Cold Days
Page 102
But basically it all amounts to "run and hide."
Years of life in the Midwest screamed at me to do exactly that. My heart started speeding up and my mouth went dry, while the clouds overhead-and when I say "overhead" I mean directly over my head-turned faster and faster.
Birds exploded into the sky from all over the Magic Hedge, joining the sparrows in their wild circling. The air suddenly became close, and the drizzling rain cut off as if a valve had been closed. Lightning with no thunder flickered weirdly through the clouds, which turned every shade of white and blue and sea green as the water vapor separated the light into the visible spectrum.
Then I felt it-a warmth like that I'd felt in Lily, only a hundred times hotter and brighter and more intense. The clouds started to lower, and the frantic birds tightened their circle, until they were a wall of shining feathers and glittering eyes around the meadow. Then there was a flash of light, a toll of thunder that sounded weirdly musical, like the after-tone of some vast gong, and a shower of earth and glowing bits of charred autumn grass flew into the air. I threw up an arm to shield my eyes-but I kept my feet planted.
When the dirt settled and the dust and ash cleared, the Lady of Light and Life and Monarch of the Summer Court stood about fifteen feet away from me.
She was breathtaking. I don't mean beautiful, because she was that, obviously. But it was the kind of beauty that had so much scope, so much depth, so much power that it made me feel dwindling, insignificant, and very, very temporary. You feel it the first time you see the mountains, the first time you see the sea, the first time you see the vast, bleak majesty of the Grand Canyon-and every single time you look at Titania, the Summer Queen.
I'd say that the details of her appearance were unimportant, except that they weren't-particularly for me.
Titania was dressed for a fight.
She wore a gown of mail made from some kind of silvery metal, the links so fine that at first it looked like woven cloth. It covered her like a second skin, all the way to the top of her throat. Over that she wore a long robe of silk that shifted in colors from the yellow of sunlight to the green of pine needles in a slow strobelike pattern. Her silver-white hair had been braided into a tail and then fixed in coils at the base of her neck. Upon her head was a crown of what looked like twisted vine with still-living leaves. She carried neither weapon nor shield, but her wide Sidhe eyes stared at me with the absolute certainty of one who knows she is armed well beyond the ability of her enemy to withstand.
Oh, and if I hadn't known better, I would have sworn to you that it was Mab standing there. Seriously. They didn't look like sisters. They looked like clones.
I started off by bowing to her, deeply. I held it for a beat before rising again.
She was a statue for a few seconds. She didn't so much as nod backto me, to any measurable degree, but some microchange in her body language indicated acknowledgment.
"You who slew my daughter," Titania said quietly. "You dare summon me?"
The last word slashed through the air, its fury palpable. It struck the circle surrounding me and broke into a shower of gold and green sparks that vanished almost instantly.
I've had some experience with the Queens of Faerie. When they get angry and start talking to you, you freaking hear them. And then if you survive it, you hope you can make it to the emergency room in time. I just hadn't seen any scenario in which my talking to Titania wouldn't make her furious-so I'd drawn the circle as a precaution.
Sometimes I use my brain.
"Crazy, right?" I said. "But I needed to speak to you, O Queen."
Her eyes narrowed. The curtain-cloud of birds continued their circling around us, though they had fallen eerily silent. The clouds overhead continued to spin. We were as isolated from the rest of the world as if we stood in a private garden. "Speak, then."
I thought about my words and picked them carefully. "There are events in motion. Very large events, with serious ramifications for basically the whole world. I mean, I thought the war between the White Council and the Red Court was a big deal-but now it looks to me like it was more or less an opening act for the real band."
Her eyes narrowed. She nodded her head a fraction of an inch.
"Something is going to happen tonight," I said. "The Well will come under attack. You know what could happen if it is opened. A lot of people would get hurt in the short term. And in the long term . . . well, I'm not sure I know what would happen, but I'm almost certain it wouldn't be good."
Titania tilted her head slightly to one side. It reminded me of an eagle considering its prey and deciding whether or not it was worth it to swoop down on it out of nowhere.
"I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen," I said. "And because of the nature of this . . . problem . . . I can't trust any of the information I get out of the people I'm working for."
"Ah," she said. "You wish me to pass judgment upon my sister."
"I need someone with knowledge of Mab," I said. "Someone who knows the events are in motion. Who would know if she had . . . uh. . . . Changed."
"And what makes you think that I would have the knowledge you seek?"
"Because I Saw you preparing the battlefield at the stone table, years ago. You're Mab's equal. I Saw your power. You don't get power like that without knowledge."
"That is true."
"I need to know," I said. "Is Mab sane? Is she . . . still Mab?"
