Page 90 of The Hocus Pocus Handbook

I raise my brow. “To wait for her? I do not know when she’ll return.”

“No. If I didn’t find her, I was planning to look for you next anyway. I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”

In answer, I retrace my steps into the suite, inviting her in with a gesture. “Please make yourself comfortable. There are no refreshments, I’m afraid.”

We licked the dishes clean last night before curling up together in bed. The enterprising staff removed the trays before I emerged today.

Olive gazes around the suite with a half smile. “I see they take their early Ottoman Empire seriously in the Autumn Court.”

“I suspect that’s some human reference?”

“It is. But I won’t bore you with a history lesson. And this is a gorgeous place, don’t get me wrong. It’s just…intense. Anyway.” She sits at the table, propping her chin on her hand. “I hope I’m not overstepping, but it’s obvious that you’re close to Thea. So I was wondering if you’d tell me about her childhood. From what I’ve gathered, Thea has a strained relationship with my other sister’s biological parents.”

“Rain and Fen,” I supply. “That’s true. They detected the deception swiftly, but they didn’t know where Thea came from, so they couldn’t…” I hesitate.

“Return her?” Olive guesses.

“Precisely. They focused on finding their real offspring. I don’t believe they gave Thea much thought at all.”

“She must have been so hurt and confused,” she whispers.

“Yes.” I could add that she carries deep wounds, but some things, she ought to confide herself. I will confirm facts but not speculate about her emotional state.

“And she was raised by a hobgoblin named Mudge? Her foster father.”

“Don’t refer to him that way in front of her. He’s her dad,” I correct.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, that was clumsy. ‘Real family’ are those who love you, no matter what,” Olive says.

“Their relationship is precious.”

“I’m glad to hear it. If you’ve known her for a long time, can you share any stories?”

“What kind?”

“Anything about what she was like growing up. I missed so much.” Olive sounds wistful, genuinely regretful that she’ll never get that time back.

And that’s what prompts me to share. Though I wasn’t close to Thea for her whole life, I’ve been observing her and smiling at her antics for some time. I talk about pranks she played in the castle, swarms of lizards, the kindness she’s always shown, and her most recent stunt, freeing the pookas from unwilling participation in royal pageantry.

“I’m glad she wasn’t lonely,” Olive says, when I pause for breath.

“I didn’t say that, necessarily. But she’s the sort of person who seeks happiness and scatters it like flower petals for others to find.”

That puts a brilliant smile on Olive’s face, and the resemblance to Thea is stunning, though Olive is the more muted of the two. “I’m glad she has you.”

“It is the other way around.” I stumble a little over the words.

She rises then. “I won’t keep you. I’m off to pester Taragon for some childhood stories too. I have so much to learn. But I was wondering…”

“Yes?”

“I’m almost out of protein bars. I rationed them in the woods, and I did have some of the porridge and stew that Thea made. What will happen to me if I eat too much fae food? I’m not precisely human, but I am mortal. Legends suggest that taking even one bite is too much, but I’m not ready to leave. I just met Thea.”

“It’s a spectrum. One bite won’t trap you forever.” I pause, trying to think of an example that will make sense to a mortal with a scientific bent. “In some human texts I’ve read, there is a thing called radiation. People who have been exposed to it experience symptoms and then, eventually, physiological changes. Is that correct?”

“More or less. Is there radiation here?”

“In the sense that there’s a higher concentration of magic. Magic is possible in the mortal realm, but the spells are weaker, and the effects are less lasting. Here, magic suffuses everything, including our food. In Thea’s case, she’s lived here her entire life, and her body has adapted to this environment. The mortal realm doesn’t have enough mana to sustain her.”