“Oh, none for me,” Tim said hastily.
Titania smiled. “Ah, so you do know the rules of Faerie. Well then, just one. For me.”
The servant slipped away, and Titania kept her large, ever-changing eyes on Tim. “You are interested in other realms?” she asked.
Tim shrugged. “Sure, they’re pretty cool.” He liked how nonchalant he sounded. Kind of like John Constantine.
“You can access an infinite number from Faerie,” Titania told him.
“Really?” Tim asked. “Do you go through a little fence in the middle of a field?”
“No, child. You go through a door. By using a key.” Titania nodded at the key Tim held in his hand. “Come.”
She stood and led Tim and Rose behind the castle, to a row of gigantic doors that seemed to stretch to the horizon. Between the doors were more of the low sofas that were scattered around the patio. Titania settled herself on one of them. Rose remained standing.
“Those all lead to worlds?” Tim asked, his voice dropped to a whisper.
“Yes, for one who can open them.”
Tim whirled around to look at Rose. She gave a small nod, and he stepped forward, drawn to a glowing golden door. He inserted the key into the lock. The door swung open.
Tim stood on the threshold of the new world. He stared into a dark place, primeval, hot and humid. He detected bird caws and growls of creatures he could not identify. He heard Rose’s voice behind him.
“This is Skartaris,” she informed him. “In this world, time deforms and twists upon itself. Dinosaurs roam the earth, while planes fly overhead.”
Weird. Tim stepped back and shut the door. He approached the next one. “Does this key fit all of them?” he asked.
“If you have the power to open them,” Titania answered.
Do I? Tim wondered. He slid the key into the next lock. It turned. He suddenly knew—though he didn’t know how he knew it—that he would be able to open the entire row of doors. And the doors to additional worlds inside them. He had that kind of power. He withdrew the key again and stared at it.
“It is time for us to leave,” Rose said, laying a hand on Tim’s shoulder.
Tim’s head whipped around and he stared at her. “So soon?” He wanted to explore more worlds, check out what the palace was like, how the Queen of Faerie lived, what else there was to see in Faerie.
Titania looked pleased. She stretched out on the low velvet couch. Now she reminded Tim of a cat, pausing before pouncing. And hadn’t she threatened to turn him into a mouse when they met? He felt strangely nervous.
“Tim has far to go before his journey’s end,” said Rose. “We thank you for your hospitality, but we must return to our own world.”
“Really?” Titania sat back up on the sofa. “Tim was told the rules of Faerie, wasn’t he?”
Tim’s gaze went back and forth between the two women; one a queen of an alternate world of fairy creatures, the other a woman who was also a man. They both seemed very powerful, strong. And on opposite sides of an argument he didn’t quite understand.
Titania pointed at Tim. “There. In his hand. A gift from Faerie. He took it, did he not?”
She stood and strolled toward Tim, definitely in high cat mode. “Timothy, boy,” she crooned, her hand gently stroking his face. “Will you stay with me? You will be my page and servant, here in the lands of summer’s twilight, where there is no age or death.” She lifted his chin so he could gaze directly into her eyes. They seemed to change color as he looked at them. Her touch was like a butterfly’s, there and not there. Her voice was like the incense in Madame Xanadu’s dark apartment, swirling around him, insinuating itself into him. Was that just a day ago? Or was it more? It would be nice to stay in one place for a while, he thought.
“You have not seen a fraction of the marvels of this world, Tim. You have not tasted our fruit, nor drunk our wine, nor danced to your soul’s delight in our revelries.”
Was she wearing perfume? Tim hadn’t noticed before, but now he got the distinct impression of an intoxicating scent coming from her—flowers and spring breezes.
Her fingers left his chin and trailed down his arm. She held his hand lightly. “Stay. Be my page. I can teach you much.”
What happened to all the birds? Tim wondered. Just a few minutes ago the air was filled with the sounds of birds, and insects chirping, and sprites giggling, and all manner of fairies singing. Now he felt he stood in a vacuum of silence. What had she asked him? Oh, yes. She wanted him to stay here and be her “page.” That’s another word for a servant, isn’t it?
