Modern Faerie Tales

by Holly Black

  Lutie’s heart sank. Kaye wasn’t there. Kaye wasn’t coming to save her.

  “Lutie,” Roiben said, peering into her cage with his wintry gray eyes. “I got your message.”

  Lutie nodded glumly. He’d come as soon as he could, just like she’d said, but had no idea what he was walking into. Still, she couldn’t be sorry when he began unwinding the clasp on her cage. She’d prefer not to be a prisoner a moment more.

  “What are you doing?” Balekin asked him, moving closer.

  Roiben didn’t pause in his unwinding of the wire, though, and a moment later Lutie was loose, flying up as high as she could, clinging to a bit of decorative molding on the ceiling. She didn’t want to be in grabbing distance of Balekin or his creepy servants.

  Or any of the rest of them, for that matter.

  “I freed her,” Roiben said mildly. “What else could you possibly imagine I would do, as she is a subject of mine? You ought not have kept her like that.”

  Balekin stared at him. Perhaps he’d thought a sprite would be beneath Roiben’s notice. Perhaps Roiben’s bloodthirsty reputation gave the prince some reason to believe the Lord of the Court of Termites would be amused by cruelty.

  Roiben went on. “It is a kindness to be able to see my sister again. But I would speak with her alone.”

  Balekin nodded with a half smile that this was part of his plan. He gave Ethine an encouraging push toward Roiben. “I hope that, whatever the outcome, you will consider swearing fealty to the High Court. I am sure Ethine will speak well of her time here. She’s pledged herself already, you see.”

  Lutie startled. She hadn’t considered that, although it was obvious that living at the High Court, as a courtier in a princess’s inner circle, Ethine would have been asked to make a vow of loyalty. But it meant that Roiben had no claim on protecting her, even if he’d known she was in danger.

  “I do see,” said Roiben.

  Balekin went out, closing the door behind him. Lutie was sure he was spying somehow, but she had no idea how and didn’t want to risk getting grabbed again by investigating.

  “You didn’t want me to come, did you?” Roiben asked her when Balekin left. “You seem unhappy. I suppose you’re doing this for him?”

  “In a manner of speaking,” Ethine said. Lutie thought that probably meant she had no choice.

  “Sit beside me,” Roiben said. “Tell me what I can do to fix things between us.”

  “You destroyed everything I loved,” Ethine told him. “There was no Court of Flowers without Silarial. Talathain was lost, and worst of all, you were unrecognizable in your cruelty. I thought I knew you, but I did not. And I am not sure I knew Silarial either.”

  “You will not want to hear this,” Roiben said. “But I felt the same, once. When I realized that she had known what it was she was sending me to endure, that she had not cared enough—”

  “But she couldn’t have known!” Ethine protested.

  “She did.” Roiben gave a long sigh. “They were sisters, for one, and more alike than not. I like to believe it stung a little to give me up. But she got Nephamael in the bargain, and he was more loyal to her than either of them pretended. And a better schemer by far. With him by her side, she brought down the Unseelie Court. Had Kaye not poisoned him, I imagine he would have passed it all over to his mistress. She very nearly had both courts.”

  Ethine pressed her lips together in a thin line. “You could have been the one to pass it over. You could have bowed your head and presented her with the Unseelie Court, like the greatest jewel in her crown. She would have made you her consort. Perhaps you could have even wed and ruled together.”

  The corners of Roiben’s eyes crinkled. “You said as much, once. But it is a difficult thing to be loved for one’s dowry alone.”

  “Don’t jest!” Ethine said.

  “Then let me be as frank as I can. I loved another. I love another. Do you understand me? It was not merely pride or rage or any of the other things that you accuse me of, although I felt them in the full measure. I would not have been Silarial’s consort, not if I gave her the Unseelie Court. Not if I bowed my head and humbled myself. Not if she begged me.”

  That startled Ethine. She looked at Roiben as though once again he was utterly unknowable. “But you can’t mean—”

  “I do mean it. I love Kaye with my whole heart. And whether you think well of that or ill, it’s the truest truth I have ever spoken. Silarial wasn’t the person you thought she was, and you are angry with me that you came to know it. The only good thing bowing my head to her would have done is allow you to keep your eyes shut.”

