“Your safe transit to Court. What happens to you there is not my business, although I will ensure you don’t come to harm since you know nothing of the ways of Court. I wouldn’t want the Queen getting her claws on you. Your return…” He shrugged. “I’m sure your most recent deal will bear weight.”
Bear weight, but not necessarily be enforced. “I had to make the deal with Shea.”
“Plead your case with the one who cares.” Verden crossed the road and stopped at the gate of the graveyard. The gap between hallowed ground and regular dirt could be used to cross between the worlds. “Know your actions have had far-reaching effects that you don’t understand. Shea ap Greely has tentacles everywhere. While I realize you have loyalty to the Prince, if you move against the King, I will release the hounds.” Verden moved his hands as if opening a door. The gap where the gate was shimmered like a heat wave, and the heavy scent of blossoms filled the air. “And I don’t care who your father is. After you, changeling.” Verden stood aside and indicated for Caspian to go through.
Caspian took a final glance up the road to Callaway House, then crossed his fingers and hoped he wouldn’t get trapped in Annwyn forever.
Behind him the gate closed with a snap like a breaking twig. He turned to look behind him but there was no gate, just two trees that looked no different from any other two trees around him.
He appeared to be in a forest of some kind. But the trees were taller and bigger than was possible and the color was wrong, not brighter, but more vibrant. The magic he’d felt of the silver tea set was nothing compared to the power in the air here. He could taste it, almost metallic on his tongue.
“Am I dead?” It sounded like a stupid question, but it was always good to check the technicalities and read the fine print on the ticket.
“Not yet.”
“So I’m physically here.” Caspian flexed his fingers. He felt real.
“Yes.”
On one hand that was good, on the other it meant he’d vanished from the mortal world and given that time moved differently he’d have no idea how long he’d been gone for.
“Three mortal days.”
“While I said she’d get you back, I didn’t specify in what condition.” Verden looked at him, his pale eyes almost amused. “And neither did you.”
Caspian gave himself a mental kick. “Why did he send you?” He couldn’t bring himself to say the Prince, and Father sounded too personal.
“Security. The hunt is more than a game. The Prince might be able to summon the army, but without me it has no teeth.”
That was the fairy way, spread the power so no one could rule alone. The King needed the Queen to keep the magic of Court alive. Duties were divided amongst the loyal. If Verden was loyal to the King, he’d be pretty pissed about Shea and the Queen. But that didn’t put him on the Prince’s side either. The Prince was a threat, the one person who could overthrow the King and take power.
Annwyn was balancing on a knife waiting to see who’d flinch first.
Verden began walking, crossing the lush green lawn. Caspian followed. He tried not to glance wildly around him, but part of him couldn’t contain the glee at being at Court. Part of him, the fairy part obviously, was reveling in the sensation of power. The mortal part, the part he usually listened to, was far more cautious. So he reined in all emotion and tried to ignore the magnificence as the forest began to change and thicken.
Overhead the branches arched to form a roof and the forest became a living building. The walls were the trunks, but embedded in the bark were what looked like gems. From the roof vines and flowers tumbled, the colored petals danced in the breeze. Shadows flickered along the edges, but they didn’t belong to Verden or Caspian. Shadow servants. They looked human, but they didn’t speak and kept their gaze on the grass at their feet.
The doubt and fear rose to the surface, smothering any wonder he felt about being in Annwyn. This place was unnatural. He shouldn’t be here. He didn’t want to end up like the shadow servants, bound to serve to pay a debt. “Where are we going?”
“Hall of Judgment. You made a deal with a Grey and a hearing has been called.”
Caspian stopped walking. “I thought you said my father wants to see me?”
“He does. How do you think he was ever going to manage that?” Verden tilted his head. “You needed a reason to come here, the same way he needed a reason to call you here. I think it’s all tied together quite well.” Verden considered for a moment. “Very well.”
Cold tumbled through his blood and lodged in his heart. “What do you mean?”
“You’re going to miss your hearing and that would look really bad. Not a good first impression. Bow to the King and Queen.” The word Queen was loaded with something close to disgust. “Acknowledge the Prince but not for too long—don’t want to give away that he’s your father. Then shut up and let them work out what to do with you.”
As Verden walked toward what looked like a solid wall of trees, giant double doors swung open. What Caspian glimpsed in the mirror had been a reflection of the true beauty of the Court.
The fairies were beautiful. Sharp cheekbones, pale eyes of every shade from blue to yellow to green and pink. Their clothing was cut in styles no human hand could replicate, like haute couture had taken nature as inspiration and blended it with styles straight out of history but without the modesty.
Skin and silks.
He looked away before he could be drawn in, his gaze dropping to just a few yards in front of him as he followed Verden. In his bare feet, jeans, and shirt he drew curious gazes as he walked forward. Some hissed and drew back as if mortality was catching. In the mortal world being a changeling gave him status above the banished; here it meant he was at the bottom of the pile, slightly above shadow servants.
Verden stopped and swept a low bow. “As requested, the changeling has been brought forward. He came of his own volition, aware of the serious nature of the crime.”
“Thank you, Lord Verden.” The King’s voice rolled around the chamber. His hand lifted off the arm of the throne and Verden moved to stand beside the King.
Caspian was left standing alone in the center of the Court. Those dreams where you show up to work naked… nothing like this. This was like showing up to your own funeral naked and alive but not being able to tell anyone because they thought you were dead.
He gave an awkward bow and risked a glance at the King and Queen. His grandparents. They didn’t look a day over twenty-five, and yet they were centuries old. The Queen looked annoyed like she was going to yell off with his head at any moment. The King looked concerned, as well he might. His kingdom would crumble if he did nothing. The only thing he could do was abdicate, and he could only do that if the Prince had a wife.
Caspian nodded in the direction of the Prince. The same pale green eyes and dark hair, but that was where the similarities ended between father and son. His father barely glanced at him; he spoke to someone standing at his side. Caspian let any hope go that his father actually gave a damn. He felt like he was a child again, learning that his father was different. He’d entertained hopes of one day meeting him before getting wiser. But it still bit that his father looked at him with something akin to pity, not love. He was an inconvenience who served no purpose.
All of Dylis’s chatter about Court and how much fun it was still didn’t make sense. Every fairy in the room looked like a fresh-faced twenty-something, but most would be centuries old. All would quite happily trick him out of his soul and firstborn before lunch. A trickle of sweat formed between his shoulder blades and rolled down his spine. He was half fairy yet he wanted to get out of Annwyn and back to the mortal world. He should have stayed in bed with Lydia.