Tim coughed. Her perfume now seemed a little too strong. Maybe he was allergic; all he knew was, it was overly sweet, cloying.
“Thank you for your kind offer, your Majesty,” he said as politely as he could. “But I want to go home. I don’t want to stay here forever.” Molly would never forgive him if he vanished without saying good-bye. She’d miss me, he thought. And I would miss her.
Queen Titania dropped his hand. He was relieved to see she didn’t look angry or even disappointed. She took a step back.
“I am not offering a choice, Timothy,” she said simply. “You took a gift from me. A silver key. A key that opens worlds.”
Tim glanced down at the key in his hand, the truth coming at him hard. She tricked me. I didn’t accept it, she just threw it at me. He dropped the key to the ground.
Titania’s expression never changed. “You in your turn now owe a gift to me. Of equal value and worth. Otherwise I will be forced to keep you here.”
“I want to go home,” Tim insisted. “My dad needs me. And Molly. I mean, I’m nothing special. I want to go home.”
“It’s too late,” Titania said. “Stay here because you choose it, or stay here against your will. Or give me a gift as precious as the key that opens worlds.”
“Why would you give me something so valuable?” Tim demanded.
Titania didn’t answer, just waited for his response.
“I apologize for this, Timothy,” Rose said. She stepped up behind Tim and placed her hands on his shoulders. “I wish you had heeded my warning. But do not despair.”
Tim sighed with relief. Of course, Rose would get him out of this.
“I will return with the other three,” she promised. “We will free you somehow, even if we have to raze half of Faerie to do so.”
Tim glanced at Titania. She didn’t seem to register the threat. He craned his neck and looked up at Rose, as he understood what this meant. “You mean, you aren’t going to stop her?”
“I cannot,” Rose said. “But you are our responsibility and we will do what we can.”
“But—”
“Rules are rules, here as much as anywhere else,” Rose said. “You have her gift in your possession.”
Tim bent down and snatched the key from the ground. He held it out to Titania. “Here. I don’t want it anyway.”
Titania shook her head, the bells in her hair jangling. “Once given, a gift cannot be taken back.”
“I’m not staying here!” Tim shouted. “This is ridiculous. I’m human! I don’t belong here!”
“Then what will you give me in exchange?” Titania asked. “You see, I’m reasonable. If you have something to trade, I will accept it.”
Tim racked his brain but knew he’d come up empty. “I don’t have anything special. Even the thing I got at the market was just normal. That Glory bloke said so.”
“What did you get at the market?” Titania asked.
“An ordinary egg,” Tim replied, fishing it out of his pocket. He was surprised that it hadn’t broken in all of his adventures. It was sturdier than it looked. “That’s what he called it.”
The egg glowed in his hand. Sparks swirled inside like the tiny constellations he had seen with the Stranger.
“A Mundane Egg!” Titania gasped.
Tim glanced up. “That’s what I meant. Normal. Boring. Mundane. I got good grades on my synonyms. I knew it was one of tho
se words.”
“No, Timothy,” Rose corrected softly. “It isn’t one of those words at all. Not in this context.”
“Why?” Tim asked. “What’s so special about it?”
“Inside this egg is a part of creation as yet unborn,” Rose explained. “One day the egg will hatch, and from it a whole world will emerge. Every world is hatched from a Mundane Egg. And they are valuable. Almost beyond measure.”
Tim stared down at the egg in his hand. He held something that contained entire universes?
“Your Majesty,” Rose addressed Titania. “I ask that you do us the honor of accepting Timothy’s gift.”
Tim held out the egg to Titania. “Please?”
“I have no choice. Rules are rules.” The Queen carefully lifted the egg from Tim’s hand. “Strange. I had thought the last Mundane Egg hatched long since.”
“So you’ll take it?” Tim asked.
“Very well,” Titania said, her eyes never leaving the egg. “You may go—both of you.”
