“I see a glimmer,” Lily said.

“The opening of the path. You are improving at detecting them.”

“You sat us to nap at their doorstep?”

“I kept vigil. It appeared to be the best place if we wanted to cross while fresh.”

Lily groaned. She wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep if she had known where they were—which, she suspected, was the reason he hadn’t told her.

“If I’m getting better at seeing them, how come I still can’t see the openings to your riverside clearing?”

“I am more skilled at hiding them. Now, come. Let us not tarry more.” Toy grinned, a note of pride entering the gesture.

He held out his hand and they crossed over together, the world shifting on its axis and warping around them. An instant of pressure pressed in from all angles, squeezing the air of Lily’s lungs.

Then they were gone from one world and stood in another.

Trees tall enough to dwarf a man and remind him of his insignificance surrounded them. It was something Lily had read about, but she had always thought it was a poetic license. Or a description of a tropical forest. Either way, she hadn’t expected to see them, to walk below their canopy, to feel such an inconsequential thing in comparison.

Each trunk was as wide as the pillars supporting the high vaults of a cathedral and they grew straight and tall, so tall. She had to crane her neck back to see the lowest branches. The bark was a warm bronze tone in contrast with a grass so green it seemed like they were traversing a forest of gold and emeralds. Sun rays somehow filtered through the thick foliage here and there, dappling the ground in honey, and when she breathed, she caught a scent sweet and vibrant permeating the warm breeze. She thought it was the smell of life, although the idea sounded silly even in her own head.

“This is incredible,” she whispered, afraid to speak too loud. It would be rude, like chattering or shouting in a sanctuary back in her side of the world. “It’s pure beauty. I don’t ever want to forget this place.”

“You shall not,” Troy said. He had also stopped just after emerging from the path, most likely knowing that she would be arrested by the sights. “The sight of this place will accompany you forever and the true memories you make here will never fade. A gift or a curse from the land, take it as you will.”

“I think it’s a gift,” Lily said, still looking around and drinking their surroundings in. “I guess not very many people get to see this place, and I’m glad I have, and won’t forget.” Finally, she turned to him, grinning.

He didn’t share her wonder. She wouldn’t say she was very good at reading him when he wore his blank facade, but still she thought he looked nervous. There was no trace of mischievous smiles, and his eyes, so intense and observant, skittered all over, darting from shadow to shadow to pool of light. The line of his shoulders and back was relaxed, perhaps too relaxed, and the fingers of his right hand drummed an arrhythmic tune on his thigh.

“Is everything okay?”

“As much as can be expected, I suppose,” he said, barely sparing her a glance. “I must confess I miss the welcoming party.”

“There’s going to be a ball?”

“A ball?” At that, Troy did look at her in curiosity. “Why would they go to such trouble?”

“Well, you just said ‘the party.’”

“Lily.” He sighed. “The party of guards.”

She winced. “Oh, that kind of party. Sure. It makes more sense. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“I dare say nothing at all beyond appreciating the views.”

“You weren’t supposed to answer that particular comment,” she said, trying to suppress a laugh at his matter-of-fact tone. “But you’re right. I’ll try to keep more focused through the next discovery.”

“We shall see how you fare.” His gaze flickered at a spot behind her and she tried very hard not to whirl around. Instead, she turned and schooled her features to mimic Troy’s amused, unrevealing expression to the best of her abilities.

Her mask wasn’t good to begin with and it shattered into a thousand pieces when she saw what had caught his attention.

There were four of them, so similar they could have been brothers. Each was tall and slender, standing at least a head taller than her meager height, but it wasn’t height which made them imposing—it was their exquisite grace, their nimbleness that made them surreal, like wingless angels come to earth. They were all blond, different shades of wheat and gold and sunlight, and their eyes shone sapphire blue and silver gray.

Those jewel-like eyes were fixed on them, all four pairs, and a shiver shook her so badly she had to bite the inside of her cheek to control the knee-jerk impulse of hiding.

It was the party Troy had mentioned, and Lily thought it odd that Seelie fay, who associated with the summer court and displayed the warm tones of the earth so brilliantly, would have eyes as cold as theirs.

One of them took the lead with two gliding steps. His movement made no sound and the forest floor lay undisturbed beneath his soft leather boots. If she hadn’t been staring at him, she wouldn’t have realized he had moved at all.

