by Julie Kagawa
Charles
Charles is the name Leanansidhe gives to all of the men she kidnaps from the human world, since, as she claims, she is horrible with names. All of these men tend to be musical prodigies in one form or another, and when she grows bored with them, or when their minds have grown too addled, Leanansidhe has a tendency to turn them into musical instruments.
The man known as Charles whom Meghan meets in Leanansidhe’s Mansion turns out to be Paul, the man she knew as her father until he disappeared when she was six. It is revealed that Leanansidhe took him and kept him safe at the behest of Puck, to protect him from the wrath of Titania. The Summer Queen, still mad at her husband’s infidelity, couldn’t lash out at Meghan or her mother without incurring Oberon’s anger, and so Paul became her obvious target. Meghan initially trades her memory of him to the oracle for information on getting Ethan back, but buys the memory back later and, upon taking the title of the Iron Queen, rescues Paul from Leanansidhe’s domain and eventually brings him to live in her palace at Mag Tuiredh.
Razor Dan
Razor Dan is the leader of Leanansidhe’s redcap minions. They fled to Leanansidhe for asylum during the Goblin Wars, after angering every goblin tribe in the wyldwood by selling information to both sides. He and his band betray Leanansidhe by siding with Warren, but are not punished as they were only following their baser instincts.
THE HUMAN WORLD
Meghan was born and raised in the human world until her sixteenth birthday. The following are places she goes to during her adventures in and out of Faery. The human world is— [Human, I must interject once more. You live in the human world. If you do not realize this by now and know more about it than anyone could tell you in these pages, there is truly no hope for your kind. None. I know this. I am a cat.]
Fey hotspots in the human world:
Blue Chaos
This two-story dance club, lit with pink-and-blue neon signs, is located in Detroit, Michigan. It is owned by the faery Shard and houses a trod into the Winter Realm. Inside Blue Chaos, dry-ice smoke writhes along the floor, reminiscent of the wyldwood. Pink, blue and gold lights paint the dance floor as humans and fey dance together, the fey feeding off the heavy glamour. A door near the bar labeled Staff Only guards the stairs to the basement, and the ogre-guarded trod.
The City of the Dead
The City of the Dead is a cemetery in New Orleans. Rows upon rows of crypts, tombs and mausoleums line the narrow streets, some decorated with flowers, candles and plaques, others crumbling with age and neglect. Some of the tombs look like miniature houses, or even tiny cathedrals topped with spires and stone crosses. Statues of angels and weeping women adorn some of the rooftops.
The City is inhabited by bean sidhe as well as a ferocious and protective Grim. It was also the resting place of a Token before it was stolen by Meghan and Ash and traded to the oracle, Old Anna, in exchange for Meghan’s memories.
Rudy’s Pawn Shop
Rudy’s Pawn Shop is another fey front hiding a trod into the Nevernever. It is owned by Rudy, a half satyr, and acts as a normal pawn shop, with dusty shelves filled with old televisions, video games and gold. One wall is dedicated to guns, protected by high counters and a blinking security camera. In the back, Rudy keeps a treasure trove of fey items to sell, including monkey paws, hydra poison, cockatrice eggs, glowing potions and magical tomes.
The Dungeon
This pub in the French Quarter of New Orleans houses yet another trod into the Nevernever. A sign above the thick, black entrance reads Ye Olde Original Dungeon, and there is red paint spattered against the frame in an attempt to mimic blood. Past the entrance, a narrow alley leads to a courtyard, where a scraggly waterfall trickles into a moat at the front of the building. A footbridge across the moat leads into a dark red room, a bar and nightclub catering to a more macabre crowd. The walls are brick, the lights dim and red, casting everything in crimson, and snarling monster heads hang on the walls over the bar. The Dungeon is considered Unseelie Territory and serves a rough crowd of humans and fey. The upstairs, Ash tells Meghan, contains skulls, cages and the dance floor.
In the back of the bar, bookshelves line the walls, floor to ceiling, one of which can either open up into a bathroom or become a trod into the wyldwood, close to the borders of the Winter Realm.
Fey you may find in the Human World:
The Elder Dryad
The Elder Dryad lives in City Park in New Orleans, where she and her family guard the lives of their trees. The Elder Dryad chooses to sacrifice her oak—and thus her life—to create the Witchwood arrow from the heart of her tree, in the hopes that Meghan can use it to kill the Iron King.
