Reckonings (11 page)

Tim smiled back. It felt good to have Molly on his side, even if the tattoo hurt more the happier he felt.

Molly ran her finger lightly over the tattoo, tracing its shape. “Can't you magic it away?” she asked.

“I got rid of the other tattoo by fighting it,” Tim said. “But I don't think that's going to work
with this one.” He thought back to that bizarre night with Kenny. He shuddered. “And the tattoos seriously fight back.”

“What if you wished really hard?” Molly suggested. “You know, kind of how you made those little narls and Awn the Blink appear. You could make the butterfly
dis
appear.”

“I—I don't know if I can.” He gazed down at the ground. “I think I'm afraid of how much it's going to hurt,” he admitted softly.

Molly took his hand, straightening out the arm with the tattoo. She placed her other hand just above the butterfly. Her brow furrowed, then she looked at Tim. “Think of it like pulling off a Band-Aid. It stings like crazy, but then it's over. Just concentrate, like this.”

She laid her hand over the butterfly and gazed into Tim's eyes with fierce concentration. He could practically feel her wish boring into his brain.

He smiled at her. “I get what you mean. I'll try.”

Molly grinned, then removed her hand. To Tim's astonishment, the butterfly fluttered off his arm.

“Wh-what?” Molly stammered. “How did that happen?”

“You did it!” Tim cried. “You removed the
tattoo!” He threw his arms around her, letting his heart expand with happiness and relief.

“What did I do?” Molly said. “I don't understand! Is magic contagious?”

Auberon stepped up to them. “Tim may be the Opener of Worlds, but you, my child, are
Tim's
Opener. You allow him to open up to energies but, more important, to himself.”

Tim turned to face Titania. Now that the tattoo had been removed he could think clearly again.

“You know what? I don't think I should have to prove my worth to my own mother,” he informed the Queen. “I'm not going on any quest for you.”

“Then you will never learn the truth,” Titania warned.

Tim's jaw set. He hated giving up the opportunity to find answers to his questions, but he knew it was wrong to have to be tested in this way. Knew it in his gut.

Auberon stepped forward. “There are other ways to learn the truth,” he said. “My queen is not a reliable source for you.”

“Then coming here was a waste of time,” Tim snorted.

Auberon cocked an eyebrow. “Was it really?”

Tim looked from the King to Molly. “No,” Tim
whispered. He took Molly's hands. “No, it wasn't wasted at all.”

Molly ducked her head, hiding her blush. Tim had never seen her this shy before. Then again, they hadn't ever been together like this in front of Faerie royalty.

“Let's go home, Molly,” Tim said.

Molly's grip grew tighter, and her expression was stricken. “I—I can't,” she stammered.

“What do you mean?” Tim asked.

“I made a bargain with Auberon. In exchange for bringing me to you, I had to agree to stay where he brought me. Which turned out to be Faerie.”

“Oh, Molly!” Tim gasped. He couldn't believe that she had made such a sacrifice.

“Please,” he begged Auberon. “She's not magic—she didn't understand how these things work. I'll stay in her place.”

“No way!” Molly jumped in. “It was my mistake. I should have known better. Now I have to accept the consequences.”

Auberon looked from Tim to Molly. “No. You belong together. She is your Opener. And neither of you belong here. I see that now. I will send you back.”

“Really?” Tim was incredulous. Then a darker thought blotted out his relief. “What's the catch?”

“No catch,” Auberon assured him. “What you two share is real. And,” he added with a nod to Molly, “I am seeking a more truthful reality. You belong together. So, Molly, I release you freely from your bargain.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully. She grinned at him. “You're not so bad, once a person gets to know you.”

Auberon smiled. “I hope we will continue to know each other better, Molly. I grant you both free passage in Faerie.” He snapped his fingers, and when he opened his hand two small coins sat on his blue palm. He passed his hand over them, and Tim watched tiny sparkles surround the coins, then settle onto them.
He must be charming them
, Tim realized.

“These are not gifts,” Auberon declared. “They are tokens to carry with you, signifying you are under my protection in this realm.”

“Sort of like passports or visas,” Tim said as he took the tokens. He handed one to Molly.

“With these, you can come and go as you please,” Auberon said. “Alone or together.”

“Together,” Tim repeated. “Do you know what that means?” he asked Molly.

“A new way to break curfew?” she replied mischievously.

