To Catch a Queen

by Shanna Swendson

  “I don’t have a lot of time between shows, but I’ll join you for coffee.” Emily draped her arm across her much-shorter older sister’s shoulders as they headed for the nearby diner Emily and her cast mates frequented. “You know, one nice thing to come out of all the fairy stuff is you being able to just stop by like this. I’ve missed hanging out with my little big sister.”

  She knew Sophie was worried about something when that description didn’t get the usual reaction out of her. But what was she worried about? Had Michael said something? No, he’d said Sophie wasn’t taking his calls. Maybe it had nothing to do with her. She decided to pretend that was the case so she wouldn’t look like she was hiding anything.

  Once they were in the diner and seated, Emily ordered coffee and Sophie ordered a soup, salad, and sandwich combo with a cup of tea. “I thought ballerinas didn’t eat,” Emily joked.

  “When you take a class, walk all over the city, and open a couple of portals between worlds, you work up an appetite,” Sophie said dryly. “And I still have to teach a couple of classes tonight.”

  “I don’t know how you do it. Just doing a show every night and taking a couple of classes a week is about all I can manage, and I’m not even putting up with Mama and looking after Nana. How is she, by the way?”

  “Mama or Nana?”

  “Either. Both, I guess.”

  “Both are pretty much the same.” Sophie sighed and rubbed her temples, and for a moment she looked like an overwhelmed young woman with way too much on her plate instead of like an almost invincible fairy queen. “I hate to put Nana in a home, but she’s reaching the point where she needs more care than we can give her. And then a part of me wants to do it because it means I can get out of there, and I hate myself for that.”

  Emily reached across the table and patted her sister’s hand, then squeezed it, unwilling to let go when it was the strongest physical sensation she’d felt in at least a week. Lately, her senses had been so dulled that it was like living inside a cotton ball, and being around Sophie was like having the cotton stripped away. “You’ve done so much, more than anyone else. Look at me, I left the state. I bet Mama’s driving you crazy.”

  “She’s treating me like a teenager, even though I’m the one more or less running the household. She seems to know something’s different, even if she doesn’t realize I’m ruling the fairy realm.”

  The waitress brought the tea and coffee. Emily dumped two packets of sugar into her coffee, took a sip, and added two more packets plus a package of artificial sweetener. Finally, she could almost taste the sweetness. She looked at Sophie over the rim of her mug and realized that Sophie had noticed. Of course she had. She noticed everything. It would have been easier if Sophie had remarked on it because then Emily could have responded and made some excuse, but since Sophie said nothing, responding would only make matters worse.

  “I talked to Michael today,” Emily said, picking a topic sure to put her sister on the defensive. “He said he’s been trying to reach you.”

  Sophie focused on swirling the tea bag around in her mug. “I know. He called Amelia and Athena, and they told me.” It was hard to tell, because from Emily’s perspective Sophie was already glowing, but she seemed to glow brighter. “There are some things I’ll need to look into for a case he’s working on.” Yep, she was definitely glowing brighter. Emily thought she knew why Sophie was dodging Michael. Well, whattaya know, she thought, resisting a smile. Sophie was human, after all. Mostly.

  Sophie wasn’t the type to remain on the defensive for long, and she struck back quickly. “How are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’m great!” Emily said, then realized she’d probably said it a bit too brightly. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because I’m your sister and I haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks. It’s not that odd a question. Then there’s that ordeal you went through a couple of months ago that was partially my fault.”

  “How was that your fault?”

  “I should have seen it sooner.”

  “Oh, get off the cross. We need the wood.”

  In spite of herself, Sophie smiled. But she got serious again very quickly. “I did notice that you moistened the sugar in your cup with a little coffee. I thought I was the one with a sweet tooth. Are flavors seeming dull to you? That’s a common effect of time in the Realm, but I would have thought you’d be better by now.”

