I Do Believe in Faeries (The Cotton Candy Quintet Book 3) (12 page)

The kelpie snorted derisively and shook its head.

“Oh, great,” Robin exclaimed. “The kelpie is communicating with us.”

The horse snorted in his direction, obviously not happy.

“Maybe it will take me to the Summer Court,” I said.

At that, the horse nodded gruffly with a sniff.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said.

I grabbed the kelpie’s mane as the big beast bent over. Despite the aching in my cracked ribs, I managed to pull myself mostly onto its back. The last bit of help came from Robin pushing on my rear, which made my cheeks warm from embarrassment.

At the very last moment, the faerie pulled himself up behind me.

“I’m coming with you,” he told me. At my expression, he added grimly, “Whether you like it or not.”

I glared at him, but finally nodded. Maybe I could sell him out to Oberon for something, and he could see how it felt.

The kelpie whinnied, not very happy that the other faerie was on his back. Like everyone else here, there was apparently bad blood between Robin and the kelpie. No time to settle that now.

“Come on,” I whispered to the horse. “Let’s show Mab what she’s been keeping locked up.”

The kelpie took off at a fast gallop, and, having only lived in Centerburg my entire life, without access to horses, I just held on for dear life.

The kelpie’s hooves thudded down the hallway, and I watched as denizens of the Winter Court dodged out of the way. I was riding one of the most feared faeries in the Winter Court apparently. The rush it gave me brought a smile to my face, the first real one I’d had in a very long time.

The menagerie was on the ground floor of the place, tucked into the mountainside. Being dragged to my cell had taken a good thirty minutes. Riding on the kelpie, however, the halls and corridors flew by like I was flipping through pages of a book.

The other creatures of the menagerie ran alongside us, some leaping out to attack the faeries of the Winter Court. We neared the throne room on our way out, and I prepared myself for coming face to face with Mab. The kelpie didn’t slow down one bit and we burst through the doors, the horse neighing wildly as it thrashed and kicked aside a goblin.

We had caught Queen Mab on her throne, and her look of horror, as we burst in with a bunch of wild and frightening creatures, was priceless. In a fit of inspiration, I held out one hand to her and extended my middle finger, igniting the end of it with a little flame.

She shrieked in anger.

I was triumphant and high on my adrenaline. The kelpie turned and streaked out of the throne room, through the doors, and into the night.

Just as I had wished for back in my cell, I got to see the night sky once again.

This time, I was sure it wouldn’t be my last.

Chapter 13

If you ever have to travel through Tir na nÓg, I highly recommend doing it from the back of a kelpie. What took us hours before, now passed by in minutes, as the strong horse pumped its legs to cross as much land as possible in the least amount of time.

I held onto its mane and Robin held onto my hips as we rode through the different courts. Like in the Winter Court palace, faeries dodged out of the way as quick as they could to get away from the kelpie. I even spotted the knees of Jack-in-Irons at one point, but we were traveling too fast and too far away for it to be a problem.

Small miracles.

When we passed by any body of water, I could feel Robin tense up behind me, as if he was afraid that the kelpie would suddenly decide to take a dive with us on its back and drown us. I didn’t worry though. The kelpie didn’t seem to slow down one bit near water.

Eventually, Winter gave way to Autumn, which gave away to Summer, and the heat of the summer sun began to warm up my insides. It would probably take a long time for me to ever feel warm again after my stint in the Winter Court, but I sighed, relishing the sensation of finally feeling my extremities.

I would never again complain about how hot it got in Florida. Heat was wonderful. Cold was its own kind of hell.

The grass here was green and lush, and the summer flowers were in full bloom. We passed by faeries that lounged in the sunlight, only giving us a cursory glance as we passed. Summer made you lazy with happiness. I know I sure felt that way.

The kelpie slowed down through the Summer Court, as if sensing that it was nearing our destination. I patted its neck, thanking it with every fiber of my being. I don’t know if we would have been able to escape without it, and I certainly wouldn’t have made it this far.

