by JS Harker
“To ask advice.” If she didn’t want fey mingling with mortals, she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “To find a way to stay among the mortals the whole year through.”
Queen Mab blinked, and then she laughed at him, a sound so absolutely terrible that Flynn felt as though he were pinned to the floor beneath her heel. A stupid thing to say to her. He should have stayed with Derek.
“Oh, Flynn, you have fallen in love with one of them,” the queen said. She sounded as if he were one of the human children who didn’t understand drinking a slushie so quickly would give them a headache. She folded her hands together in her lap, and the icy layer of her regal attitude eased. More akin to a strict mother.
Still not someone Flynn wanted to disappoint or upset.
“Now that you are home again, your fantasy will fade, and life will make more sense,” she said. “Change your clothes, join the festivities. Forget your human adventure, or remember it fondly as one does a dream.”
“I don’t want to stay here,” Flynn said.
“I think it best you remain in the palace for some time. Perhaps as many as three of their decades. That should be long enough for the two of you to move on.”
The exact opposite of what Flynn wanted. “I don’t want to be part of the Court.”
“Some would consider it a privilege.”
“You mean it as a punishment, Your Majesty.”
“You are at least that clever,” the queen said. She rose from her throne. “You will come to like it, or you will bear through it.”
When she headed for the door, Flynn stepped into her path. Her magic could grind him to dust, and she would do so as punishment for insubordination like this. Better to face the consequences instead of putting him through agonizing despair.
“I love him,” Flynn said.
Queen Mab sighed. “Do you know how often younglings come to me and beg to go to the mortal world? To stay there? They are fascinated by it. In love with it. In love with one human. There are mysteries to discover, if only they could remain. You would join them and risk your life among the fey, forever, for a mortal you barely know?”
“Derek’s different. The way I feel about him is different.”
“Again I hear this often. I cannot afford to lose fairies to the trappings of the mortal realm. Flashy objects lose their shine, Flynn, and when they do, sick fairies congregate at portals, begging us to bring them to the cold. They are never the same. They become bitter, twisted things who hunger for the touch of magic.”
Like the man who had attacked him.
“You will remain in the palace and serve me,” the queen said.
A high honor among some, and if she ordered it a third time, his fate was sealed. He would never see Derek again. Never have long nights cuddling together or secret smiles. Tiny kisses or long ones. His warmth. His love. Flynn took a steadying breath. Defying his queen for love of a mortal. Winter help him.
“Derek loves me. He knows what I am and is unafraid of me. He doesn’t mock me for not knowing why mortals are the way they are. He gives me gifts, ones that show he listens to me.”
“Lures,” Queen Mab said. “He has tricked you. No mortal could so quickly love you.”
“I won’t spend these ageless days without the chance of seeing him. He is warmth, and he is kind.” Flynn had to convince her. There had to be some magic twist of words that would make her see how much he needed to be with Derek. “He has this unguarded way he takes my hand. This smile when he brings me something new. I know he’s insecure and uncertain of his future, but he loves me. The way he kisses me—”
“Bodies are the easiest to deceive.”
“But not my heart,” Flynn said.
“Oh, youngling, hearts too often follow a body’s whim, especially at your tender age.” Queen Mab shook her head slowly. “This love of yours is so great you would leave your people?”
“This night if I had to, Your Majesty. But I hold hope that I may yet remain what I am. Is there no way to do so in the mortal realm?”
“There are ways, but they must be sought by the ones who would follow those paths. I cannot dictate in this matter, particularly when I don’t believe it should be tried,” the queen replied. “You are too young for this. Come back to us and forget this love. Find another and another and another in its place.”
“I’m not ready for that, Your Majesty.”
“Nigh immortality, the power of Winter at your fingertips. I ask you once more, and a final time, Flynn. Would you give this up to remain with your love?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I would turn forever from the winter wind if I had to.”
Queen Mab shook her head and sighed at him. “Thrice asked and thrice answered true. Take care, Flynn, for Summer’s touch will burn Winter from you. If not the first, then the second or third. You will become like the humans. You will age. You might die before rejoining fairy. It is far easier to bring your mortal here and live out his days in our leisure.”
“He does not wish that, Your Majesty,” Flynn said. “And with complete leisure, we might never grow. I can’t imagine a worse fate than running out of new experiences.”
“The human world is not endless.”
“No, but it is ever-changing, and it could take lifetimes to explore,” Flynn replied.
“Only the foolish or the devout believe such about the mortal world,” the queen said. “The foolish come back to the feylands bitter and sick.”
“And the devout?”
“They must spend their time happily, because most I never see again.” Queen Mab cupped Flynn’s face in her cold hands. She gazed deep into his eyes, and he held still, willing that she might see how determined he was to make this work. That she might find him, a little common fairy, worth the measure of a true love. “Oh, Flynn. You do love this human true. I hope the years are kind to you and bring you joy—and that they bring you home again.”
Flynn had her blessing. The queen approved of him leaving. She didn’t have an answer to the problem, but she wouldn’t stand in his way. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Flynn bowed once more before leaving the inner chamber. Fey openly gaped at him this time, probably because he hadn’t been ground into dust. He didn’t care. She had said there were ways to stay on Earth, to stay with Derek. He had to figure it out, but surely he could solve the problem with Derek at his side.
