Wondrous Strange

by Lesley Livingston

  “Why the hell is one of Auberon’s lackeys so interested in a silly little mortal girl?”

  “Hey!” Kelley protested.

  “Mortal?” Sonny’s tone turned mocking. “You mean to tell me that you don’t know?”

  “Know what?” Tyff snapped.

  “All this time living under the same roof, and it never occurred to Tyffanwy of the Mere, lady-in-waiting to Titania the Summer Queen, that her ‘silly little mortal’ roommate also just happens to be Auberon’s lost daughter?”

  Tyff stood there dumbly, staring at Kelley.

  “Holy crap,” she murmured at last. “When word gets out about this…Titania’s going to kill me.”

  XXVIII

  “H ow could you not have suspected that there was something just a little bit different about her?” Sonny asked.

  “Look at her!” Tyff said. “She’s so normal it’s almost weird. No offense, Kell.”

  “Er, none taken. I guess,” Kelley muttered.

  Sonny snorted. To his eyes, Kelley was unspeakably lovely. “She is powerfully veiled, I grant you. A leprechaun charm—”

  “Well, no shit, Sherlock!” Tyff groused. “I can see it now.”

  “I would have thought that a High Fae like you would have been able to figure it out.” Sonny was rather enjoying himself.

  Tyff glared at the Janus. “My senses have obviously been blunted by this world. I have been out of the loop for”—she counted on her fingers—“almost fifteen hundred years, you know!”

  “Ah.” Sonny nodded, almost feeling sympathetic. “I forget the story. You were, what, banished, was it?”

  “In a manner of speaking.” Tyff sulked. “But it wasn’t supposed to be permanent. I was supposed to be allowed back. After I had…‘served time.’ And then what happens? Your stupid boss goes and shuts all the doors.”

  “You could have tried to get back,” Sonny said. “Made a run for it one Samhain.”

  “And risk running into one of you bloodthirsty maniacs? Thank you, no.”

  “What did you do to get banished in the first place?” Kelley asked, fascinated.

  “Ask that Sir Lancelot creep,” Tyffanwy snapped. “Wait—no, don’t. It was complicated.” She waved the matter away with a manicured hand.

  “Ookay there, Tyffanwy…” Kelley threw her hands in the air. “Is there anyone I know who is actually a normal, non-freaky, plain old vanilla-flavored human?”

  “I’m sure that one or two of your actor friends are borderline normal,” Tyff answered, her tone doubting the assertion.

  “They’re actors,” Kelley said. “They’re not even close to normal. And anyway, one of them is actually Puck. Apparently.”

  “What?” Tyff’s eyebrows shot toward her hairline. “The Goodfellow? Oh, super. Listen, you keep that miserable boucca away from the apartment, or I will not be held responsible for my actions.”

  Sonny smirked. “What, did he stand you up for a date once?”

  “Shut up.” Tyff scowled at him. “Just what are you doing here, anyway?”

  “I’ve come to take Kelley somewhere safe,” he said. “And after that, I’ll be back to take the kelpie.”

  “Over my dead, shapely body,” the Faerie sneered.

  “I mean him no harm. But I have to return him to the Otherworld.” He told Tyffanwy about the Wild Hunt and watched her complexion drain to porcelain.

  “Well. I think it’s safe to say that, in my absence, the power grabbing and backstabbing and political intrigue has officially reached an all-time Otherworld high,” Tyff said, rigid with anger. “This goes beyond bickering.”

  “It does,” Sonny agreed. “Far beyond.”

  “I hate the Courts!” she spat. “Why can’t they just leave off with all the stupid homicidal meddling?”

  “I wish I knew,” Sonny sympathized. He understood only too well. No doubt Tyffanwy had experienced the fear and hatred of his lord’s realm and its people in much the same way that he had been made to fear and hate hers. He considered that for a moment and thought that perhaps, just this once, they could put aside those differences and work as allies. Maybe she would help him.

  Or, more likely, maybe she would help Kelley.

  Sonny suggested a plan.

  “You want me to do what?”

  “Just get all the charms unknotted from Lucky’s mane and tail,” Sonny pleaded.

