Page 6

6

A few days after lunch at the Wright house, Xander and I had another little commitment to attend to. It was nice to think that we could return to our respective pre-wedding tasks — him using his elite organizational skills to get the planning in order, me itching to get back to work on the arcane engine, see how much we could get done before the big day.

But King Oberon had called for us to meet him, and when the fae King of the Summer Court personally called for your presence, it wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

“It’s going to be fine,” Xander said, his footsteps echoing down the wood-paneled halls of Grayhaven academy. “You guys are worrying too much.”

And by “you guys” he meant me, and Reza Arshad, and Niko Belkova. It was the four of us, after all, who had crossed over to infiltrate the Winter Court with the help of Sparrowheart, the Summer Knight. Together, we finally ended the reign of mad Queen Titania, the fiend responsible for so much chaos on both Earth and in the Verdance. The Chrysanthemysts, the Fractures, the corrupted fae — all her fault.

We kept in touch with the Summer Court, of course. According to Sparrowheart, their agents in the Winter Court had reported that the realm was slowly recovering. Survivors of Titania’s wrath had emerged from hiding, the remnants of the previous queen’s council cooperating to rebuild what was left.

The Court of Winter’s fate was vague, at best. It was clear, at least, that any offer of aid or reparation from King Oberon would be met with great suspicion, if not outright violence. Titania’s actions had left deep scars all over the Verdance. I couldn’t begin to imagine how hostilities between the courts would ever be resolved.

But our most recent contact from the Court of Summer had come in the form of a message, impossibly inscribed on a bright green leaf. Ours had blown in through the gap under the front door of the Pryde house, the words embossed as naturally as the veins in the leaf itself. Reza and Niko received theirs separately.

They were invitations, though it wasn’t quite clear what it was we were being invited to. Even vaguer was the question of attire. Maybe the fae did things differently, but I would have thought that a culture built around social etiquette and courtly events would include a line about the right sort of thing to wear.

“Fae trickery,” Niko said, grumbling as he tugged on the cuffs of his Grayhaven uniform. “It’s got to be. And maybe it’s not meant maliciously, but it’s like a test. They want to see if we’re smart enough to know what to wear for — what the hell are we attending, anyway?”

He’d gotten the worst of it, showing up in his Grayhaven grays, looking handsomer and more dapper than I’d ever seen him. But more uncomfortable, too. Reza, in contrast, had decided to arrive at the academy in the closest thing that he had to a work uniform: a leather jacket over a very flattering pair of dark jeans.

“Listen,” Reza said. “I’m sure whatever it is, it’s not like Sparrowheart and King Oberon are going to throw us out for being underdressed. It’ll be like a fancy restaurant. They’ll lend you the right sort of jacket if you don’t live up to the dress code, you know?”

I snorted. “Is that why you wore that outfit?”

Reza stretched his arms out and glanced down at himself. “What’s wrong with this?”

I grunted when the back of Xander’s hand smacked me in the stomach.

“Jackson, don’t be mean. Like I said, I’m sure everything’s going to be fine.”

The two of us had decided to go with clean, pressed button-up polos and dress pants. Xander wore his shiny black oxfords, and I went with my grubby boots of hovering. Listen, Xander was right. King Oberon probably just wanted to catch up on his patio. We’d all drink some tea together, have a nice little picnic in one of his orchards, and that would be it. Hell, I was probably way overdressed already.

We made our way to the Green Room, the one hidden in the bowels of the academy that itself contained a portal to the Verdance. Mercifully, we did not run into a certain Madame Catherine Grayhaven en route.

I still wasn’t sure how I felt about Hecate planting a time-bomb in my body. On one hand, her meddling had been instrumental to defeating Queen Titania. There was a good chance I wouldn’t even be alive if she hadn’t intervened. But on the other, I really, really didn’t like the idea of her pulling the strings the way she did without so much as giving us a heads-up.

What was next? I knew she’d only planted her essence in my body because of the threat that Titania posed to reality at large, but Hecate could easily cause trouble for us again in the future, making me into her personal weapon without any warning. What if she decided that King Oberon was worth eliminating, too? What if she decided to use me as a strike drone again?

