“Why yes. What a lovely suggestion!” Polk beamed vacuously,his voice vapid and formal. “May I just say how pert you look today?”
“Polk, spell or no spell, nobody ever uses pert innormal conversation, all right?”
Jus jumped and strode awkwardly from stepping stone to stepping stone, his heavy bulk strangely graceful, his armor and sword quiet through long habit of stealth. Polk bumbled along in his wake, leaving his mule staring forlornly after them. Escalla flew along in silence, flanked by a dozen faeries and refusing to so much as even glance at her sister.
In the deep waters of the lake fish swam-giant cuttlefish andlittle stingrays, all faeries shapeshifted into animal form. In the trees overhead, animals watched the travelers, each creature showing intelligent faerie eyes. Watched from a dozen directions, Jus, Polk, and Escalla made their way across the lake toward a giant garden that glimmered with bright flowers.
At the shore stood a circular grove of gnarled, ancient fruit trees. Escalla jerked her thumb at the fruit trees as Jus passed them by.
“Plane trees.”
The Justicar turned. “Plain trees?”
“No, plane trees-like a tree of the various planes ofexistence.” Escalla shrugged. “That grove leads off to other planes-primalenergy, negative energy, fire, water, that sort of thing. You need a key taken from the plane you’re heading to-amazingly useless.”
The garden made a ring of light about a faerie palace, an airy thing all made from pearl-gray wood. A long path led toward the palace doors. Beside the path, a lawn hosted a dainty party attended by a dozen faerie folk. The faeries mingled, gossiped, and intrigued. Fawn and satyr servitors poured drinks, while animated plants played music upon lutes. A bevy of female orcs knelt servilely about a faerie lord who was wreathed in fiery robes. All conversation stopped, and all eyes turned as Escalla marched out from the trees.
A faun approached and bowed, ushering Escalla along the path. Escalla waited for Jus and Polk, keeping them at her side. Surrounded by guards and stared at by faeries and servants alike, the three companions walked slowly through the party and headed for the palace doors.
The silence was nerve wracking and irritating. Whirling, Escalla turned to face her peers.
“Yes, it’s me! I’m back! You all seen enough? And you? Andyou?” The girl pivoted in mid air, tugging her skirt tight.
Escalla sped forward in anger, shoving past two beautifully liveried centaurs and throwing open the palace doors. A vast hall stretched before her, a place of moving murals and carpets that shifted shape and form. A hundred faeries lined the way, most of them dressed in brilliant, alien finery. There were guards dressed in bright red mail and faerie dragons fluttering through the rafters eating flower arrangements. Escalla took one look at the crowds and sagged back toward the ground.
“Oh bugger.”
Tielle whirred forward to whisper to a scowling major domo. Faerie maids in exotic fashions eyed Jus and whispered sourly behind their fans.
Escalla pulled in close to the ranger and whispered quickly in his ear, “This is not Clan Nightshade! This is way more than ClanNightshade!” The girl suddenly spied a slim, hypochondriacal faerie surroundedby rings of courtiers. “Oh futz. It’s the Erlking!”
Jus pulled at his nose and asked, “The who?”
“Oberon! Hen-pecked consort to the queen bitch herself!”Escalla quickly looked for avenues of escape. “I think this is the SeelieCourt!”
Turning, Jus regarded his friend. “Escalla, just what exactlydid you do when you left here?”
Escalla managed to look both annoyed and evasive all at once. “Well I may have requisitioned more than I was strictly allowed to.” Thegirl waved her hands in outrage. “Hey! Faeries don’t age, man! So letting yourkids know they have an inheritance is unfair. So I just prematurely requisitioned what was mine.”
Jus regarded her with leveled brows. “You stole daddy’swallet and ran away from home?”
“There was more to it than that! You had to be there!”
Polk beamed good will at the whole universe. “Why, it seemsto be a splendid place! Why ever did you leave?”
Cinders flattened his ears, scowling at the fripperies and gave a growl. Illusions. Old magic. The dog almost sneezed in disgust. No fun here. All spells.
Escalla applauded. “Thank you, pooch! Polk, we’ll have alittle shared lesson on mind/body phenomenology later on, if we’re all alive.”
“But it’s so pretty!”
Escalla glared. “Polk, say, ‘I am an idiot.’”
“I am an idiot.”
“Great! Now shut up and enjoy your charm spell before I makeyou take off your pants!”
Jus looked disapprovingly about the room. It was pure luxury and opulence, and much of it pure illusion designed to stroke the senses. Dour and spartan, Jus was the antithesis of the entire faerie way of life. Faeries kept well away, staring at the mortals as though they carried a disease.
Tielle emerged from the crowds and looked her sister up and down. “They want to see you. Do you care to dress properly first?”
“Just tell me why I’m here.”
“Oh no! Little surprises are always such fun.” Tielle gave anasty smile. “This way to daddy-kins. Hop hop! And do tell your mortalsnot to scuff the rugs.”
Today Jus’ boots had trampled through muddy streets, foreststreams and dirt, and he could not care less about the rug. Escalla girded herself and flew through the parting crowds, finally finding herself confronting her mother, her father, and a host of unfamiliar faces.
Her father turned. Powerful and solid-for a faerie-his poisewas somehow similar to the Justicar. His hair was long and steel gray, his beard pointed, and his eyes sparked the same green fire as his daughter. He took one look at Escalla, split his face into a rough smile and crushed Escalla in his arms.
“Honey blossom!”
He wrestled the girl from side to side, making her eyes bulge. With a great bass roar of a laugh, the lord of Clan Nightshade hugged Escalla for all that she was worth.
Trapped in her fathers arms, Escalla struggled upward until she could catch Jus’ eye. “Guys, this is my dad.”
Overjoyed, Escalla’s father ruffled the girl’s hair. “Andthis, this is my Silly Scellie!”
Cinders sniggered, thump-thump-thumping with his tail. Silly Scellie!
Jus looked amused, and Escalla spiked him with a snarl.
“Just keep laughing, Evelyn.” Escalla gave a longsuffering sigh. “Gang, this is Charn, Lord Nightshade, my father. Daddy, this isPolk, a transport consultant; Cinders, a sentient hell hound skin; and here”-thegirl cast a look longing for help toward Jus-“is my friend, the Justicar.”
Big, solid, and rough cut out of pure honesty, the Justicar bowed to Escalla’s father. The faeries scarcely came up to his knees, but hemanaged to bow toward them with vast dignity.
“My Lord Charn.”
“Capital! Capital to meet you!” Escalla’s father took onedaughter under each arm-Escalla suffering patiently, and Tielle coldly smiling.“So you are the ones who have served my daughter so loyally while she roamed inthe worthless wilds!”
“They’re not servants, dad.”
“Of course not, dear!” The man gave his girl a shake. “Butshe’s home! She has returned to home and duty at last.”
A silken movement came from the crowds. Escalla’s motherappeared, cool as ice and regarding her prodigal daughter much as she might regard an insect specimen.
“Escalla.”
“Mother.”
“You decided not to dress.” Escalla’s mother took a drinkfrom a tray proffered by one of the scantily clad orc servants. “No matter. Forour purposes, nothing could be better.”
“Purposes?” Escalla’s voice lowered the temperature of theentire hall. “Someone tried to kill my friends this morning, then some imbeciletried bribing me with candy and flowers.” The girl ignored her father and facedher mother. “Do tell me all about your little purposes.”