  Tyff crossed her arms and pegged him with a pointed, icy stare. “They’re tied in with elf-knots. Do you have any idea how long that will take?”

  “Tyff—”

  “Days, Janus. I have a social life to maintain, you know. I have a date with an ambassador and you want me to cancel it so I can sit alone in this apartment, performing an equine comb-out.”

  “Tyffanwy…please? Once I get Kelley to the safe house and secure protection for her, I don’t know how much time I will have left until Samhain falls.”

  “That’s three nights from now!”

  “I’m taking her to the Green, and time is tricky there. You know that.”

  “How many of the damned things are there, anyway?”

  Sonny thought he could hear a note of relenting in Tyff’s voice and he pressed on. “I asked Cait—one of the other Janus—about the enchantment. She knows her magicks and she figures that there should be nine times nine talismans. Eighty-one all together. I have three of them. Which means that there should be seventy-eight stones left.”

  “Can’t you just rip them out? Like the ones you found at the Lake?” Kelley asked.

  “I tend to think Lucky would react poorly to that, don’t you? Mild-mannered he might be, but one well-placed kick from those hooves could be deadly.”

  “What about cutting them out?” she asked.

  “Can’t.” Tyff’s voice was flat. “’Cause that would be cheating. Right, Janus?”

  “Tyffawny’s right, Kelley. Magick like this tends to react poorly—dangerously—if one tries to…well, cheat. There aren’t really any shortcuts—our only hope is to untie all the knots. The spell has to be completely unraveled, or there is still the chance it will remain potent.” He turned again to Tyff.

  “I hate you.” Tyff glared at him.

  “And?” Kelley demanded anxiously from where she’d sat silently on the couch, listening to the negotiations. “If all of the talismans are removed?”

  Sonny looked at her. “Then he should pose no threat of becoming the Roan Horse of the Hunt.”

  “He’ll just revert to a normal, garden-variety kelpie.” Kelley was skeptical.

  “Like I told you, I don’t think Lucky is very normal, as far as kelpie go.” Sonny smiled at her. “In fact, your Lucky is the sweetest-tempered monster I’ve ever encountered. I think some of your nature must have imprinted on him when you rescued him, Kelley.”

  Kelley looked at him. “Did you just call me sweet?”

  “Maybe…”

  “Oh, get a room, you two,” Tyff said, disgusted, and went to the cupboard in the bathroom. She pulled a large-toothed comb and several brushes out of a basket.

  “Thank you, Lady Tyffanwy,” Sonny said with genuine gratitude and respect, relief flooding his chest. He would have time. Kelley would be safe, he could return Lucky to the Otherworld without fear, and the Wild Hunt would slumber on.

  “I hate you, Sonny Flannery,” Tyffanwy said.

  “Just remember to keep his hooves wet. At least until all the charms are untied.”

  “Hate you.”

  “All of them—the ones in his tail, too. Seventy-eight in all. And I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he promised. “Kelley…” Sonny turned to her. “You should go get ready so we can leave.”

  “What? Where?” Kelley blinked, startled.

  “Out,” he answered. “If you’re all right with that.”

  “But it’s almost sunset. Aren’t you…you know, on duty?”

  “I was curious about that too, Janus,” Tyff said over her shoulder as she sat on the side of the tub, wor
rying away at a knot. “It is the middle of the Nine-Night, after all. Aren’t you a little too busy to be going on a date?”

  Beside him Kelley stiffened and made a little squawking noise.

  “I told you, I’m taking her to the Green, so I’ll be within the boundaries of the Gate,” Sonny said. “I’ll still be ‘on duty.’”

  “I can’t believe you want to take her to Central Park,” Tyff said, “tonight.”

  “She’ll be safe with me.”

  “You hope.” Tyff gave Sonny a long, appraising look and seemed to be coming to a decision about him.

  “Kelley?” Sonny said to her, ignoring Tyff’s critical eye. “Why don’t you go get dressed?”

  “Make it something nice,” Tyff said, turning back to Lucky. “Wait—never mind—you don’t have anything nice.” She put the comb down. “I’ll get you something of mine.”

  XXIX

  “T yff?” Kelley asked as her roommate deftly pinned her hair up into a loose, artful cascade of curls. “How come your ears aren’t…you know?”