Boundaries. We needed boundaries.

“Time to cross over,” Xander said.

Speaking of boundaries, a pair of the older Grayhaven students had been stationed outside the portal, a sort of informal guard to ensure that there would be no shenanigans from either the academy or the Verdance side. Not that any of it had been necessary. The Court of Summer was the least of our worries in terms of potential problems from the Verdance.

“Everybody ready?” Reza asked.

We dove into the little pool that linked our world to the Verdance, emerging dry on the other side, just like always. The endpoint of the portal was a peaceful spot in the forest, somewhere in the Court of Summer, where a pair of guards from the palace were waiting. Unseen birds sang the sweetest of music, the air so warm and inviting.

Also waiting there was Sparrowheart herself. The Summer Knight was dressed in her reinforced wooden armor, its beautiful carving decorated with little flowers and fresh sprigs that grew out of the tiniest cracks in its surface. I stepped forward to shake her hand, but she gathered me up in an embrace instead. I couldn’t help smiling.

“We’re well past that, Jackson Pryde. Welcome back to the Summer Court.”

She greeted the rest of our group the same way, then led us back to the Palace of Briars, chatting the whole time.

Most of it was talking shit about Archibald Fletcher, as much shit-talking as a knight would allow herself. It seemed the man had made a reputation for himself in the Verdance, particularly after Sparrowheart had privately informed King Oberon that Archibald hadn’t actually left for urgent business.

“I could smell his cowardice from the start,” she declared proudly, leading us into the Palace of Briars.

The palace seemed even more beautiful than before, beams of sunlight piercing through the slats and lattices that formed its great walls. Outside sprawled the castle’s grand orchards, heaving with the most succulent of fae fruit. And everywhere, of course, grew the loveliest of flowers, peering in curiously from outside the windows, sprouting out of gaps in the palace’s patterned floors.

“This isn’t the way to the king’s chambers,” Sparrowheart explained.

She led us down a sun-strewn corridor, the walls formed by rows of living trees, the high roof a manicured network of leaves and branches. I thought I recognized the direction we were going, but the palace was enormous. I didn’t want to assume familiarity with any section of this incredible place, every corner of it so pretty, every window offering such a picturesque view.

I turned out to be right, after all. Xander elbowed me and nodded at the far end of the hall, at the doors that we knew would lead us out to one of the palace’s verandas. Birds twittered anew as the doors opened into the gardens, a balmy breeze brushing against my face, the sweetness of fruit and flowers filling my lungs.

And the sweetness of sweets, apparently. Each end of the veranda was lined with tables that groaned with fae delicacies. Beautifully iced cakes, dewy bowls of chilled juice and nectar, and the prettiest little sandwiches I’d ever seen. A garden party it was, then.

Niko glared at the rest of us like he’d lost a bet, then reached up to undo some of the buttons on his stuffy Grayhaven jacket. I opened my mouth, meaning to ask where King Oberon was, but Sparrowheart just pointed up. My jaw fell.

I’d seen it before, King Oberon in flight, but he’d never seemed quite this majestic. He fluttered above the tree line on massive wings, their color the deep black and striking orange of a monarch butterfly. I shielded my eyes as he shielded his, surveying his kingdom while he waited for his guests. Us. Humans! How far we’d come.

“My friends,” Oberon boomed. “Thank you for coming. How lovely to see you again.”

The King of Summer beat his great wings and sped toward the ground. The gust of wind drove more of the fragrances of the gardens toward us. His robes fell about him with a whoosh as his feet touched the grass, those beautiful butterfly wings settling against his back like a richly tailored cape. Breathtaking. The man knew how to make an entrance.

“Your Majesty,” I murmured, echoing and mirroring the others as they bowed.

Oberon shook his hands and his head. “Please, please, no more of these formalities, my human heroes. Thanks to you and the Summer Knight, both my court and my heart can begin the process of healing. The death of a high fae certainly leaves a scar on the face of the Verdance, but Titania wreaked more havoc than I could have imagined. Her demise was painful for us all, but it was necessary.”