“You don't understand,” Tim said, his smile
growing along with his admiration for Auberon. “Time passes differently here. We could spend a week in Faerie and no one back home would even know we were gone! Of course, we'd have to make sure to bring our own snacks, since we can't eat Fairy food.”

Molly returned his smile. “We can see each other without getting into trouble!”

“Exactly.” Tim shook his head. “I don't know how to thank you,” he told Auberon.

“You already have. You released me from entrapment before; I am only returning the boon.”

“I guess magic
can
solve some problems,” Molly said, turning her glittering coin over and over in her hands.

“Are you ready to return?” Auberon asked.

“I am now,” Tim said
. Now that I know I'll be able to see Molly again any time we want.

Molly's face grew concerned. “Are you really?” she asked Tim. She glanced up at Titania, who was sulking on her throne. “You don't want to ask her anything else?”

Tim raised an eyebrow. “You really think she'll answer me?”

“Nah,” Molly agreed. “She's too busy pouting.”

“As I said,” Auberon told Tim, “there are many ways to discover the truth. I would seek it elsewhere.”

“Get them out of here!” Titania shouted angrily.

Tim took Molly's hands. “See you soon,” he said. He pulled her close to him and kissed her. Right there in front of the King and Queen of Faerie. And he didn't even feel shy about it.

T
IM FELT MOLLY'S HANDS
disappear from his. “Molly!” he cried. He opened his eyes and saw that Auberon had returned him to London—alone. Tim assumed Molly was back at her gran's farm. He'd be sure to check on that as soon as he figured out how.

But the first question on his mind was why Auberon had sent him to the cemetery—to Mary Hunter's grave, in fact.

“Wow!” Tim gaped at the large, sprawling bush that had sprung up out of the grave. When Tim had been at the brink of death, Death herself had given him some seeds. He had planted them at the grave of the woman he had believed was his mother. This bush was what had grown from them.

He stepped closer and discovered the bush was covered with intensely deep purple berries. He'd never seen anything like them before. His
stomach rumbled, and he realized it had been days since he'd had anything to eat. Should he risk eating the berries? They could be poisonous—or worse, magical in some unpredictable way.

His mouth watered. They looked really juicy and sweet and he was so hungry. They hadn't grown in fairy soil but in Earth dirt. That was encouraging.

His stomach rumbled again. “Oh, just go ahead,” he told himself. “If Death were trying to kill you, she wouldn't need berries to do it.” Feeling a slight twinge of anxiety, he plucked a berry from the bush and popped it into his mouth.

The world changed in front of him. It was as if he were suddenly taller, and he no longer stood in front of a gravesite. He was in a rose garden.

He reached to pluck a rose and discovered his hand was not his own. It was slender and wore a bracelet.
A woman's hand
.

Weirder and weirder
, Tim thought. And then his own thoughts vanished, replaced by someone else's.

What a pretty flower
, she thought. She pulled it to her, taking care to avoid the thorns, and inhaled the scent deeply. She snapped the bloom from the bush, and worked the rose into her hair.

“A fair flower for a fair maiden,” a voice said behind her.

She whirled around, hoping she wouldn't get into trouble for taking the flower. A man stood in front of her. A man like none she'd ever seen.

He was tall and slim with long straight hair that hung softly around his chiseled face. He looked like a movie star or someone on the telly. He was dressed like an actor in one of those BBC costume dramas. Thick, chocolate brown leggings revealed shapely legs; tall boots and a long leather coat gave him the appearance of a swashbuckling adventurer or a pirate.

She realized she was staring, and blushed. She quickly dropped her eyes to her shoes and waited for him to speak again. She didn't trust herself to speak. Not only had he taken her breath away, she was sure she'd stammer something foolish.

He took a step toward her and smiled. “I am called Tamlin,” the man said.

His voice thrilled her. It was rich and resonant, and he sounded so refined. Not like her rowdy neighbors in the council flats. “I—I'm Mary. Mary Cavanaugh.”

The image faded, as if a movie had ended. Tim jerked back into consciousness. He felt faint from the astounding experience. “That was my real father, Tamlin. And my—my—Mary.” Tim knew that Cavanaugh had been Mary's name before she
had married Mr. Hunter.
But I was seeing it as if I were her!

He stared at the bush.
The berries. I ate a berry and I had one of Mary's memories
. That answered one question—how Mary and Tamlin had known each other. Maybe there were other answers, too. Tim grabbed another berry from the bush and ate it.

