no creature vulnerable to its imperatives, no being whose essence it could steal.
At last the globe reached a glen, deep within the forest of Faerie. There it paused, balanced between the charms that guarded the glen and the potential within that drew it onward. It waited, hidden among the lush foliage of the trees, while a little way beyond the Queen of Faerie conversed with her two sons.
The Queen of Faerie sat on a satin-covered chair in the middle of the glen. Her face betrayed as little as a perfectly sculpted alabaster mask. Her black hair was bound with a diamond-studded net that sparkled and flashed in the late afternoon sunlight. Her black eyes were calm and cold, and her graceful, long-fingered hands lay quiet against a silk gown of the same rich green as the moss beneath her feet. Her ladies stood behind her, near the edge of the clearing where they could see but not overhear. They, too, were all but expressionless, though a close observer might have seen curiosity in a few of the women’s eyes. Madini, watching from the farthest edge, showed no emotion at all as the two men she hated most were greeted by her Queen.
“Thou‘rt well, John?” the Queen asked.
“As well as may be, Mother,” John replied warily. At his side, Hugh shifted very slightly.
“I’m glad of thy return, and in safety,” the Queen said, and there was a hint of warning in her tone.
“I was in no danger,” John said. “Yet I, too, am glad to be home.”
The Queen’s shoulders relaxed minutely. A whisper of a breeze passed through the glen, barely enough to make the leaves quiver, and with it came the scent of apple blossoms. “Thou‘lt attend our revels this night?” said the Queen.
“I shall indeed. I’d never willingly miss them,” John said, smiling. “But shall I still know any of thy court?”
“The greater part, certainly,” the Queen said, returning his smile with a cold one of her own. “Yet thou‘lt find new faces enow.”
“So Hugh hath told me,” John said with a quick glance in his brother’s direction.
“I’ve spoken only of the fairest faces,” Hugh put in. “Tallis and Selena and—”
“Nay, an you twain wish to turn your tongues to such matters, either you or I must needs depart,” the Queen said with some affection.
“We’ll leave thee, Mother, if thou‘lt permit it,” Hugh said quickly.
The Queen nodded and the brothers withdrew. “I think that went off very well,” Hugh said softly as the two crossed the springy moss toward the edge of the clearing.
“Perhaps,” John said. “Yet I am not easy. She said nothing of those restrictions of which thou hast warned me.”
“They are the province of the Queen,” Hugh said. “How should she talk of them, when she meets thee as a mother?”
John stepped over the invisible boundary that barred the spell-globe from entering the glen. The spell-globe quivered, barely disturbing the leaves that concealed it, then subsided into waiting once more. “These fine distinctions like me not,” John replied. “I fear I was never meant for—Hugh!”
While John had been speaking, Hugh had reached and crossed the boundary at the edge of the glen. The spell-globe quivered once more, then fell like a stone straight down onto Hugh’s head. A glowing black cloud enveloped Hugh, pulsed once, and vanished even as John cried his brother’s name, leaving only a stink of burning in the air and Hugh’s unconscious body sprawled upon the ground.
The spell-globe, its primary purpose completed, returned with uncanny swiftness to its makers. Dee and Kelly sensed its coming as it crossed out of Faerie, and their heads came up together like the heads of hunting dogs who scent a stag. The globe, now double its original size and shifting crazily from glowing gold to a dark and smoky blackness, hurtled toward the two men. At the last instant, just before it would have passed over the edge of the red silk square on which Dee and Kelly still stood,
At last the globe reached a glen, deep within the forest of Faerie. There it paused, balanced between the charms that guarded the glen and the potential within that drew it onward. It waited, hidden among the lush foliage of the trees, while a little way beyond the Queen of Faerie conversed with her two sons.
The Queen of Faerie sat on a satin-covered chair in the middle of the glen. Her face betrayed as little as a perfectly sculpted alabaster mask. Her black hair was bound with a diamond-studded net that sparkled and flashed in the late afternoon sunlight. Her black eyes were calm and cold, and her graceful, long-fingered hands lay quiet against a silk gown of the same rich green as the moss beneath her feet. Her ladies stood behind her, near the edge of the clearing where they could see but not overhear. They, too, were all but expressionless, though a close observer might have seen curiosity in a few of the women’s eyes. Madini, watching from the farthest edge, showed no emotion at all as the two men she hated most were greeted by her Queen.
“Thou‘rt well, John?” the Queen asked.
“As well as may be, Mother,” John replied warily. At his side, Hugh shifted very slightly.
“I’m glad of thy return, and in safety,” the Queen said, and there was a hint of warning in her tone.
“I was in no danger,” John said. “Yet I, too, am glad to be home.”
The Queen’s shoulders relaxed minutely. A whisper of a breeze passed through the glen, barely enough to make the leaves quiver, and with it came the scent of apple blossoms. “Thou‘lt attend our revels this night?” said the Queen.
“I shall indeed. I’d never willingly miss them,” John said, smiling. “But shall I still know any of thy court?”
“The greater part, certainly,” the Queen said, returning his smile with a cold one of her own. “Yet thou‘lt find new faces enow.”
“So Hugh hath told me,” John said with a quick glance in his brother’s direction.
“I’ve spoken only of the fairest faces,” Hugh put in. “Tallis and Selena and—”
“Nay, an you twain wish to turn your tongues to such matters, either you or I must needs depart,” the Queen said with some affection.
“We’ll leave thee, Mother, if thou‘lt permit it,” Hugh said quickly.
The Queen nodded and the brothers withdrew. “I think that went off very well,” Hugh said softly as the two crossed the springy moss toward the edge of the clearing.
“Perhaps,” John said. “Yet I am not easy. She said nothing of those restrictions of which thou hast warned me.”
“They are the province of the Queen,” Hugh said. “How should she talk of them, when she meets thee as a mother?”
John stepped over the invisible boundary that barred the spell-globe from entering the glen. The spell-globe quivered, barely disturbing the leaves that concealed it, then subsided into waiting once more. “These fine distinctions like me not,” John replied. “I fear I was never meant for—Hugh!”
While John had been speaking, Hugh had reached and crossed the boundary at the edge of the glen. The spell-globe quivered once more, then fell like a stone straight down onto Hugh’s head. A glowing black cloud enveloped Hugh, pulsed once, and vanished even as John cried his brother’s name, leaving only a stink of burning in the air and Hugh’s unconscious body sprawled upon the ground.
The spell-globe, its primary purpose completed, returned with uncanny swiftness to its makers. Dee and Kelly sensed its coming as it crossed out of Faerie, and their heads came up together like the heads of hunting dogs who scent a stag. The globe, now double its original size and shifting crazily from glowing gold to a dark and smoky blackness, hurtled toward the two men. At the last instant, just before it would have passed over the edge of the red silk square on which Dee and Kelly still stood,
Similar Books
