The rabbit and the hedgehog must have been thinking along the same lines. They had actually stopped talking, waiting to see what would happen. Their big round eyes just stared at the window.
Then the whole house came to a sudden, bone-shattering stop. If we were in a car, Tim thought, we’d all have whiplash! With a sickening, lurching motion, the house tumbled sideways to the ground, making an enormous crash that Tim imagined could be heard through all of Faerie.
Tim landed hard, slamming into the floor, all the air knocked out of him. But then he realized three important things: (1) He wasn’t dead, (2) his glasses were still in one piece, and best of all, (3) the crash loosened his ropes enough to free his hands!
Yo-yo swooped back into the hut, hooting with obvious pride. Tim twisted his face up from the floor.
“You did it!” he cheered Yo-yo. “You stopped the house! And look!” He wiggled his fingers at Yo-yo. “Help me get out of these ropes.”
Yo-yo tugged and Tim squirmed, and finally the bindings broke apart. Tim leaped up and scouted around the little hut. Everything—furniture, tools, odds and ends—had all slid down to one side. It was quite a mess. He spotted what he was looking for. “Perfect!” He grabbed a sharp knife and cut down the rabbit and hedgehog. “There you go,” he said.
“Thanks ever so,” said Master Redlaw the hedgehog.
“Yes, much obliged,” added Master Leveret the rabbit.
Yo-yo hooted from the windowsill.
“Beggin’ yer pardon,” said the rabbit, “but the owl says we ought to get out of here something rapid. She’s coming back.”
“Then let’s go!” Tim carefully climbed out of the toppled hut. Master Leveret and Master Redlaw crept out behind him and jumped down to the grass.
“My house!” Baba Yaga shrieked above them. “What have you done to my poor house?” She circled overhead on her broomstick.
Tim picked up Master Redlaw and ran. Master Leveret bounded beside them, and Yo-yo flew.
“I’ll eat them alive!” Baba Yaga screamed.
“Come on, laddie,” the hedgehog encouraged from under Tim’s arm. “Keep it up! Keep running.”
Tim tripped over a gnarled root. He sprawled face forward on the ground. What is it about this place? he thought. I’m not this clumsy at home! Are the trees out to get me? He tried to stand but discovered his ankle was tangled in some vines.
Master Redlaw had gone flying when Tim fell. “Need some help, lad?” the hedgehog asked, crawling back toward Tim.
“No!” Tim shouted. “Run! Get out of here!”
“Are you—” Master Leveret began.
“Just go!”
“On your insisterance,” said the hedgehog.
“Wouldn’t want to upset the lad,” added the rabbit.
Master Leveret dashed into the bushes. Master Redlaw crept into the tall grass. Tim was glad that at least the little critters had escaped.
Tim tried to crawl, shaking his leg, desperate to untangle his ankle from the snarl of vines.
“Whoopsie!” Baba Yaga cackled. Tim could hear that she was much closer. Just a few feet away. “Now up we gets, laddie. Come on.”
Slowly, Tim turned to face the hag.
And discovered Rose standing between him and Baba Yaga.
“Out of my way, woman!” Baba Yaga shouted. “That brat is my dinner. And he’s hurt my little house.”
“Timothy is under my protection in this realm,” Rose answered calmly. “I charge you to trouble him no more.”
“He’s mine! And you dare order me? Why I should—”
Rose cut her off. “I know your true name,” she declared. “Do you want me to shout it now so that all the animals of the forest, all the birds of the air, every passing nixie and goblin will know it too? Your name will be as common as crabgrass. Would you like that, Baba Yaga?”
“You’re lying!” Baba Yaga shrieked. “You do not know my name.”
“Perhaps. Do you wish to find out how loudly I can shout?”
Baba Yaga seemed to shrink a little. “No,” she grumbled, her voice low. Her broomstick dropped a few inches.
“Then do you discharge all obligation and lien on the boy?”
“I do.” Baba Yaga was positively sulking.
“Good.”