He was in a new place. He was Mary again, and she was sitting on a blanket in a thickly wooded grove with Tamlin. It was autumn now; roses had long since been out of season. The nearby river rushed across boulders and stones, adding a subtle music underneath their serious conversation.

“I know you are keeping secrets,” Mary said. “Trust me enough to tell them to me.”

Tamlin stood and gazed across the river. “How can I burden you with my problems? The mistakes I made were made so long ago I don't know how they can ever be undone.”

“Please, I see how troubled you are.” Her voice was soft and gentle. Tim could feel her sympathy for the struggle she sensed in Tamlin. He could feel her trust in the man and her intense, overwhelming love.

Tamlin turned and faced her again, his expression sad, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Until now, I had not mourned the choice I
foolishly made so long ago. I had times of joy and times of great sorrow and anger. But never once did I regret. I didn't mind the velvet chains that imprisoned me. You see, I had left nothing behind that could claim me. That was until I met you.”

He knelt down and took her hands in his. This time Tim could feel how much this man loved Mary. It flowed out of his hands into hers, like an electrical current, like the river to the sea. “I will tell you everything. I am done with dishonesty. I am done with foggy visions and cloudy experiences. I want truth and truth alone. So I will tell you.”

Mary nodded, a twinge of fear momentarily fluttering her heart. She squeezed his hands. “Truth is what I want.”

Tamlin sank back on his heels and gazed long and hard at Mary. He seemed to be preparing himself for the possibility that once Mary heard what he had to say, he'd never see her again. “I know you have already guessed that I don't live here,” he began slowly. “Not in this world. I live in the land called Faerie.”

“You mean like in storybooks?” Mary asked.

Tamlin smiled wryly. “Not
un
like. But far more lovely—and far more treacherous.”

“Does that mean…you aren't human?” Mary asked. Tim was shocked that she felt no fear as
she asked this, only curiosity and concern.

Tamlin stood. “I am as human as you are. But I left this world when knights were still battling for honor and warring clans killed one another, fertilizing their lands with the blood of their enemies.”

Tamlin watched her expression carefully, and Mary forced herself to keep the astonishment from showing on her face. Perhaps it was this struggle or the tension of the moment or the extraordinary unreal reality she was now facing, but she began to laugh. Tamlin was perplexed.

“How do you find this funny?” he asked.

Mary gulped in air, gasping for breath. “I always wished for a knight in shining armor,” she choked out. “I never expected my wish would be granted so…so
literally
!”

She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and smiled up at him. “And I never saw myself with an older man either. Certainly not a suitor several centuries older.”

Tamlin knelt down and embraced her. “You are a delight. And extraordinary.”

She let herself fall against his chest for just a moment, taking in his solid reality. What she was hearing was so bizarre, she needed the reassurance. She sat back upright and took a deep breath. “Go on.”

Tamlin released her. “Yes. My story.”

He stood again, and couldn't seem to look at Mary as he spoke. “I took a walk one night and came upon a beautiful woman, weeping as though her heart would break. She was the Queen of Faerie herself, though I did not know it at the time. By my own free will I accompanied her to her realm, which made me her prisoner.”

“You mean you were never able to return home?”

“Never for very long,” Tamlin replied. “It was a good enough life, I suppose.” He turned to face her again. “But now you see why we cannot be together. I am bound to the Faerie realm and its Queen. I can give you nothing, not even myself—you, who deserve everything.”

Mary leaped up and flung her arms around his neck. “I don't care,” she sobbed against his chest. “I don't care about any of that. I love you, and I know you love me. We will steal what moments we can.”

Tamlin gently pulled out of her embrace. “My sweet Mary. You say that now. But you will care, care deeply. It will eat at you, each time we part, just as it will eat at me. You deserve to have a true husband, a family. None of which I can offer you.”

Mary trembled in his arms, fighting back her frustration, her sorrow, her anger. “It's so unfair!
Isn't there some way to break her spell? That is,” she added quickly, stepping away from him, “if you could be happy returning to this world after all your time in Faerie.”

“A world with you in it is a world I would be happy in,” Tamlin said.

That was all Mary needed to hear. She gripped his hands. “Then we have to try! We have to try to find a way to keep you here!”

“I have heard legends and stories,” Tamlin said slowly, then shook his head. “I don't know if I believe them.”

“Anything that will help us! What do the stories say?”

Tamlin bit his lip and narrowed his eyes, remembering. “There is an old tale the balladeers sing. On Halloween night at midnight, the Fair Folk ride through the mortal realm. I've done this myself. It is said that at that time any creature under the thrall of the Faerie Queen may escape through the trials of a true love.”