Chapter Twenty-One
CHRISTMAS Eve. Derek had one of the dreaded Christmas Eve shifts—the early one where families rushed to do their last-minute shopping. Worse yet, Flynn hadn’t answered any of his texts. The queen could hold him forever, and there wasn’t much Derek could do about it. He’d tried doing internet research on Queen Mab in case he needed to plead for Flynn or fight his way into the castle to save his love.
But research said his options were more impossible than joining the astronauts at the International Space Station, and those odds were super against him.
If Flynn never came back—Derek would have the worst Christmas he’d ever had. He’d be boring Derek.
No. He wasn’t going to think about Flynn not returning, because Flynn would. He’d made a promise.
But he hadn’t promised he’d be able to stay. There had to be a way he could.
Derek would have to wait and see. And go to Flynn’s after work and bother Lulu into more details about the feylands.
Crowds packed the mall so badly Derek had to duck and dodge around group after group of people. Distracted as he was, he was all too happy to find a long gap near the fence of Winter Wonderland. He zoomed on through toward the toy store.
Which was how he missed one of Wonderland’s gates swinging wide open. It slammed into his legs, and he doubled-over the gate with forward momentum. A guy around his age shouted something at someone, but Derek was in too much pain and confusion to give a crap. He struggled to right himself, and managed to get upright in time to glare at the asshole who walked past him without an apology.
Something was still going on by Santa’s Workshop. Mall shoppers skirted Wonderland as far as they could, causing the area Derek had thought was a miraculous gap. Parents hauled their kids out of line for a photo with Santa—neither parents nor kids seemed too happy about that.
Nate stood at the door to Santa’s Workshop and shouted in, “There’s two hours left on his shift. Can’t this wait?”
A mom shook her head as she walked past Derek, and he realized she was the woman who’d accused him of ruining Christmas for her family. She didn’t seem to recognize him. She practically pulled her son along behind her. “We are never coming back here.”
Derek wasn’t sure if she’d meant the words for him, but she was glaring in his direction. He called after her, “Okay, fine, good!”
The workshop cleared of customers and Nate, still in his Santa suit, sat down upon his chair. When he spotted Derek at the gate, he motioned for him to come closer. Derek was already running late to work, and he knew what Nate would ask him. Everyone knew he was dating Flynn, and Flynn wasn’t at work. Derek couldn’t explain Flynn’s absence because Nate would never believe Flynn needed to visit a magical realm.
Whatever was going on in the Workshop was Gregory’s fault. Derek didn’t care what happened. But Flynn liked working and he liked spreading magic. If anything helped spread magical cheer during the holidays, a picture with Santa did. Derek went through the gate and headed for Nate.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” Nate asked.
“There was sort of a—thing with his other, uh, job,” Derek replied.
“What other job?”
Gregory threw open the door of the workshop. He had on his winter coat over his uniform and had his clothes in his other hand. Tears streamed down Gregory’s face and for once they weren’t fake.
A guy Derek didn’t recognize followed him out of the workshop. “Don’t you dare walk away from me!”
“You made your point! We’re over! I got it!” Gregory turned on the other young man. “I’m awful and terrible and a sl—”
“Whoa!” Derek said, stepping in. He surprised himself almost as much as anyone else. But there were too many people around and too many potential cameras recording. Gregory cared about his image, especially his online one. Screaming the word “slut” in full view of Santa’s Workshop while wearing an elf costume had the potential to go viral in the worst way.
“Stay out of this,” the other young man said.
“Leave already,” Derek replied. He put his hands on Gregory’s shoulders. “He’s upset. You’re upset. The whole mall is getting upset. Declare it over and go bother someone else.”
The young man huffed, but he walked away.
Gregory wrenched free of Derek’s grasp and started for a different gate out of Wonderland, away from his newest ex-boyfriend.
Kids and their parents were heading toward Santa’s Workshop again. Derek had his own job to get to. He couldn’t fill in for Flynn, especially since he wasn’t trained at all for taking photos or getting kids to sit still.
But he could try to get Gregory back to work. Flynn would want the winter magic to continue. Derek caught up to Gregory. “Wait, hold on.”
Gregory turned toward him. His eyes and cheeks were red from his tears. There was a despair in his eyes, something Derek had seen briefly while they dated. Something which reminded Derek of the fairy man who’d lost his magic. A deep pain of loneliness.
“What?” Gregory demanded. “Aren’t you happy now?”
“Not really,” Derek said.
“Fine. Go ahead. Yell at me too. Everybody hates me and it’s all my fault, right?”
Derek blinked at him. “I don’t hate you.”
“Sure you do. I broke your heart. I lied. I cheated. I’m a terrible human being.” Gregory wiped at his tears. “I’m vain, I’m stupid—”
“I don’t hate you,” Derek repeated.
Gregory glared at him as if Derek were speaking incomprehensibly.
“I don’t.” Derek sighed. “I won’t lie. What you did hurt me. A lot. And maybe we never should’ve dated. But for whatever reason, we did. At some point you got bitter and I got sad. I’m not anymore.”
