certainly be suspicious enough to make people start talking.