“There it is,” Robin said, speaking up for the first time since he hopped on the back of the kelpie. It took me a moment to realize what he was talking about. I looked where he nodded and I saw the yellow castle rising out from the tops of the trees.

“The Summer Court,” I whispered.

Summer and Winter couldn’t have been more opposite to each other. While the Winter Castle had been made out of ice and snow and immaculately carved, the Summer Castle was simpler, with spires that wound their way up to the sky, reminding me of sunbeams. The walls were rounded, and the architecture reminded me vaguely of some Russian castles that I had once seen in a book.

Exhilaration hit me in the best and worst way possible. The best in that there was a strong possibility that the pixies and the baby were here and my journey was nearly over. And the worst way possible because, on some weird level, I was going to miss this place.

I must be crazy!

As we neared it, the kelpie whinnied again and stopped completely.

“This is our stop,” Robin said, swinging one leg over and sliding down the kelpie’s flank. His voice didn’t hold the happy-go-lucky tone that it once had. In fact, he seemed melancholy and tired.

I leaned forward and kissed the kelpie on the back of its neck.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “You saved my life.”

The kelpie pinned its ear back in answer.

I hugged the horse around its neck and sniffled, trying to not let my tears fall. While we had a short time together, I would never forget what it did for me.

Sadly, I allowed myself to slide off the kelpie’s neck. Robin caught me by my waist and gently set me down. I tensed my jaw as I looked at him, but I didn’t acknowledge the gesture.

Only a little bit longer now and we’d never see each other again. Never mind that thinking that a while ago would have made me sad. He had revealed his true nature as a faerie. Now it was my turn to reveal my true nature as someone who could forgive, but not forget.

I brushed his hands away from me, refusing to allow him to touch me any more than was necessary. He frowned but didn’t say anything more.

The kelpie neighed once more, filling the little valley with the sound, turned on its back hooves and galloped away.

“Who’d have thought that a kelpie would have been such a nice guy?” Robin murmured.

“It wants what any creature wants,” I told him.

“What’s that?”

“Freedom.”

The space between his eyebrows tightened as he frowned down at me. “Listen, Tinkerbell—”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Okay,
Abby,
” he sighed, exasperated. “I just…” His voice trailed off, and he swallowed back his words.

“What?” I asked.

He let out a breath. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for everything I’ve done. For any pain or hurt that I’ve caused.”

An apology. It wouldn’t right the wrongs that he did, but I found myself appreciating the gesture.

He grinned, seeing that his words had melted my icy exterior towards him. He held out a hand. “Friends?”

I hesitated for a moment before taking it. “Friends.”

He then grabbed me and wrapped me up in a hug that wasn’t tight enough to hurt my ribs. He put his chin on top of my head and breathed in deeply. The act had caught me by surprise, so I stood there, stunned for a few moments before stepping back.

“You tricked me again,” I said.

“It’s in my nature.” He shrugged and the playfulness was back between us. At least we had that. “So you’re not too mad for me to call in my favor after this, right? A date?”

I pressed my lips together, but I couldn’t help the smile that was threatening to break across my face. “Maybe.”

We walked up to the front of the castle gates, two imposing structures with patterns etched into the sandstone. In a way, it felt like we were looking at a giant sandcastle you’d find at the beach, which, in some ways, was entirely fitting for the Summer Court. However, unlike the other two castles that we’ve visited, the doors did not immediately open and no one came out to greet us.

“Hello?” I called out.

Nothing.

Robin crossed his arms as he tapped his foot. “I’m King Oberon’s lapdog,” he muttered. “You’d think he’d roll out the red carpet for me.”

I chuckled lightly. At his raised eyebrow, I said, “You just called yourself a lapdog.”

“So I did.” He frowned again at the door. “Well, if no one is going to answer it, I guess we just help ourselves.”

I was about to ask what he meant by that, when he reared his leg back and kicked the double gates open. The loud thud resounded throughout the meadow and the huge doors swung inward. No human could have done that by themselves.

I finally got a glimpse into what made him such a powerful faerie.