  Emily tried to come up with an explanation, but everything sounded lame even before she said it. “It’s nothing,” she said with a shrug. It was actually driving her crazy, but at the same time she was performing at a level she never could have imagined before her visit to the Realm, so it was a trade she was willing to make. She didn’t even want to contemplate what might happen if Sophie insisted on fixing her and ruined everything.

  Sophie’s meal arrived, and that paused the interrogation. Emily launched into a diversionary campaign, telling Sophie anything she could think of about backstage shenanigans, that afternoon’s performance, Beau’s quirks, and Michael’s recovery. She noticed her sister glowing a little more brightly when that topic came up. “You might not even recognize him,” Emily said, enjoying Sophie’s discomfiture. “No sling, and he’s even put some healthy weight back on so his face doesn’t look so hollow anymore.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Sophie said primly, but the intensifying glow surrounding her gave her away.

  Emily took mercy on her sister and changed the subject. “How are you holding up in real classes?”

  “I thought I was still in pretty good shape, but the first few weeks were brutal. It’s getting easier, though, and I’ve had a couple of people talk to me about auditioning for companies. There’s even a choreographer who wants me for a showcase he’s doing.”

  “That’s awesome! You should do that.”

  “I’m not sure I could take a job here without looking too suspicious. Surely Mama would notice if I quit my job and was still gone every night.”

  “You have got to get out of that house, Soph. Seriously.”

  Sophie set out cash for the bill and gathered her belongings. “I can’t quite yet, but there are times I consider staying in the palace overnight. What do you think Mama would say if I told her I had a boyfriend in Shreveport and was spending the night with him?”

  “What’s she gonna do, kick you out so she’s stuck taking care of Nana by herself?”

  “It is tempting to test her.”

  They walked together out to the street. “I’d better get back to the theater,” Emily said. “It was great seeing you.”

  Much to her surprise, Sophie stood on tiptoes to hug her. Sophie wasn’t usually much of a hugger. “Be good,” she said, releasing Emily somewhat reluctantly and waving as Emily walked away. Emily felt a great sense of relief when she rounded the corner and her sister couldn’t study her any longer. She had no idea how well she’d pulled that off. Was she safe a little longer, or would Sophie be on her case?

  Five

  The Theater District

  6:15 p.m.

  Sophie normally preferred to walk such a short distance, but she didn’t have a lot of time, so she raised her hand and added a tiny extra dose of intention. A second later, a cab stopped for her. She got out at the park entrance on Columbus Circle. The instant her feet hit grass in a place that wasn’t surrounded by people, she created a gateway and stepped through, coming out in front of what looked like a small forest hut. She pounded urgently on the front door.

  A moment later, a tall, silver-haired fairy opened it. “Your majesty,” he said.

  “Sophie,” she corrected, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. She might be in the throes of a crush and had her mother questioning her comings and goings, but she didn’t have to act like a teenager. “May I come in, Eamon?”

  He stepped back. “It’s your Realm. You don’t need to ask.”

  “I’m being polite.” She followed him into a library that couldn’t possibly have fit into the small hut.
He gestured her toward an overstuffed chair in front of a blazing fire. She didn’t wait for him to sit before she asked, “Have you seen Emily lately?”

  He sat and leaned back in his chair like he was relaxing, but he gripped the chair’s arms. “I have seen her,” he confirmed, “but I do not know if it has been lately.”

  She held back an exasperated sigh. Fairies and their inability to perceive time were enough to drive someone who lived by a rigid schedule mad. “How does she seem to you?”

  “I’ve never been around a human returned from the Realm, so I do not know how to judge.”

  “Does she seem better, worse, strange?”

  He narrowed silvery eyes in thought. “I thought she was getting better. That is why I have seen her less often. Our plan was for me to help wean her from all things fae, including myself.”

  “Yes, that was the plan,” Sophie said. “But I don’t know if it worked. She may be worse now than right after she got back. It seems to me that she’s craving sensation, that our world is losing color and flavor to her. I think she’s under a kind of thrall. There’s a trace of magic on Emily, and I think it’s holding her to the Realm.”