I bowed my head, unsure of how to respond. Someone muttered a form of apology, but Oberon clapped his hands and smiled.

“But this is not a time for grieving. I hope you’ll forgive the humble spread our kitchens have set out for you. I wanted this to be a casual affair. Of course, I haven’t only called upon you so we may dine and drink in the palace gardens. I did have an ulterior motive. There is the small matter of your reward.”

The hairs at the back of my neck tingled. My eyes met with Xander’s, but only for the briefest moment. What we’d done in the Verdance, we’d only done for the safety of all reality.

“A reward really isn’t necessary, Your Majesty,” Reza said, speaking for us all.

“Preposterous. Consider it a show of gratitude from my kingdom. And anyway, why isn’t anyone eating already?”

Oberon strode over to one of the banquet tables, picking up plates and handing them out. I stood the farthest, so he chucked it at me like a frisbee instead. I caught it in one hand, my stomach in knots, because some part of me was so sure I’d get flogged for letting one of the royal frisbee snack plates crash through one of the royal windows.

It was so pretty, too, wooden and engraved with depictions of fruit and flowers, of birds and beasts. Sparrowheart shrugged and started filling her own plate with perfect cuts of fruit, cheese, and bread. Xander and I followed her lead. Niko poked at a tray of sliced vegetables, nibbling on his lower lip. He glanced at Reza, then back at Oberon.

“Your Majesty? I’ve always been curious about seeing the rest of your kingdom. Now that the crystals have been cleared away, would it be possible to — I don’t know. Go on a tour of the place? See the sights?”

Reza pursed his lips and nodded in agreement. “Sounds lovely, actually. Great idea. I mean, if Your Majesty would allow it. If it isn’t too much of an imposition on the palace staff.”

Oberon plucked a grape from the table, smacked his lips, and huffed. “I can take you all myself, any time you wish. It would be good to be seen among my people. It is a perplexing enough time as it is for my kingdom and I am eager to see how my people are faring. No. Think of something more imposing.”

We four humans exchanged looks. We had no reason to suspect that Oberon had anything malicious for us in mind, but just how far were we supposed to go? Just how imposing a reward were we allowed to ask for?

The king poured out cups of wine, pushing one into Reza’s hands. He was serving us himself, too, not something I’d overlooked. “Why, even Sparrowheart over here can hardly present me with a worthy request. You humans have your ingenuity! Surely you can come up with something.”

Sparrowheart stopped chewing and spread her hands. “But I am content, Your Majesty. You’ve given me parcels of land, the most lavish apartments in the palace, a seat on your council. What more could I ask for?”

Oberon tipped back his cup of wine, then wagged a finger at her. “I’ll get you yet, Summer Knight. Take your time, gentlemen. There is no rush. You may think over what it is you desire and make your request at a later date. But do make it something bold. Something daring.”

My heart thumped as something bold and daring and stupid formed in my head. My eyes swept across the emerald green of the palace gardens. All these trees and fruits and flowers, the beauty of the veranda and its surrounding trellises, all carved from wood as old as the Palace of Briars itself.

The words fell from my lips before I could think to stop myself.

“Your Majesty, how many people do you think would fit out here? Between the gardens and the patio, I mean. Enough for a very large party, I’d imagine?”

The king quirked a single eyebrow, but said nothing. Dead, shocked silence from the others. I took it as an invitation to keep talking. Xander tugged on my arm, but I pressed on. My heart could have shot right out of my chest.

“You see, Xander and I, we’re getting married soon, and since you’re offering a reward anyway — do you think we could tie the knot here? At the Palace of Briars? I promise, we won’t make too much of a mess.”

Xander gasped. My hand flew to my mouth. All the daring had suddenly left my body all at once. I couldn’t believe what I’d just said.

The King of the Summer Court grinned as he raised a fresh cup of wine. “These gardens have not seen much merriment in too long a time. Not enough joy in these halls. Very well. A wedding it is, then.”

Xander fainted.