Page 42 of Apples Dipped in Gold

“You ill-bred, liver-eating bastard!” he shouted. “Give back my fucking fairy!”

“Shh!” I commanded as I lay against his steps, the edges digging into my ribs. I would right myself, but I was preparing for more daggers to be thrown my way.

“Are you…are youshushingme?” Cardic demanded. “On the steps of my own kingdom?”

“Shut up, you dull-headed, cunt-bitten coward,” I said, my voice a raspy whisper. “Or you’ll wake her!”

“Wake who, you spitting, ill-tempered fool?”

I peeked over the final step to see my brother at the entrance of his palace, cast in shadow from the bright light behind him.

“Swear you will throw nothing my way,” I said. “For what I carry is precious.”

“No,” said Cardic.

I scoffed. “You are a dick.”

“And you are a bore,” he said.

“Fuck you, dick,” I said.

There was silence.

“Are you quite finished cowering?”

“I am notcowering!”

“Yes, you are.”

The comment came from the fox, who was sitting above my head on the top step.

“Fuck off, you miserable excuse for a cat. He should throw daggers at you. You’re the one who ate his fairy!”

Suddenly, the fox made a strange sound, almost like a gulp. Then he began to cough until at last he heaved, and the pixie he had swallowed burst from his mouth. She landed a few feet away in a pool of yellow bile. She rose, coughing and sputtering, and then burst into tears before flying away.

“There is your pixie,” said the fox. “Now, will you welcome us in? Your brother has been carrying his mortal for quite some time.”

“Hismortal?”

Finally, I rose to my feet with Samara in hand.

“What isthat?” Cardic asked, as if he were disgusted by the sight of Samara.

I bared my teeth. “Watch your tone, dick.”

“Is this the girl you have pined over for seven long years?” he asked, his amber-colored eyes sparking with delight. After a few minutes, however, a slow smile spread across his smug face. “The one who cut off your hand and never spoke to you again?”

I wanted to tear out his throat, but I decided against it. I did not want to chance the retaliation of his pixies with Samara so near. My scowl deepened, and Cardic began to laugh.

He laughed so hard, he bent at the waist, bracing his hands on his knees.

He laughed so long, he turned red in the face, and I thought he might suffocate.

To my great disappointment, he didn’t, and he soon composed himself, wiping at the tears on his face.

“I can’t believe I almost killed you and missed this,” he said, still chuckling between words.

“You didn’t almost kill me,” I muttered as I stepped past him into his palace. I made myself at home, turning to the right and walking along a robust bough that acted as a floor. I ducked beneath low limbs and dodged clusters of leaves. Hanging among the branches were round beds, shrouded in sheer, gauzy fabric. I chose one closest to the ground since Samara could not fly and knelt to lay her on the soft mattress before covering her with a blanket.