My wonder didn’t last long, however, because as soon as the doors opened wide enough for us to see into the Summer Court Castle, I could see that all of the faeries in the Court were here to witness a shouting match between what looked to be a gorgeous Adonis of a man in his late twenties and Queen Titania.

Something hovered above them, like a reddish magenta marble the size of a bowling ball that glowed with an ethereal light. I looked at it, horrified.

Because cocooned inside the orb, protected from the elements, was Alaina’s baby.

Chapter 14

Titania’s attention diverted to me first. As soon as she did though, her already angry face twisted into a nasty snarl.

“Well if it isn’t Robin Goodfellow and the little hussy that turned down my offer for a spot in my court. How can this day get any better?”

The gorgeous, golden god blinked confusedly at us. “Robin?” he asked. “What are you doing here? And with a mortal girl?”

“King Oberon,” Robin said. “I came with a mortal girl because she was searching for something.”

Again, his whole demeanor changed as he addressed his king. For the first time, I saw just how much he had acted the part of the humble servant in the other courts. The faerie dropped into a low bow. This time, his allegiance was genuine.

Titania looked sick as she leered at him. “He came to trick all of us.”

“Titania, hush,” King Oberon said. “You will not speak to my servant that way.”

Oberon turned, giving us his full attention. “Why would you help a mortal girl?” he asked, sounding genuinely interested in what his servant had to say.

Robin sighed, and clenched and unclenched his jaw for what seemed like an eternity. Then he finally said, “Because I love her.”

I blinked as the words sunk in. What the—?

Was this another trick? What the heck was he talking about? I swallowed the lump back in my throat as I tried to search his face. To my utter irritation, he refused to look in my direction to confirm or deny it. I wanted to shout in anger at him. This was cruel. He shouldn’t be saying things like that, because something made my heart beat faster at the thought. And it wasn’t right, because even though I felt insta-love, you don’t go spouting things like that.

Right?

King Oberon laughed in his face. “A faerie? Fallen in love with a mortal girl?” he bellowed.

Robin smiled serenely. “It happened quickly as it does with faeries, but you know how fickle we are.” He looked at me, his eyes shining. “It’s just a phase, Tinkerbell. Probably. Maybe not. I at least want a date, but, it’s okay if I also love you, right?”

I think if the ground opened up and swallowed me, I wouldn’t have been more surprised.

He really didn’t betray me at the Winter Court; he was trying to protect me. My heart fluttered to life in my chest, that maybe this thing I was feeling was actually being reciprocated. Yet now that we’re here, at the end of our journey…

As if sensing my thoughts, Robin laughed shortly, and Oberon joined with him, but the laugh was mirthless, as if there was no conviction behind it.

“You always were a funny one, Robin,” Oberon said with a smile. He looked at me fully now, taking in the sight of me, and I’m sure I looked like I’d just crawled out from the depths of hell, because this entire trip had pretty much been that.

Behind him, Titania was fuming. “I
knew
you had feelings for this…
girl
back at my court
…
” she raged.

I looked at her in a different light, as things started to click into place in my mind. With all of her disdain for Robin, it suddenly made sense as to why she’d want to keep me in her court; to get back at him in a petty way by taking something he cared about.

I really didn’t like her.

Titania took it one step further and shouted, “And she should be thrown into jail for what she did to me!”

“I already have been, your highness,” I said tiredly. “Back at the Winter Court. I really don’t want to go back there again.”

Oberon blinked and chuckled. “She’s a funny one too, Robin,” he said, as if I wasn’t here. “I can see the attraction.”

Robin gave me a sidelong glance, and his face was yet again unreadable. “Yes,” he said simply.

“What is it that you are looking for, mortal child?” Oberon asked, bringing my attention back to him.

I cleared my throat, forcing back my thoughts about Robin, and getting to the task at hand. Where should I start? Everything seemed like a blur right now, an adventure that came about in both dreams and nightmares.

I supposed I should start at the beginning.

I stepped forward, trying to ignore the fact that Alaina’s baby hung deep in slumber above us. I was so close to my goal, yet so far. I had to choose my words carefully. I had to make sure that I would set this right.