Old Anna, the oracle
A skeletal hag of a woman, smelling like dust, decay and old newspapers, with tangled white hair, twiglike hands, hollow pits for eyes and a withered face full of yellow, needlelike teeth. Anna has the ability to prophesize the future and can smell need and desire. She answers three questions in exchange for Meghan Chase’s most precious memory, that of her father, and does not give the memory back until Meghan brings her a Token.
Rudy
Rudy is a pudgy half satyr. He owns a pawn shop that hides a trod into the wyldwood. He has had past dealings with Grimalkin, and allows Ash, Puck and Grim passage through his trod as payment for a favor he owed the cat.
Seedlit
This tiny piskie agrees to lead Meghan and Ash to the entrance to the Iron Realm in New Orleans. She is blue-skinned, with dandelion hair and gossamer wings.
Shard
Shard is an Unseelie fey who lives in the human world, guarding a trod to the Winter Realm. She is small and slight, with pale skin and neon-blue lips, spiky hair that sticks out at every angle and is dyed shades of blue, green and white, resembling ice crystals. She wears tight leather pants, a midriff tee and a dagger on one thigh. Her face and ears are covered in countless piercings, all silver or gold, and she has a silver bar through her bellybutton with a tiny dragon pendant dangling from it.
Shard’s arrogance causes her to be outwitted by Meghan in a faery deal. When she tries to kill Meghan by luring her into the clutches of her imprisoned ogre, Grumly, Meghan outwits her again by agreeing to free the ogre in exchange for his protection.
THE END OF THE WORLD
Very few fey have ever seen the End of the World. In fact, none in recent memory outside of Ash and his intrepid company have made it that far. Here, in Ash’s words, is what they saw in The Iron Knight:
The vast emptiness of space stretched before us, endless and eternal. Stars and constellations glimmered above and below, from tiny pinpricks of light to huge pulsing giants so bright it hurt to look at them. Comets streaked through the night sky, and in the distance, I could see the gaping maw of a black hole sucking in the surrounding galaxy, billions of miles away. Huge chunks of rock and land floated, weightless, in empty space.
At first, I thought I was looking at a continent floating beneath us; I could see lakes and trees and even a few houses scattered about. But then the continent twisted around with a flash of scales and teeth and drifted toward us, a leviathan so huge it defied belief. It spiraled up beside the bridge, a mountain of scales and fins and flippers, rising out of the void. Its eye was like a small moon, pale and all-seeing, but we were insects beneath its gaze, dust mites, too microscopic for it to know we were there. An entire city was perched on its back, gleaming white towers sitting at the edge of a glistening lake. Smaller creatures, as big as whales, swam beside it, looking
like minnows compared to its bulk. As we stood gaping at it, unable to move or look away, it twisted lazily through the air and continued into the etherealness of space.
What you will find if you reach The End of the World:
The Testing Ground
The Testing Ground floats in the void at the End of the World, an enormous castle beyond a treacherous stream of jagged rocks. The castle is dim and empty, with torches set into brackets and candles flickering along the walls, void of all life, frozen in time. Like the void, the castle is endless. Guest rooms are provided for those who make it to the Testing Ground, filled with food, clean beds and lit fireplaces. The rooms contain bookshelves filled with forgotten tomes, some of which wail if opened, others written in languages that hurt to look upon.
It is not known whether the Testing Ground changes based on the visitor, but when Ash visited, it contained an ice-covered garden with crystallized, skeletal trees and a fountain in the middle spouting frozen water. Above the garden, a stone bridge crosses the void to a huge, jagged mountain, the top of which was the site of Ash’s first trial.
The Guardian
The Guardian at the End of the World is an eight-foot-tall, robed figure, its face hidden in the darkness of a cowl. Its pale, bony hand clutches a gleaming staff of twisted black wood. It has a voice that echoes through bone and into the heads of all who listen.
The Guardian is the keeper of the Testing Grounds, and master of the Gauntlet. It is the being that tests Ash and deems him worthy of receiving a soul.
That brings us to the end of your tour of the realms of the Nevernever. We hope you enjoyed the journey—and that you will return again—to the worlds between the pages of THE IRON FEY series.
The Iron Quotes
How well do you know the characters of the Iron Fey? If you can name every speaker without peeking at the key, Grimalkin might say, “Not bad, human. Not bad.” Give yourself bonus Grim points if you can name the scene each quote comes from.
Quotes
1. “And to think, I lost you that day in the forest and didn’t even know what I was chasing.”
