Page 29 of The Iron Raven

“Idon’tknow,” Glitch said, completely serious. “I haven’t seen you in a while, Goodfellow, and now you show up with horns and a strange Forgotten who was an assassin for our greatest enemy. Shouldn’t I be a little cautious?”

“I serve Keirran now,” Nyx added before I could reply. “The Lady is gone, and the Forgotten King is my liege. I bring a message from the king to his mother, the Iron Queen, and I must deliver it.” She hesitated a moment, then sighed. “If you wish me to swear a binding oath that I will harm no one while within the borders of the Iron Realm, I will do so. But I must reach Mag Tuiredh to see the queen before my mission is complete.”

“An oath.” Glitch pondered that a moment, then nodded. “Yes,” he mused. “Perhaps that would be for the best.”

“Uh, no. You shouldn’t have to swear anything,” I said angrily. Oaths and promises were a very serious business in the Nevernever. Once a faery gave their word, they couldn’t break it. Even if it meant their death. Nyx had done nothing to warrant this amount of suspicion, and it was pissing me off that Glitch, of all faeries, was the obstacle preventing us from getting to Meghan.

“No one is going to make any oaths,” I protested. “It shouldn’t be this hard to get a freaking amulet.” The urge to unleash my glamour, to turn this peaceful little outpost into a hub of chaos and pandemonium, rose up again. If the gates were suddenly overrun with rabid monkeys, I bet no one would notice two faeries sneaking into the Iron Realm.

I tried one more time to be diplomatic. “Glitch, you know this isn’t going to make the queen happy. If Meghan were here, right now, what would she say?”

The first lieutenant of the Iron fey glared at me a moment, before he sighed, and the lightning in his hair changed from neon purple to blue. “Fine,” he said. “I trustyouwell enough, Goodfellow.” He pointed a slim finger at Nyx, frowning. “But if that Forgotten causes any grief while she’s here, she can try surviving the Iron Realm with no protection amulet. My job is to keep this realm and the Iron Queen safe, from any threat, no matter who or what it is. Even if it comes from the queen’s own kin.”

Ouch. He was still sore about that, then. Glitch had taken Keirran’s betrayal exceptionally hard, and even though the normally reasonable lieutenant was part of the Iron Court, he was still a full-blooded faery, with all the quirks and pitfalls of the gentry. Including the ability to hold a grudge forever. I guess he hadn’t quite forgiven the former Iron Prince for what he’d put them through.

Glitch shook his head and turned to the pair of knights. “Send a message to the Tinkerer,” he ordered. “Tell him we have need of his services, right now. Tell him Glitch sent you.”

One knight saluted, then pivoted on a heel and strode away. The first lieutenant watched him stride across the bridge until he was lost from sight, then turned to us again.

“You’ll have to wait here until the Tinkerer arrives,” he told me. “The protection amulets aren’t something we can hand out to just anyone. They have to be specifically crafted to each faery. But he’s done this sort of work before, so it shouldn’t take long.”

“Appreciate it, socket-head.” I smirked and crossed my arms. “Though, next time, a little faster would be nice. We’ve just got to deliver a vital message to the queen, nothing important. Don’t let us interrupt your busy day.”

His brow furrowed, the strands in his hair going purple again. “Care to fill me in, Goodfellow? If there’s a danger to the realm, I think I should know about it.”

I gave him a nasty smile. “I would,” I said cheerfully, “if my friend hadn’t been treated with such disrespect at the border.” I held his gaze, a challenging smile stretching my lips. “I don’t know if I want to share my news with you, socket-head. Maybe if there was more trust between us.”

For a second, I wondered what I was doing. Glitch was a long-time ally, and Meghan trusted him completely with the safety of her realm. We had fought side by side against all kinds of enemies, and he was one of the first Iron fey I had considered a friend. But something bitter and spiteful was stirring in me, egged on by the hostility and fear in the air around us. And right now, despite years of camaraderie with Glitch, the friendly insults, and being on the same side since the day Meghan became queen, I suddenly didn’t feel like playing nice.

The Iron faery’s eyes narrowed to violet slits, and the lightning in his hair glowed red. For a second, I thought he might draw the sword at his waist and swing it at me. Part of me hoped he would, but after a taut moment in which I could feel the tension in the fey surrounding us, Glitch stepped back, an air of dismissal surrounding him.

The knights relaxed, and Nyx discreetly lowered her arms under her cloak where, I was certain, two very lethal moonblades had appeared in her hands.

“Very well, Goodfellow.” The first lieutenant’s voice was cold. Not ice-boy levels of cold, but definitely chilly. Turning, he pointed to a stone bench beneath a willow tree a few yards away. “You and the Forgotten can wait over there until the Tinkerer arrives,” he continued, sounding impatient. “It shouldn’t be long. And, Goodfellow,” he warned, “don’t try anything funny while you’re here. I’ll be watching you both.”

Turning on a heel, Glitch stalked off, the strands in his hair snapping angrily as he left.

“Well,” I commented as we moved toward the bench, a nice safe distance from the guards and the border. “That was... interesting.”

“It seems they still do not trust the Forgotten after the war with the Lady,” Nyx said. “And Keirran.” She paused, frowning thoughtfully, then glanced at me. “This lieutenant. Glitch. Have you always been at odds with him?”

“Not really.” I shrugged. “I mean, Glitch is a pretty cool guy most of the time. We fought together against the false king, and aside from his terrible fashion taste, I haven’t had a problem with him since.”

She tilted her head. “That was not the impression I got,” she said in a soft voice. “I saw the way he looked at me, him and the knights both. I heard what he said about Keirran. If you hadn’t been there, they might’ve tried to detain me. Or worse.”

I grinned evilly, as several nasty ideas sprang to mind once more. “That would’ve been a bad day for them.”

But Nyx shook her head. “I am not here to start a fight with my king’s former kith,” she said. “This was once his home. And they are right to be suspicious of me. I was once a servant of their greatest enemy, the Lady who stole away their prince.”

She raised her head, watching the knight who still glowered at us from a distance. “Keirran told me that much of the Nevernever was still furious at him,” she said quietly, “and that they would never forgive what he did. I suppose that extends to all of us. It seems I’m going to be as welcome in the Iron Realm as he is.”

I was simultaneously annoyed that she was talking so much about Keirran and angry at the thought of Nyx being targeted simply because she was a Forgotten. A Forgotten assassin who once was the right hand of the Lady, yeah, who was as skilled and dangerous as she was beautiful, but she wasn’t even part of the last war.

“Ah, don’t stress too much about it.” I plopped beside her on the bench, and she glanced at me with calm, moon-colored eyes. “Nothing’s going to happen to you in the Iron Court. Anyone wants to start shit, they’re gonna have to go through me.”

Her mouth twitched in a wry smirk of her own. “You don’t think I can handle myself?”

“Oh, believe me, I am fully aware that you can slice and dice your way through pretty much anything.” I held up my hands as she watched me, still smiling. “No question about your murder capabilities, please don’t stab me. But if we’re in the Iron Realm and we do have to make trouble, better for the blame to land on me than you. One, you’re a Forgotten, and it seems that everyone’s panties are in a twist over that. Best if you lie low for now. And two, I’m good friends with the Iron Queen, and I will be playingthatcard every chance I get.” One silver brow arched, and I shot her a grin. “Besides, I’m Robin Goodfellow. If things blow up, collapse, explode, or turn into frogs around me, well, that’s just to be expected.”

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