Linda arched her brow at Niall’s refusal; James was less circumspect. “You could drop the tent.”
“Good idea.” Niall shot Seth a warning look. “I’ll pitch the tent, Seth. Why don’t you all talk while I do that?”
Without waiting for a reply, Niall walked toward a level bit of ground and began assembling a tent with the sort of precision that comes from having done the task regularly. Seth considered going after him, but figured that this wasn’t something to discuss in front of his parents.
One problem at a time.
“Your letter said there was trouble,” Seth started.
His parents exchanged a look, but neither of them said anything.
Seth sat down on a log that was off to the side of the fire pit. “What sort of trouble?”
“Well, you see … there was a protest.” Linda smiled. “I was very reasonable at first. It wasn’t quite a sit-in, like we used to have, but we were peaceful. A few placards, some mild yelling, and walking.”
The supportive look on his father’s face didn’t waver, but he didn’t speak, either.
“And then?”
“Well, I may have lost my temper a bit.” Linda reached out and tucked his hair back as she had when he was a child. “You know how it goes. I chained myself to some of their machinery. Very calmly, though!”
“And?”
“Well, there’s a fine.” Linda smiled. “We don’t really have the funds since everything went to you.”
“You had me come all the way out because you needed money?” Seth rubbed his forehead. “Seriously?”
“No… you see … afterward, there was a bit of a problem with a few locals too.”
Seth looked from his mother to his father. “What kind of problem?”
Linda folded her arms. “I don’t think they’re bad, and I’m not… I’m not sure why we thought you should come. It just suddenly seemed urgent. It doesn’t make sense.”
His parents exchanged an odd look, and Seth felt his unease grow. Calmly, he started, “Okay. Tell me everything without me dragging it out of you. I’ve spent—days… getting here, and I’ve had a bit of a rough few … weeks.”
“Doing what?” his father asked. “You’re unemployed, not in school, and have no dependents. What could possibly be so rough about that?”
Seth closed his eyes, counting silently to ten, and then smiled. “Mom just admitted she got arrested, so I’m not sure this is the best time to lecture.”
“Don’t take that tone,” Linda snapped.
At that, Niall gave Seth a questioning look; Seth shook his head—which his father saw.
“What kind of friend is Niall?”
“One willing to drive your son to see you,” Niall said loudly enough to carry across the distance.
The warning look Seth shot Niall was greeted with a grin. The Dark King looked around. “I think I’ll check out the perimeter.”
“The perimeter?” James repeated.
“Of the camp.” Niall gestured. “If you’re having trouble…”
At that, Linda blurted, “They didn’t seem to think we should, um, leave the campsite. Every time we try, we get escorted back here. They haven’t hurt us, but they’ve been very firm. Do you really think that’s a good idea to disobey?”
“Oh, I definitely do,” Niall murmured as his gaze drifted around the woods surrounding the campsite.
“You will stay here,” Niall ordered.
Seth winced again. The Dark King wasn’t used to being around mortals. “Broth—” Seth stopped himself, flushed guiltily, and walked over to Niall. Seth clasped Niall’s arm and said in a low whisper, “I could go. They’re my parents, not your responsibility.”
The look Niall gave him was a shade away from incredulous. “You are still my responsibility.”
“I’m not—”
“Stay. I’ll be right back,” Niall ordered.
And even though Seth didn’t need to obey, he wasn’t an idiot. A few months of training with the Hunt was nothing compared to the centuries of experience Niall had with conflict—and with faeries. Are they why we’re here? The faeries were now watching them attentively, albeit from farther away now that the Dark King had looked their way. Is it normal for there to be so many faeries in the woods? They weren’t fey Seth could identify, and the reality of how much Seth didn’t know about the world outside the courts struck him. Are they friendly? Dangerous? He assumed they were solitary faeries, those who existed outside of any regent’s influence, but beyond that he had no idea. All he truly knew was that he was very grateful to have Niall by his side.
“Stay here,” Niall repeated.
“Right,” Seth acquiesced. “Maybe I’ll wait here with my parents while you go for a walk.”
Niall grinned. “Brilliant idea, brother.”
Expectantly, Niall rolled his shoulders as he walked into the shadows of the woods. Seth was right: this was far more satisfying than sitting in the dark sulking. Once, centuries ago, Niall had enjoyed roaming. The mortal world was filled with solitary faeries, willing mortals, and amazing sights. Who wouldn’t want to roam? He stalked toward a clustered group of solitary fey who watched him.
