"For what?"
"We"re off to see the queen," Salaca said as he reached for Keelie"s upper arm. Before she had a chance to shrug away, Fala snapped his fingers.
Keelie suddenly found herself back at the Quicksilver Faire, with Fala and Salaca at her side.
"Why did we have to tramp up the hill and through the door the first time, if this is so much faster?" she asked.
Fala shrugged. "It"s fae magic. Elves who travel here must use the long way."
Gone were the crowds and music. The empty streets were silent, lined with shuttered shops that were eerie and bereft of life.
Keelie wondered if Maemtri was still here. She was an ally who straddled the different realms of Fairy. Or Keelie hoped she was an ally-you could never tell with fairies. It was one of the rules she"d forgotten.
Knot popped in beside her.
"You can teleport, too? This is so unfair."
"Meow secret."
She wasn"t going to argue with him. She was glad he was here.
In the center of the faire, the vortex light pulsed and rotated. One thing Keelie had learned lately was that she hated traveling through vortexes or whooshing places. The elven and human parts of her wanted to keep her feet on the ground, and to stay in a place where time progressed forward one minute at a time.
"Knot, go to the Timekeeper and get us a reprieve. I need half an hour. I sure don"t want to go back and find out a week has pa.s.sed and the world has ended."
Knot blinked at her. "Meow can do that."
Fala put a hand in the small of her back and urged her forward toward the vortex. Keelie didn"t struggle; she was eager to speak to Queen Vania. Without the crowds to impede them, they were soon facing the vortex.
"Before we go, can you tell me what you know about Linsa?" .
A look of sadness pa.s.sed between the two fairies. "She was the queen"s younger sister, and she made unfortunate decisions," Fala replied.
"She loved Herne," Keelie said.
"Yes, a mistake we have learned you"re repeating," Salaca said disapprovingly. "The queen is angry you went to Under-the-Hill."
"Enough time for talk. It"s time to jump." Fala motioned toward the vortex.
Keelie closed her eyes and leaped.
She landed facedown on the cold marble floor of the castle"s Great Hall.
"Bring her to my chamber." The queen"s voice echoed around the room. Keelie levered herself up, but she didn"t see Vania sitting on her throne chair.
Fala and Salaca escorted Keelie to the queen"s tower chamber. This was the same room in which Keelie had observed the rifts in the atmosphere and in the crust of the Earth.
Fala handed the sketch to the queen, and she unrolled it.
"How did you like your tour of Under-the-Hill?" The queen"s eyes were on the drawing.
"It was very interesting," Keelie answered. She hoped Herne wouldn"t get mad at Queen Vania seeing her sketches and notes, although since he hung around up here in disguise she shouldn"t be too worried. She had a feeling that the queen had never been to Under-the-Hill. Not her kind of place.
Keelie wasn"t as frightened as she had been earlier, but the discussion she was about to have with the queen was going to be extremely uncomfortable, and possibly dangerous. She also remembered that this was the fairy who had turned her grandmother into a brownie because she"d fallen in love with a human.
Salaca handed the queen the book on dragon magic.
She turned the pages, not really looking at them. "Accepting courting gifts from Herne. He can be quite charming. My sister found him so, and it was the death of her. Did you know he tried to convince her to come after my throne?"
"I heard that they were in love."
"Love. That is an emotion for humans and maybe some elves, but since fae runs through your veins, I give you the same warning I gave to her, and may you make better use of it. Herne is evil, and he will use you to meet whatever goal he has in mind. He wanted my throne for himself, uniting Under-the-Hill and the High Court."
"He loved Linsa," Keelie said. "And I think he is quite content with his realm."
Vania turned away, and then whirled around. "She said the same thing, but he killed her. Who do you think is behind the rift? It is his goblins draining the magic."
"Who told you this?" Keelie asked.
"His jester told me. That Peascod."
"It wasn"t Herne who killed Linsa. It was Peascod."
"Do you have proof?"
"He told me when he tried to kill me. He said he sacrificed Linsa so that her blood would open the rift for his master. But his master is not Herne."
"He lied to you because he was my spy in Herne"s court." Vania paled as she spoke.
Keelie stared disbelievingly at the queen. "He was your spy?"
"Yes, and he is loyal to me." Vania bridged the distance between them until she was almost nose-to-nose with Keelie. "You believed Peascod when he told you he killed Linsa."
"You believed Peascod when he told you Linsa was plotting with Herne to take over your throne. He"s poisoned your mind. Turned you against your own sister." Keelie could see a flash of doubt pa.s.s through the queen"s eyes.
"How do you know he"s telling you the truth?" Vania demanded.
"Because I"m not important to Peascod. I"m in his way. He doesn"t need to lie to me, so as he kills me, telling me he killed Linsa gives him immense pleasure. Finally, he can tell someone, show how clever he is. Whereas with you, if he can manipulate your feelings with lies, he will."
"Why would Peascod kill my sister?"
"Linsa had discovered Peascod was involved with the goblins, and that they were serving another master. He was betraying Herne. Peascod has been playing both you and Herne. It"s kept you divided, so he could go about collecting the magic for whomever he"s serving."
"It can"t be."
"It"s true, and now you have to join forces with Herne, the elves, and the dwarves to stop the rift. We both saw the crack in Gaia"s dome."
Vania pulled up the image of the Earth. "I don"t know if I can do that." She paced.
"Linsa would tell you to do so. From what everyone has told me about her, she was a kind fairy."
