The silver-haired fey with the twilight skin and golden eyes raised her head, a steely expression on her face. “Yes, Your Majesty,” she answered. “If Keirran is in danger, I must find him right away. When do you wish to go?”
“Right now.” Meghan turned her gaze to the others, to Puck and Coaleater, watching intently. “This is an uncertain time for all of us,” she said. “Faery is under threat. Something is coming, and none of us know what it is or when it could arrive—only that it is close. The rulers and leaders of Faery must be made aware of this threat. Coaleater...” She glanced at the large Iron faery, who straightened as her gaze fell on him. “I know you want to help us find Keirran, but I need you to return to the Obsidian plains and warn Spikerail of what happened. He needs to be aware, and should the time come when we must call on the Iron herd, I want him to be prepared.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The big man bowed his head, and I saw the shadow of his real self behind him: a huge warhorse made of black iron and flickering flame. “The Iron herd will stand ready to aid you against all threats. You will have our support for as long as you need it.”
Meghan nodded gratefully, then turned to the red-haired fey beside him. “Puck?”
“Come on, princess.” Robin Goodfellow flashed his toothy smile. “You know where I stand. You don’t even have to ask.”
“I believe I will come as well.”
A fluffy gray cat sauntered into view, waving an exceptionally bushy tail. His golden eyes regarded us all with bored appraisal. “If Touchstone has disappeared, I would like to see it for myself,” Grimalkin said. “Someone with an ounce of intelligence should be there to make sense of things and point out the obvious. And to point you in the right direction should you become lost. Not that I doubt the Forgotten’s abilities, but you will need a guide should you happen to lose your way.”
The Iron Queen gave a decisive nod. “Then let us go,” she said. “I fear time is slipping away, and the longer we wait, the more difficult it will become to find Keirran. Nyx...” She gestured toward the Forgotten. “Whenever you are ready, take us into the Between.”
Nyx immediately stepped forward. Closing her eyes, she put out a hand, fingers spread wide, as if searching for something that could only be felt. “Keirran showed me how to enter the Between,” she murmured, taking a few steps forward. “He said that only the Forgotten remember how to do it, and that the Lady gave him the gift when she was alive. You have to find a spot where the Veil is thin.”
“Like a trod?” Puck asked, referring to the magical paths that led into the Nevernever from the mortal realm.
“Similar,” Nyx murmured, still walking steadily forward with her hand up. We trailed the Forgotten as she continued to search. “The Veil is like a mist,” she went on, “constantly moving and changing. Those weak spots you find might not be there when you return to them. But, if you search long enough, you should be able to find... There.”
She stopped. Paused a moment. And then, as I had seen Keirran do only once or twice before, pushed her fingers into the fabric of reality and drew it back like a curtain. A narrow gash appeared where she parted the Veil, and beyond that tear was darkness. A few tendrils of mist curled out of the hole and writhed away into nothing.
Standing at the mouth of the gash into the void, Nyx shook her head. “The Between,” she murmured. “It feels...different. Angrier than it was before. That’s not good.” She opened her eyes and looked back at us. I saw concern on her face, but it was overshadowed by a somber resolution. “Guard your emotions,” she warned. “Calm your mind, and your feelings. The Between can manifest physical representations of strong emotions. So, if you are not careful, we might be facing your worst fears, or the darkest parts of your anger.”
I took a furtive breath to quiet the tangle of emotions, searching for the cold, empty calm of the Winter prince. It didn’t come as easily as it did in the past. Before Meghan and Keirran, when I only had myself to worry about, I feared very little. I wasn’t afraid of venturing into the unknown. Whatever came at me, whatever monster, nightmare or horrific abomination I would face, the worst that could happen was that they would kill me. And I was exceedingly hard to kill. Fear for my own life had rarely been a concern.
Things were different now. I had a family. I had a wife, and a son; two people that meant more to me than anything, in any world. If they were in danger, my entire being was consumed with wanting to protect them, to utterly destroy whatever evil they faced so it could never threaten them again. I could feel that anger in me now, rising up to dominate my thoughts, and breathed deep to find my center. If Keirran was out there, we would find him, and I would cut down anything that stood in our way. Simple as that.
Puck gave a loud, noisy sigh and glanced at me. “Well, ice-boy,” he said, “here we go again. Another adventure through the worst Faery has to offer. Oh, wait, you’ve never been through the actual Between before, have you?” He grinned, green eyes shining with mischief as he stepped toward the gateway. “You’re in for all sorts of fun surprises.”
2
THE HALF-THERE CITY
Puck wasn’t entirely correct. I had been through the Between. A couple times, in fact. Both instances were with Meghan when we visited Touchstone, the capital of Keirran’s new realm. Keirran could no longer come into the Nevernever, but that didn’t prevent us from going into the Between to see him. Though more often than not, rather than take us into Touchstone, the Forgotten King preferred meeting us in the mortal realm. I suspected he didn’t want us to worry about him. It wasn’t that Keirran was ashamed of his kingdom or his subjects, but Touchstone, at least the few times I had seen it, was a city of perpetual night and shadow. It was bleak, gloomy, and had a somber, melancholy air that was evident in the many Gothic-inspired buildings that made up the city. Parapets, soaring archways, and leering gargoyles were common themes in Touchstone, and the Forgotten slid through the murky streets and along the rough stone walls like creatures from a child’s nightmare.
I would admit, Touchstone was a rather dismal place, which was why I suspected Keirran asked to meet us in the mortal world most of the time. But though the city was dim and shadowy, with a melancholy air that could practically be felt, it was still a city. It still had streets and buildings and recognizable structures.
It was nothing like the flat, empty void I found myself in now.
“The Between,” Meghan mused, her voice barely above a whisper. Around us, the featureless landscape of fog and mist stretched on until it vanished into the void. There was no source of light, no smells, no sounds except our own voices. “So this is what it really looks like.”
“Cheery, ain’t it?” Puck said, his voice ringing loudly in the total emptiness. “Oh, but don’t let the morbid peacefulness fool you—the Between can spit out some pretty horrific beasties if you’re not careful. Tell ’em, Furball.”