“Because you have Flynn,” Gregory said.
“Because Flynn and I make each other happy. We love each other. What he and I have—I guess I never felt that with you.” Derek ached to know what the queen had to say to Flynn more than ever. He had to find some way to stay with him.
Gregory smiled bitterly while tears streamed down his face. “Well, great. I hope you get your happily ever after.”
“I hope you do too,” Derek said.
Gregory snorted. “Sure you do.”
“I’m not going to stand here and argue about it. Someday you’re going to realize I’m telling the truth. But I don’t have time to make you see it.” Derek headed for the fence near the toy store. He climbed over it with relative ease. He didn’t look back to see what Gregory chose to do. Maybe he went to work, and maybe he didn’t. Derek had tried to talk sense into him. That was the best he could do.
In the toy store, the lines at the registers were incredibly long, and Derek didn’t waste time dropping his coat in the stockroom. He logged in to a computer, and a multitude of customers shifted toward him. One man didn’t even wait for him to take off his coat, so of course the next three didn’t either.
Yet he couldn’t help worrying about Flynn and why he hadn’t called. Stories said Queen Mab could be vicious. She might have locked Flynn in a dungeon, never to be seen again.
Sweat coated him, and he stripped off his coat between customers. He’d barely had a chance to drop it onto the floor before the next customer tossed his purchase onto the counter. It was a board game, and Derek had sold a dozen of them in the last couple of weeks. The board had a world map on it. From Derek’s current position, as he bent to drop his coat, the southern hemisphere was right under his nose.
Derek closed his eyes. Of course. Flynn never said he needed to be in Wisconsin or the north. He was tied to winter. There were two winters on Earth. Spending several months out of the year on the other side of the globe from his family would be hard, but at least he’d be able to contact his family regularly. With a job in IT or game developing, he probably wouldn’t even need more than a computer and internet connection to stay employed.
There’d be a balance, and they could find a way to spend time in the feylands. They could both have what they needed and wanted.
He had to talk to Flynn.
The customer slid the board game closer to Derek, even though he hadn’t moved. “Are you going to do your job or what, kid?”
Walking out on a shift would be the end of his job at the toy store. He’d be tight on money, and he’d have trouble finding another job that worked with school so well. His parents wouldn’t be happy when they heard his reason for leaving.
But he could either stand at a register and wait for his shift to end, or he could find Flynn and share his perfect compromise.
Derek picked up his coat. “I have to go.”
The man glared at him. “You just got here. I saw it.”
Natalie leaned in. “Derek, we’re swamped. Can’t it wait until after your shift?”
“No. It can’t. I’m sorry.” Derek put his coat on.
“Derek—”
“I know what it means, but I can’t stay. I’m sorry.” Derek bolted out of the toy store, refusing to look at the angry people in his wake. He had to find Flynn.
“You are so off my zombie apocalypse team!” Natalie called after him.
Derek winced. He hated disappointing her, but he’d made up his mind. Unfortunately he needed some direction, and Flynn wasn’t available. Lulu had to know something about the feylands that could help him, or at least she might know if his idea was feasible. Flynn might even be back.
Dark gray clouds hung in the sky, and the first snowflakes of what promised to be a heavy snow drifted on the air. He hurried to his car, curse
d traffic the whole way to Flynn’s, and made the turnoff to the cabin in record time. There were no tracks in the snow, but then Flynn never left footprints. A light was on in the cabin.
Derek knocked on the door and stepped in. But Flynn wasn’t inside. Instead Lulu sat on the edge of the coffee table as she watched television.
“Has Flynn come back yet?” Derek asked.
“No. He said he was going to speak to the queen.” Lulu flew from the coffee table to the edge of the couch. “He might not return. When the queen learns where he has been, she might be angry. His kind are not supposed to linger here.”
“He made me a promise,” Derek replied. “Even the queen would have to let him keep it, right?”
“Well, yes. But did he promise when he would return?”
Flynn hadn’t. All he had promised was to tell Derek whether he had to stay in the fairy realm instead of coming back to him. “I have to talk to him.”
“That’s going to be a little hard,” Lulu said.
“But I figured it out! The human world has two winters, and that’s all he needs, right?” Derek asked.
Lulu flitted her wings. “It may work, but his prolonged absence from the feylands would be noticed. Queen Mab would definitely grow angry then.”
“Why? Why would she keep the fairies in the feylands?”
“Because they have a tendency to get sick and disappear.”
Like the man who attacked Flynn. Derek shook his head. “I’d never let that happen to him. I’d send him home before that.”
Lulu zoomed closer and scrutinized him. “Speak the truth, Derek. Would you keep him bound with your love, refusing to let go because you could not stand to lose him?”
She was testing him, like what happened in so many of the stories. Derek straightened his shoulders. “If Flynn lost his magic, he’d lose himself. He wouldn’t be the man I love, so no, I wouldn’t keep him in the mortal realm if he were sick.”
“It will, and thus you have to let him go.”
“No, we still have ways to try,” Derek said. “There’s nothing wrong with him yet, and if he needs winter, we can stay in the winters.”