smile.
“You know the word bug?” I asked.
He looked puzzled. “Yes it is an old word
from your ancestors’ lands.”
“My ancestors? You mean the Irish and the
Scots?”
“’tis a Gaelic word. But the point is they
are also fliers, but smaller and green with lighter legs,” he
said.
“Oh, the big hornets?” I asked. He nodded.
“Okay, so what about the pucks? I have noticed something is eating
animals around here,” I added.
“The pucks serve my Court, yet the ones here
on your farm refuse my orders to leave. They tell me they must
guard, but they are very….limited. They can’t or won’t tell me what
they guard. Now I have figured it out….they guard your
daughter.”
“Guard Ashley? From what?”
“Anything that would threaten her,” he
said.
I froze, almost completely baffled by his
words. He stared at me silently, giving me time to process my
thoughts.
“You’re telling me that Ashley has some gift
or another – something that makes her valuable to Fey?”
He nodded.
“And a pack of killer fairies with huge teeth
are here to protect her?”
“Both Courts have allies or….soldiers. The
White Court has Pucks and dieg t’oorcs… er..that would
translate as ice goblins . The Green Court has the shiavrih and drut’oorcs , which are the small
poisonous horn- nets …, and the green goblins,” he replied.
“White Court creatures all obey the orders of Guardians, just as
Summer’s foot soldiers obey Hunters.”
“Sooo, you’re saying the piranha thingies
should do what you say? But they don’t ‘cause they’ve decided
to…what…defect to Ashley?” I asked, part of me wondering if I would
wake up in the mental ward at any moment.
“Defect? That’s pretty close to the right
idea, although I doubt they would disobey the Queen if she were
here or even Neeve for that matter,” he mused.
“Neeve is your partner?” I asked.
He looked up and nodded, a strange emotion
flickering across his face. Something about what he had just said
had made him uncomfortable, like he had said too much.
“So I need to get out of here? Is that what
you’re saying? Pack up Ashley and head to Florida or California or
something?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Running won’t help.
Portals to your world open all across this land. In fact, if my
grasp of the layout of your country is correct, there are major
portals in the two locations you named. Haven’t been there myself
you understand, but scouts from both courts have gone through over
the last fifty years or so.”
That triggered another question. “How does
this veil thing work? How does it thin? Why?” I asked.
He paused for a moment, visibly gathering his
thoughts.
“I don’t fully grasp it, not like a Watcher
does. But there are more levels of existence than what we see and
hear, feel and touch. This world occupies a place in the Great Web
of the One. But that web has more….layers? levels?” he shook his
head in frustration. I tried to help out.
“Dimensions? Are you trying to say there are
multiple dimensions or universes or something?” I supplied. I had a
feeling the Great Web was the universe or cosmos.
He face brightened into a big smile and he
nodded vigorously. “Yes, those are the words I lack. Our worlds are
separate in distance, but close in dimensions. The layer that
separates us gets lighter from time to time, as the stars age. But
this time, the Watchers say it was your own people who thinned the
Veil. Some vast machine of your scholars,” he said.
The news story from the night before flashed
into my head.
“The Collider? You’re talking about the Large
Hadron Collider in Switzerland!” I said, excited that some piece of
the puzzle might actually fit.
He nodded again. “I guess that is the one. It
has thinned the Veil all at once, rather than just in places. That
has allowed us to come through every portal. My people are ready to
Gather as we have never done before.”
“And they are all looking
“You know the word bug?” I asked.
He looked puzzled. “Yes it is an old word
from your ancestors’ lands.”
“My ancestors? You mean the Irish and the
Scots?”
“’tis a Gaelic word. But the point is they
are also fliers, but smaller and green with lighter legs,” he
said.
“Oh, the big hornets?” I asked. He nodded.
“Okay, so what about the pucks? I have noticed something is eating
animals around here,” I added.
“The pucks serve my Court, yet the ones here
on your farm refuse my orders to leave. They tell me they must
guard, but they are very….limited. They can’t or won’t tell me what
they guard. Now I have figured it out….they guard your
daughter.”
“Guard Ashley? From what?”
“Anything that would threaten her,” he
said.
I froze, almost completely baffled by his
words. He stared at me silently, giving me time to process my
thoughts.
“You’re telling me that Ashley has some gift
or another – something that makes her valuable to Fey?”
He nodded.
“And a pack of killer fairies with huge teeth
are here to protect her?”
“Both Courts have allies or….soldiers. The
White Court has Pucks and dieg t’oorcs… er..that would
translate as ice goblins . The Green Court has the shiavrih and drut’oorcs , which are the small
poisonous horn- nets …, and the green goblins,” he replied.
“White Court creatures all obey the orders of Guardians, just as
Summer’s foot soldiers obey Hunters.”
“Sooo, you’re saying the piranha thingies
should do what you say? But they don’t ‘cause they’ve decided
to…what…defect to Ashley?” I asked, part of me wondering if I would
wake up in the mental ward at any moment.
“Defect? That’s pretty close to the right
idea, although I doubt they would disobey the Queen if she were
here or even Neeve for that matter,” he mused.
“Neeve is your partner?” I asked.
He looked up and nodded, a strange emotion
flickering across his face. Something about what he had just said
had made him uncomfortable, like he had said too much.
“So I need to get out of here? Is that what
you’re saying? Pack up Ashley and head to Florida or California or
something?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Running won’t help.
Portals to your world open all across this land. In fact, if my
grasp of the layout of your country is correct, there are major
portals in the two locations you named. Haven’t been there myself
you understand, but scouts from both courts have gone through over
the last fifty years or so.”
That triggered another question. “How does
this veil thing work? How does it thin? Why?” I asked.
He paused for a moment, visibly gathering his
thoughts.
“I don’t fully grasp it, not like a Watcher
does. But there are more levels of existence than what we see and
hear, feel and touch. This world occupies a place in the Great Web
of the One. But that web has more….layers? levels?” he shook his
head in frustration. I tried to help out.
“Dimensions? Are you trying to say there are
multiple dimensions or universes or something?” I supplied. I had a
feeling the Great Web was the universe or cosmos.
He face brightened into a big smile and he
nodded vigorously. “Yes, those are the words I lack. Our worlds are
separate in distance, but close in dimensions. The layer that
separates us gets lighter from time to time, as the stars age. But
this time, the Watchers say it was your own people who thinned the
Veil. Some vast machine of your scholars,” he said.
The news story from the night before flashed
into my head.
“The Collider? You’re talking about the Large
Hadron Collider in Switzerland!” I said, excited that some piece of
the puzzle might actually fit.
He nodded again. “I guess that is the one. It
has thinned the Veil all at once, rather than just in places. That
has allowed us to come through every portal. My people are ready to
Gather as we have never done before.”
“And they are all looking
Similar Books
