Page 13 of Queen of Ever

I knew this story.Fae children were rare, so when Oberon’s queen had given birth to twin boys, he’d been euphoric and seen the birth as a sign from the gods.He’d divided the land, and the magic of the High Fae throne along with it, splitting summer and winter, light and dark, and gifting one side of the Sunder to one son and one side to the other.

‘But what interest do you have in this history?’Ruisin continued.‘I doubt you’ve come all the way to the Whisper Wastes just out of idle curiosity.’

‘I’m trying to find a way to cross into the Seelie lands without provoking a war.’

He ran his hand down his shaggy beard ‘Hmm.Then you’d better sit down and tell me why.I’ve always a hankering for a good story to add to my collection.’

I considered him, tapping a finger against my thigh.I didn’t like the idea of my story being just a little entertainment to light his long years of exile.I wanted his help, but I wasn’t going to weave together some enchanting tale to get it.He could have the straight facts.‘My mate is trapped in the Seelie Court.’

A flicker of something passed over his expression, something too quick to catch.His jaw slackened a little, eyes widening.Then it was gone, and he was laughing.‘Yourmate, you say?How fitting.How very fitting.’

I just glared at him, waiting for him to elaborate, but he just continued to chuckle to himself, sitting deep in his chair and shaking his head at the ground.

‘I don’t know why that’s so amusing,’ I finally said.

‘You would if only you knew.Fate is ever weaving her webs.’The humour slipped out of him and he cast a speculative eye over his shelves.‘Well, I’d better aid and abet, help the cycle find the end it should have met before.’

‘I’ve been told you have a portal that doesn’t use the waypoint system.’

‘A system that I myself created.’The eccentricity fell away as anger warped his expression, scales rippling down his arms, like he was about to change form.‘Imagine the shame of it.I had power the likes of which you have never known, abilities to compress time and space, to break the barriers between realms.And now here I am, trapped in the wasteland created by the war I helped to end, my magic depleted, hunting for scraps.’

I eyed him warily, ready to run if he looked like he was edging closer to shifting.There wasn’t room in this hovel for the enormous bulk of his dragon form, let alone for me as well.‘If you have a portal that can open up anywhere, you wouldn’t need the waypoint system.’

He seemed to settle, his skin smoothing, the sharp gleam leaving his eyes.‘If it’s my portal you want, there’s a symmetry in that which I think the stars will like.’He cast his gaze to the ceiling, as though he was looking for the stars in the stone, and I began to wonder if his exile had made him a little mad.

But still, hope lightened me, lifting my irritation at his mercurial nature.I could slip right into the Seelie Court and speak to Imogen without causing a political explosion, and I could find out if she really was being treated well.If she was there of her own free will or not.But nothing was ever free, especially not when it came to dragons.‘What would it cost me?’

‘A favour.’

I waited for him to elaborate but he didn’t.And I realised what he was asking.‘An open favour?’

‘Aboundopen favour.’His mouth widened, exposing those yellow teeth, still as pointed as they were in dragon form.

‘I’d prefer something named.’

‘But that is not the price.’

Of course not.An open favour meant he could ask practically anything of me, and if bound in magic, I would be forced to comply.It was a reckless deal to make.A stupid deal.

‘Too high a price?I knew you wouldn’t pay it.Not for something as insignificant as the one bound to you by fate.’

‘She’s not insignificant,’ I snarled.‘I’ll pay your price.Let me see the portal.’

He rose to his feet, crossed the room to rifle about on the shelves holding his collection of treasures.When he returned, he was holding a mirror and a pitcher of water.Its surface was strangely dark, faded, imitating shadowed outlines of the room, like it saw only a muted version of the world reflected in its surface.

‘That’s not a portal,’ I said, eying it.

‘Not the like you’re used to.It was gifted to me long ago, so I could watch the world I was exiled from.’He smiled bitterly as he placed it on the table.

‘So I can’t pass through it?’

‘No.’He dipped his fingers in the water and dripped it across the surface of the mirror.The shadowed world within swirled.‘The waypoint system suddenly seems more worthwhile, doesn’t it?’

‘I wanted to cross into the Seelie Court.’

‘And I wanted you to end my exile.It seems we are both collared by the other’s limits.You’ll be able toseeif your mate is well or not, though perhaps you were more interested in the gratification oftouching.’

I gritted my teeth, bit back a hot retort, because maybe there was more truth to that than I’d like to admit.Would it be enough just to see her?If I’d really come just to make sure she was alright, then it would be.But to be honest meant admitting I’d wanted a hell of a lot more than that.I’d wanted to talk to her.To bring her back with me.Alright, I’d wanted totouchher too.A lot.All over.

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