Tim watched the old hag fly away. Once she was completely out of sight, he unsnarled his ankle and stood up. “You were bluffing, weren’t you?” Tim asked Rose.
“What?” She looked puzzled.
“Like John Constantine in that nightclub. You were just bluffing. About knowing her name.”
“No, Tim. I wasn’t bluffing.”
Tim got the distinct impression that not only wasn’t Rose bluffing, she strongly disapproved of it as a tactic.
“When I was younger I learned certain matters,” Rose explained. “Among them were names. Names of gods, and mortals, and wild folks. Names of cities, and trees. Of eagles and serpents. I was not bluffing. I would have destroyed her.”
“Oh.” Tim felt funny inside. He felt honored that she would have used that power and knowledge to save him. But he hated that he had put her in a position where she’d have to. He didn’t want to be some blundering kid who always needed bailing out.
They found the path again and walked along it in silence, as Yo-yo flew above them. The woods were full of sounds, but no words passed between Rose and Tim for some time. Each was deep in thought. Tim couldn’t even begin to guess what was in Rose’s mind. Probably wishing they’d chosen some other kid to show magic to.
Then came an unmistakable sound: thundering hoofs. Coming toward them swiftly. A beautiful woman rode around the bend a few yards in front of them. A beautiful green woman. She reined in her enormous white horse and came to a stop.
“Who be ye? And what do ye on this path? Speak! Lest I change ye to scuttling mice and set your own owl upon ye!”
Chapter Eleven
TIM SIGHED. COULDN’T he make a move without being threatened? Was everyone in Faerie out to get him? This place seemed even more dangerous than his own world, where all those magic practitioners wanted to kill him. That, at least, would be a simple fate. Here, who knew what could happen to him? Snout wanted to make him a servant for seventy years; the “heart’s desire” seller wanted his fingers, or his eye color; Baba Yaga wanted to cook him. There were probably as many possible fates in this world as there were creatures who could think them up. Tim’s hands balled up into fists and his whole body tensed. Not from fear, though. Not this time.
Rose laid a hand on his arm. She must have sensed his frustration. “My lady,” she addressed the green woman. “We are travelers. And we needs must walk this path wherever it will lead us.”
Needs must? Tim squinted at Rose. She’d gone all medieval. He shrugged. That must be how they liked to speak here in Faerie. All fancy.
“Who rides the wind must go where their steed will take them,” the woman on the horse responded.
“Who treads the way of stars must walk in silence,” Rose replied.
Now Tim out and out stared. What the heck was going on? Were they speaking in code?
“I see,” the woman on the horse said. “We have met before, have we not?”
“Yes, lady,” answered Rose.
So they were speaking in code, Tim thought. It was like some magical password.
“The last time we met you wore a man’s skin,” the lady on horseback said. “And you looked out at the world through male eyes.”
“Yes, lady.”
“Ah.”
They must have passed the test, Tim thought, and this lady seemed to approve of both versions of Rose, because she smiled. “Will you introduce me to your companion?” she asked.
“As you wish, lady. This lad is called Timothy Hunter. Timothy, this lady is Queen of this realm.”
Tim gaped at the green lady. Then, remembering his etiquette, he dropped to one knee before the horse. “Pleased to meet you, um, your Majesty.” That’s how one wa
s supposed to address royals, wasn’t it? He never imagined that he’d meet a queen by leaving Britain! Much less a beautiful green queen!
“You may call me Titania,” the lady said. She studied him for a moment. “I can see that you have undergone trials in my land, child.”
Does it show? Tim wondered. He raked his fingers through his dark hair, trying to make it lie flat. He hoped he wasn’t a filthy mess; after hanging upside down in Baba Yaga’s hut and then landing facedown in the dirt, it was a definite possibility.
“Let me assure you,” Titania said, “it is not all hardship here. There are delights aplenty in this place.”
“Yes, your Majesty.” Tim nodded.
The lady smiled at him, and Tim felt shot through with warmth. Her eyes seemed to change color, and her green skin sparkled as if she wore glitter. He thought he had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.
