The Iron King. Julie KagawaЧитать онлайн книгу.
around my ankles like a living thing, caressing my skin with damp fingers. âRob?â
The silence mocked me. Out of the corner of my eye, something big and white darted into the trees like quicksilver. âRob?â I called again, edging to the place he had fallen.
âWhere are you? Robbie?â
âBoo.â Rob appeared behind me, rising out of the mist like a vampire from its coffin. To say I screamed was a bit of an understatement.
âA little jumpy today, arenât we?â Robbie laughed and darted out of reach before I could kill him. âTime to switch to decaf, princess. If youâre going to shriek at every bogey that jumps out and says âboo,â youâll be exhausted before we reach the edge of the woods.â
He had changed. Hunter-green pants and a thick brown hoodie replaced his jeans and ratty T-shirt. I couldnât see his feet very well in the mist, but it looked like heâd traded his sneakers for soft leather boots. His face was leaner, harsher, with sharp angles and pointed features. Combined with his bright auburn hair and green eyes, he reminded me of a grinning fox.
But the most noticeable difference was his ears. Slender and pointed, they jutted out from the sides of his head, like ⦠well, like an elfâs. And, in that moment, all traces of Robbie Goodfell disappeared. The boy Iâd known for most of my life was gone, like he never existed, and only Puck remained.
âWhatâs the matter, princess?â Puck yawned, stretching his long limbs. Was it my imagination, or had he gotten taller, too? âYou look like you lost your best friend.â
I ignored the question, not wanting to dwell on it. âHow did you do that?â I asked, to steer the conversation elsewhere. âYour clothes, I mean. Theyâre different. And the way you made the books fly around the room. Was it magic?â
Puck grinned. âGlamour,â he said, as if that meant anything to me at all. I frowned at him, and he sighed. âI didnât have time to change before we came here, and my lord King Oberon frowns on wearing mortal clothes to court. So I used glamour to make myself presentable. Just like I used glamour to make myself look human.â
âWait a minute.â I thought back to the dream conversation between Robbie and the nurse. âAre there others like you ⦠you faery-types, walking around back home? Right under everyoneâs noses?â
Puck gave me a very eerie smile. âWeâre everywhere, princess,â he said firmly. âUnder your bed, in your attic, walking past you on the street.â His smile grew wider, more wolfish. âGlamour is fueled by the dreams and imagination of mortals. Writers, artists, little boys pretending to be knightsâthe fey are drawn to them like moths to a flame. Why do you think so many children have imaginary friends? Even your brother had one. Floppy, I think he called it, though that wasnât its true name. A pity the changeling managed to kill it.â
My stomach felt tight. âAnd ⦠no one can see you?â
âWeâre invisible, or we use glamour to hide our true nature.â Puck leaned against a tree, lacing his hands behind his head in a very Robbie-like fashion. âDonât look so shocked, princess. Mortals have perfected the art of not seeing what they donât expect to be there. Though, there are a few rare humans who can see through the mist and the glamour. Usually, these are very special individualsâinnocent, naive dreamersâand the fey are even more attracted to them.â
âLike Ethan,â I murmured.
Puck gave me a strange look, one corner of his mouth quirked up. âLike you, princess.â He seemed about to say something else, but then a branch snapped somewhere in the tangled darkness.
He straightened quickly. âWhoops, time to go. Itâs dangerous to linger in any one place. Weâll attract unwanted attention.â
âWhat?â I exclaimed as he strode across the clearing, moving as gracefully as a deer. âI thought you said this was home.â
âThe Nevernever is home to all fey,â Puck said without looking back. âItâs divided into territories, or more technically, Courts. The Seelie Court is Oberonâs domain, while Mab rules the Unseelie territories. While in the Courts, it is usually forbidden to torment, maim, or kill another fey without permission from its rulers.
âHowever,â he continued, looking back at me, âright now, we are in neutral territory, home of the wild fey. Here, as you humans put it, all bets are off. The things coming at us now could be a herd of satyrs who will make you dance until youâre exhausted, then rape you one by one, or it could be a pack of hedge wolves that will tear us both apart. Either way, I donât think you want to hang around.â
I was afraid again. It seemed I was always afraid. I didnât want to be here, in this eerie forest, with this person I only thought I knew. I wanted to go home. Only, home had become a frightening place as well, almost as much as the Nevernever. I felt lost and betrayed, out of place in a world that wished me harm.
Ethan, I reminded myself. Youâre doing this for Ethan. Once you get him, you can go home and everything will go back to normal.
The rustling grew louder, and twigs snapped as whatever was out there drew closer. âPrincess,â Puck snapped, right next to me. I jumped and bit down a shriek as he grabbed my wrist. âThe aforementioned nasties have picked up our scent and are coming for us.â Though his voice was casual, I could see the strain in his eyes. âIf you donât want your first day in the Nevernever to be your last, I suggest we move.â
I looked back and saw the door we came through standing upright in the middle of the clearing. âWill we be able to get back home this way?â I asked as Puck pulled me along.
âNope.â When I stared at him in horror, he shrugged.
âWell, you canât expect the doors to stand around in one place, princess. Donât worry, though. You have me, remember? When the time comes, weâll find the way home.â
We ran for the far side of the clearing, straight for a tangle of bushes with hooked yellow thorns as long as my thumb. I held back, sure weâd be sliced to ribbons, but as we neared, the branches shivered and peeled away from us, revealing a narrow path cutting through the trees. As we stepped through, the bushes knitted together again, hiding the trail and protecting our retreat.
We walked for hours, or at least it felt that way to me. Puck kept up a steady pace, neither hurrying nor slowing down, and in time the sounds of pursuit faded away. Sometimes the trail split, wending off in different directions, but Puck always chose a path without hesitation. Many times, Iâd catch movement from the corner of my eyeâa flash of color in the brush, a figure silhouetted between the treesâbut when I turned, thereâd be nothing. Sometimes, I almost swore I heard singing or music, but, of course, it would fade when I tried to focus on it. The sickly luminescence of the forest never dimmed or brightened, and when I asked Puck what time night would fall, he cocked an eyebrow at me and said night would come when it was ready.
Annoyed, I checked my watch, wondering how long weâd been traveling. I received an unpleasant shock. The slender hands were frozen in place. Either the watchâs battery was dead, or something else was interfering.
Or maybe time doesnât exist in this place. I donât know why I found that immensely disturbing, but I did.
My feet were aching, my stomach hurt, and my legs were burning with exhaustion when the eternal twilight finally began to dim. Puck stopped, gazing up at the sky, where an enormous moon glimmered over the treetops, so close you could see pits and craters marring the surface.
âI suppose we should rest for the night.â Puck sounded reluctant. He gave me a sideways grin as