"I miss her." Silver tears streamed down the queen"s face. She turned away from Keelie and circled around her in a counterclockwise motion.
"I understand the pain is still raw, and it feels as if your heart will never heal," Keelie said. "I lost my mother almost a year ago.
Vania turned and walked in the other direction, as if her mind was driven to keep her body moving in rhythm to frantic thoughts.
"There"s another reason we have to work together," Keelie added. "It isn"t just the veil between Fairy and Earth and Under-the-Hill that is being torn apart. The veil between us and the spirit world is opening, too."
"How do you know?" Vania asked. "You don"t have the magical ability to talk to the dead."
"Because my mother and Grandmother Josephine came to see Vania paled and wrung her hands nervously. She really needed to take up a hobby. Maybe Ermentrude would have a suggestion.
"I know what you did to my grandmother-Willow, you called her. You turned her into a brownie, and it was Linsa who offered her a life as a human."
Vania lifted her head and stared at Keelie. "Yet you"re here. Do you wish to have your revenge for what I did to Willow?"
Keelie knew honesty was the best policy. "I would be lying if I said no."
The queen"s eyes widened.
"But, I can put that aside and work with you to seal the rift. And I think the women in my family wouldn"t want me to take that path. They would want me to help heal." Keelie held her head up with pride and looked Vania squarely in the eye. "We need to act now to close the rift."
"I see. I will let you know about my decision and working with Herne. I will give it some thought. Still, I don"t know if what you"re telling me is true."
"You"ll have to trust me, and we"re running out of time."
Quivering on the inside, Keelie couldn"t believe she"d just talked to the queen the way she had ... all the time she"d spent around Grandmother Keliatiel had paid off. You had to project authority and not let them smell the fear. Still, Keelie hoped her conversation would result in Vania cooperating. She thought about Elia and the baby. Vania had to join her magic along with the others to stop the rift.
When Keelie returned to the Great Hall, Knot was waiting for her. His tail twitched agitatedly. "Yeow okay?"
"Meow okay. I"m ready to go. Did you get what I asked for?"
He turned his head and she saw a small pocket watch hanging from his neck by a slender blue ribbon.
Fala gestured toward the vortex. "Are you ready?"
Keelie nodded. "Knot."
He sauntered over to her.
Before they reached the vortex, Fala stopped. "Keelie, I wish you success in closing the rift."
Stunned, Keelie didn"t know what to say.
"If you can find a token Linsa gave Herne, and if he can show it to the queen, it will prove to her that Linsa didn"t plot a betrayal."
"Do you know what this token is?" Keelie asked.
"Herne will know," Fala advised. "And you"re going to need this." He returned her book of dragon magic. "I snitched it when she wasn"t looking."
"Thanks." Keelie took the book warily. "Why are you helping me?"
"I want to save the High Court and serve my queen, but common sense tells me that there is truth in what you say." He bowed.
Keelie and Knot jumped into the vortex. Disorienting lights pulsed around her and she held her breath, as if that was going to help. She thought about the No-Tell Motel. The image of Sean popped into her mind, along with the memory of how his skin had felt under her hands that morning ... and then she landed with a painful thud outside the motel office.
She spat out a mouthful of dirt. "Gross!"
Knot appeared in midair. An oak tree reached out its branches and caught the cat, who then landed on top of Keelie"s head.
"Ow! Do you have to keep landing on me like I"m your personal air cushion?"
Knot jumped down, meowing underneath his breath. Keelie got up, wincing. She mentally contacted the tree. Thank you.
You"re welcome, Tree Shepherdess.
She smiled, and reveled in the contact with the oak. It was so different to be in contact with the greenness and the living essence of Earth, which was what was missing in the Under-the-Hill trees. Their alien consciousness had haunted her ever since she"d been in contact with them. Grandmother and Mom had to get to the root of the problem. Maybe she needed to return to Under-the-Hill and study the roots of the grove trees again.
"Keelie." Sean was standing at the edge of the building. He walked over to her. "Where have you been?"
"The High Court, to talk to Queen Vania."
"You went alone."
"I was summoned. Actually, kind of kidnapped. Fala and Salaca came and got me, and all my notes and map, too."
"Are you okay?"
"I stood up to Vania, and Knot talked to the Timekeeper so that we got back right away." She told Sean what the fairy queen had said. He listened, and then kissed her forehead.
"I can"t say I"m happy you went, but she needs to be involved in the alliance and I"m proud of you for standing up to her. Let"s go tell your father and King Gneiss."
"Sean, I have to return to Under-the-Hill to speak to Herne." She saw Sean"s muscles tense.
"Can"t he come here? He"s shown up here often enough."
"I need to examine the trees in Under-the-Hill again. There"s something about them that"s important to the rift, but I don"t understand what it is. I wish Sir Davey could come with me." Sir Davey"s knowledge of Earth magic might identify the strange way the trees shared a consciousness, like a hive.
Sean sighed. "I"m going to be honest. I don"t want you to go, but I know you have to. Just don"t make any rash decisions about..."
"I"ve already made up my mind, and you should know that." She sighed. Elves. You would think, as long-lived as they were, they"d pick up some wisdom about the way girls think.
"Keelie."
She reached up and kissed him.
He pulled her close and Keelie felt something fat and furry attach itself to her leg with sharp claws. She glanced down at Knot just as a familiar whoosh sensation made her knees buckle. Sean"s arms tightened around her. Before she opened her eyes, she knew where they were.