  Lutie expected Ethine to protest that, but she didn’t.

  “I hurt you,” he said. “In the duel. But that’s not why you’re angry, is it? What you cannot forgive me for is Silarial’s death.”

  “You wish to remind me that I am the one who murdered her,” Ethine said. “As though I can forget it.”

  “I wish to remind you of nothing. I am not the one who sought you out. It is Kaye who cannot leave things well enough alone.”

  Lutie thought that truer words were never spoken.

  “Yet you say you love her!” Ethine protested.

  “Yes, I love Kaye. And also, I know her.” Roiben smiled faintly. “Just as I know and love you.”

  “Are you angry with me?” Ethine asked in a very small voice. “For taking Silarial away forever?”

  He shook his head, closing his eyes, as though he couldn’t bear looking at her while he spoke. “I was relieved to be spared the choice you made.”

  For a moment, they just sat together in silence. After a while, Ethine reached for his hand and he let her take it, then drew their clasped fingers to his heart.

  Finally, he said, “So, sister. What is it I must do here? These are your people now.”

  “I know what you will say to bowing your head,” Ethine said. “Even if it is for my sake. Let us not repeat what is past.”

  “What happens if I don’t swear fealty to the High Court?” he asked. “Let me be more specific: What will they do to you?”

  “I don’t know,” Ethine replied, her voice so low that Lutie understood her more from the movement of her lips than anything else.

  Roiben let go of her hand and stood. “Prince Balekin,” he called. “I had a visit with my sister. Now let’s get to the meat of the matter. Come out. I would bargain with you.”

  It took a moment, but the doors opened and Balekin strode through. He was trying to look confident, but something in his manner showed that he was worried. He ought to be. Lutie had seen Roiben fight. He had come alone, just like she’d said in her stupid note, but she’d seen him cut through more guards than Balekin had in his employ.

  Of course, killing the eldest prince of Elfhame would probably mean war.

  “So,” said Balekin. “What bargain do you propose?”

  “Ah, you wish to play out the game. I will say that I wish to take my sister home with me. You will remind me that she belongs here, that you are a prince. Perhaps add a few ominous things that are meant to imply you will not be a good guardian. As though I cannot see you’ve treated her poorly.”

  “She was offered every pleasure of my household,” Balekin protested.

  “And now I am here to unwind the wire of her cage,” said Roiben. “Let me guess. You wish the fealty of the Court of Termites.”

  Ethine stood up from the couch. “Wait. Roiben.” She put a cautioning hand on his arm.

  Lutie held her breath. What had she done? Not just ruined the mission, but stolen the sovereignty from the Court of Termites. Kaye would never forgive her. Oh, this was very, very bad.

  Roiben turned to Ethine. “You think it was pride that kept me from bowing my head, but it was never that.” Then he looked at Balekin. “You release all claim on her if I agree that the Court of Termites swears fealty to the High Court?”

  Balekin frowned, as though trying to figure out how he’d lost control of the situation.
“Yes . . .”

  “Done,” Roiben said, his voice clipped. He looked up. “Lutie, perhaps you’d prefer to travel in the pocket of my coat? It’s velvet lined.”

  “Wait!” Balekin said. “We must go to my father and tell him the news. You must come and take the oath and tell him of my role. This is my triumph.”

  “Let us be off, then,” said Roiben, offering his sister his arm. She placed her hand on his and they walked through Balekin’s estate, past his guards and out through the doors. Balekin called for horses.

  Lutie was sorry she’d ever thought of Roiben as a handsome murder-loving murderer. She darted down, grateful he didn’t want to squish her. Even more grateful he didn’t want to leave her behind.

  “This is all your fault,” Ethine said to Lutie.

  “I know,” Lutie replied mournfully.

  “Nonsense,” Roiben said. “Lutie-loo sent me a very clever message. Do you know what an acrostic code is? Mortals like them very much. The children use them to write poems at school, using the letters of their names.”

  “What are you speaking of?” Balekin said. “I read that letter myself.”

  “Yes, you might well have, since I imagine you forced her to write it. But did you notice the first letter of each of the sentences?” said Roiben. “W-E-A-R-E-H-O-S-T-A-G-E-S. We are hostages. As I said, clever.”