One, a faery with distinctly ursine traits, stepped forward. “Don’t have any business with the Dark.”
“You glamoured yourself and caused trouble for those mortals?” Niall asked.
Faeries spread out in a semicircle, leaving him the option of retreating. One bird-thin faery started to walk behind him.
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.” Niall glanced over his shoulder. “Striking the Dark King isn’t usually a choice that ends well for anyone.”
“Says you.”
Another faery darted out and grabbed the birdlike one’s arm. Stumbling over each other, they moved back to the clutch of faeries who stayed together. The ursine fey watched all of it with an unreadable expression.
Niall frowned. He couldn’t taste any strong emotion—no anger, no fear, nothing.
“What did you hope to gain by trapping them?” Niall asked.
A halfling stepped up beside the ursine faery. She was feral in a way that made Niall suspect that her lineage was his court. Shocking violet eyes were even more arresting because of their total lack of lashes. “We want to talk to him.” She nodded toward the campsite. “Their cub.”
“Son,” Niall corrected.
“Whatever,” the girl said.
“He’s mine to protect. The Dark Court would not look kindly on any who harmed Seth.” Niall shook his head. “Actually, he’s under the care of a lot of regents: the Summer Queen, the High Queen, and the Shadow King are all fond enough of him that troubling him would be unwise.”
Another faery laughed. “Don’t want to hurt him. We hear he’s made himself our champion. Thought we’d meet him.”
“You can’t harm his parents.” Niall shook his head. “You ought to protect them. If he’s your champion…”
The faeries shifted and exchanged looks. The ursine nodded once, and they all started donning mortal glamours. One after another they became as mortal-looking as they could. In a few moments, they all looked a lot like the mortals who camped in these mountains, clad in sturdy hiking boots, layered shirts, and worn trousers.
The ursine faery gestured toward the campsite. “We will meet him now. We … influenced them to summon him. Now we will greet him.”
“I’m not sure—”
“Gave you the courtesy of conversation first because we don’t want trouble with the Dark. Now, we will meet him, unless you think yourself able to stand against all of us,” the ursine continued.
The Dark King grinned. “You think I can’t?”
For a moment, no one moved, and then the woods seemed to come to life. Several hundred faeries had waited in the shadows. They dropped from trees, stood from within shrubs, and seemingly rose up from the pine needles on the ground.
The ursine smiled. “I think you are one faery, king or not, and you ar
e not so foolish to take on this throng alone—especially as we mean no ill.”
Niall’s eyes widened as he took in the still-growing number of solitaries who came forward. “I’m not sure this many fey should go to—”
“You are not our champion, Dark King,” the feral halfling interrupted.
En masse they started to walk toward the campsite, and Niall had the unusual sensation of being surrounded by alien beings. These were not the sort of fey he’d spent much time with in many centuries, and even forever ago when he was solitary too, he hadn’t known any packs to be this vast.
“This is going to be interesting,” he muttered. Then he turned and strode through the crowd toward the campsite.
“I don’t understand. Why did you feel like you had to contact me? Did someone say something? Or did someone threa—” Seth broke off as he suddenly felt like innumerable threads were weaving themselves to him.
“Seth?” His mother reached out and touched his cheek. “What’s…” Her words faded as she noticed what he was looking at.
Seth stared at the horde of faeries, wearing mortal guises, swarming toward them.
“Jamie!” Linda yelled.
His father poked his head out of the tent, vanished, and came back out with two guns. He held one out between Seth and Linda. “Don’t know which of you—”
“I’m good,” Seth murmured. He pulled out a short bone knife he’d had strapped to his ankle. “Stay behind me.”
He stepped in front of his parents, despite his mother grabbing his sleeve and trying to pull him behind her. Without faery strength, he would’ve swayed. Linda wasn’t going to win any best mother awards, but he was still her son, and her reaction was straight-up mother-bear instinct.
Not that it would help against the actual bear approaching us.
Seth swallowed the fear that started to rise. Freaking out wasn’t going to help matters.
“That’s the guy who was here before,” Linda whispered.
“He has a lot more friends this time,” Seth’s father said in a rough voice. “I don’t know what they want … or how three of us—”
“Four,” Seth corrected as he saw Niall in the crowd. “There are four of us.”