  “Maeve must have put chains on her to keep her bound,” Eamon said. Sophie was a little alarmed at how worried he looked, as though he truly cared. She still hadn’t reconciled herself to the idea that her sister had formed a friendship with a fairy—never mind that she and her sister had some fairy blood, themselves.

  “I think she might even be aware of it, but she doesn’t seem to want to do anything about it.” She leaned back in the chair. “And I don’t know what to do. But I’m afraid she might do something stupid or crazy in order to feel something.” She hated to make this next request, but she didn’t feel like she had any choice. A fairy might be the only person other than herself who could handle this situation. “Do you think you could keep an eye on her?”

  “I can do so at night.”

  “That’s when I’m most worried. But in case you need the extra strength …” She took the remaining bundle of cookies out of her bag. “Please accept this offering.”

  His eyes lit up. Eamon was awfully fond of humanity, as could be seen in his huge library of human literature and his old-professor wardrobe. He was as much of an oddball among fairies as he was among humans. He’d developed a particular taste for human food, which gave fairies power to function in the real world when offered as a gift, but which was poisonous otherwise. “I will do what I can for her, your majesty,” he said fervently, taking the cookies from her.

  “She’ll be at the theater tonight.”

  “I will go to her there.”

  She stood and picked up her bag. “Then I’ll leave it in your capable hands.” It went against her Southern-bred manners not to say “thank you,” but that was taboo among fairies. Eamon was enough of a human-phile for him not to mind, but she didn’t think it was a good habit to start in the Realm, even if she was the queen.

  That reminded her… “Have you heard anything about a queen forcing captive humans out of the Realm?”

  “You wouldn’t do such a thing.”

  “I know I’m not doing it, but apparently someone is.”

  “I’m afraid I’m out of the loop—that is the right way to say it, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is.” Eamon’s grasp of human slang wasn’t always so accurate or timely. He was as likely to use hot expressions from the twenties as today. To him, it was like last year’s buzzwords.

  “I have been avoiding the courts.”

  “Oh well, thought I’d give it a shot. I’ll check in on you later. And try not to let Emily know I sent you. I don’t want her to think I’m suspicious.”

  Though she was pretty sure Emily knew she realized something was wrong. The thing that bothered her was that Emily wasn’t asking for help. What could be worse than being so chained to a magical world that you couldn’t live properly in the real one?

  Once she was outside Eamon’s hut, she decided to make one more stop before leaving the Realm. While she was here, time didn’t have to count in the outside world, so she might as well make the most of it. Forming the mental image of a clearing in the woods, she stepped out and found herself in a space that looked like a ruined temple, with fallen or falling pedestals surrounding a marble floor. The wind blowing through pine branches had a musical quality that sounded perfectly natural until one listened for a while and discerned melody and rhythm.

  She knew Tallulah would expect her to dance before they spoke, and she might not even appear until Sophie had paid the price for an audience, so since she was already dressed for class, she removed her cover-up and put on her slippers. She paused to listen to the music of the trees before she picked up the subtle beat and began dancing.

  It came as a surprise when she heard the sound of applause. She came out of a turn to see a tall, flame-haired fairy with a gauzy dress floating around her. “You wanted to speak to me?” Tallulah said.

  “Yes. Do you know anything about putting humans under a thrall to tie them to the Realm?”

  “I know about it.”

  “Do you know who’s done it to my sister?”

  “She is not my affair.”

  “Do you know how to break such a thrall?”

  “Why would I? It is something that affects humans, not fae.”

  Trying not to show her growing frustration, Sophie asked, “Then who would?”

  “You need to ask those in your world.”

  “The enchantresses?”

  Tallulah made a dismissive gesture. “This is not enchantress magic. You need a fairy doctor or a wise woman—a human touched by the fae, with fae knowledge.”

