Flicker (59 page)

“T-thank you, My Lady.”

The Summer Queen smiled a little haughtily, like she knew something Lee didn’t. “One of my Folk died in that ring,” she said mildly.

Lee felt herself pale. “What are you going to do to me?”

Feronia laughed. “Do you think you killed her?” she asked. “The dryad tripped on her own feet, girl. You had surprisingly little to do with it. Killing one’s opponent in battle is honorable. But you are not honorable. You are an accident.”

Lee didn’t know whether to feel comforted or insulted, so she just nodded.

“Regardless,” Feronia continued, “you should be proud that you even survived. You are a lucky mortal. Do you feel lucky?”

“Not really,” Lee admitted.

“At least you are honest. Mortals are such wretched liars.” Feronia smoothed her dress and looked Lee up and down. “I owe you thanks for what you have done,” she said. “I daresay you know what that dryad is capable of. You can imagine what she would’ve done as Queen of Springtime. The Summer Court is much better off without her around.”

Lee stared. Was she
really
saying she was
glad
Byrony had died?

But there wasn’t much time to dwell. Feronia rose gracef
ully.
“I simply wanted to meet the little girl who has helped me so much,” she smiled. Something in her eyes and voice was chilling. Lee just dipped her head.

“It’s an honor, My Lady.”

“Hmm.” The Summer Queen paused, then said, “You will be escorted to another area for the time being. Except you, girl. You will stay here.” Without another word, Feronia turned and drifted out of the chambers.

Several knights filed in and rounded up everyone but Lee. Nasser touched her hand as he was led away, and then she was alone. She tried to settle herself on the low couch,
gingerly laying her throbbing arm on one of the soft cushions,
but she was feeling very small and very nervous and didn’t know quite what to do with herself.

After a while, the curtains parted again, and Umbriel strode in. The sight of him made her heart leap into her throat. What was he doing here? Immediately her mind went to Byrony. He could be here because of that. To punish Lee, maybe. Byrony had betrayed Umbriel—as far as Lee knew, anyway—but he had loved her. Hadn’t he?

“I cannot stay long,” he began, sounding somewhat harried. “There is much business to attend to. But I wanted to see you.”

Lee didn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say.

Umbriel
sat
on the couch and she felt as if the summer sun had sidled up next to her—the warmth of him, the magic. It was strange to think that she had spent whole days in his company, days which were lost to her now. It was even stranger to think—to
know
—that whatever small affections he had bestowed upon her were enough to set all this trouble into motion.

“I would like you all
to stay for the coronation tomorrow,” he said. “It is a splendor that perhaps a dozen mortals have beheld. B
ut it is not my decision
, and I’m afraid I have already exhausted the Queen’s patience for favors today.”

“What favor has she done already?”

“Feronia has agreed to let you go—
all of you. You may leave
this place unharmed
, and you will not be followed by any member of this Court
. She was loath to release Riordan, naturally, but he and I are old friends,” Umbriel said, with a sad smile and a little shrug.
“She wanted to keep your musician friend, as well, to serve in her Court, but I managed to dissuade her.”

All the tension that had been building in Lee seemed to rush out of her all at once. She thought she would faint from sheer relief. Then she was snapped back to attention when she felt the brush of Umbriel’s fingers on her arm.

“You are injured,” he said, a frown creasing his lovely brow. “I shall have my healers see to you before you go.”

“Thank you,” she told him genuinely. His hand lingered on her arm; his touch alleviated the pain. He had gentle, elegant hands, she thought, the hands of a pianist. The hands of a prince. She thought of holding those hands and being led through the steps of a dance.

Suddenly her chest went tight and she fe
lt tears filling her eyes
. Lee didn’t know if it was the jumble of events catching up with her, or the nearness of Umbriel, or some combination thereof. All she knew was that her breath was catching in her throat and
hot
te
ars were running down her cheeks and
plopping onto her lap.

“Why do you weep?” he inquired, seeming genuinely mystified.

“I don’t know,” she sniffed
, swiping at her eyes
. “I don’t know. And I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“No, no.” Umbriel’s hand moved to her hair, stroking it gently. Comfortingly. His warmth spread through her whole body, like she was being slowly filled with sunlight. “Oh, my dear girl. It i
s I who am at fault.”

“But—”

He shushed her. “One cannot always choose to whom one gives one’s heart,” he said softly. “But one can try to be careful about it. One can always look deeper. I did not do that. Instead, I chose to blind myself, and many have suffered because of it.”

When she looked up, his green eyes were shining with sorrow. He’d had his heart broken twice today, and it showed. Though it pained her to see him this way, she marveled at him
, feeling
as though motes of sunbeams were moving through her blood
. For a fleeting moment, she thought she loved him.

Then, as if she’d found a treasured, long-lost ring at the bottom of a drawer, she remembered the first time she saw him: beautiful and powerful as a young god, he had seemed like the center of the universe. She had loved him at that moment, and every moment after that, until a boy with a crooked smile walked into her life and taught her tenderness and made her
long for something more
than revels and princes.

At length, Umbriel rose. He turned to leave, then hesitated.

“I am sorry, little one,” Umbriel told her, kneeling
so he could look her in the eyes
. Gently he cupped her face with one hand. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.”

“I know.”

He offered her the smallest of smiles. “I was worried about you,” he said. “After you were taken from me. I wondered how you were.”

