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CHAPTER 20
Traveling through a portal is a little like falling into a drug-induced sleep for the barest fraction of a second, leaving behind a nasty hangover and the distinct sense that the laws of nature have been violated one too many times.
Grandmother Coyote had gleefully accepted the demon's finger and marked our deal finished. She led us to the tree in which the portal had been secreted. As we hoisted ourselves and the demons into the streaming light that raced up and down the core of the giant oak, I held out a faint hope that perhaps Father had been wrong, that we'd find out from the Elfin Queen that everything was all right in Y'Elestrial.
The trip itself only lasted a flash, but when we stepped out of the portal on the other end—a large cavern set in the middle of the Barrow Mounds outside of Elqaneve—the day had already begun, and sunlight streamed around us. The air was clean and held a magical charge that told me we were once again back in Otherworld. The countryside vibrated with life; here oak and beech, rock and crystal, all had their own sentience.
While they also did Earthside, it was easy to miss with the static from all the people and electricity and sheer noise generated by day-to-day life.
It didn't take long for the guards to find us and escort us through the crowd of onlookers. They swept us through the streets, carrying the demons and Wisteria on a cart drawn by horses. The streets of Elqaneve were paved in cobblestone, and flowers dappled the roadsides. In the evening, shimmering Faerie lights glowed to guide those hard of night sight.
Vendors were thick in the streets, hawking their wares. Apparently we'd hit the city on market day. Mothers led their children to school, while Brownies and house sprites shopped for the day. Elves weren't above owning servants, but they treated them well for the most part.
Everyone turned to watch as we passed. They were polite yet aloof, but beneath the surface I could feel their questions bubbling. Delilah and I were obviously half-Sidhe. Tom was human, but not so much. And Smoky… it wouldn't be too difficult for most of the folk to peg him as some sort of magical creature in disguise.
Tom looked around, his eyes sparkling like a kid who had just discovered a secret candy cupboard. It occurred to me that he must have lived in a place like this when Titania first took him into her Barrow City. Even if he couldn't remember, the magic must have sparked some sense of recognition.
When we arrived at the base of the palace, I was struck by how modest the royal court was compared to that of Y'Elestrial. Queen Lethesanar loved pomp and pageantry. The palace here, though, while large and gleaming of alabaster, was also simple in design and surrounded by gardens rather than fancy statues and subcourts. The guards led us into the great hall, where we were searched for weapons, and then escorted us to Queen Asteria's chamber.
The Elfin Queen sat upon her throne of oak and holly, as brilliant as the moon, and as aged as the world. She had been the queen of Elfland even before the Great Divide, and there was no talk of her stepping down over the millennia that had passed. She stood as we entered. Beside me, I felt Tom tremble.
"You bring me no good tidings," she said. "You bring dead demons into my city, and a chained wood sprite who seems to have gone mad?"
I curtsied. "May we talk in private? We have so much to tell you."
She took us into a closed chamber and there, with one of her advisors and three guards present, we told her everything, including what our father had said was happening in Y'Elestrial. By the end of our account, she was leaning back in her chair, drumming her fingers on the table, her face looming somewhere between disgust and distress.
"I was afraid of something like that," she said. "The Subterranean Realms are active, so active that we've been forced to make a truce with our born enemies. I don't like being put in that position, and it's all Shadow Wing's fault. Lethesanar is a fool. She cares more about her own pleasures than she does her people, and she's going to be taken down a peg or two until she relinquishes the throne to her sister. If she refuses…"
I cleared my throat, knowing all too well what she'd left unsaid, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to agree, in case this was a trap to see how loyal we were to the Court and Crown. And I didn't want to disagree for the opposite reason. After a moment, the Queen tapped her silver-headed walking stick on the ground. Even Elves and Sidhe and Faeries aged over the eons, and bones eventually wore out and grew brittle.
"Well then, I suppose we'll have to see what we can do," she said. "In the meantime, you should return Earthside. I'll find out more about the seals and assign my own guardians to keep watch on the demons. You'll be our agents, as well as agents of the OIA."
"Double agents?" I asked, aghast. Traitorous. And yet, we had no real choice in the matter.
"Yes, double agents. When he recovers, send this Trillian to me. He'll be our go-between. He'll accept the job, if he knows what is good for him."
Oh yeah. Trillian was going to love that, I thought. Delilah gave me a nudge and a wink.
The Queen ignored our interplay. "You may go. An emissary will be in contact with you within a few days. This isn't over yet, my girls. Shadow Wing will be sending more scouts, and he won't rest as long as there are seals in the world. No, a skirmish is over and you were victorious, but as for the battle—it's only just begun."
"What will you do with the spirit seal?" I asked.
The Elfin Queen pressed her lips together. "We have a place of refuge in which we will store and guard it. I won't tell you where it is because the less you know about the whereabouts of the seals we find, the safer you—and they—will be. What you do not know, you cannot reveal."
Though she smiled, I sensed a veiled threat back there and realized she was thinking that if we were caught and tortured by Shadow Wing, we wouldn't be able to spill secrets. The thought sobered me, and I stared at the ground for a moment. Shadow Wing was bound to figure out that we'd killed his scouts. We'd be primary targets before long.
"Go now," the Queen said softly. "Don't dwell on what may be. Apply yourself to the task at hand. The Hags of Fate may predict the future, but there is always free will, and that is your saving grace, my dear."
With that, she ushered us out. As we left, I glanced at Tom. "What will become of him?" I asked her.
She gave me a gentle smile. "He'll enjoy his days here, and we'll do what we can to reverse the effects of the nectar of life. He needs to sleep, as do all creatures when it is their time. He's long outlived his legends."
"You won't hurt him, will you?" I asked her, catching her gaze. "He didn't do anything wrong, and he protected the seal for hundreds of years."
She beamed at me then, brilliant and wise, and for a moment, I could see why her people loved her so much. "We won't hurt him. You have my word. Now take your dragon friend—yes, I know what you are, young beast—and return through the portals. There's so much work ahead. But you have an ally in me, as long as Lethesanar is kept ignorant of our agreement."
Delilah and I murmured our assent, and together with Smoky, who had the audacity to blow a kiss at the old Queen, were led back to the portal. I stopped long enough to replenish my stash of Tygerian water, but before long, we were standing back by the entrance to the cave.
