The Iron Warrior
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“I know where they are,” I muttered, and he arched a brow at me.
“Well, maybe you should get in there, human.”
“Yeah, but I don’t really want to.”
Mab glared at Oberon. “They cannot simply vanish into thin air,” she snapped. “An entire race of fey cannot simply will themselves into nothingness. It is impossible. They have to be somewhere.”
Puck raised both brows at me, and I groaned. “They are,” I answered, and shoved myself off the wall. “They’re in the Between.”
All eyes turned to me. My heart stuttered, but I took a furtive breath and stepped forward, meeting the inhuman stares of a couple dozen fey.
“King Oberon is right,” I said, moving beside Meghan, feeling the chill of a Winter knight to my left. “The Forgotten can’t be found in the mortal world or the Nevernever because they’re not here. They’re slipping in and out of both worlds, from a place called the Between. It’s—”
“I know what the Between is, Ethan Chase,” Mab stated coolly, narrowing her eyes. “Most call it the Veil, the curtain between Faery and the mortal realm, the barrier that keeps our world hidden from mortal sight. But the ability for fey to go Between has been lost for centuries. I know of only one who has accomplished it in the past hundred years, and she has not seen fit to share her knowledge with the rest of Faery.”
Leanansidhe. I knew from Keirran that those who went into the Between were often trapped there, wandering for eternity. The Exile Queen was the only one who had managed to create permanent trods to her mansion in the Between, allowing her network of exiles and half-breeds to come and go as they pleased. But they still needed to use a trod. Not even Leanansidhe could part the Veil and slip between worlds whenever she chose. “Well, it might’ve been lost to the courts, but the Lady, the Forgotten Queen, remembers how,” I said. “And she taught the rest of the Forgotten, too. You haven’t been able to find them because they’re all hanging out in the Between.”
Mab’s icy black gaze lingered on my face, and I feared she was seeing far too much. “And the Iron Prince?” she asked in a soft, lethal voice, making Meghan stiffen beside me. “He has also been vanishing into thin air whenever we approach. Does he have this special talent? Has the Lady taught him to go Between, as well?”
I swallowed.
“Yes,” Ash confirmed before I could say anything. “We have seen it. Whatever old knowledge the Lady brought with her when she awoke, she has taught Keirran, as well. He can move through the Between like the rest of the Forgotten.”
Oberon raised his head. “Then it seems the Lady has chosen her champion,” he stated in a grave voice. “And so the prophecy comes to pass. Keirran will destroy the courts unless we can stop him. Iron Queen...” He gave Meghan an almost sympathetic look. “You know what you must do. Declare Keirran a traitor and cast him from your court. Only then may we stand united against the Forgotten and the Lady.”
“What? Whoa, wait a second.” I leaned forward, feeling the frigid edge of the table bite into my hands. “You don’t know what they want. Keirran is only trying to help the Forgotten survive. Yeah, he did it in the most ass-backwards way possible, but maybe you should try talking to them before declaring all-out war.”
“And what do you know of war, Ethan Chase?” Mab inquired, as her cold, scary gaze settling on me again. “You are the reason we are here, the reason the prophecy has come to pass. It was your presence that allowed the Forgotten to invade, your blood that tore away the Veil, even if it was for but a moment. You and the Iron Prince have brought utter chaos to Faery, and now you dare to tell us that we should be merciful?” Her eyes narrowed, and her lips curled in a terrifying smile. “I have not forgotten your hand in the destruction of my Frozen Wood,” she said, making my blood chill at the memory. I tried to back away, but I suddenly couldn’t move. My hands burned on the edge of the table, and I looked down to see that ice had crept up and sealed my fingers to the surface. “You are lucky that the impending war demands my attention for now,” Mab hissed, “but do not think for a moment that I will let that slide. You and the Iron Prince have much to answer for.”
“Lady Mab.” Meghan’s steady voice broke through the rising fury. “Please stop terrorizing my brother before I take offense.” My hands were suddenly free, and I yanked them back, rubbing them furiously to start circulation. “I am aware of the prophecy,” Meghan went on, as I stuck my frozen fingers under my arms. “I am aware that, misguided or not, Keirran has done terrible things. But I beg you all to consider whom we are dealing with. This is my son, and your kin. Both of you,” she added, looking to the Summer King and the Winter Queen in turn. “Are we going to declare war on our own blood without knowing the details? We are still uncertain as to what the Forgotten and the Lady really want.”
“I can tell you what she wants,” said a new, familiar voice behind us.
