The Iron Warrior
Page 72

Keirran bowed to them all. “Then I had best get started quickly.”
“Hold,” Meghan said as Keirran took a step back. Facing the other rulers and the army of fey behind them, she raised her voice. “It is done,” she stated. “The sentence has been carried out. Keirran will depart the Nevernever momentarily, but before he leaves, I would speak to my son alone.”
Oberon nodded. The three rulers turned away, after Titania shot a vicious, disgusted look at Meghan, and the army behind them began to clear out. Soon, it was just me, Kenzie and Puck standing across from Meghan, Ash and Keirran. I looked around and, with a start, saw that Wolf had vanished, slipping back into the unknown where he’d come from, having finally gotten tired of crowds and eternal faery politics. Grimalkin sat on the same rock a few feet away, still washing his fur but probably listening to everything we said. Razor poked his head out of Kenzie’s hair, bared his teeth at the cat and ducked back again, muttering “bad kitty” under his breath.
“Well.” Puck sighed, lacing his hands behind his skull. “Here we are, one more time. I guess this is See Ya Later, for all of us.” He glanced at Keirran, raising an eyebrow. “I hope you don’t expect me to call you ‘Your Majesty’ now, kid. ’Cause that ain’t gonna happen.”
Keirran gave a sad smile. “Thank you,” he whispered, soft enough that no other faery would catch it. “All of you. I know I don’t deserve it but...I’ll try to do this right. For the Forgotten. And Annwyl. Ethan?” He swallowed hard, and his gaze rose to mine. “I know I’ve wronged you the most of all. And you still came back for me. You and Kenzie both.” He glanced at the girl beside me, and she smiled, though Razor hissed at Keirran and muttered “Bad master,” then turned his back on him. Keirran’s eyes clouded with pain and guilt, and he took a second to compose himself.
“I...owe you more than my life,” Keirran went on, stumbling a bit over the words. “And after what I did to you, I can’t ever begin to apologize, but—” he raked a hand through his hair “—I just... I wanted to let you know...”
“Oh, shut up.” I sighed, and held out a hand. “Apology accepted. Just shake my hand and stop talking before this gets even more awkward.”
Keirran smiled. Stepping forward, he grasped my palm, nearly crushing my fingers in relief. I clenched my jaw and endured, gripping his hand in return. “I guess you’re going home after this,” he said, finally dropping my hand. “Back to the mortal world?” I nodded.
“Yeah. Hopefully for good this time.” I thought of my parents and how long it had been since they’d seen me last. Back in the real world, my eighteenth birthday had come and gone, and I hadn’t been there to celebrate. Thinking about Mom, sitting in the house on my birthday, crying over an unlit cake, made my throat tighten. I, too, had a lot to make up for.
He nodded. “Goodbye, then, Ethan. Maybe I’ll see you around someday. Kenzie, you, too.”
“Hold on,” Kenzie said as he stepped back. “You owe someone else an apology, Keirran.” When he stopped, puzzled, she pointed to the gremlin on her shoulder. “I think you have something to say to Razor, don’t you?”
“Ah.” Keirran blinked, then smiled sadly. “Yes. I would have earlier, but gremlins are faeries. They hold a grudge forever. He has every right to be angry with me.”
“That’s not an excuse! You threw him over a wall, among other things.”
“You’re right.” Keirran held up his hands, then looked at the gremlin. Razor’s head was turned away, deliberately not looking at him. “I’m sorry, Razor,” the prince said, very solemnly. “I know you’re angry, and that’s okay. Thank you for taking care of Kenzie.”
The gremlin’s ears twitched. Slowly, he turned his head, meeting the prince’s gaze, and sniffed. “Bad Master,” he said, almost a reprimand. “Not care about Razor. Don’t hurt pretty girl again. Promise!”
Keirran’s eyebrows rose in shock. “Oh,” he said, as the gremlin glared at him. “I...I won’t. I promise.”
Puck laughed, shaking his head at the prince’s expression. “Looks like you just got scolded by a gremlin, Your Majesty,” he chuckled, and crossed his arms. “Ah, can’t say I’m not gonna miss you two. We had some fun times, right, princeling? Saddest part is, I won’t ever hear ice-boy complain that I’m corrupting you again. But, I guess all good things must come to an end.” He sighed, gave Keirran a friendly arm punch and raised his hand. “See ya ’round, kid. Try not to let those Slim Shadys suck out all your fun. Ethan Chase?” Puck winked at me. “I’m sure I’ll see you again, whether you like it or not.”
“Yeah,” I deadpanned. “So looking forward to it.”
Puck laughed again. “Don’t you forget it. Until the next adventure, kiddos.” Sticking his hands into his pockets, the Great Prankster sauntered off, whistling, until he reached the edge of the trees and vanished into the shadows.
Keirran watched him go, then took a breath. “I guess that leaves me,” he murmured, staring around at the forest, as if memorizing it. “It’s strange. I never thought it would be this hard to leave it behind.”
Meghan embraced him once more. “I love you, Keirran,” she whispered, as the prince buried his face in her shoulder. “Always. No matter where you are, never forget that.”
“I won’t,” Keirran choked out. “And I’ll make you proud. Someday, I’ll redeem myself and come home. I promise.”
She pulled back and kissed him on the forehead. Ash gripped his shoulder, sharing a brief, knowing look with his son. Then Keirran stepped back, bowed to them both and turned away.
We watched him walk across the clearing, to the place where the Forgotten had poured through the barrier earlier that night. Watched him raise his arm and part the Veil, revealing the darkness of the Between through the tear. Keirran looked back only once, blue eyes and silver hair glowing in the moonlight. For a moment, I was reminded of that first night, the first time I’d met my nephew, perched on a balcony railing in the Iron Palace, bright and carefree with the moonlight blazing down on him. He gave a brief, fleeting smile...
...and vanished into the Between, slipping away like he was never there at all.
Meghan blinked, a tear crawling down her face, before she wiped her eyes and turned to me.
“All right,” she said, and though the terrible grief lingered on her face, she tried to smile. “It has been a very, very long night. Let’s get the both of you home.”
Eight months later
I stood in my room, staring at my bed, arms crossed as I scanned the assortment of clothes folded in the open suitcase. Shirts, pants, underwear, socks, toiletries...was I missing anything? Other than the anti-faery items, stuffed into another duffel bag, that is. Not that I needed them much, anymore. Being immune to magic and glamour, I was no fun to torment now, as most faeries soon discovered and left me alone. I wished humans were so easy to sway.
It had been one year since the Veil disappeared, since humans became able to see the fey, and even though it had been for only a few minutes, it had left its mark. Nothing large or obvious, but the world had changed in subtle ways. Even in my small corner of reality. At school, the art and music programs had exploded in attendance, and you couldn’t go one week without seeing flyers for a poetry jam or a sign-up form for drama class, at least according to Kenzie. Five months ago, I’d received the shock of my life when Todd Wyndham showed up on my doorstep, his memory fully restored, wanting to discuss everything that had happened. He was still human, but he could see the fey again, and we’d spent several long evenings talking about the Hidden World and what he would do now. We weren’t exactly close, but Todd was another person who could see the fey, who understood that part of my life and knew what I was going through. When he and his family moved to another state in the summer, I was sorry to see him go.