“You came here seeking me,” Titania said. Tim noticed her voice had a lilt to it, somewhere between singing and speaking.
“Did we?” Tim asked. “I thought we were just following the path.”
“This is my realm, and all paths in it are my paths.”
The horse snorted impatiently, and the woman patted it and murmured a few sharp words that Tim couldn’t understand. The horse settled back down.
“What will you have him know, Rose Spiritus?” the Queen asked Rose.
“It has been given to me to show Tim the spheres beyond mortal ken,” Rose replied.
“And you have shown him Faerie?” The Queen seemed flattered. “Good. We will go to my palace.”
“Is it far?” Tim asked. He didn’t want to sound rude, but he was tired of all this walking. His feet were sore, and he was bruised from tumbling over in Baba Yaga’s hut. Being tied up and hung upside down waiting to be cooked really took it out of a bloke. He could use a nap.
“It is as close as the harvest moon in the evening sky,” the Queen said. “As distant as a dream on wakening. Near as a rainbow, and so remote you could walk forever and never reach it. Is it far? No, Timothy, it is not far.”
They were there. They were simply, astonishingly, there. Tim glanced up at Titania on her horse, surprised. How had she done it? How had it happened? To him, it seemed as if they had never moved at all.
“Welcome to my home,” Titania said, gesturing to the shimmering castle in front of them.
Tim looked up at the high turrets, which glittered like icicles in sunlight. There was something familiar about everything he had seen in Faerie. Then he realized why. The architecture, the clothing, even some of the language—it all reminded him of the past. The past where Merlin the great magician had lived. The past he had studied in school. The time when there were kings and queens and courts and courtiers and damsels in distress. Only, the inhabitants here were an amazing mix ranging from the almost human to the completely unrecognizable.
A yellow groomsman with an upturned nose and tufts of purple hair on the tops of his purple ears appeared. He held out his hand and helped Titania dismount. Then he took the horse’s reins and led it away.
“Shall I show you my grounds?” Titania asked, smiling. Now that she was standing beside him, Tim could see that she was tall and willowy—taller even than Rose. Her flowing burgundy gown skimmed the grass and gracefully floated around her slim frame with her movements. Her long, green hair hung down to the middle of her back, and with every step she took, little bells jangled from the ribbons twined through her shining strands.
“Please,” Tim said. “That sounds like fun.”
Rose and Tim walked with Titania across the tiled portico in front of the castle. A low wall separated the front court from the main entryway, which had a mosaic walk leading to the castle door. A brilliant blue pool on either side reflected the cloudless sky. Yo-yo darted about, first flying ahead, then over to the pools by the castle, then circling above them.
Rounding the castle, they passed formal gardens, surrounded by ornate gates, and then the grounds opened up into lush meadows. Up ahead, Tim saw a group on horseback, and what seemed to be a picnic under enormous leafy trees.
“Ah,” Titania said. “My husband has not yet left. You should meet him.”
Tim gulped. Titania’s husband? If she was a queen, that meant her husband was…He was about to meet a king! He hoped he wouldn’t say anything wrong. Or dumb.
Titania, Rose, and Tim reached the picnickers by the trees. It was a group of creatures Titania called sprites and flitlings. From what Tim could tell, flitlings were the tiny beings that he thought of as fairy-book fairies—they were pretty little things with wings. The sprites looked almost like regular people, if people were always pretty and handsome and came in all the colors of the rainbow.
One of the sprites had a lute and was entertaining the others. He stopped singing as Titania approached, and several of the flitlings giggled. They looked just the way Tim and Molly did when they were about to be caught drawing terrible caricatures of their teachers. Tim’s eyes flicked to Titania. He had the feeling the sprite had been making up rude songs about her.
Titania acted as if she hadn’t noticed a thing. “Beautiful day,” she greeted the group.
“Yes, Majesty,” the singer said. Several of the group quickly stood and bowed.
Titania waved a hand. “No need,” she said. “Be as you were. I am here just a moment.”
Titania stepped away from the group and watched the figures on horseback. She seemed to be waiting for them to notice her.
