Page 75 of A Divided Duty

“She told Blind Michael’s Riders what Luna was planning to do, knowing that they would intercede.” I wasn’t going to give him details, not yet. “Please, sir. Be gentle with her.”

“Why should I?” he asked, voice going cold. “She has orchestrated harm to my wife and child. Would you be gentle with someone who did the same to you?”

“I didn’t demand the right to execute Dame Altair and her brother myself,” I said. “I can’t say for sure what I would do in your current position, but I like to think that I would be able to restrain myself long enough to pay attention to everything else that’s going on. Melly messed up, but she had her reasons, and she deserves to be treated with understanding. Just don’t make any decisions you can’t take back until I’ve had the chance to get Raysel home. Please.”

He looked at me, expression going slowly blank, then nodded. “I’ll stay my hand until you return with my child,” he said. “That’s the best that I can offer you.”

“And that’s more than enough,” I said. Darting across the space between us, I gave him a quick, one-armed hug before I retreated to the door I’d entered through. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Open roads, October,” he said, and watched as I left him, not moving from his place by the fire. Then I closed the door, and he was gone.

FIFTEEN

THE DOOR, WHICH HAD opened in the hall outside the kitchen, let me out in the shorter, more palatial hallway outside the quarters Etienne shared with Bridget and Chelsea. I cast an amused look over my shoulder at the door itself, which looked as innocent as a door was capable of doing.

“Very smooth,” I said. “Very slick. But I do appreciate it. I’ll try to be around more from now on, okay? At least this time, I didn’t stay away because I wanted to. And I’ve missed you almost every day.”

The knowe didn’t respond, but I got a distinct feeling of approval from all around me. I smiled as I turned toward Etienne’s quarters, heading for them without looking back.

When I raised my hand to knock, the door swung open, and I could hear Bridget in the distance, not well enough to make out any words, but clearly enough to pick up on the smooth Irish tones of her accent, still audible after decades in America. I looked up at the ceiling.

“I know you can invite me anywhere inside you, but I’m still going to be polite about walking into someone else’s private quarters,” I said, and knocked on the doorframe.

Bridget stopped talking. There was a soft shuffling sound, and then she was coming out of the sitting room, a curious expression on her face that faded when she saw me, replaced by delight. “October!” she exclaimed. “Oh, this is a pleasant surprise.”

“It can be pleasant, but it shouldn’t be a surprise,” I said. “Chelsea was supposed to let you know that I’d be coming to get her sooner than later.”

“I did!” said Chelsea, bounding out of the sitting room and down the short hall to stand beside her mother. She wasn’t even slightly human anymore, but they still looked enough alike to make their relationship very clear. It was actually something of a relief to see that. No matter how far removed I got from the way I’d been born, I would always be carrying my biological father with me, buried somewhere deep in the memory of my bones. That was all I could have asked from my magic, which could be fickle and strange, but always tried its best.

“Mom, I told you, I’m helping Toby find Ray,” she said, stepping around Bridget to stand next to me.

“And I told you, I don’t like you getting involved in the sort of work October does,” said Bridget. “She’s a hero, and she’s just this side of indestructible. You’re my girl and my responsibility, and I need to do what’s necessary to keep you safe. Even if that means upsetting you by telling you that you’re not allowed to go charging into danger with your friends.”

“Mo-om,” said Chelsea, sounding several years younger than she actually was. Our mothers can have that effect on us sometimes. She stepped to the side so that she could glower more effectively at Bridget. “Toby’s put herself in danger for my sake lots of times. You can’t tell me that I’m not allowed to do the same in order to help her.”

“I think you’ll find that I’m your mother, and I can do quite a few things, lassie. But you’re right that I shouldn’t be trying to forbid you to go and help someone you care about so very much as you care for Rayseline. I’m sorry to threaten. I just … Sometimes it frightens me, the world you’re determined to be a part of.” She shook her head. “I always knew I’d lose you to Faerie. The manner of the loss is what keeps taking me by surprise.”

“You’re never gonna lose me, Mom,” said Chelsea. “You followed me into the Summerlands. That alone proves that we’re going to make this work, no matter what we have to do for that to happen. I love you, and you love me, and Faerie’s not taking me anywhere.”

Bridget nodded, looking reassured. I turned to Chelsea.

“I need to be in Muir Woods,” I said. “Can you get me there?”

She rolled her eyes. “Please. I can get you to Disney World. Do you want to go to Orlando?”

“Muir Woods will be fine,” I said.

She sketched a portal in the air and we stepped through, emerging in the clearing outside the knowe doors. I shot Chelsea a curious look. She shrugged.

“It seemed rude to just barge in on the queen, and I don’t really want to get in trouble.”

“Fair enough,” I agreed, and looked around the clearing.

Court was long over, and most fae were asleep by now, in the middle of the mortal day. No real need for guards when there’s no one awake for them to guard against. The unfamiliar Gwragen from before was standing sentinel by herself, leaning most of her weight on her ceremonial spear as she tried not to doze through the day. The possum was asleep, curled into a tight ball with its nose tucked under its hairless pink tail.

I stood up straighter, tugging my bloodied tank top down like I thought I could somehow make it more presentable that way, and walked toward the guard on duty, Chelsea trailing along behind me. She didn’t say anything, letting me take the lead, and for that, I was genuinely grateful. She was a quick study, but she hadn’t grown up with the feudal system, and sometimes her lack of etiquette could verge on outright rude.

Not that I’m a great role model when it comes to “how you should behave around royalty,” but the last thing we needed right now was for somebody to get thrown in the Queen’s dungeons for testing the limits of polite behavior.