Page 35 of Across an Endless Sea

“A tour?” I check. “No torture? I’ll be unharmed?”

“No torture, and if you behave, I’ll keep you safe.”

He’s not lying. There’s no metallic taste in my mouth.

I chew on my lower lip, but I know I have to accept. I can’t very well just sit around in the cupboard, and even though I’m angrier with him than ever, Danu’s warnings ring in my ears.

Twelve

Rhoswyn

Caed leads me out of the heat of Prae’s workshop, but I stop dead just beyond the doorway.

This isnothinglike what I expected.

I thought Fellgotha would be a mine. Tunnels carved into rock. Small, tight, and barren. Not a hollowed-out cavern large enough to fit an entire citadel inside.

We’re on the battlements of an immense castle—a fortress, really—and below us, I can see a bustling city. The architecture is as brutal as it is practical. All spikes and sharp lines. Stone and iron. The opposite of the fae way of building with organic shapes and incorporating nature.

Stranger still, there aretreesbeyond the fortress. Towering firs that spear out of the ground. There’s grass too, but no flowers. Nothing to give this underground world a pop of colour, but there’s still a beauty to it.

According to Prae, I did this. I brought plants here.

But all the imposing towers and buildings can’t hold a candle to what’s above us.

The tall cavern ceiling is the most fantastical thing I’ve ever seen.

I can’t make the glowing fungi out in any great detail because they’re so distant. They cover the rocks above us in tiny patches that pulse and twinkle like stars, casting the entire city in shades of blue and giving the impression of an eternal moonless night; spectacular, yet cold.

“There have been complaints,” Caed begins, dryly. “The bitterblues haven’t glowed so well in generations. Several of my people are having trouble adjusting to the brightness.”

“I suppose blinding the enemy was a good tactic,” I retort, before my eyes travel back to the glimmering. “It’s beautiful.”

The Fomorian rolls his eyes. “I’m not sure the king agrees.”

Good.

Something of my malicious enjoyment must show in my face because Caed frowns.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” I retort. “You can’t tell me you wouldn’t feel the same in my shoes.”

He rolls his eyes and harrumphs, sweeping his arm out in a gesture for me to follow him. “Maybe I’d be smart enough to hide it.”

“I—” Whatever I might have said cuts off as Mab, Titania, and Maeve appear, directly beside him.

Their forms flicker, then disappear, but it’s enough to remind me that I’m not alone.

I bite my lip, swallowing down the feeling of gratitude that floods me. When I move to follow Caed, I notice he’s looking at me strangely.

Oh, he’s waiting for me to finish my sentence. Shoot. I can’t risk him knowing about my guides. Not when there’s a huge chance he’ll cover me in iron to drive them away.

Luckily, I have twenty-five years of experience at keeping their existence a secret.

I rub at my temples, squinting. “Sorry, my head…”

Not an outright lie. I’ve had a low-level headache since I woke, but I’m used to them. I add a tiny sway for good measure, grateful that years of acting like my ‘illness’ was playing up when I was expected to attend one of the Reverend’s awful services have given me plenty of practice.

Not that I have to act hard with my newest accessory.

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