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The pixie hisses at me as she zips around my head, then zooms away.
Well, that answered that. I’m still in Faerie—and, now that the pixie is gone, I’m all alone.
It’s okay. Rys warned me that we might be separated. As a former guard, he knew way more about Siúcra’s secrets than any other inmate, but he wasn’t so sure that the gates would take us where they were supposed. We were prisoners making a sacrifice and not guards going out for a stroll. Who knows how Siúcra would react?
He planned for that inevitability, too. I’m beginning to realize that he planned for everything. One of us needed to. I guess it’s a good thing that it’s him since I’m definitely the impulsive one in this relationship—
Whoa.
Relationship?
Where did that thought come from?
I shake it off. There’s no time for that right now.
I’m a fugitive fresh from Siúcra. I’m also a human, and if the rebellion the guards gossiped about has spread even further and wider
than Rys suspected, I could be in even more trouble. Hanging out in the open is a bad idea. So is running off in any random direction.
Okay, Hel.
You can do this.
There.
As I quickly move toward the tail of the dirt path that’s winding around a particularly stubby tree, I can’t help but feel like I’ve been thrown back to the day where this all started.
I’m shit when it comes to directions. Always have been. I grew up in an urban city where all I had to do was look at the street numbers and figure out where I was when the number went up or down. I knew the twenty blocks around my childhood apartment and the one that I lived in with Jim; a couple of those blocks even intersected. So long as I stayed near home, I didn’t get lost.
I thought I knew the local parks, too. I’m still convinced that, if you put a blindfold on me, set me on the right path, and told me to sniff out my secret spot near the waterfall, I’d be able to find it. But I was the dingus who went off on her own, searching for a babbling creek and stumbling on a fairy circle instead.
At least now I have some clue. Rys said to look out for the dirt path. I found that. So long as I follow its tracks and don’t get distracted, I should find my way toward the inn where we’re supposed to meet.
Thank God it’s still light out. I don’t know what I would’ve done if it was pitch-black except maybe duck under a tree and cry for a bit. Would I have found the dirt path? Doubt it. And since I don’t know if the guards can follow me here, sticking around is just begging to be imprisoned again.
I tried to warn Rys that I’m not so good when it comes to navigating my way around an unfamiliar place. He promised me that it was impossible to get lost. Stay on the path and, sooner or later, I’d find the inn.
And I do.
There’s no sign. No name. I don’t even know if the structure I stumble across is an inn. It’s about as wide as the front of my apartment complex, with at latest two floors, maybe three. It has a thatched roof and a mud-brick siding. Thick glass windows dot the front and the sides, with the flicker of candlelight reflecting against the panes.
Even as I approach it, I hear so many different sounds. Loud voices, boisterous conversations, some shouts as if the patrons are arguing. Music seeps out into the quiet around me. Banging, too. As I hesitate, a cheer goes up, then a hush that has me second-guessing going inside.
Rys told me to meet him here, right? He never said anything about going inside…
The noise isn’t the only thing escaping the inn. Taking a deep breath, I smell something cooking. It reminds me that I’ve already missed one meal today if not more.
My stomach wins out. Yanking on the front door, I take a deep breath and step inside.
It’s darker than I expected considering the candles and the windows. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust. When they do, I realize that Rys might have called this an inn. He would’ve been better off telling me it was a tavern or something.
The cramped room is full of tables. There are food and mugs and faerie folk everywhere.
Another hush falls. It doesn’t take a genius to realize what causes this one.
Stepping out of the doorway, I immediately sidle over to the nearest empty table. I try to pretend like I don’t notice that everybody in the place stopped what they were doing as soon as I entered. Maybe if I take a seat, act like I’m supposed to be here, they’ll all follow my cue.
Hey. A girl can hope.