  Sophie shook her head in confusion. She’d thought those were just folklore, ways to explain people who knew a thing or two about herbs. “They exist? Here and now?”

  “I do not know. I do not frequent your world. You would find them on the boundaries between worlds, in places where they intersect.”

  “Like the markets?”

  “Yes, the markets would be a good place to look for them.”

  “You wouldn’t happen to know when or where the next market will be?”

  Tallulah gestured, and a small, wild-looking fairy appeared from among the trees. “The next market?” she asked. He ran back into the trees. “My people seldom venture out, so he will have to ask around.”

  Sophie started to ask how long that would take, then remembered that any answer would be meaningless. This was why she could never live in the Realm. She’d go mad surrounded by people who didn’t understand time.

  “I’m surprised your ancestor’s knowledge hasn’t given you the answers you seek,” Tallulah said.

  Had it? Sophie hadn’t thought of accessing the former fairy queen’s knowledge that had come with the crown. It wasn’t like searching a database, though. If she needed the answer to something, it usually just came to her. “Nothing has come up,” she said. “Either she was like you and it wasn’t something that concerned her, or it must have come up after her time. I understand how the Realm works, but I don’t know about this sort of thing.” She tried a little mental digging around and came across all kinds of information that applied to human abductions, such as how to make a changeling to leave in place of a captive. If she ever needed to kidnap someone, she was ready, but she still didn’t know how to free anyone.

  The little fairy returned. “The market will be tomorrow night, at the angel fountain,” he said, slightly out of breath.

  That would be cutting it close, Sophie thought. She assumed that “angel fountain” meant Bethesda Terrace. Now she had to hope wise women still existed and that one would be there and have the information she needed.

  She thought of one more thing to ask Tallulah. “Do you know of anyone claiming to be queen, who is casting out human captives?”

  The expression on Tallulah’s face told her that the mere question was offensive. “I do not insert myself into affairs.”


  “You practically blackmailed me into taking the throne,” Sophie reminded her.

  “That was setting things right and restoring the Realm. Since then, I have stayed away from the other factions.” She whirled around, sending her layers of gauze flying, and returned to the trees. Sophie couldn’t decide if the lady was protesting too much or if she truly was insulted.

  At any rate, it didn’t look like she’d get anything else out of the now-departed fairy, so Sophie changed shoes and put on her cover-up, then opened a gateway for home, latching on to the anchor she’d set to return her to the place and time she’d left. She stepped out of the gateway near where she’d parked her car. She paused to synchronize her watch with the car’s dashboard clock before driving to the ballet studio.

  As she drove through the small town, she had the same feeling of a great weight upon her that she felt every time she returned from the Realm or from any other place she reached through the Realm. Each time, it became harder to return, but she had responsibilities here that she couldn’t just abandon.

  Still, after taking a class with professionals and dancing for the fairies, it was a real letdown to return home and lead a roomful of little kids in basic exercises.

  Six

  Central Park

  9:00 p.m.

  It was thoroughly dark, the lampposts spilling pools of light onto the path with utter darkness between them, but there were still walkers and joggers out. That made the odds of running into a fairy slimmer. On the other hand, Michael and Beau didn’t stand out from the crowd. Nobody seemed to find it strange that a man was walking a dog in the park, even at night.

  They’d have found it a lot stranger if they’d known what he was doing. He hardly spared a glance for the ordinary people, but he paused in those gaps between pools of light and tried to unfocus his eyes enough to see what was hidden.

  So far, the fairy activity appeared to be minimal, just a few of the tiny things that lived in the bushes. There were no signs of a major gathering that implied a market or revel that night, but it was early still. If there were a market, the bubble of space between this world and the Realm wouldn’t form until midnight, so the fairy folk who existed in this sphere wouldn’t be trooping toward the market until much later. He didn’t want to risk missing anything, so he wasn’t yet ready to give up for the evening.