Rose took Tim’s arm and they left the palace. Outside, they found the path and continued on, Yo-yo circling above them again.
Titania watched them as they disappeared into the grove. The falcon reappeared overhead. It swooped down to land on the railing near Titania. In seconds the powerful bird transformed into a man. His long straight hair was a little lighter than Tim’s, his face sculpted and lean.
Titania turned to him. “You were right about the boy, Tamlin,” Titania said thoughtfully. “He is special. He is to be watched.”
Tim woke up in a field, grass tickling his face.
“Wha—What?” He sat up and looked around. He lay beside the gate through which they entered Faerie. Rose was standing over him, transformed back into Dr. Occult, trench coat, hat, and all.
“We’re back,” Tim said.
“That’s right.”
Tim gave Dr. Occult a suspicious look. “We’re not somewhere funny, are we? Alternative universe or something?”
Dr. Occult looked tired. “No, it’s over. This part of the journey, anyway.”
Tim glanced down at his hand. He was still holding the key. “What do I do with this?” he asked.
“It’s yours,” Dr. Occult said. “It was a fair trade, after all. Keep it. Perhaps you’ll find a door that key will fit.”
Tim stood and stretched. Yo-yo sat perched on the gate post, watching him. “Shall we?” Tim said to the bird. Yo-yo flew to his shoulder. They crossed the stream and Tim found the spot where he’d buried his coins and his house keys. After retrieving them, they headed toward the horizon, where the sun was rising.
“Well, that’s over,” Tim said with a yawn.
“This part of your travels, yes.”
“Only one more journey to go, then,” Tim said. “Only one more guide. The blind guy—Mister E.”
“That’s right.”
“So where now?” Tim asked.
“Tomorrow.”
“That’s when we leave?”
“No, Timothy,” Dr. Occult replied. “That’s not when you’re going. It’s where you’re going.”
Chapter Thirteen
JOHN CONSTANTINE leaned against the wall and glared at the rain. He and Mister E had taken cover in a dark doorway. The Stranger seemed oblivious to the weather and continued his slow pace up and down the sidewalk.
“I heard a joke about you once, E,” Constantine said.
“A joke?”
“I think it was a joke. Bloke I met in a bar in Katmandu said you always carried a pocket full of stakes in case you met a vampire, and a gun loaded with silver bullets, in case you ever met a werewolf.”
Without a word, Mister E pulled a pointed wooden stake from inside his trench coat.
Involuntarily, Constantine took a step back. “Blimey,” he exclaimed. “I take it you hammer first and ask questions afterward.”
“The only good vampire is a dead vampire, Constantine.”
“Hate to argue a point, but aren’t they all dead by definition?”
“Fool.” Mister E slipped the stake back into his coat.
“You ought to watch it, you know,” Constantine warned. “One day the bogeymen are going to come out of their closets and start parading down the high street. They’ll be marching for equal rights, and your head on a platter as their worst oppressor.”
“Is that meant to be funny?” Mister E snarled.
“If you’re lucky.” John held out a pack of cigarettes toward the blind man. “Smoke?”
“Unlike you, I do not defile the temple of my body.”
“Probably sworn off caffeine too,” Constantine muttered. “And sweets.”
“Quiet,” the Stranger said. “They are returning.”
Tim spotted Constantine right away, his blond head unprotected from the rain. The two others seemed to blend more into the shadows.
“Hullo, Tim!” John greeted him. “How was Fairyland?”
“I’m not sure I remember it properly,” Tim admitted. “It’s all gone a bit fuzzy, like a dream. I sort of remember it, but I don’t think I can talk about it. Not in any way that would make sense.”
“Are you hungry?” asked the Stranger. “Do you need rest? Or are you ready for your final journey?”
“I don’t know. I guess so. I guess I’m ready.” Tim hadn’t felt ready for any of his previous adventures, and so now he asked himself why he should feel any more ready for this one. He jerked his head toward Mister E, who was looming silently in the doorway. “I suppose he’s going to be my guide.”
“Yes.” Mister E nodded. “I am also ready.”
