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"Commander?"
He loved the reverence in her young voice. It was still the best antidote for the doubts the Dark Fairy had sown in him.
"What?"
"I know how to get to the Fairies. Not the island... but to the valley from where it can be reached."
"Is that so?" Hentzau did not show his relief. He was fond of the girl, and that made him even more strict with her. Like his own skin, Nesser's resembled brown jasper, thought, as in all Goyl females, hers was suffused with amethyst.
"I was part of the escort the King sends with the Fairy when she goes traveling. I accompanied her on her last visit to her sisters. She left us to wait for her at the entrance to the valley, but..."
This was too good to be true. He would not have to beg for help. And nobody would need to know that the Jade Goyl had eluded him. Hentzau clenched his fist, but Nesser saw only his impassive face.
"All right," he said, his tone studiously uninterested. "Tell the scout you'll be leading the way from now on. But you'd better not get us lost."
"I won't, Commander!" Nesser's golden eyes glistened with confidence as she quickly walked away.
Hentzau just stared down the unpaved road in the direction the Jade Goyl had escaped. One of the looters had claimed that the brother was injured, and they would have to stop somewhere to sleep. Hentzau could go for days without sleep. He would be waiting for them.
16
Not Ever
It was still dark when Jacob made them break camp. He desperately needed sleep, but not even Fox could convince him to rest longer, and Clara had to admit that she was glad to get away from all those sleeping dead.
It was a clear night. Black velvet, studded with stars. The trees and hills like silhouettes, and Will beside her but only seemingly close. So familiar and yet so strange.
Clara looked across at him, and he smiled back as his eyes met hers. But it was a mere shadow of the smile she knew. It had always been so easy to get a smile from him. Will gave love so freely. And it was so easy to love him back. Nothing had ever been as easy. She didn't want to lose him, but the world around her whispered, "He belongs to me." And they were riding deeper and deeper into it, as if they needed to find its heart to make it release his brother again.
Let him go!
Clara wanted to shout into the dismal face of this world.
Let him go!
But the world behind the mirror was also reaching out for her. She already felt its dark fingers on her own skin. "What do you want here?" the strange night whispered. "What skin shall I give you? Do you want fur? Do you want stone?"
"No," Clara whispered back. "I will find your heart, and you will give him back to me."
Yet Clara already felt her new skin growing. So soft. Far too soft. And she felt the dark fingers reaching for her own heart.
And she was so afraid.
17
A Guide To The Fairies
It was true what they said about the Fairies. Nobody came to them if they didn't want you to. That had also been true when Jacob had first searched for them three years ago, but even then there had been a way to find them.
You just had to bribe the right Dwarf.
There had always been those Dwarfs who claimed they traded with the Fairies and who proudly displayed lilies on their family crests. Most of them, however, had just told Jacob dusty old tales about their ancestors before finally admitting that the last family member who had actually seen a Fairy had died more than a century ago. Finally, however, one of the Dwarfs at the imperial court had mentioned the name Evenaugh Valiant.
At that time, the Empress had offered a fortune in gold for a lily from the Fairy lake, for its scent was reputed to turn ugly girls into beautiful women. The prince consort had been declaring himself increasingly disappointed with the appearance of their only daughter. He had died shortly afterward in a hunting accident which, as sharp tongues had claimed, had been arranged by his own wife. But since the Empress had always valued her husband's taste more than the man himself, she had not withdrawn the reward for the lily, and so Jacob, who at that time was already working without Chanute, had set off to find Evenaugh Valiant.
yl had ever seen the island that was home to the Fairies, let alone set foot on it. The Dark Fairy guarded the secrets of her sisters, even though they had cast her out, and everybody knew you could only reach their island if they wanted you to.
"How is he going to find her?"