Tim watched, fascinated, as the elegant and stately queen began acting like a teenage girl being ignored at a dance. She fiddled with her hair. She rolled her eyes and tapped her foot. She rearranged the folds of her dress several times. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.
Finally, a man on a large white horse trotted over. Tim couldn’t help staring. Not only was the man blue, but he had what looked like curved ram’s horns on his head.
“Well met, Titania,” the man greeted her, pulling his horse to a stop.
“Husband,” she replied, sounding bored and unconcerned.
Tim smiled. What an act.
The blue man noticed Rose and Tim. “I see you have guests.”
“Ah, yes. Rose Spiritus, Timothy Hunter, this is my husband, King Auberon.”
“Your Majesty,” Rose said, bowing her head.
Tim took the cue from Rose; falling to bended knee wasn’t required. “Pleased to meet you, sire,” Tim said, dipping his chin to his chest.
“Will you join us for some further conversation by the back pool?” Titania asked.
“I am off to the hunt,” Auberon said.
“Again?” Titania said.
Auberon’s jaw tightened. “I find pleasure with my friends,” he said. “They treat me with warmth and respect.”
“And I do not?” Titania demanded.
Uh-oh. It sounded like a domestic squabble to Tim. He noticed that the sprites and flitlings kept their distance.
“You were invited,” Auberon said.
“Because you knew I would not join you,” Titania countered.
“If it amuses you to entertain these guests, go right ahead. I have other plans.” With that, Auberon turned his horse and rejoined his friends. They trotted away, toward the woods, hounds barking at their heels.
Titania’s eyes narrowed as she watched them. Then she spun around. “We will return to the castle. Now.”
Fighting with her husband sure makes her pick up speed, Tim observed, struggling to keep up with the vexed Queen of Faerie. Rose’s legs were longer than Tim’s, so she was better able to keep up the pace. By the time they reached the large tiled patio behind the castle, Tim was breathing hard.
“Please, make yourself comfortable,” Titania instructed. Tim lowered himself to a nearby sofa awkwardly, wishing he had something to say. Looking up, he spotted a bird flying far overhead.
“Look!” he said, pointing to the bird. “That’s my owl, Yo-yo. I’d wondered
where he’d gone to!”
“That is no bird of yours,” Titania corrected him sharply.
Tim, Rose, and Titania watched the bird as it swooped toward them. Titania was right; that bird wasn’t Yo-yo. It was much larger, much more powerful.
“A handsome falcon,” Rose commented.
“Yes,” Titania replied, a smile slowly spreading across her face. “Yes, he is that.”
The falcon was now circling just above them. Titania’s expression changed. She looked up at the bird. “Not now,” she snapped.
Instantly, the falcon flew off. If she used that tone on me, Tim thought, I would be off as well. He snuck a peek at Titania. She may be beautiful, but she sure is moody.
The Queen had settled onto a couch, arranging her dress prettily around her. She ran her fingers through her hair, setting the little bells chiming. She smiled at Tim; a full and radiant smile.
“You have been seeing worlds, child,” Titania said. “You know, there are many realms accessible from your world, as well as mine.”
“Really?” Tim asked. “How many?”
“An infinite number. Waiting to be opened.” She held out her hand. A thick old-fashioned-looking key glittered between her fingers. “Here is the key. Use it how you will. A gift from me to you.”
She threw the key at Tim, who caught it easily.
“No!” Rose gasped.
Chapter Twelve
“DID I DO SOMETHING wrong?” Tim asked Rose. The key felt warm and heavy in his hand. It felt right—as if it belonged there. So why was Rose so upset? “Did I do something wrong?” he repeated.
Rose had shut her eyes and held her hands to her face.
“No,” Titania answered for Rose. “No, you did nothing wrong.”
She is so beautiful, Tim thought, looking at the Queen. How can someone green be so pretty?
Titania crossed to a small table and rang a little bell. Instantly, a servant stepped into the room.
“Hamnett, two strawberry cordials,” Titania ordered. “One for me and one for my guest, Timothy.”
The Invitation Page 12
