Page 42 of A City of Emeralds and Envy
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Traveling in Faerie is strange enough, but traveling in the company of a monstrous cat, a man encased in metal, a faerie covered in sacrificial tattoos, and the girl from the neighboring farm… it’s beyond preposterous.
Riordan stalks ahead, every tense line of his armor proclaiming that he does not want to be touched or spoken to. The hulking, maned panther prowls behind him, rumbling occasionally, and sometimes baring a horrifying number of dagger-like teeth.
Jasper walks confidently between the monster and Fiero. The Scarecrow seems to like animals, from my tiny dog, trotting as fast as he can on stubby legs, to the great leonine beast pacing nearby.
Alice falls back to walk beside me, exhaustion and discomfort evident in each of her stiff movements. Her wounds are shallow, but she seems to gain more and more of them, the longer we’re in Faerie.
“Your last visit wasn’t like this,” I say bluntly.
“No.” She winces. “I spent most of my time in a cell, until my heart was gifted to the Queen.”
I try to imagine how it must have felt. “You trusted your survival tohim. To Riordan.”
“I did. I knew he’d do everything possible to save me.”
“How did you know that?” Frustration edges my voice. “Sometimes I can read people—what they’re feeling, what they want—and other times, I’m lost. At least back home the emotions were simpler. Here, everything is so complex, and the relationships are—” I lift both hands, interlocking my fingers.
“Tangled. Yes, that’s a good way to describe it. And I don’t see any of it untangling until we get to the Wizard.”
I hesitate, aware that what I’m about to say might be considered rude back in the human realm. But I can’t see how playing into her delusion is helpful. “You think the Wizard can solve everything. You seem to be willfully ignoring that he twists every wish people make—distorts it into something terrible.”
“I’m aware. But I’ve planned the precise words I’m going to use. I can’t think of any way they can be twisted.” She glances sidelong at me. “What about you? Don’t you want to see Riordan’s true face, and find out for sure how you two are related?”
“I suppose. But it won’t change my life much, one way or the other.”
“Because the West Witch wants you dead. Maybe you thought I’d forgotten about that, but I haven’t. Once we get Riordan and Caer back, we can focus on protecting you. That’s why I suggested the Seelie kingdom as our destination. You’ll be safe from the Witch there, since he can’t leave the Isle of Oz.”
“Oh…yes.” I try to muster some enthusiasm about the concept of safety, but all I can feel is a hollow dread at the thought of never seeing a certain dark-eyed, green-skinned Witch again. “I suppose that is the best option.”
“Of course you could always ask the Wizard to send you back home.” Alice peers at me, her gray eyes keen as a blade. “The rest of us can figure out our own way to the mainland of Faerie. But I don’t think that’s what you really want, is it?”
“Home?” I say sourly. “Where I had to conceal my magic and work incessantly to seem like a normal, pleasant country girl? Where I often caught my parents whispering anxiously, only to stop the conversation as soon as I entered the room?”
“But you love your parents,” Alice says. “And they’ll miss you—”
“As your siblings will miss you. Yet I don’t hear you talking about going back. You’re planning to stay here, aren’t you? Withthem?” I gesture to the group of males ahead.
“If they’ll have me,” she says quietly. “Last time, Riordan didn’t want me to stay.”
“The fuck he didn’t.”
She giggles at my outburst, and my answering smile is genuine.
“I never knew you were like this,” Alice says once her merriment subsides. “I think, if I’d known you better, we could have been great friends. In case you haven’t noticed, I rather like Unseelie types.”
“I wish I had spoken to you more openly as well,” I reply. “If nothing else, you could have told me about Lord Drosselmeyer being a sorcerer. I could have sought him out for information about what I am, and what I can do.”
“Yes, well… he’s never been friendly to the Fae.” Alice winces. “Perhaps it’s best that neither of you knew about each other’s abilities.”
I’m about to answer when I notice the light growing brighter ahead. Sunshine floods between the pillared trees, turning the yellow bricks to radiant gold.
We’re coming to the edge of the forest.
Riordan turns around. “This happened last time I headed for the Emerald City. I came out of the woods and I could see it up ahead, across grassy meadows.”
Alice sucks in a quick, eager breath. “We’re nearly there.”