  “For the same reason that I never let anyone photograph me from the neck up,” Tyff muttered around a mouthful of bobby pins. “Because I’ve been trying to pass for mortal for the last millennium and a half. I used to just cast a glamour or wear my hair down, but then I finally found this great cosmetic surgeon on Ninth. Used to be a Druid healer way back in the day, and he’s very discreet. Hey, do you want me to set up an appointment for you?”

  “Uh…I’ll think about it.” Kelley ran a finger over the tip of one ear. “They’re not that pointy, are they?”

  “Oh, honey, no!” Tyff assured her. “Actually, on you, it’s sort of cute.”

  “Thanks. I think. And for loaning me the dress.” It hung in a contour-hugging wave from slender straps to brush her ankles. “Are you sure it’s not a bit much?”

  “What, you don’t want to look nice for your date?”

  “Do you really think this is a date?” Kelley could hear the panic in her own voice.

  “I think he’s trying to take you somewhere safe,” Tyff said. “I do.”

  There, see? Not a date. Damn it.

  Still. He was taking her to a safe house? Putting her under some kind of guard…Kelley really wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “Do you like him?” she asked.

  “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  “Do I like him?”

  Tyff’s mouth bent up at one corner. “You’re going to have to figure that one out all by yourself, kiddo.”

  Kelley sighed. “Okay, but—seriously—if this isn’t a date, then why am I dressed like I’m hitting the red carpet?”

  Tyff chuckled and secured the last pin in Kelley’s artfully tousled updo. “The Green is a little more upscale than the burger joints you’re used to, Kell. Trust me. Sparkly apparel is like a kind of uniform there.”

  Kelley turned this way and that in the mirror. Shimmering, champagne-hued crystals caught and reflected the light, but the effect was still somehow subtle. Tyff draped a silky wrap over Kelley’s bare shoulders and gave her arm a quick squeeze.

  “How do I look?”

  “Fetching. But don’t ask me….” Tyff stepped aside so that Kelley could see past her—to where Sonny stood, waiting patiently in the living room. “Ask him.”

  Sonny turned and his eyes went wide. The look on his face spoke volumes.

  If it hadn’t been a date before that moment, it certainly was now.

  “How was last night?” Kelley asked, as Sonny put out an arm for her to take as they crossed Fifth Avenue in the waning light of late afternoon. She had been making all kinds of small talk since they’d left the apartment—mostly to avoid having to notice the fact that Sonny had barely taken his eyes off her. “Guard duty, I mean.”

  “Quiet, all things considered.” He shrugged. “For me at least. Maddox and the others did most of the heavy lifting. He still thinks I need mending.”

  “Don’t you?” she asked, hazarding a quick look into his face. He’s still staring at me. Maybe the dress really is too much.…

  Sonny smiled. “I need less mending than a regular mortal. I’m fine.”

  “Really? Then why is Maddox worried?”

  “He’s just being an old woman.”

  “You’re his friend.” She gripped his arm tighter, feeling a bit precarious in Tyff’s high heels.

  “I know. He’s still being an old woman.”

  She looked up at him again. “You know, you do look a little…rugged.”

  “I…oh.” Sonny frowned and looked away.

  “It’s okay,” she assured him. “Rugged works pretty well for you.”

  There were dozens of carriages lined up along the curb at the southeast corner of the park. Some were pulled by lean, neat-footed ponies, while others were powered by larger draft horses. Sonny cast his gaze up and down the line and made a choice. Grabbing Kelley by the hand, he approached a white buggy adorned with garlands of pink and purple silk flowers. The driver was a tall, broad-shouldered woman with a keen glint in her ice-blue eyes; the horse was a proud silver-white beast who managed to convey a sense of dignity despite the jaunty fuchsia ostrich plumes waving from his bridle and the sparkly purple paint on his hooves. Probably a tourist favorite for the pure kitsch value, Kelley thought.

  The horse tossed his huge, noble head, butting her insistently with his nose once she got close enough.

  “You certainly seem to have a way with horses,” Sonny whispered.

  “Belrix likes you,” the driver said to Kelley. “He’s very particular.”

