AllFreeNovel
Share Us
19
Khala
Ithought he was insinuating something else, but he led me over to a section full of scrolls.
"Each of these is a map of the Fae courts." He picked one up, took it over to a table and unrolled it. "This is a map of the Winter Court. There's Lysarial there." He pointed an elegant finger, before tracing it around the coastline. "I have a small house in the bay here."
"Smaller than this?" I asked.
He flashed me a smile. "Just slightly. I wouldn't want to embarrass myself by staying in a shack, would I now?"
"I've seen you sleep on a forest floor," I pointed out. "A shack would seem to be a step up from that."
"Excellent point, but it's a little bigger than a shack anyway." He turned back to the map. "This is the border with the Autumn Court, and here is the Spring Court. The Summer Court is there."
"Everyone has a bit of ocean?" I asked.
"Everyone has a harbour," he agreed. "If we didn't, we'd end up in that full-blown war we were talking about earlier. Of course, the Winter Court has the best harbour."
"They probably all think that," I said.
"Undoubtedly, but we're the only ones who are right." He pushed the map aside and reached for another. "The Spring Court has the best mountains, although we get snow caps." He pointed to a line of peaks on the map. "Right here is the best place to see griffins. They roost in the caves there."
I looked from the maps on the table, to the shelf where they were stored.
"Why are there six?"
He looked at me approvingly. "I was wondering if you'd notice. Most people might assume they're maps of all the Fae lands on one parchment. Or more detailed maps of Lysarial."
"They're not?" I guessed.
"No, although those are both around here somewhere." He gestured vaguely. "Those are maps of the other two courts. Courts a lot of Fae will suggest don't exist. In fact, some insist they don't."
"How could you have maps of places that don't exist?" I asked.
"See, that's what I keep saying." He grabbed one map and unrolled it. Across the top, the words ‘Court of Dreams’ were written in a neat hand. "The other is a map of the Court of Shadows."
A rough outline was sketched on the page, with minimal detail apart from a city or town here and there.
"Where is it?" I frowned at the map. If somebody went there to draw this, they weren't very thorough.
"No one knows," he said. "Hence why people are reluctant to accept their existence. For all I know, they could be right under our feet." He pointed to the floor.
"You don't think so?" I eyed the stone under my boots.
"A hidden court, deep underground. That sounds more like the Court of Nightmares than dreams, to me. Shadows— Potentially more plausible but still…”
"Where do you think they are?" He seemed very certain they were actual places.
He shook his head. "I don't know, but the way this library rearranges itself is similar to the way the legends speak of the Court of Shadows. It may be nothing more than coincidence. The Court of Dreams might exist only there, in our dreams."
"How did you get these?" I asked, running my finger down the side of the map.
"They've been in my family for several generations. The gods only know how my ancestor got their hands on them. Every couple of generations, the High Lord sends out scouts in search of the courts."
"How long has it been since the last time that happened?" I suspected I knew the answer.
"A couple of generations," he said with a smile. "It might be time to try again."