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2. “Oh, we’re playing nice now? Shall we have tea first? Brew up a nice pot of kiss-my-ass?”
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3. “Follow me. And do try to keep up.”
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4. “It speaks, as if it knows me. As if being Oberon’s throwback will protect it from my wrath.”
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5. “Meghan Chase. Welcome. I’ve been expecting you.”
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6. “I’m not stupid. I know the daughter of the Erlking when I see her. So, the question is, what do I get out of this?”
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7. “THOUGHT YOU GOT RID OF ME, DID YOU?”
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8. “Oh, I don’t think so, little brother. When Mab finds out, you’ll both be decorating the courtyard.”
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9. “Wow, icy reception here. And to think I came back from the dead for this.”
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10. “Yes, I know, darling. But if you don’t leave, I’ll have to turn you into a harp. Go on, now. Shoo, shoo.”
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11. “Summer and Winter share many things, but love is not one of them.”
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12. “Come off it, prince. You really think I would hurt her? I’m the one who doesn’t want her running off on a suicide mission.”
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13. “I will be here. You cannot win without me, Meghan Chase. Until we are one, you are destined to lose this war.”
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14. “I have no idea why two-legs wish to stand around and talk so much.”
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15. “There is no pass or fail. There is only endure. Survive.”
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16. “Nothing like a little attempted murder to feel close to someone, right?”
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17. “I can’t let you die because of me. I won’t allow it.”
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18. “Why should individuals have to bend to the prejudices between the courts?”
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19. “Don’t remember! Don’t remember! The rats scream, but I don’t remember! Go away, go away.”
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20. “So, either you say, ‘sure, I’d love to have you along,’ or you have a big bird dropping things on your head the whole trip.”
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21. “I waited for this day for so long—please don’t walk out and leave me behind. Not again.”
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22. “When I said I’d follow you to hell and back, I wasn’t trying to be literal, princess.”
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23. “Give me your solemn vow, or be damned to the mortal world forever. Make your choice.”
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24. “You’re going away again, aren’t you? You didn’t come back to stay with me.”
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25. “Her desires are mine. Her wishes are mine. Should even the world stand against her, my blade will be at her side.”
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Quotes Key
1. The Iron King: Ash to Meghan, during their first Elysium.
2. The Iron King: Puck to Meghan regarding Ash, after their escape from Ironhorse.
3. The Iron King: Grimalkin to Meghan, when they first strike the bargain for him to take her to Puck.
4. The Iron King: Titania, just before attempting to turn Meghan into a hart.
5. The Iron King: Machina to Meghan, when she enters his throne room on the Iron tower.
6. The Iron King: Shard to Grim, as he and Meghan bargain to use the trod in Blue Chaos.
7. The Iron King: Ironhorse to Meghan and Ash, upon catching them infiltrating the Iron Kingdom.
8. The Iron Daughter: Rowan to Ash, upon discovering him trying to help Meghan escape from Winter.
9. The Iron Daughter: Puck to Meghan and Ash after he returns, recovered from his injuries in The Iron King, to help them fight off the attacking wiremen.
10. The Iron Daughter: Leanansidhe to “Charles,” Meghan’s father, after Meghan first sees him in the Between.
11. The Iron Daughter: Oberon to Meghan, just before Mab banishes Ash from Winter.
12. The Iron Queen: Glitch to Ash, just before he shows Meghan the extent of the false king’s army via glider.
13. The Iron Queen: Machina, in Meghan’s dream, the first night in the Iron Realm as she, Grim, Puck and Ash go in search of the false king.
14. The Iron Knight: The Big Bad Wolf to Ash, Puck and Ariella, after Ash recovers from the hobyah venom.
15. The Iron Knight: The Guardian to Ash, before he begins the second trial.
16. T
he Iron Knight: Puck to Ash, after they escape the Forgotten.
17. The Iron Queen: Meghan to Ash, as she releases him from his vow.
18. The Iron Knight: Keirran, Meghan and Ash’s future son, to Ash, during his trial vision of being human.
19. The Iron Queen: Paul, Meghan’s human father-figure, as he begins to regain his memories in the cabin.
20. The Iron Queen: Puck to Ash, as they set off together to begin Ash’s journey to earn a soul.
21. The Iron Knight: Ariella to Ash, offering to show the way to the End of the World.
22. The Iron Queen: Puck to Meghan by the magma lake, after they escape the false king’s attack on Machina’s old tower.