  “But if you knew—then why did you come alone?” Ethine cried. “Why put yourself in his power?”

  Roiben gave her a real smile. A slightly smug one. “I didn’t. Dulcamara and Ellebere are both with me. And I won’t be going to visit the High King Eldred with you, Prince Balekin. You see, I’ve already been there. With your brother Dain. I have already given him my fealty—should he become the High King, I have agreed to swear to him and to him alone.”

  “No,” Balekin’s eyes went wide. “How?” His fingers reached inside his coat, as though seeking a blade.

  But as he did, out of the shadows came Roiben’s knights. Dulcamara with her skeletal wings and her ruby-red hair and her fierce smile. Ellebere with his insectile armor. And behind them, knights of Elfhame.

  “Brother,” said a man who could only be Prince Dain.

  Roiben didn’t wait to hear what they would say to each other. He and Ethine moved toward Dulcamara, and minutes later they were all in the sky, on steeds made of smoke, racing through the dark. The velvet lining was soft around Lutie, the cloth warmed by the heat of the body that wore it. She looked up from Roiben’s pocket and watched the stars turn over her head.

  Back in New York, Kaye was putting together a party in miniature for Lutie. She’d covered two bricks to make a banquet table, set it on top of her own dining room table, and piled it with foodstuffs. A cupcake set on a silver-chased compact mirror. A single sticky sesame wing on a chipped child’s saucer, as large to Lutie as a whole turkey. Three raspberries and a blueberry, stuffed into a freshly peeled lychee. And then, around that, food for everyone else.

  “Congratulations!” said Kaye. “You made it out of the High Court and stopped a coup. Pretty good for a first mission.”

  Kaye had invited Ravus and Val, whom it turned out Kaye had known was pregnant. Corny and Luis were there too. And Roiben, who looked surprised by his own happiness. No Ethine, but that was fine. She was, apparently, traveling to the part of the Court of Termites that had once been the Court of Flowers. Maybe looking for Talathain. Maybe just going back to doing courtier things. Lutie was glad not to have her there, making things awkward.

  “Will you ask a boon from me?” Roiben said.

  Lutie drew herself up. She thought about what the awful prince had said to her in the cage, about sprites not being good for anything. And she thought about how hard the job had really been, way harder than she’d thought.

  “I want another job,” said Lutie.

  His eyes crinkled in amusement and she worried he was going to laugh at her. She held her breath.

  “I didn’t ask you to assign yourself a punishment,” said Lord Roiben of the Court of Termites. “But who am I to argue with such a generous request? Consider it done.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  HOLLY BLACK is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), The Modern Faerie Tales series, the Curse Workers series, Doll Bones, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, The Darkest Part of the Forest, the Magisterium series (with Cassandra Clare), and the Folk of the Air series. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award, and a recipient of the Andre Norton Award, the Mythopoeic Award, and a Newbery Honor. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret door. Visit her at blackholly.com.

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/teen

  Margaret K. McElderry Books

  Simon & Schuster • New York

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  ALSO BY HOLLY BLACK:

  THE CURSE WORKERS

  White Cat

  Red Glove

  Black Heart

  The Poison Eaters: And Other Stories

  Zombies vs. Unicorns

  with Justine Larbalestier

  Doll Bones

  THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES

  The Field Guide

  The Seeing Stone

  Lucinda’s Secret

  The Ironwood Tree

  The Wrath of Mulgarath

  BEYOND THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES

  The Nixie’s Song

  A Giant Problem

  The Wyrm King

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Tithe copyright © 2002 by Holly Black

  Valiant copyright © 2005 by Holly Black

  Ironside copyright © 2007 by Holly Black

  “The Lament of Lutie-Loo” copyright © 2019 by Holly Black

  Interior designs by Kathleen Jennings

  Jacket photo-illustration copyright © 2019 by There Is Studio

  Cover photo-illustration copyright © 2019 by There Is Studio

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  Also available in a Margaret K. McElderry Books hardcover edition

  The illustrations for this book were rendered in pen and ink.

  CIP data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-5344-5204-6 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-5344-4483-6 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-53445382-1 (eBook)