Lee tried to smile for him. “I’m all right. I’ll be okay.”

Nodding, he said, “My heart is glad to find you well, little one.”

With that, Umbriel straightened and strode through the curtain.

* * *

Shortly after Umbriel left, a thin-faced healer dressed in somber-colored robes tended to Lee’s arm. She placed her cool, soft hands gently on Lee’s injured forearm, so lightly that Lee didn’t even wince. Then the healer released a pulse of magic, which made Lee’s skin tingle as it passed into her arm.

The bones in Lee’s arm seemed to vibrate. She could
feel
her broken bone shifting back into place, knitting itself together. The sensation wasn’t quite unpleasant, but certainly unsettling. It was as if she were healing naturally, but at a highly accelerated pace.

When she had finished, the healer made Lee turn her arm and flex her fingers, searching for anything that had been missed. Once Lee did this to the healer’s satisfaction, the healer rose and shuffled silently from the chamber.

As soon as Lee was healed, she was reunited with the others, who were being kept nearby. Nasser marveled at her arm.

“This is
amazing
,” he said, touching and examining her arm. “How did they do it? How long did it take? What did it feel like?”

She didn’t have time to answer any of his questions, though, because more knights appeared to round them up. They were rushed through the revel area, like they couldn’t leave soon enough, though Lee noticed smugly that this time, nobody poked them with swords.

“If you step out here,” a tall, dark-haired knight told them, when they had reached the edge of the mushroom ring surrounding the revel, “you should arrive in the human realm near the place where you left.”

Rodney turned to his human companions. “Are you ready?”

They nodded, then paused.
Lee
found Nasser’s hand without looking and laced their fingers together.

“One,” Nasser counted quietly. “Two. Three.”

* * *

When Lee stepped beyond the ring of mushrooms, the sudden shock of cold and darkness made her stumble. In the human realm, it was nighttime and frigid. The heavy snow blanketing the ground and trees glowed faintly in the moonlight. Above them, the moon hung like an indifferent queen, in a different phase than when they’d set out. How long had they been away?

Almost immediately, Lee began to shiver. Nasser wrapped his arm around her, but she could feel him shivering
, too
. It was
much
too cold for talk. They trudged silently through the snow.

When they finally reached the field, it was difficult to find the pond: Everything was blanketed in glittering white. They only found it when Filo accidentally stepped on it, his foot breaking through the layer of ice on top.

Minutes later, when
the spell was ready,
Nasser took the plunge first. Lee followed him, this time anticipating the rush of icy water.

* * *

They parted ways with Rodney right there at the pond, then h
urried back to Flicker on half
-frozen feet
, staving off hypothermia with bursts of magic that somehow couldn’t quite warm them enough
. The four of them shucked their boots at the door and rushed into different rooms to peel off their still-damp clothes with hands clumsy from the cold.

When Lee had changed into warmer, drier clothes, she felt like a different person. Sh
e knew she should eat something—she hadn’t eaten in days, human time—
but she was too tired to feel hungry. So was everyone else. Filo and Alice retired to the front room to sleep, while Jason piled blankets in front of the fi
replace and tossed a few logs onto the hearth
.

Padding into the bedroom, Lee slid wordlessly into bed with Nasser, grateful for both the warmth of his body and the comfort of his presence. In that moment, it seemed that there was no safer place in the world than in his arms
. She
let him kiss her forehead and hol
d her close as
she
laid her
head against his chest, shut her eyes
,
and tried not to dream.

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Forever in a Straight Line

Nasser reached easily for a book on the top shelf, pulling it down and handing it to Lee. She smiled as she took it, thanking him, but her smile would’ve been enough. He’d do anything in exchange for that smile; it was sunny
enough to melt the January
snow blanketing Bluewood.

“I’m so glad this place is open,” Lee said. They were in a quaint little bookstore called Brody’s Bookend, and had spent almost an hour browsing the maze-like assembly of shelves.

“I could tell. You nearly fainted when you saw the sign.”

Lee shrugged demurely. “It used to be my mom’s store,” she explained. She didn’t sound sad, not exactly. “I used to spend hours here—shelving, doing homework, reading. She must’ve sold it when she moved. But it’s still a bookstore.”
A small, thoughtful smile touched her lips.
Then she glanced up at him. “How are you and Jason?”

“Good. Better.” After the incident at Summerhill, Nasser and Jason had one of the most honest discussions they’d ever had. In keeping so much from Jason, Nasser had always thought he was protecting his brother
. He thought he was doing what their mom would’ve wanted. Jason disagreed.

“She wouldn’t want you saving all the burdens for yourself, Nasser,” Jason had insisted, as they sat on opposite ends of the couch in their apartment. “She would want us to work together. Trust e
ach other. I know I’m a dumbass
sometimes, Nasser, and I make it hard to take me seriously. But you
can
trust me. Let me show you.”

Even now, it was hard for Nasser to look at his brother and see an equal, someone who didn’t need his protection. But he knew Jason was right, so he was trying. So was Jason. They hadn’t fixed all their problems overnight, but the promise of depending on each other equally had lessene
d the tension in the apartment. They were keeping out of each other’s way, and Nasser found himself sleeping easier and smiling more often. For his part, Jason seemed less tempted to stay out until three in the morning without telling anyone where he’d be.