Years of life in the Midwest screamed at me to do exactly that. My heart started speeding up and my mouth went dry, while the clouds overhead-and when I say "overhead" I mean directly over my head-turned faster and faster.
Birds exploded into the sky from all over the Magic Hedge, joining the sparrows in their wild circling. The air suddenly became close, and the drizzling rain cut off as if a valve had been closed. Lightning with no thunder flickered weirdly through the clouds, which turned every shade of white and blue and sea green as the water vapor separated the light into the visible spectrum.
Then I felt it-a warmth like that I'd felt in Lily, only a hundred times hotter and brighter and more intense. The clouds started to lower, and the frantic birds tightened their circle, until they were a wall of shining feathers and glittering eyes around the meadow. Then there was a flash of light, a toll of thunder that sounded weirdly musical, like the after-tone of some vast gong, and a shower of earth and glowing bits of charred autumn grass flew into the air. I threw up an arm to shield my eyes-but I kept my feet planted.
When the dirt settled and the dust and ash cleared, the Lady of Light and Life and Monarch of the Summer Court stood about fifteen feet away from me.
She was breathtaking. I don't mean beautiful, because she was that, obviously. But it was the kind of beauty that had so much scope, so much depth, so much power that it made me feel dwindling, insignificant, and very, very temporary. You feel it the first time you see the mountains, the first time you see the sea, the first time you see the vast, bleak majesty of the Grand Canyon-and every single time you look at Titania, the Summer Queen.
I'd say that the details of her appearance were unimportant, except that they weren't-particularly for me.
Titania was dressed for a fight.
She wore a gown of mail made from some kind of silvery metal, the links so fine that at first it looked like woven cloth. It covered her like a second skin, all the way to the top of her throat. Over that she wore a long robe of silk that shifted in colors from the yellow of sunlight to the green of pine needles in a slow strobelike pattern. Her silver-white hair had been braided into a tail and then fixed in coils at the base of her neck. Upon her head was a crown of what looked like twisted vine with still-living leaves. She carried neither weapon nor shield, but her wide Sidhe eyes stared at me with the absolute certainty of one who knows she is armed well beyond the ability of her enemy to withstand.
Oh, and if I hadn't known better, I would have sworn to you that it was Mab standing there. Seriously. They didn't look like sisters. They looked like clones.
I started off by bowing to her, deeply. I held it for a beat before rising again.
She was a statue for a few seconds. She didn't so much as nod backto me, to any measurable degree, but some microchange in her body language indicated acknowledgment.
"You who slew my daughter," Titania said quietly. "You dare summon me?"
The last word slashed through the air, its fury palpable. It struck the circle surrounding me and broke into a shower of gold and green sparks that vanished almost instantly.
I've had some experience with the Queens of Faerie. When they get angry and start talking to you, you freaking hear them. And then if you survive it, you hope you can make it to the emergency room in time. I just hadn't seen any scenario in which my talking to Titania wouldn't make her furious-so I'd drawn the circle as a precaution.
Sometimes I use my brain.
"Crazy, right?" I said. "But I needed to speak to you, O Queen."
Her eyes narrowed. The curtain-cloud of birds continued their circling around us, though they had fallen eerily silent. The clouds overhead continued to spin. We were as isolated from the rest of the world as if we stood in a private garden. "Speak, then."
I thought about my words and picked them carefully. "There are events in motion. Very large events, with serious ramifications for basically the whole world. I mean, I thought the war between the White Council and the Red Court was a big deal-but now it looks to me like it was more or less an opening act for the real band."
Her eyes narrowed. She nodded her head a fraction of an inch.
"Something is going to happen tonight," I said. "The Well will come under attack. You know what could happen if it is opened. A lot of people would get hurt in the short term. And in the long term . . . well, I'm not sure I know what would happen, but I'm almost certain it wouldn't be good."
Titania tilted her head slightly to one side. It reminded me of an eagle considering its prey and deciding whether or not it was worth it to swoop down on it out of nowhere.
"I'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen," I said. "And because of the nature of this . . . problem . . . I can't trust any of the information I get out of the people I'm working for."
"Ah," she said. "You wish me to pass judgment upon my sister."
"I need someone with knowledge of Mab," I said. "Someone who knows the events are in motion. Who would know if she had . . . uh. . . . Changed."
"And what makes you think that I would have the knowledge you seek?"
"Because I Saw you preparing the battlefield at the stone table, years ago. You're Mab's equal. I Saw your power. You don't get power like that without knowledge."
"That is true."
"I need to know," I said. "Is Mab sane? Is she . . . still Mab?"