  “He’s beautiful,” Kelley said, scratching his hairy cheek.

  “We’d like to hire his services. And yours, if you are available,” Sonny said to the driver.

  “We haven’t had many folk wanting a ride through the park the last few nights,” she said, her face a carefully composed blank.

  “Due to the uncertain weather, most like,” Sonny suggested politely.

  “Aye. Most like…Hard to tell one season from another these days.”

  “Just so. Can you take us to the Tavern?” Sonny asked the driver.

  “The Tavern on the Green?”

  “You know the one I speak of.”

  Kelley was confused. There was only one Tavern on the Green. It was one of New York’s landmarks.

  But the driver nodded slowly. “I do. It will cost you extra to take that road.”

  “I’ll pay,” Sonny said, pulling out a small red suede pouch. He tugged open the drawstring and chose several coins, which he dropped into the palm of her hand. “For both of us.”

  “Fair enough,” she said, and gestured with the little buggy whip she held. “Up you get, then.”

  Sonny helped Kelley climb into the cab and then sprang in behind her as the carriage began to move. The steady clip-clop of Belrix’s hooves echoed beneath the trees as they wound through the park, passing familiar landmarks and features. They were on a road that took them past the carousel at a distance.

  Kelley remarked, “You know that particular carousel is the fourth one to stand on that spot? It’s burned to the ground twice in its history.”

  The driver turned and glanced over her shoulder. “I’m usually the one who gives the guided tour, missy,” she said, sounding amused. “Are you trying to take my job?”

  Kelley smiled. “No, ma’am. I just remember reading about the carousel in a brochure.”

  “Aye, well.” The driver nodded and took over the narrative. “The story goes that the original merry-go-round used to be powered by a horse and an old blind mule that walked a circular track in an underground cavern beneath the ride. Indeed, old Belrix here gets touchy when I talk about the horse and mule.” The big animal’s ears twitched back and forth. “Seems to think that it wasn’t exactly fair work.”

  Kelley shivered at the idea of those animals traipsing in an endless circle, one blind, led by the other, in sunless toil for the sake of other creatures’ amusement.

&n
bsp; “The carousel that stands there now was found disassembled on Coney Island,” the driver continued. “They brought it back here and refurbished it. Lucky, that. The park would be poorer without it, to my mind.”

  “Yeah,” Kelley murmured, thinking about a horse of another kind. “Lucky.”

  On either side of them the park vista passed.

  “You know,” Kelley said to Sonny softly, “I was fascinated by the park when I first moved here. I felt kind of drawn to it. I guess that’s not exactly a coincidence, now. Seeing what this place really is. And who I…really am and all…”

  “Well,” he said, as he thought about it. “I told you that I don’t believe in any such thing as coincidence. However, I also think that you may have felt drawn to the park for the simple reason that you just felt drawn to the park. A lot of people are, you know. People who aren’t…like you. Just because of what you are doesn’t mean that anything is predestined for you, Kelley. I’ll help make sure of that.”

  “Would you say that even if I decided to embrace the legacy of my blood?” she asked, quietly, so that the driver wouldn’t hear her. “If I took up the mantle of a Faerie princess?” A tiny fist of panic lodged in her throat as she said the words, and she found it hard to swallow. The carousel had reminded her once again of just what it might mean if she allowed herself to become one of the Fair Folk. Although Kelley could not deny that there was a wily, seductive appeal in that notion, it terrified her almost as much as it thrilled her.

  “Kelley.” Sonny looked her square in the eyes. He took her hand in his. “I will help you be whatever you want to be. I promise.”

  Her fear vanished, and Kelley found herself mesmerized. His hair that night fell in loose, dark waves on either side of his face, and Kelley couldn’t restrain herself from reaching out and tucking a stray lock behind his ear. His gaze deepened. Kelley felt suddenly breathless.

  “Almost there,” the driver called, and they reluctantly broke eye contact. Kelley thought she heard a strange, almost inhuman quality to the woman’s voice. Belrix increased his pace to a trot.

  Kelley sat up and looked around. The park appeared familiar and foreign at the same time. “Where exactly is it that we’re going, again?”