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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.
I looked back, not wanting to leave. Otherworld was the home of my father, and I wanted to stay. And yet Earth was my mother's home, and together with my sisters, I owed it allegiance as well. And Earth needed us now.
"Are you ready?" I asked Delilah.
She nodded, though I could see the same conflicting emotions playing over her face. We held hands, she and Smoky and I, and stepped through the portal, emerging once again into a rain-filled forest. I shivered and pulled my robes tighter. The Lexus was waiting just off the road up ahead where Morio had left it for us. I winced as the dirty rain splashed on my face.
Yes, Earth was my home as much as Otherworld, and though it was filled with pollution and horrendous weaponry and a sense of hopelessness, it had a magic all its own. If we could keep the demons at bay, if we could bring to life that magic and make it thrive once again, then maybe our mother's world would survive.
"You know, even though I have use of your names, I give you my word that I'll hold them in honor," Smoky whispered to me before climbing in the backseat. "I won't abuse them."
Suddenly feeling lighthearted, I fastened my seat belt.
"Let's go home," I said. "Trillian will be here tonight, and we all need rest. We should contact Father later in the day to find out what's happening in Y'Elestrial. Menolly needs to sort out matters at the Wayfarer… Queen Asteria was right. We've got a butt load of work to do."
Delilah snapped her seat belt closed. "I don't think that's quite what she meant. But you're right, we do have a lot to do. We should also build a little house for Maggie in the parlor to give her some privacy."
"That's not a bad idea," I said, turning on the radio station. "I bet she'd like that. Did you notice how much Menolly took to her?"
"Yeah, I did… I think it will be good for both of them," Delilah said, turning up the volume. And as we pulled out onto the road, lilting tones of the Gorillaz's "Demon Days" began to fill the car.