I spun, as did the rest of the table, to face the entrance of the room. The double doors had been pushed back, and a figure stood in the entryway with a pair of shadowy sidhe knights flanking him.
Keirran.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE LADY’S DEMAND
I stared at the Iron Prince, a chill sliding up my spine as our eyes met. Keirran’s flat gaze held no emotion, no spark of regret or remorse, nothing but blank apathy. His silver hair was longer now, tied behind him in a loose tail that made him look older and showed off his pointed ears. A tattered cloak draped his shoulders, trailing wisps of shadow that writhed into the air. His shadowy entourage stood rigid behind him, four silhouettes in ghostly gray armor with the glowing yellow eyes of the Forgotten.
I saw a shiver go through Meghan, saw her lips breathe Keirran’s name, though no sound came out of her mouth.
“Iron Prince.” Mab’s voice was glacial and lethally soft. “What is the meaning of this? How dare you come into my home uninvited?”
“Apologies, Queen Mab.” Keirran’s tone could match the Winter monarch’s for chilliness. “But is this not a war council? You have gathered to speak of the Forgotten, what they want, if you should prepare for war. I am here to tell you exactly what you wish to know. Be warned,” he continued, with a quick glance at Meghan and Ash’s side of the table, “I came here in good faith, under the banner of peace. The ancient law states that you may not attack a messenger of war. I trust you all to uphold that policy.”
“Speak, then,” Oberon said, his voice hard. “Deliver your news, Iron Prince, and be done with it.”
Keirran bowed, but it was a short, mocking bow, and his eyes remained cold as he straightened. “I come on behalf of the Lady,” he continued in a low, terrible voice. “The Forgotten goddess, the First Queen of Faery. She demands that the Summer and Winter courts be annulled, and that the Nevernever exist as one realm, without borders or boundaries. There will be no Seelie or Unseelie lands, no Arcadia or Tir Na Nog. There will be only Faery, and she will rule the Nevernever as she did in the ancient times, before the courts came to be. Only the Iron Realm will remain as it is.” He glanced at Meghan, whose face had gone pale with horror. “The Lady understands that the Iron fey are integral to Faery, but wants no part of them. Mag Tuiredh will become a separate seat of the Nevernever, and the Iron Realm may still have its queen, if she swears fealty to the Lady and recognizes her as the true monarch of Faery.
“Well, maybe you should get in there, human.”
“Yeah, but I don’t really want to.”
Mab glared at Oberon. “They cannot simply vanish into thin air,” she snapped. “An entire race of fey cannot simply will themselves into nothingness. It is impossible. They have to be somewhere.”
Puck raised both brows at me, and I groaned. “They are,” I answered, and shoved myself off the wall. “They’re in the Between.”
All eyes turned to me. My heart stuttered, but I took a furtive breath and stepped forward, meeting the inhuman stares of a couple dozen fey.
“King Oberon is right,” I said, moving beside Meghan, feeling the chill of a Winter knight to my left. “The Forgotten can’t be found in the mortal world or the Nevernever because they’re not here. They’re slipping in and out of both worlds, from a place called the Between. It’s—”
“I know what the Between is, Ethan Chase,” Mab stated coolly, narrowing her eyes. “Most call it the Veil, the curtain between Faery and the mortal realm, the barrier that keeps our world hidden from mortal sight. But the ability for fey to go Between has been lost for centuries. I know of only one who has accomplished it in the past hundred years, and she has not seen fit to share her knowledge with the rest of Faery.”
Leanansidhe. I knew from Keirran that those who went into the Between were often trapped there, wandering for eternity. The Exile Queen was the only one who had managed to create permanent trods to her mansion in the Between, allowing her network of exiles and half-breeds to come and go as they pleased. But they still needed to use a trod. Not even Leanansidhe could part the Veil and slip between worlds whenever she chose. “Well, it might’ve been lost to the courts, but the Lady, the Forgotten Queen, remembers how,” I said. “And she taught the rest of the Forgotten, too. You haven’t been able to find them because they’re all hanging out in the Between.”
Mab’s icy black gaze lingered on my face, and I feared she was seeing far too much. “And the Iron Prince?” she asked in a soft, lethal voice, making Meghan stiffen beside me. “He has also been vanishing into thin air whenever we approach. Does he have this special talent? Has the Lady taught him to go Between, as well?”
I swallowed.
“Yes,” Ash confirmed before I could say anything. “We have seen it. Whatever old knowledge the Lady brought with her when she awoke, she has taught Keirran, as well. He can move through the Between like the rest of the Forgotten.”
