Page 170 of Kingdoms of Night

Idalno turned to him as well. “Please, I will do an—”

Sighing, Oberon looked up, and his jaw tightened. He lifted his hand. “You will stop right there, young woman. Do not ever make such overbroad promises in this place. Ever. Do you understand me?”

She fell back half a step, startled at the harshness of his tone. “I do.”

Not really, though.

He shook his head, his brow now in a tightV. “How you got this far without realizing that and without grave harm is remarkable in and of itself. Promises matter. Your words matter. Every single one of them. Do not use them lightly. And do not ever agree to something that can be twisted against you.” He sighed dramatically, then shook his head and spoke in a lighter tone. “Not that it is any of my concern. Why should I care in the slightest if you destroy or imprison yourself. Damn yourself for all eternity, for all I care.” He laughed thinly. “This is why I don’t take proteges. But it’s done now. And as for my help, fine.” He gave a general wave of his hand toward the staircase. “Puck, take Ni—Idalno to my stables. Choose something she likes and that will bring her back without her having to know the way.”

“Of course.” Puck grinned and started for the staircase.

She turned to follow when Oberon held up one finger. “Not so fast, young lady. I understand that you are going to surprise your love, and you have obviously been exceptionally lucky up to this point. But there are some rules about this visit. Do not eat or drink anything from the camp. What is for the hunters is only for the hunters, and you are not nor will you ever be a hunter. Use your own food and drink. Be back before midnight. You must not be out during the witching hours. Not even I can protect you then. At least not from a distance. Never ever follow the little lights. Accept no gifts from Titania or any member of her camp. Not even one from your beloved. And above all else, make no promises or guarantees. Do you understand?”

She picked at her cuticles as she contemplated all this. “If I grow something myself while at their camp, will it be safe? Or is the soil there dangerous as well?”

The lines in his forehead eased as he chuckled. “An excellent question. Yes. Whatever you grow or summon will be safe. You might even try your first task while you are there. Send your...energy, you called it? Send it into the earth and ask her what she thinks you should grow with it. Or what she wants. Pay attention to what you feel in that moment.”

“How do I do that?”

“You just send the energy in without asking it to do or be anything except asking the earth the question of ‘what do you want it to be?’ If I’m right, and I usually am, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Pay attention regardless. I’ll want to hear all about it.”

“I will.” She nodded, then paused. “Is there a way I should address this world? In a world we do not know, we say ‘Honina.’”

His eyes narrowed as he tilted his head. “I’m not certain. We call her Faerie, and there are many shadows in this place. All of which have their own names. Perhaps in time she will tell you.”

Puck gestured for her to follow him with a jerk of his head and started toward the smaller set of marble stairs. They had nearly reached the bottom when Oberon appeared at the edge. “And, Puck?” He waited until Puck turned around. “Don’t let your mother see you. She’ll cut your liver out and feed it to her horse. Especially now.”

“I’ll be careful,” Puck said, tapping his hand to his head. “You know me.”

“Yes. And for what it’s worth...this last match of yours wasn’t half bad.”

A little bit of color reached Puck’s face as his smile perked up. “Thank you.”

“This still doesn’t mean I approve of what you’ve done, though.”

“No, of course not.”

Idalno watched. Funny how no matter the species, children either wanted the attention and support of their parents or to be completely free of them.

Puck led her down the remaining stairs, then another flight until they came to a broad black door with bars across it. The stables. As soon as he opened the door, she was awash in that familiar smell. She hadn’t been in one for ages. Not since the last time she’d visited her Bealorn friends. But that familiar mixture of fresh hay, horse sweat, and even the bit of ammonia from the manure took her right back there.

Puck hurried inside, his steps confident despite their swiftness. “Do you have any experience riding?”

“Some.” She followed him in, slower. “Will your mother really cut out your liver if she catches you?”

“Yes. What do you think of this one?” He stepped in front of a powerful white mare with yellow and pink flowers woven in her light silken mane. Not a trace of dirt marred the sanded wood floor, and all of the stalls were a glossy maple. Dozens of stalls lined the walls, each one housing a stunning elk or glossy horse or delicate deer.

“As long as she gets me where I need to be, I don’t care.” She set her hands on her waist. “Why are you being so helpful now? Before you were...difficult. You kept trying to drug us and put us in challenges.”

He laughed as he prepared the horse, his movements light and swift as a pickpocket. “Well, now you two are hooked on each other. My match has succeeded. The point isn’t to bring you together now. It’s to keep you together. Different goals, different tactics. And now that you are a part of my father’s court as well and invested in saving this world, as is your beloved, there is a lot more to help with and hope for.”

“Hope?” She pressed her lips in a tight line, not sure how to respond to that.

“Hope, joy, love. They’re three of the best things in any realm or world, no matter where. Though of those three, I think the greatest is love. And love is what will get you and Feron through. Also don’t listen to my father. He says we don’t have a chance of getting off this world, but we do. I know it. Deep down. And I know you and Feron are going to help us make that happen. You’re both exceptional, and together you are something this realm has never seen. Now. Let’s get you to Lambton. This, by the way, is Moonfire.”

It took him only a few moments more to finish preparing her a horse and then one for himself. Then they were off. Moonfire followed Puck on his dappled gray steed, requiring next to nothing from her. The horses devoured the miles, bringing them to Lambton Village within an hour.

The afternoon sun was already sliding down, making its way toward the horizon and turning an ever deeper red orange. The little village no longer seemed so ominous now.

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