“Okay, Yo-yo,” Tim said to his owl. “Ready to go to tomorrow?”
“No,” Mister E ordered. “The owl is a bird of darkness and night. It will stay here.”
This guy is seriously uptight, Tim thought. But he realized that there were probably more rules where they were going, and Mister E would know them better than he did.
“Tim?” Dr. Occult said.
Tim sighed. He would have liked having Yo-yo along for company. “Okay. You stay here, then,” he told the owl. He looked at Dr. Occult. “You’ll take care of him, right?”
Dr. Occult nodded.
Everyone seemed a lot more serious this time. It made Tim nervous. Maybe it’s just because this is their last chance to show me stuff, Tim told himself, and if I don’t learn it all now, I never will. He guessed that the pressure was on them too.
“Take my arm,” said Mister E.
“I thought if you were…well, blind,” Tim said, “then you’d want to hold onto my arm.”
“Where we’re going, it is you who will be walking blind. I know the path. Now close your eyes.”
Tim squeezed his eyes shut.
“Step forward, child,” Mister E instructed.
“Just walk?”
“Yes, and keep your eyes tightly closed as you walk, until I tell you to halt and to open them.”
“Where are we going? Are you going to show me my future?”
“Possibly, boy. Keep walking.”
Tim placed one foot in front of the other, very aware of the looming presence of Mister E beside him. He didn’t feel anything. Not the stomach-wrenching whoosh that he’d felt when he was taken to the past with the Stranger. Not the disorienting instantaneous travel he’d experienced with John Constantine, nor the strangeness he felt when walking through the gate with Dr. Occult. He was now just blindly placing one foot in front of the other.
Blind. Tim wondered if this was the way Mister E felt all the time. He had no way of knowing what was in front of him, behind him, around him. He was vulnerable. Tim shivered. He didn’t like the feeling.
“We are fifteen years into your future,” Mister E said. “Or one of them. You may open your eyes.”
Just like that? Tim’s eyes flicked open. “What do you mean, ‘or one of them’?” he asked Mister E.
“There are very few stable futures, boy.”
Tim looked around
—and instantly wanted to shut his eyes again. They were at the scene of some sort of crime—or massacre. There were bodies, and blood, and screams all around them. Funny, he hadn’t heard anything until he’d opened his eyes. Maybe if he shut them again, the wails and moans and shouts would stop. No. Tim shuddered, closing his eyes and then reopening them. That doesn’t help. Not at all.
“The future is a series of infinitely branching possibilities,” Mister E said, as if completely unconcerned by the destruction and mayhem around him. He dragged Tim forward, deeper into the scene. “When we walk it, we walk down the most probable paths, those with the greatest likelihood of occurring.”
“So…so it’s likely I’ll wind up in this terrible place?” Tim asked, his eyes scanning the scene. A deserted warehouse, dark streets, garbage, bodies. More bodies. More blood.
“But we aren’t really traveling to the future, are we?” Tim asked. “This is like when I went to the past, right? We’re just observing. Nothing can happen to us here. They can’t see us.”
“No,” Mister E said. “We are truly in the future. One of them.”
They had come around a corner. Tim ducked as a lightning bolt shot toward his head. He threw himself to the ground. Staying low, he peered up from his position on the ground. A pair of creatures in the sky were battling each other with lightning. One looked like the strange half wolf, half man he had seen at the nightclub with Zatanna. The other was some sort of monster with claws and a thrashing tail.
Then a group of large new creatures came into view, tackling the first two. They were thick, with bald heads, and wore what looked like uniforms. Terrible piercing wails rose up all around Tim.
“What’s going on?” he cried.
“We are at the final magical conflict of this age. You watch the last battle, child. Fifteen years into your future they will fight.”
Then Tim’s heart squeezed in his chest. He recognized the woman by the streetlight. “That’s Zatanna!” he shouted. She slumped against the light, dropping onto her knees. The light illuminated her wounds. She was bleeding. “She’s hurt!” He scrambled to his feet. “We have to do something!”
The Invitation Page 13
