Page 56 of Sleep No More

I had almost forgotten my uncle’s knights, they’d been so quiet through this whole messy argument. I turned to see them murmuring between themselves, conspiratorially, Grianne’s Merry Dancers circling their heads. The two of them looked back at me, and Grianne slowly rose.

“I’m staying here,” said Garm. “We know October can see whatever spell has been cast to entangle us all, and as of this moment, we know the Lady August can’t. I can’t see it the same way October can, but I can perceive the edges, and that may be an advantage.”

“You talk as if we’re going to war,” said Father sourly.

“I fear we might be,” Garm replied.

It was hard not to take comfort from Grianne moving to stand behind me, a familiar presence, if not a close friend. I returned my attention to Ginevra. “Do you need to go and find Tybalt, to tell him we’re doing this without him?”

“Sir Garm will do it,” she said, airily leaving the responsibility on someone else’s shoulders. It was almost impressive. She rose, smooth and easy, and bowed to my father. “I do apologize for the necessary loan of your daughter, and I understand this is difficult for you. Please try to believe me when I tell you this is difficult for us, also, and that we want nothing more than to bring her home unharmed.”

I noticed she didn’t say “return her to you.” Father noticed as well. He frowned, a flash of something like understanding in his eyes.

“You said my daughter had a close relationship to the Court of Cats in your world,” he said. “Swear to me that you’ll protect her. If she’s harmed, I’ll set myself against you until my dancing ends, and you’ll have no peace ever again.”

It wasn’t a shock that Father would be willing to defend me. It still chipped away at my resentment, replacing a tiny stretch of it with warmth.

Ginevra looked at him steadily. “She has walked our halls and dined from our stores, and she counts many friends among our number,” she said, voice grave. “I’ll protect her with my own life.”

“Swear.”

“On the root and the branch, I will keep her safe.”

Father nodded, apparently accepting her words.

Ginevra put a hand on my arm. “We should go.”

“I can’t just walk away without acknowledging the King and Queen,” I said, and turned to the high table, curtseying, although not as deeply as I had when I was presented. Chrysanthe looked amused, elbowing her husband to get him to look over at me. He raised his cup and nodded, granting us leave to go.

“Cats don’t stand with that sort of formality,” said Ginevra, closing her hand and pulling me along with her as she started for the door. Grianne trailed gamely along behind us, and for the second time in not nearly long enough, I left my family behind.

SIXTEEN

“THIS WILL WORK BETTER if we’re outside, and Tybalt will kill me—I mean straight-up murder me—if I try to take you through the Shadow Roads, so we need to figure out how to get out of here,” said Ginevra, once we were out of the ballroom and walking down the wide, golden hall.

“Maybe I can help,” said Arden. All three of us spun around to face her. She grinned, but she looked more than a little strained around the edges. “Hey, Cat Queen, your buddy told me some fun stories about your version of the world. You want to tell me how much truth he was putting on the table?”

“Did he tell you that you were meant to be Queen in the Mists, not a courier for Golden Shore?”

Arden nodded. “He did. He also told me that in your Faerie, Oleander got away.”

“I never knew her,” said Ginevra. “But the damage she did still echoes through your Kingdom, and may never quite be repaired.”

“He was real startled when I told him that in this Faerie, Oleander died after she offed my parents.” Arden’s grin faded, replaced by cold, stony displeasure. “In your Faerie, people still argue about whether or not she did it. They discuss, like my parents are just a footnote in an unclear history.”

“What happened here?” asked Ginevra.

“My brother and I found Oleander standing over their bodies. Nolan screamed, and when he ran, she ran after him. So I opened a gate so that he could get away, and when she grabbed the back of his shirt, I closed it again, with her arms on the other side.” Arden’s expression never wavered. “She didn’t die from that, of course. She fell down and screamed and bled a lot, but there was an earthquake, everyone was screaming a lot. So I took her knife—the knife she used to kill my parents—and I slit her murdering throat. Then we ran for Golden Shore, because someone had wanted our whole family dead, and I knew they could accuse me of breaking the Law, and it wasn’t safe for us to stay in the Mists anymore. Do you really expect me to believe that a Faerie where Oleander lived was the better world?”

“You’re free there, not confined to someone else’s Kingdom,” said Ginevra.

“Freedom’s overrated.” Arden waved her hand, opening a circle in the air, back to the field where we’d first arrived. “Go ahead and do what you need to do, but be sure you know that you’re not breaking any enchantment on me or on my brother without our permission. If you try it, I’ll end you myself.”

Ginevra glanced at the open window on the outside world, then back at Arden. “If you hurt us in any way, Tybalt will take you apart.”

“Oh, he’s made that perfectly clear,” said Arden. “I’m not going to cut you in half. I only did that once, and I had very good reasons. Go on.”

“She saved me from the Queen’s dungeon,” I said. “I trust her.”