Page 4 of A Court of Hearts and Hunger
Drosselmeyer. Former godfather to Louisa and me, hunter of the Fae for decades. He’s a master sorcerer, and though he can only perform curses, he has managed to be most versatile with his magic, developing maledictions for everything from securing doors, to tracking my sister and me, to turning Fae into creepy automatons.
“Drosselmeyer is at peace with us now,” Finias says, loudly enough for all to hear. “He freed his captives and sent them home.”
“He freed hissurvivingcaptives, yes,” says the Chief Steward coolly. “Some might say it was more out of necessity than a change of heart. But you would know best, my lord. After all, you have experience withall kindsof beings.”
There’s a faint disdain and condemnation in the Steward’s tone. It’s not the first time I’ve sensed that the Fae of Beannú still despise Fin. His uncle banished him from the Seelie Court years ago, and to many of the nobles, he’s an Unseelie sympathizer of dubious morals and dreadful habits, too flighty and feral for this city.
“What did Drosselmeyer say?” Fin asks.
“He said he must speak to King Lir and Queen Louisa,” says Darragh. “Since neither of them are here, I closed down the Mortal Sphere until I could fetch you myself. It has been decades since any communication passed between this realm and the human lands through a Mortal Sphere.” He tucks his hands into the long, wide sleeves of his robe. “I am not sure we should indulge the Fae hunter by communicating with him.”
“But that’s not for you to decide, is it?” Finias flashes him a sharp grin. “If Drosselmeyer went to the trouble of contacting us, he must have something interesting to say—don’t you think so, darling?” He glances at me.
I’m still a little stunned, adjusting to the idea that Drosselmeyer has made contact. I didn’t think I’d ever hear from him again.
“He wouldn’t try to speak to us unless it was urgent,” I agree. “We should hear him out.”
“Exactly.” Fin steps forward and cups both hands beneath the broken geode. “Ah, you used a phellem spell to seal it. A little clumsy, but effective enough, I suppose.” His fingers tighten briefly on the sphere, and a ripple of rainbow light runs over its surface, glimmering on the facets of the black crystals within.
“Mortal Spheres and their counterparts, Undying Spheres, are formed when eclipses occur in both the mortal realm and the Faerie realm at the same time,” he explains to me. “As I told you, the realms are two sides of the same coin, with the same heavenly bodies and the same passage of time. We have a Mortal Sphere from your world, and Drosselmeyer has an Undying Sphere from Faerie—which allows us to communicate briefly across the two realms.”
He sets the ball back on its pedestal. Within seconds, tiny lines of black lightning fork inward, branching from the tiny crystals toward a central point of open space inside the geode. They meet and expand, forming a small, three-dimensional image of Drosselmeyer’s head, drawn in shivering lines of black light that crackle and hiss. He looks as if someone sketched him in charcoal. And he’s just as I remember him—narrow-faced and serious, with his neat goatee and spectacles.
“Can he see us?” I whisper.
“Indeed. Can you hear us, Drosselmeyer?” Fin asks.
Drosselmeyer’s voice issues from the geode, cracked and faint, but discernible. “I can hear you. Hello, Clara.”
“You asked for Lir and Louisa, but they’re unavailable at the moment,” I say curtly. “Whatever you have to say, you can say to me and Finias.”
I can feel Fin’s eyes on me, but I don’t look at him. I don’t feel like exchanging pleasantries with my godfather. He’s part of my old life, and seeing him again is a rancid reminder of the mortal world, of my father, and of the person I used to be.
“Very well,” says Drosselmeyer. “I’ll make this quick, since I’m not sure how long my orb will last. Undying Sphere, my ass.” He sighs. “Since we last saw each other, I’ve been working to develop a new kind of magic, with the help of the stone from the Rat King’s scepter. It’s more beneficial than the curses I used to employ. I destroyed most of my relics from Faerie, except for a few priceless items, and I’ve been focusing on my own world, how I can make it better.”
“We’re all so delighted by your moral and emotional growth,” Fin says dryly.
“To get to the point—since I freed my automatons, I’ve had to hire human servants instead. A dreadful bother. It’s so difficult to find good help. One of the girls I hired—well, a woman, I suppose—she’s about twenty—”
“Just tell us what you need,” I say.
“This maid I hired turned out to be far more inquisitive than most. I caught her poking around in my workshop a couple days ago—she claimed she was only dusting. I should have fired her on the spot, but I gave her another chance. Then, this morning, I overheard her telling another servant that she’d seen a man with the ears of a rabbit, inside a hedge.”
“A rabbit?” Finias’s tone is sharper than usual. “What did he look like?”
“I’ll get to that. I planned to investigate what the girl had seen, but events unfolded faster than I expected. Two hours ago I felt a disturbance—a shifting of the air, a tingle of Faerie magic, coupled with a sense of dread. I followed my instincts into the garden, where I saw one of the old oak trees split open at the roots, forming a great black hole. In front of the hole stood a tall, brown-skinned man in a white suit, wearing the mask of a brown rabbit. The inquisitive maid was standing right beside him. I called out to her, to warn her. But the masked rabbit looked at me, gave her a shove into the hole, and then leaped down it himself.”
“Fuck,” hisses Fin. “God-shit…” He walks a few steps away, sweeping one hand over the lower half of his face.
“I take it you know who he is,” says Drosselmeyer.
Fin sighs, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. “Yes. The White Rabbit.”
“The very same. I took his brother years ago,” Drosselmeyer says. “He was one of my first, back when I was still turning my captives to stone. The maid is young, helpless. Her kidnapping may be some kind of clumsy revenge on me. I would hate to know she was suffering and dying because of my old sins. But I’ve been forbidden by your King from ever entering Faerie again. I must honor that agreement, so I can’t go after her myself.”
“No, you can’t.” Fin walks closer to the orb. “Do you know where the portal took them?”
“I used the Rat King’s staff to perform a location spell, using the residual magic at the spot where the portal closed. I believe it emptied into the heart of Unseelie territory, in or near Mallaithe.”