Oberon raised his head. “Then it seems the Lady has chosen her champion,” he stated in a grave voice. “And so the prophecy comes to pass. Keirran will destroy the courts unless we can stop him. Iron Queen...” He gave Meghan an almost sympathetic look. “You know what you must do. Declare Keirran a traitor and cast him from your court. Only then may we stand united against the Forgotten and the Lady.”
“What? Whoa, wait a second.” I leaned forward, feeling the frigid edge of the table bite into my hands. “You don’t know what they want. Keirran is only trying to help the Forgotten survive. Yeah, he did it in the most ass-backwards way possible, but maybe you should try talking to them before declaring all-out war.”
“And what do you know of war, Ethan Chase?” Mab inquired, as her cold, scary gaze settling on me again. “You are the reason we are here, the reason the prophecy has come to pass. It was your presence that allowed the Forgotten to invade, your blood that tore away the Veil, even if it was for but a moment. You and the Iron Prince have brought utter chaos to Faery, and now you dare to tell us that we should be merciful?” Her eyes narrowed, and her lips curled in a terrifying smile. “I have not forgotten your hand in the destruction of my Frozen Wood,” she said, making my blood chill at the memory. I tried to back away, but I suddenly couldn’t move. My hands burned on the edge of the table, and I looked down to see that ice had crept up and sealed my fingers to the surface. “You are lucky that the impending war demands my attention for now,” Mab hissed, “but do not think for a moment that I will let that slide. You and the Iron Prince have much to answer for.”
“Lady Mab.” Meghan’s steady voice broke through the rising fury. “Please stop terrorizing my brother before I take offense.” My hands were suddenly free, and I yanked them back, rubbing them furiously to start circulation. “I am aware of the prophecy,” Meghan went on, as I stuck my frozen fingers under my arms. “I am aware that, misguided or not, Keirran has done terrible things. But I beg you all to consider whom we are dealing with. This is my son, and your kin. Both of you,” she added, looking to the Summer King and the Winter Queen in turn. “Are we going to declare war on our own blood without knowing the details? We are still uncertain as to what the Forgotten and the Lady really want.”
“I can tell you what she wants,” said a new, familiar voice behind us.
I spun, as did the rest of the table, to face the entrance of the room. The double doors had been pushed back, and a figure stood in the entryway with a pair of shadowy sidhe knights flanking him.
Keirran.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE LADY’S DEMAND
I stared at the Iron Prince, a chill sliding up my spine as our eyes met. Keirran’s flat gaze held no emotion, no spark of regret or remorse, nothing but blank apathy. His silver hair was longer now, tied behind him in a loose tail that made him look older and showed off his pointed ears. A tattered cloak draped his shoulders, trailing wisps of shadow that writhed into the air. His shadowy entourage stood rigid behind him, four silhouettes in ghostly gray armor with the glowing yellow eyes of the Forgotten.
I saw a shiver go through Meghan, saw her lips breathe Keirran’s name, though no sound came out of her mouth.
“Iron Prince.” Mab’s voice was glacial and lethally soft. “What is the meaning of this? How dare you come into my home uninvited?”
“Apologies, Queen Mab.” Keirran’s tone could match the Winter monarch’s for chilliness. “But is this not a war council? You have gathered to speak of the Forgotten, what they want, if you should prepare for war. I am here to tell you exactly what you wish to know. Be warned,” he continued, with a quick glance at Meghan and Ash’s side of the table, “I came here in good faith, under the banner of peace. The ancient law states that you may not attack a messenger of war. I trust you all to uphold that policy.”
“Speak, then,” Oberon said, his voice hard. “Deliver your news, Iron Prince, and be done with it.”
Keirran bowed, but it was a short, mocking bow, and his eyes remained cold as he straightened. “I come on behalf of the Lady,” he continued in a low, terrible voice. “The Forgotten goddess, the First Queen of Faery. She demands that the Summer and Winter courts be annulled, and that the Nevernever exist as one realm, without borders or boundaries. There will be no Seelie or Unseelie lands, no Arcadia or Tir Na Nog. There will be only Faery, and she will rule the Nevernever as she did in the ancient times, before the courts came to be. Only the Iron Realm will remain as it is.” He glanced at Meghan, whose face had gone pale with horror. “The Lady understands that the Iron fey are integral to Faery, but wants no part of them. Mag Tuiredh will become a separate seat of the Nevernever, and the Iron Realm may still have its queen, if she swears fealty to the Lady and recognizes her as the true monarch of Faery.
