by ERIN BEDFORD
“But she’s all the way in the UnSeelie Court. I really don’t want to drag a child through all that.” I clutched him to me as if to protect him from the horrors of the Underground.
“Why don’t you use that compact that Pat gave you?” she pointed down to my jeans pocket where I had stored the mirror. “Maybe you can speak to her through it?”
I had forgotten about the mirror Pat had given me in his shop. It was supposed to be used in case of an emergency and looking at the child in my arms, I constituted this as a major emergency. Just hopefully it hadn’t gotten broken through all the scuffles we’d been through.
Setting Chess down on the ground, I dug into my pocket until my hand touched the cool metal of the compact and drew it out. Holding it in my hand, I flipped open the cover. I let out the breath I had been holding when I saw the mirror was still intact. Finally some luck!
“Okay, so how do I use it?” I turned it over in my hand, looking for an on switch or some kind of glyphs like there were on the rest of the mirrors in the Underground.
While looking, my finger brushed the surface of the mirror, and a slight ripple of power sent a shock of magic through my hand. Jumping in place, I stared down at the mirror. The reflection had turned into mercury like substance. I thought of Seer, of where she might be. The last place I had seen her was at the door to the Seelie Court, but I doubted she was still there. More than likely she was in the Mushroom City, lounging on one of her beds of fungi with her pipe in her hand. At my thoughts, the mirror swirled about in the compact, its silver like surface morphed into a scene that seemed more like a traveling circus than Seer’s home.
Opalaughts ran across the grass, some the size of Trip and some smaller, I assumed the smaller were children. There were brownies there as well, but the only reason I knew that was because they had the same brown shade of skin as Mop, each with matching black eyes and hair. Among those I recognized were creatures I’d never seen before. Lions with snake tails and wings, what could have very well been a real life unicorn, and then there were…the satyrs.
A shiver ran through me at the sight of the half-goat half-human creatures. While I was happy to see that Romp and Piper were nowhere in sight, just the presence of a satyr caused my stomach to roll. I had not had good experiences with satyrs and had no reason to believe that any of them would be different than the rapist bastards I’d encountered before.
The one creature in the midst of all the Fae that I couldn’t see was Seer. I moved the mirror around the room in my hand, trying to see around the corners of the frame, but it was a useless effort. I could only see as far as the mirror allowed.
“Um…excuse me.” The moment my words came out of my mouth and reached their ears everyone froze. Their heads turned in my direction in slow motion. They blinked their eyes at me before there was a sudden exclamation from the horde, and they ran toward the mirror, all of them talking at once, moving their hands adamantly while trying to explain something to me. What, I hadn’t the faintest.
“Hold on, hold on.” I held my hand up, pulling the mirror back from my face so they could see me better. “One at a time. I can’t understand what you are saying.”
They quieted and one of the brownies, a little woman with a blue dress that matched a hat on top of her head stepped forward. She had bangles on her arms and a thin line of hair along her chin. While she had facial hair, there was no doubt she was female due to the long lashes that surrounded her eyes and rosy lips that she spoke out of.
“Lady, we are so happy to see you.” Her voice was so low and sultry that would rival even one of the High Fae of the Seelie Court.
“I can tell.” I couldn’t help but smile at them before frowning. “What’s going on? Why are there so many of you at Seer’s? And where is Seer?”
“You do not know?” the shock on her face matched those around her. The brownie looked among the other faces as if she thought she had heard me wrong.
“Know what?”
“We have come together to face the darkness as one. When you face the Shadows, we shall be at your disposal should you need us.” She nodded her head along with those around her.
“That’s great and all, and I appreciate the gesture, but I’m not sure there is really anything you can do to help. It’s kind of a solo thing.” I grimaced at the way that came out. I didn’t want to sound full of myself, I would take any help I could get. But the spell had to be said by me, and the blood mine. No one else could help me with that.
“We know that.” She snapped; her eyes filled with annoyance. “But we can lend you our magic in your time of need. After all, it is you who are saving us.”
The grouch in her voice reminded me of a certain brownie that was blatantly missing and I had an idea. “You wouldn’t happen to be Mop’s wife, would you?”
A brilliant smile covered her face. “Why, yes, I am.”
I opened my mouth to ask where Mop was when Alice shoved me aside to look in the mirror. “While this is all very interesting, we are looking for Seer.”
“What are you doing?” I whispered, turning my head toward her.
Keeping her voice low as well, she shot me an impatient frown. “We might have lost the queen and her guards for now but they might be back any minute. We don’t have time for pleasantries.”
She was right. We had a brief reprieve for now, but who knew when my mother would come back, and when she did, if she would even let us leave? Thinking about that, I didn’t think staying here in her bedroom was a good idea anymore.
“Hold on a moment.” I held my finger up to the mirror and turned to Alice. “You’re right, we can’t stay here anymore. Not even to fix Chess.” I gestured down to the boy waiting patiently on the floor next to us, his face enthralled by our conversation.
“Then what should we do?” Alice asked.
“You should come here.” Our eyes locked back onto the compact where Mop’s wife was still talking. “Then you can find the Seer yourself and get all the answers you need.”
