Page 66 of Lord of the Hollow Court
“Let us not worry about that just yet. We have a geas to work around, and only this coming hour to do it.”
Katty shuddered. “I don’t understand a word of this fae magic business.”
Muis shook his head, the beautiful cascade of his straight black hair rippling. “Some of it is not fae magic. Do you know the way to Sleepy Hollow from here?”
She nodded. “Of course I do.”
“Then you must go there and retrieve what’s been lost.” Muis’s mouth twisted. “If your husband had listened to me on Samhain, none of this would have happened. Then again, you would not be here to bargain with me.”
“Me?” Taking a step back, Katty crossed her arms over her chest. “I want no more bargains.”
“I won’t help you save the Hollow Court without one.”
Katty’s brows shot high at that.The geas.Was he offering her a chance to break what she’d already rid herself of? Didn’t he know the wedding had satisfied it? Muis seemed to know about so much. She wished she had even a fraction of his knowledge. Maybe then her stomach would not be flipping, and every step that she took from Hollow Hall would not make her wriggle like bait on a hook.
Wait. It couldn’t be—
Katty took three quick strides forward, away from the branches and toward the footbridge that led toward Sleepy Hollow. That discomfort she’d felt became a burning tingle that coiled around every organ. Another three steps, and it shot into her extremities.
“What’s happening?” she demanded, strain showing in her voice. It was difficult to stand here, to resist the urge to run back into the trees.
“That would be the geas that’s upon you.”
Katty shook her head fervidly, eyes closing as she tried to shut out the pain. “No. No, my marriage to Braam ended that. There isn’t one.”
Muis eyed her pityingly. “I’m a sorcerer, Lady Braam. I can sense every bit of magic in your bones. The geas is a powerful one. Fae lands are alive in a way the human ones are not. Those of the Hollow Court have put great stock in you. As if in a last attempt to save itself.” Janus Muis frowned. “You have a rather single-minded husband.”
Katty’s mind immediately flashed toward the Lord’s Grove. She colored slightly, but not nearly as much as she would have without this visceral pain. It was hard to think of anything as pleasant as that with hot wire wound through her body.
“So he lied,” Katty said, breathing harder. Sweat broke out across her brow. “He said our marriage would end the geas—end myobligationto fix what happened to Hollow Hall that night.”
Muis crossed his arms to mirror hers. “I don’t know your husband well. I can only guess that he isn’t as well-schooled in fae magic as I am. He wouldn’t have understood that repairing Hollow Hall meant far more than cleaning up plaster and ripped-up garden beds. The Hollow Court was in a desperate state before you ever found it, before Lord Braam ever inherited it. It lost its magic long ago, with the departure of the Golden Fae and their knowledge, and then again with the loss of a fae artifact that was both misunderstood and misused.” Muis’s expression grew severe. “There are not nearly as many fae sorcerers as there should be.”
Katty wished to sink into the earth—to disappear into it completely. “I don’t know anything about fae magic. I barely know anything about the fae. How can I save an entire court? I can barely leave these woods!”
Muis loosened his long arms, letting one extend into the narrowed gap between them. He was extending a hand for her to shake. “Then let us seal the bargain the human way, and I will teach you how.”
“I don’t want a fae bargain!” she cried. “You’re not listening.”
“You want this one. Trust me, as I have trusted you.”
His name. Braam’s name. Katty took a step back toward the reaching branches, easing the burning pain enough that she could think. The Katty she had been in Sleepy Hollow flared back to life, as if waiting for its chance. She welcomed her old self.
“What does this bargain contain that would benefit me?” she demanded.
Muis laughed softly. “You’re this court’s Lady. If the court withers, you may well wither with it. And you’ll be a great deal closer to freeing yourself from the geas this way.”
Katty scowled at him. “And what does it contain to benefit you?”
“A cure. When the magic is restored to the court, I want to be the first to be healed of the Fae Wasting.” As his finger trailed along the crescent of marks that led to his jaw, his sigh mixed with the rustle of dying leaves. The scrape of one passing along the bridge on a breeze made Katty jumpy all over again. “I cannot travel with the Wasting upon me, and I am losing valuable time and magic fighting it myself. I need to be elsewhere, and quickly. As I’ve told you, there are not nearly enough sorcerers in this world.”
His dark eyes found hers, then focused on something she could not see. “Choose quickly, Lady Braam. Midnight is almost upon us.”
Mind racing, Katty clutched her cloak, wishing Rineke or Bibi could help her decide. She wished she was not the one here by the footbridge, talking to a sorcerer of fae magic at midnight.
But where would she be if not here? Home, listening to her mother berate her about her failure to secure a husband? Telling her she was not pretty enough, not fluent enough at conversation to secure a match? Or would she be helping Katrina prepare for a wedding to an unworthy man as if it was the finest thing to ever happen, her carelessness catching up to her at last while Katty could do nothing, say nothing to stop her from making this mistake? Katty breathed out her pain, her fear and indecision, and jutted out her hand to meet his.
“By my vow and the power of my name, I swear to aid you in this step of your journey to save the Hollow Court,” he said.
