Page 66 of The Iron Raven

18

CURSES AND ROSES

That night, we made camp in the center of a small ruin, surrounded by crumbling walls and gargoyles being choked by thick black bramble. A shattered fountain that might’ve been a mermaid once but was now nothing but a tail and a pair of arms stood desolately in the center of the room.

Nyx leaned against the lip of the fountain with her legs crossed and her blades in hand, staring at the tunnel we had come in, making certain no nasty bug or giant centipede slithered into the room with us. Coaleater, too, had taken up guard duty, planting his large body in the doorway, so that if said giant centipede tried squeezing in, they’d get an angry Iron horse to the face.

(One might think all these centipede precautions were going a bit overboard, except we’d all seen the big ugly bastard as we slipped back into the Briars tunnels, a fifteen-foot monster making its merry way through the thorns, bright yellow antennas waving. And since I liked bugs as much as I liked a rousing kick to the gonads, I thought being overprepared was better than waking up with a centipede trying to eat my eyeball.)

I glanced at the lovebirds, who had claimed one of the far corners. The Iron Queen sat with her back against the stone wall, with Ash crouched in front of her, his silver gaze intense. Meghan still looked pale and exhausted, which was prompting Ash to be even more protective and overbearing than normal. He looked like he wanted to scoop her up and take her back to the Iron Realm, which Meghan would never allow and would likely kick his ass for attempting, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to.

“I’m fine, Ash,” she told the hovering Ice Prince, for the second or third time, I was guessing. “I told you, I’m just tired.” Raising a hand before her, she gave a rueful smile. “Probably shouldn’t have expended all my glamour at once, but it had to be done. Just give me an hour or two of sleep, and I’ll be ready to go.” Ash started to say something, and she glared at him. “Unless I don’t get any rest from the constant hovering of an overprotective Winter faery who is worried that I’m not getting enough rest.”

Ash slumped in defeat. “Fine,” I heard him say. “As you wish, my queen. But if you pass out or fall asleep during the fight with the big monster, I get to be ‘unbearably overprotective’ for the next month.”

Meghan yawned. “And that is different from everyday life, how?” she murmured, leaning back and closing her eyes.

Ash snorted, placed a kiss atop her head and rose, black coat and protective glamour aura falling around him. He caught me watching them, and one brow lifted before he turned and started making his way in my direction.

I stiffened, angry memories stirring to life once more, even as I tried shoving them down. “Ice-boy,” I greeted, smiling coldly as he came up. “That’s quite the talent you’ve got. Even after all this time, you can still make me want to stab my eyeballs out.”

He didn’t say anything at first, just leaned back against the lip of the fountain next to me, crossing his arms. For a moment, we didn’t speak, gazing silently over the ruined courtyard, an icy barrier radiating between us.

“How long?” Ash wondered at last. Puzzled, I glanced at him, frowning, and his jaw tightened. “How long have you felt this way, Puck?”

“Always, ice-boy,” I answered softly. “From the moment I saw you and Meghan dancing at Elysium. Oh, I got over it, but it’s always been there. You know better than anyone that I’ve always been kind of a sore loser.”

Ash briefly closed his eyes. “I don’t want this, Goodfellow,” he murmured. “I thought we were done with this feud. I don’t want to have to fight you again.”

“Well, that’s too bad, ice-boy. ’Cause we don’t always get what we want.” I sneered at him, making his eyes narrow. “I didn’t want to have to fight you for countless years over an oath. I didn’t want to watch Meghan fall in love with you, when I was at her side the entire time. I didn’t want to get smacked down by a big ugly bastard who brought all these lovely memories right back to the surface again. But I did, and now we all have to live with it, whether we want to or not.”

I crossed my arms, imitating his pose, and gave him a challenging smirk. “Just be glad my good old-fashioned talent for revenge has a bigger priority right now than you. Once this is over, get ready to meet the real Robin Goodfellow. And like your brothers, you’ll find out he was an even bigger bastard than anyone realized.”

“Puck.” Ash pushed himself off the lip of the fountain, not looking at me any longer. A flash of pain crossed his face before he could hide it. “I can’t fault you for wanting revenge, not after my oath with Ariella, but...” He paused, as if struggling with himself, then said, very quietly, “Rowan and Sage are gone. You...are the only brother I have left.”

He turned and walked away before I could reply, striding back toward the now sleeping Meghan, leaving me staring after him.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Nyx at the mouth of the bramble tunnel, her golden eyes shining in the gloom as she watched us. And I knew that she had heard every word I’d said.

Dammit.I slumped against the stones, putting a hand over my eyes, and teetered between planning the most cruel, horrible prank in the history of the Nevernever and hoping no one saw the water trickling slowly between my fingers.

I woke up to the smell of...roses?

Opening my eyes, I gave a start. Once black, stark, and empty, the thorns and brambles that covered the walls and stones of the ruins now blazed with color. Roses in red, white, black, blue, yellow, and purple had sprouted everywhere among the thorns, filling the air with the scent of flowers and a riot of pigment.

“Ohhh-kaaaaaaay.” Cautiously, I rose, seeing everyone else gazing around with their hands close to their weapons, too. “Who ordered the wedding setup? Or is the Queen of Hearts attempting to smother us with rosebushes?”

“No idea,” Coaleater said, stamping a hoof that sparked against the stone floor. “They just bloomed out of nowhere a few seconds ago.” His nostrils flared, as if he was contemplating setting fire to the lot of them. “I don’t know what this means, but I don’t like it.”

Meghan stood up. She looked stronger now, almost back to normal. “They don’t feel hostile,” she mused, touching a fingertip to a yellow rose petal. It stirred at her touch, almost like a cat waking up to someone petting it. “I don’t think they’re here as a warning or a threat.”

“It is the castle.” Grimalkin peered down from atop the broken fountain, golden cat eyes seeming to float in the gloom. “It knows we are coming.”

Nyx appeared beside me. I could feel her presence with every fiber of my being, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at her right then. I didn’t want to see anger in those moon-colored eyes, or worse, disappointment. Because she had seen the real Robin Goodfellow again and knew he could never be trusted.

“If it knows we are coming,” Nyx said softly, “then I see no reason to keep it waiting.”

The roses continued through the Briars, forming a passage of color and scent. We didn’t need Furball to guide the way anymore, as it was obvious which direction we needed to go. Following the trail of flowers, we pushed our way through the Briars tunnels until they opened up once again, and we stepped into a massive courtyard.

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