Page 72 of Marked By the Dark Lord
“Hag?” I scoffed. “Now that’s a little too far, don’t you think? I’m only twenty-two.”
The things eyes narrowed. “Twenty-twowhat? Decades? Centuries?”
“Years.”
It laughed. “Yeah, right. Don’t lie to me, lady. I can see the wrinkles on your face from here. You’re ancient.”
“Now that’s just rude … whoever you are.”
“You can call me Touk!” he said proudly, beating his chest with one tiny hand.
“Okay, Touk. Can I ask you something? Where am I?”
The little creature darted closer, peering at my eyes. “Gee, I must have hit you real hard. Which isn’t surprising. I’m strong. But you must be dumb, too. That would explain it. You were already dumb, and I knocked you hard enough to make you even dumber.”
“That could well be,” I muttered, fighting back a smile. “But it doesn’t answer the question. Where am I?”
“The Forest of Desolation!” Touk shouted, doing a spin.
“Oh.” That told me precisely nothing. “And the Forest of Desolation is … where?”
“Wow, you really are stupid, aren’t you?”
I stared, trying hard not to hit the little flying man. It wasn’t easy. “Pretend I’m extra stupid, Touk. Where is the forest? What is this place as a whole?”
“The forest is right there!” he said excitedly, pointing. “And right there! It’s all around us!”
“Right. And outside the forest? What’s there?”
“In what direction?” Touk said with a sigh, crossing his arms with a sigh.
“Touk. Pretend I know absolutely nothing.”
“That’s easy enough,” he said.
I took a deep breath, steadying my growing temper.
“Whatrealmam I in, Touk? Since I take it I’m not on Earth or The Place Behind anymore?”
Touk stared. “Are you lost?”
“Very, very lost,” I said. “I was somewhere else, and then … then I got stabbed. Then I woke up here.”
“How stupid does a Faerie have to be to get lost in Faerie?” Touk asked, shaking his head. “You’re hopeless, crone. Age taking your memory already?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If you died and woke up here, that means you’re a Faerie,” Touk said in a boring monotone. “A Faerie who wakes up in Faerie but doesn’t know they’re in Faerie? Stupid, stupid, stupid.”
I stared at him. “But I’m not a Faerie.”
“If you die and wake up in Faerie, you’re one of the Fae,” he repeated, growing bored, looking around.
“And what about you?”
“I’m a sprite!”
“Of course,” I said. “And you, Touk, are you King of the Sprites?”