“Kelpie,” he said. “What a most unexpected visit. If I recall, you claimed to despise life at court. What then is so important to bring you back to us?”

The words themselves were bland but the tone had been measured with jovial notes underneath. It spoke of nothing but pleasant surprise. However, there had been a core of steel twisted around the whole message, sharp as a blade and just as hard. That part spoke of contempt over someone who had to swallow his own words and come begging for help. And there was yet another nuance, some flicker hidden in those cold eyes that conveyed a sense of amusement over someone who was forced to do something unpleasant for them.

They were different from him, just as Troy had claimed. Even different from Glaistig. They were beautiful, so very beautiful, but like snakes and other poisonous animals of her human world, the more gorgeous, the greater the danger.

“Even those who claim not to have the stomach for a feast are bound to appreciate small morsels,” Troy said. “How could I not return to visit my gracious friends in their chosen abode from time to time?”

Troy’s voice was still his, calm and carrying nothing but honesty, but Lily noticed the change in his speech patterns, in the rhythm of his words. He was playing the game too, and behind his polite words stood two clear insults. He had just told the other faerie he despised court because he couldn’t stomach courtiers like him and had also called him out on his poor manners as a host all in one fell swoop.

Lily allowed herself a small smile even though the party leader remained unruffled.

“Would that you visited more often you would not feel the need to find unfitting pets to relieve your solitary tediousness.”

Troy’s hand cupped the back of Lily’s head, his cool fingers digging under her hair and massaging her scalp. A show of possession, like a child warning another not to toy with this particular doll, but also a warning and a sign of support for her. Lily bit her lip, swallowing the words that had nearly escaped her and would have made a mess of the situation, and wondered when he had learned to read her intentions so well.

And when did I become so able to understand his silent messages?

The movement drew the leader’s eyes to her, made him pay closer attention.

“She is lucid,” he said with a blink that might have been surprise.

“She is, and I assure you she fits me well,” Troy said in her stead.

The leader’s features, still and perfect like a statue up to that point, relaxed enough to offer a hint of a smile, just a tilting upward of the corner of his lips. Something had transpired, but Lily wasn’t sure what. She couldn’t tell what the last bout had been about or who had won it. She only saw the moment the tiny gesture indicated a break.

“I see,” the leader of the fay said. “Come. Allow us to offer hospitality before we are shown to be ungrateful for your visit. I will personally show you to your quarters and ensure you find refreshment after your travels.”

He turned on his heel and a tiny pressure from Troy’s hand told Lily to follow. The other three fay parted for their leader and then fell into step, flanking their sides and bringing up the rear guard in perfect diamond formation. They wore leather, fine linen and silk, and no weapon was in sight, but still, they were clearly soldiers. Or knights, Lily supposed. Except that she had no idea what sort of chivalry code they would follow and wasn’t willing to bet it involved saving damsels in distress for the sheer joy of it.

She took an involuntary step closer to Troy as they were herded along.

At first she hadn’t noticed, but now she saw the huge trees didn’t grow at random. It wasn’t a normal forest, not even in those very basic details, and while she couldn’t see the pattern they formed, she could catch glimpses of it here and there. The distances between trunks were arranged just so to encourage you to follow one particular way, creating winding avenues intertwining at some points. They were following one such path and Lily itched with the need to wander off and see where the other paths might lead to. Did each of them lead to a different opening like the one they had come through? Like a labyrinth with the Seelie court at its heart, connected to everywhere in the human world at once.

Then they arrived at their destination. The trees fell away and they found themselves in front of a pure-white cliff with an entrance carved in the side, wide enough for five people to cross it at the same time and of proportionate height.

For some reason, Lily had thought the Seelie court would be an open clearing, easier to flee. When they entered the hall, a spike of fear shot up her spine and she had to force herself to breathe slowly. The construction was monumental, all open space and straight lines and a ceiling soaring high above, illuminated by light warm as the sun. Even when their escort fell behind and the party leader guided them off onto a side passage, the vaulted ceiling was higher than the corridors of a human palace or museum. Still, she had to fight a sense of encroaching claustrophobia.

At last they stopped in front of a heavy oak door set into the stone wall and their guide made a sweeping gesture.

“Your accommodations. I trust they will be to your liking.”

“I am sure you would not offer us anything less than acceptable,” Troy replied with a small smirk.

“Of course.” The other offered a tight-lipped smile and left the same way they had come.