Yarrow believes him. The coin’s power pulses tangibly through the air—then vanishes as Folly tucks it away.
“Haelwen does love collecting trinkets.” Yarrow waggles his fingers at his axe, which obediently shimmers into place on his back. “That coin is an excellent idea. I’m sure I’ll think of more along the way. Now, let’s get out of here.”
He offers Folly’s dagger, hilt first.
Folly hesitates. His gaze darts everywhere, only occasionally meeting Yarrow’s face. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Yarrow asks. “Take the knife.”
Folly takes it slowly. “You’re not mad?”
“Trust me, you’ll know if I’m mad.” Yarrow means it as reassurance, but Folly just licks his lips nervously again. Probably for the best. Follyshouldbe nervous. Summer’s wilderness is no place for a human.
Nor is Elsewhere. The grass stretches farther into the mist now, dandelions bobbing silvery heads along the edges. Something moves in the distance. Perhaps merely a shadow. Perhaps something more.
“All right, moment’s up,” Yarrow addresses the churning sky. “More than a moment. Let us into the fae realm, as close to the palace as you can.”
Golden light twists. A piece of air unravels before them, revealing only darkness beyond. Yarrow steps forward—then pivots at Folly’s sudden movement.
But all Folly does is grab Yarrow’s wrist. “Wait!”
Yarrow stops, held in place more by surprise than by the pair of fragile human hands clutching him. “Do you want to stay? We can continue our picnic in the fae realm.”
“What happens with the curse?” Folly asks, trembling. “If you walk through first, and you’re in a different realm, won’t it hurt?”
Fuck. Yarrow’s stomach twists with the memory of pain. He can take the pain, of course, he’s very strong. But Yarrow needs to be more careful now that he’s not traveling alone. It will probably only be for a few days—it had better only be for a few days—but Yarrow is responsible for this weak creature. “I’ll carry you through, like last time.”
Folly chews his lip. “Could we just, I don’t know, hold hands instead?”
“Even better.” Yarrow reaches out. “I want a hand free for my axe, in case we land in a grove of arberos. Or worse, a den of boarbears.”
“Is that likely?” Folly asks, blanching.
“No likelier than anything else.” Yarrow beckons. “Hurry up, they’ll only be hungrier the longer we wait.”
“I don’t even know what a boarbear is.” Folly takes his hand slowly, barely touching. Like a feather threatening to fly away on the wind. “No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
Yarrow grasps Folly firmly. He’d feel bad about the way Folly flinches, but Folly seems to flinch at everything. “Don’t worry. Boarbears are only a problem if they kill you before you can kill them. Hasn’t happened to me yet. Come on, the rift won’t hold forever.”
Folly’s lips part, then close. He ducks his head and mutters, “Let’s just go. I guess.”
Good enough. Yarrow tightens his grip and strides forward. Tendrils of magic brush past, tickling his hair and feathering between his bones. The transition is unnerving and familiar all at once. There’s a sense of loneliness. A moment of not belonging anywhere.
Folly squeezes his hand with desperate strength.
Yarrow squints against the blinding light, before his boots land on hard-packed earth. Folly stumbles at his side, safely joining him in the darkness. Yarrow’s eyes adjust swiftly, and he turns to take in their new surroundings.
A quiet road, silver-gray in the night. Forest looms on both sides of the path, and clouds conceal the moon and stars. This is unmistakably the fae realm. Everything smells right, everything feels right. Fragrance on the warm breeze. The pulse of summer magic, that constant presence Yarrow only notices in its absence—creatures large and small, animal and plant, casting and growing and protecting and thriving with the magic in every direction.
Nothing too close, though. The road is empty before and behind them.
“No boarbears,” Yarrow says. “But there’s another problem.”
Folly’s grip tightens. He whispers, as if to himself, “Of course there is.”
His left eye glows faintly in the darkness. Brighter than it was in the human realm.
This is the fae realm, but the summer lands cover a great expanse. There are forests throughout, in every direction, from Spiritwood north of the palace to the dryad territories far to the south.