Sounded like a good idea to me. The only problem was getting there. The mirror to the Bandersnatch was the only mirror I had seen in the whole room, and I hadn’t really been paying much attention to where we were going on our way here. I had no idea if there were any mirrors close by that could be used to go to the UnSeelie Court.
Turning to Alice, I asked, “Any idea how to get out of here?”
“Oh, plenty,” she answered. “But we’ll have to hurry. All the mirrors I saw were wide out in the open, and I have no clue how to tell which one would take us where we want to go.” She fluffed her skirt around her and seemed to think on it.
Pulling my attention back to the mirror, I said, “We’ll figure it out. Just tell Seer we are coming. We have a little…” My gaze fell on the top of Chess’ small head. “…problem we need her assistance with.”
“No worries. I will deliver the message verbatim. Just get yourselves here and safe.” She gave a short downward jerk of her head and then the mirror went blank.
I tucked the mirror into my pocket and then held my arms out to Chess. “Come on, little one, we’ve got to get going.”
Not even hesitating, he climbed into my arms. Giving Alice a look that asked if she was ready, we moved to the door. I turned the knob, and slowly creaked the door open. My eyes peeked into the hallway.
“Do you see anyone?” Alice asked behind me as Chess’ small voice asked, “Where are we going?”
“No, I don’t.” I answered and then to Chess, “We are going to make you big again, and to do that we have to get some help.”
“Big again? But I’m already big!” he held his arms out to show me just how big he was. Smiling at him, I rubbed my nose against his once more, getting me a giggle in response before I pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped out into the hallway.
Turning to Alice, I gestured for her to lead. “After you.”
Following me into the hall, she loo
ked both ways, her face creased in concentration. After a moment, she pointed a hand down the right side. “I believe the mirror I saw is this way.”
Letting her take the lead, we hurried down the hallway; the only sound was our feet hitting the marble floor. My arms began to ache from holding Chess but putting him down wasn’t an option. We needed speed and from prior experience, children were slow and easily distracted. I was lucky he had cooperated so easily so far.
Alice came to an abrupt stop that caused me to trip over my own feet and almost made me drop Chess in the process. Shooting her a glare, I wasted no time going to the mirrors frame. Reaching my hand up to activate it, Chess’ voice stopped me.
“Can I do it?” his large green eyes were intently focused on the glyphs along the mirrors frame. His eyes sparkled with an eagerness I had only seen in his older self’s eyes.
“Sure you can.” I grabbed his hand in mine and led it up to the frame. When he was close enough to it, I let him go, watching to see if he would know what to do.
I shouldn’t have worried; he slid his hand along the frame as if he had done it a hundred times before. The frame lit up and the surface swelled activating the portal.
“Good job.” I gave him a little squeeze and then exchanged a look with Alice, who nodded in response.
I didn’t know where this mirror went but anywhere was better than in the middle of the Seelie Palace. What was that saying again? Beggars can’t be choosers? Well in this moment, I was a beggar, but I still didn’t want to end up ass deep in more trouble than we were already in. I was running out of patience. When that happened I got stupid, and when I got stupid, that meant things were going to get messy and fast.
Chapter 12
UnSeelie Court
IT WAS ASKING too much to come out anywhere near the Seer’s home. Tall green hedges surrounded us as we stepped out of the mirror and onto the greyish cobblestone of the UnSeelie Queen’s garden.
Mab, the UnSeelie Queen and my ex-fiancé’s mother, was not how many people would portray her. In stories she was the evil queen who would crush your heart in a moment of boredom. When in reality, she was just an over passionate woman who loved her son dearly. Seeing as I broke her son’s heart, and was the reason he had been taken from her, I was probably the last person she wanted to see.
I sat Chess on the ground and took his small hand in mine. I had only been here once before, and I didn’t know if there were flesh eating plants who’d love to take a chunk out of a cute kid like him. Not that he was in any hurry to go it on his own.
He clung to my hand like I would disappear at any moment. His eyes were round and so full of fear that it made me hurt inside. From what I’d heard from Chess, this hadn’t been a good age for him, and I couldn’t imagine what he had already experienced at such a tender age. The Bandersnatch probably hadn’t helped any either.
“Where are we?” Alice asked, stepping out of the mirror, her head swiveling around.
“No place good.” I took a cautious step forward, bringing Chess with me to peer around one of the hedges. The last time I had been here there had been singing, but the lack of singing this time didn’t make me any less wary of running into the queen.
From where we stood it seemed like we had come into the garden from the opposite side than last time. The fountain with the statue of a tree and three people, a man and two women, was on the opposite side of the clearing. This side of the clearing had small shrubs lining the outside. On the inside I could see where I had met Mab once before, when I thought I was just a human with Fae ancestors, and not the Seelie Princess.
I waved at Alice over my shoulder as I directed Chess into the garden. “Come on.”
I sort of tip toed down the stone path, my eyes darting left and right. It wouldn’t help to be caught unaware in somewhere I was in no way supposed to be. Why they even had a mirror near the garden was strange. Did she make unexpected calls? And if so, why would she do it out in the open where anyone could hear her?
