Page 32 of A City of Emeralds and Envy
“Fiero, come back!” I almost dart after him, but Riordan charges forward. “Let me! They can’t hurt me.”
He plunges in among the trees, while they hammer his armor as heavily as they can. They keep attacking me, too, but I manage to dodge most of the blows. Jasper holds Alice against his chest and curves his body around her, trying to shield her as best he can.
Between the swaying, groaning branches, I can make out the lines of Riordan’s shape. He bends—with surprising swiftness for his bulk—and catches Fiero around the middle. I’m worried that his sharp fingers will shred my pet, but when he works his way back to us and delivers Fiero into my arms, there’s no sign of blood.
My terror subsides a little as I hold my dog carefully against my heart. He wandered onto our farm one day, years ago, and from the moment I saw him, I loved him, more earnestly than I love my parents. Gratefully I look up at Riordan, remembering what he said about the Unseelie and how they form relationships.Immediately, or not at all.
“Thank you,” I manage.
He grunts, as if unused to expressions of gratitude, but he gives me a stiff nod. “Come on.”
We keep running, until the knotty sugarplum trees disappear and the forest resumes its usual appearance—tall trunks, leafy undergrowth, a thick canopy overhead. Shadows are thickening beneath the boughs, and velvety darkness shortens my sightline in every direction.
“You grew up around here,” says Riordan to Jasper. “Is there somewhere we could take shelter?”
“There might be a place. It’s been a long time since I was allowed to roam free.” Jasper gives Riordan a sweet, pained smile. “I’ll see if I can find the spot.”
After a short walk, he shows us a clearing a few dozen paces from the road, at the base of a rocky hill. There’s an enormous tree, half-grown over a boulder, and between the tree and the boulder there’s a gap, large enough for all of us to sit together. The hillside, the great rock, and the tree’s massive roots form walls, of a sort. Riordan tucks us all inside the hollow and settles himself in front of the widest opening, like a wall of metal.
The tree’s roots are twice as thick as my body, and the branches looming overhead look even thicker, giant beams spreading outward from a colossal central trunk. The breeze murmurs above us, a soothing hum through the leaves.
“Try to rest,” Riordan advises. “You, boy—you’ll help me protect them if anything disturbs us.”
“I’m not a boy,” says Jasper. “I’m thirty years old.”
Riordan snorts. In terms of Fae lifespans, thirty must be considered quite young.
“And I’m not helpless,” I put in. “I should be able to do magic again after a little sleep.”
“And I’m—well—I’m fucking useless,” Alice says glumly.
“It’s all right.” Jasper seats himself beside her and puts an arm around her shoulders. “I will gladly give my life for yours. You are my savior, and I love you.”
“For the gods’ sake!” Riordan snarls, rising abruptly with a clank of metal. “Alice may have partly untied you, but Dorothy held off the crows, and I carried you from the cornfield. Do you love us as well?” His tone is utterly sarcastic, but Jasper doesn’t seem to notice.
“I think I could,” he says, genuine conviction in his blue eyes. “You, at least.Shedoesn’t like me.” He shoots a glance my way.
“I think you’re sweet, but rather simple,” I say candidly. “Perhaps you could ask the Green Wizard for greater intelligence when you meet him.”
“Dorothy!” Alice snaps.
“No, no, she’s quite right.” Jasper strokes Alice’s pale hair soothingly as she bristles in his defense. “I don’t have much by way of brains, nor is my magic very powerful. That’s one reason they wanted to sacrifice me—that, and my immunity to the East Witch’s thrall. They only kept me alive so long because Glenna liked using my cock.”
Even in the gloom, I can see Alice’s cheeks flush red. “You don’t have to be useful, or brilliant, or attractive, or pleasant, to be worth something,” she says decidedly. She’s weaving her fingers with Jasper’s, but she’s looking at Riordan. “You have value for no other reason thanbeing yourself. That’s enough. You don’t have to justify your existence to anyone.”
“That’s beautiful.” Jasper lifts her hand to his mouth and kisses her knuckles. Alice looks at him, smiling a little, and he leans in closer, slowly, until he softly seals his lips over hers.
She allows the kiss for a second, then pushes him gently away, with a cautious look at Riordan.
Riordan turns his back to them and settles down in the opening again, a silent guardian staring down the rustling dark.
12
I think Dorothy is asleep, and I know Jasper is—he’s curled against my side, his golden head on my breast. Riordan didn’t protest when he fell asleep there.
I’ve tried to rest, but I can’t stop worrying about Riordan, in his metal prison, and Caer, roaming the wilderness, alone and wretched. My eyes keep popping open.
The night breeze must have picked up, because although it can’t shift the massive limb above me, it’s stirring the leaves more strongly now. In fact—it almost looks as if the branch over my headismoving, but that’s not possible. It would take a huge weight to move such a giant limb—it’s the size of a tree trunk all by itself—