“A true love,” Mary repeated. She smiled. “That's where I come in. This might work.”

“It will be quite difficult,” Tamlin warned. “Queen Titania does not relinquish power easily.”

Fear crept into Mary, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. “What kind of trials will I face?” she asked, her voice quavering a little.

Tamlin stroked her hair. “You must pull me down from the horse that I ride at the first stroke of midnight. You must hold me until the final one has sounded.”

“That doesn't sound so hard,” Mary said.

“The Queen will fight you,” Tamlin explained. “She will transform me into all sorts of beasts. She will try to harm you through me. But if you don't let go, I will be yours.”

“I'll do it.”

The image faded.

Tim had to find out what happened next. He tossed another berry into his mouth.

It was cold and dark. There was no moon, making it darker still. Mary paced by a willow tree at the edge of a meadow. An enormous ring of toadstools circled the meadow—Tamlin had told her this was the sign of the spot at which they would enter from Faerie.

Tim could feel both Mary's fear and her resolve. She shuddered against the cold wind, terrified she'd fail and afraid of what she would face. But she was determined to win Tamlin his freedom.

She started at the sound of tinkling bells. Her mouth dropped open as the air in the center of the fairy ring rippled and an enormous golden horse slipped through what seemed to be a slit in the
atmosphere. The horse stamped the ground with its front hoof, then whinnied and reared on its hind legs, as if it were announcing its presence.

As glorious as the proud horse was, it could not compare with the exquisite, haughty beauty of its rider.

She is every inch a queen
, Mary thought. Queen Titania seemed to be made of moonlight; everything about her shimmered, twinkled, sparkled. Even the moonless night sky glowed brighter around her. She wore the same flower garlands twisted through her long hair as those braided in her steed's mane and tail.

And yet
, Mary thought, smiling,
Tamlin chose me, plain Mary Cavanaugh from Birmingham, over that astounding and powerful beauty
. Pride filled Mary with courage. She was ready.

“Join me!” Titania cried. Dozens of horses and riders appeared. The horses pranced inside the fairy ring as their riders sang in a language Mary could not understand. If so much didn't depend on her, if there were nothing to lose, the scene before her would have been enchanting. Instead, the lovely melody, the gorgeous people on their decorated horses, all made the situation seem more deadly.
Like roses with thorns
, Mary observed.
Such beauty comes with a price.

She spotted Tamlin on his milk-white
mount—just as he had told her he would be. She knew she had to wait until the correct moment. Everything had to be done according to plan. Tamlin had been quite clear about that. Magic followed rules. If she deviated from the rules, all would be lost. But if she followed them to the letter, Queen Titania would have no choice but to release Tamlin.

She checked her watch. The hands were approaching midnight. She made certain she was in position to reach Tamlin quickly. The Queen's horse was at the other side of the circle, facing away from Tamlin.
Thank goodness for that at least
, Mary thought. That would give her the few seconds she needed to get to Tamlin before the Queen noticed.

Yes! The first chime of the clock tower sounded and Mary raced out of her hiding place. She gripped the horse's bridle, then dragged Tamlin down from his horse. He could do nothing to help her; the rules dictated that she was stealing him from the Queen. She released the horse and clutched Tamlin to her tightly.

“Be brave, my darling,” he whispered in her ear.

Another chime sounded as Tamlin's horse shied and broke from the orderly circle. The Faerie courtiers had trouble keeping control as
the riderless horse galloped erratically among them. What had been an orderly procession dissolved into chaos.

“Who has broken the circle!” Titania demanded furiously.

“Tamlin is off his horse, Queen,” a tiny, fluttering creature cried above the noise of the whinnying horses and shouting riders.

The bells chimed a third time.

The Queen rode her horse into the center of the circle. She pulled it to a stop a few feet from Mary and Tamlin.

“Who interferes with my courtiers? Who dares to defy me?”

“Don't answer,” Tamlin instructed Mary. “Stay focused on me. On our love. On our future.”

Mary shut her eyes tight and took comfort in his solid presence. Then that solidity began to change as the bells rang again.

His arms released her, and she no longer embraced a tall, strong man. A thick, wriggling, cold creature squirmed in her arms. She opened her eyes just as an enormous snake opened its mouth and flicked its tongue at her. She shrieked, and she had to struggle to keep her grip, but she held on.