“I don’t like this,” Alice whispered behind me. I couldn’t disagree. It was too quiet. Usually, there were birds or some kind of background noise, but even the fountain wasn’t running. Where was everyone?
“Me either. Let’s just get out of here.” We came around the bushes and entered the main part of the garden. From here I could see where I had met up with Mab before, but what I saw there made me stop in place.
The roses. The white roses that Dorian had planted for me when we got engaged that had later bled red, were dying. The vibrant color of the petals was brown and sagging. The branches and leaves were black as if someone had taken a lighter to them.
“Pitiful, isn’t it?”
My spine stiffened at the sound of the UnSeelie Queen’s voice. Dark and sensual with a slightly sharp edge to it. She had always had a great phone sex voice. But hearing it now just made my skin crawl.
“What happened?” I didn’t turn away from the roses, but I did draw Chess in front of me so he wasn’t in her line of sight.
“You don’t know?” I could sense her presence as she soundlessly made her way across the garden. She stopped beside us, her black dress brushing against my legs. Just that simple touch made me want to run away from her screaming. She hadn’t offered violence, yet, but the thick tension in the air said that it was only a matter of time before it came up.
“Why would I?” I shifted my weight until I was turned toward her.
Like my mother, she had a sense of style that had become expected of her. Dark dresses that clung to her figure but also billowed out around her like a spider web seeking its meal. Where my mother was light and cold, Mab was the night and all that came with it. She offered passion and darkness, a place to be you without judgment. The Seelie Court was supposed to be about honesty and chivalry, but my mother had corrupted what it really meant to be the Seelie Queen. I could only hope one day they would be put back on the right path, even if I wasn’t there to see it.
“You seem to know so much already, I would expect the savior to know when she was destroying one’s life.” She said the words like she was complimenting me on my hair.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t force him to join the Shadows because I broke up with him. He did that all on his own.” I took a half step toward her but stopped and sighed. I didn’t owe her an explanation, and she wouldn’t accept it even if I gave her one.
“It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t know what would happen,” she mimicked my words back to me an edge of anger coloring her voice. “It seems to me, dear, that you never take any of the blame on yourself and expect others to just deal with it.”
I opened my mouth to protest but closed it. Arguing was going to get me nowhere. She was determined to hate me, and there was nothing I could say or do short of turning back time that would change it. Instead, I turned away from her without a word, pushing Chess in front of me.
“Leaving so soon?” Her voice called out to me, I ignored it and kept walking until she said, “But what of our dear Cheshire, do you not wish to return him to his true form?”
Stopping once more, I took in a deep breath before exhaling as I turned back. “And what would you know of it?”
The smile that tipped her lips was one that said she knew she had something we wanted, but we weren’t going to get it from her without paying for it first. It also meant that if I wanted her help nothing short of begging would suffice. And I didn’t beg. Not for anyone or anything.
When she didn’t answer immediately, I half spun on my heel before her voice stopped me again, “What would you give to save him?”
“What do you mean?” Suspicion began to creep into my mind.
“I mean exactly what I said. What would you give?” She moved across the cobblestone as if floating, a trait she had passed down to her son no doubt. Her dress moved around her like an extension of herself, gliding and shifting as if it were a breathing, living, being.
Mab
stopped a mere foot away, causing Alice, who had had the good sense to keep quiet, to shift until she was behind me. I pressed Chess closer to me until he let go of my hand and took his place wrapped around my leg, his tail playing along the side of my jeans.
“Almost anything.” I wasn’t an all or nothing kind of girl, there were just some things you couldn’t give and saying anything might have opened me up to all kinds of sadistic things I couldn’t even think of.
“Almost anything?” her brows rose in surprise. “I would think you would give anything for the creature who stole your love from my son.” Her eyes zeroed in on Chess, and the look wasn’t kind.
“Chess didn’t steal anything, I gave it freely. Your son couldn’t accept me for what I am,” I stated between clenched teeth.
“And what are you? Fae? Human? Savior? You aren’t exactly one or the other, are you?” her voice was condescending and full of exasperation. “It seems you are somehow stuck in the middle of something you have no right to be in. The role you play isn't even yours, is it?” This time her eyes and voice were all for Chess, sending some kind of secret message that I couldn’t decipher.
“Enough of your games, do you know how to fix Chess or not?” I growled, drawing her attention back to me.
“It’s not a matter of fixing him.” Her long, blood red nails reached down to Chess, who cringed from her touch and clung to me tighter.
“Then what is it?” Alice spoke up from behind me, causing Mab’s gaze to harden.
“Do not speak to me, pretender!” she hissed her words, her face contorting into a menacing snarl, and for a moment, I thought she might lash out at her before her face calmed and she returned to her normal cool self. She glanced down at Chess once more, this time, the smile on her face was more curious than evil. “The Bandersnatch is not a forgiving creature.”
“So we’ve noticed.” My lips twisted into a frown.
“What they took was not just sin but magic. Dreams.” Her eyes lit up with a hunger I had only seen on a few Faes’ faces, and none of those meetings had ended well.