“Still lousy odds, son.”
Without looking at his parents, Seth said, “Let me handle this if I can, okay?”
“But what—”
“Dad!” Seth glanced back. “Seriously. Trust me enough to let me try first. You wanted me here. I’m here. Now, give me a minute.”
Tersely, James nodded.
“Stay right here,” Seth told them. “Do not follow me over there.”
At that moment, Niall walked up to stand beside him. “I’ll stay with your parents.” He motioned at an ATV that sat alongside the trail. The steed had obviously wandered up to join them.
“You get them out of here if you need to,” Seth demanded.
When Niall nodded, Seth walked toward the faeries, who were watching him with the sort of fixed attention that made him briefly wish that he had the same sort of skills here that his faery mother had in her world. He looked over his shoulder at his loved ones.
A fence would be nice right about now.
As he thought it, the fence he’d imagined shimmered into existence. Rusted iron spikes surrounded his parents and Niall.
“Seth?” both of his parents said. Their eyes were wide and their expressions confused.
“Door, please, brother.” Niall’s voice was dry, but the glint in his eyes was assessing.
“Right.” Seth pictured a door in the tall fence.
Linda grabbed the bars, testing them to see if they were illusory.
Niall opened the gate, stepped outside the iron enclosure, and closed the gate. With a casual mien that hid his surprise, the Dark King strolled over to stand beside Seth. “I suppose your parents are safe enough that I can join you.”
Absently, Seth nodded.
How did that happen?
The faeries waited attentively, and Seth looked back at them. “Why are you hassling my parents?”
“We wanted to meet you,” a violet-eyed half-fey girl said.
Another faery tilted his head in an unmistakable posture of challenge. “Didn’t think you’d want us to come to that place. Were we wrong?”
Softly, Niall told Seth, “There are several courts in our city.”
Seth nodded. “Right. Well, I live there, and where I am, you are welcome. If any of the regents”—he looked at Niall briefly—“have an issue with it, they can take it up with me.” Seth paused and let his gaze drift over the ragtag horde in front of him. “Unless you start trouble with them or theirs,” he added sternly. “I stand as balance to the…”
For a moment, Seth couldn’t say the words. There were a lot of times he’d thought about telling his parents about his change the past few months, but he hadn’t been sure. He envisioned a sofa behind them, so they could sit.
His mother sank onto the sofa and stared at him, and his father eyed the group with suspicion.
Seth dropped his mortal glamour and watched his parents. He still looked like their child, but his skin radiated light now and his eyes were silvered. His alteration in appearance wasn’t as drastic as with many faeries, but it was enough to make clear that he had changed. James stepped back, and Linda reached out for James’ hand. Their attention was fixed solely on Seth.
“Seth?” Linda whispered.
“As the balance to the Dark King, I am his equal.” Seth took a deep breath and added, “Those faeries who are mine to protect are free to enter Huntsdale, but not to start trouble of any sort with the fey of the courts … or with mortals.”
The horde of faeries shuffled for a tense moment, and then the bearlike faery spoke up. “And if they start trouble?”
“You finish it,” Seth assured them. “I don’t ask you to be weak, or to be subjects, but if you want my protection, you don’t start shit that complicates my life. You also don’t take any bullshit.”
The solitaries smiled. A majority of them bowed, curtsied, or knelt. Awkwardly, Seth nodded his head at them.
What is the right move here?
Niall reached out and clasped Seth’s arm. “Well done, little brother. You’re turning into a decent king.”
“Not a king,” Seth muttered.
“Right…” Niall laughed. “So tell your subjects to stay or go.”
Heart hammering loudly enough that he suspected most every faery there heard it, he walked over to his parents, who were sitting on a purple and white fauxcowhide-covered sofa his mother had once liked.
I made an ugly sofa.
His mother and father sat close together, staring silently at him, hands clasped tightly.
“So… those rough weeks? Well… I’ve changed a bit.” Seth touched the fence, and it vanished. “I can explain all of it.”
His father released his mother’s hand and stood. His eyes were wide, but his spine was straight. “You made a sofa and fence appear out of thin air.”
“I did.”
His mother motioned toward the faeries. “They’re not”—Linda’s voice dropped—“human, are they?”
“They aren’t.”
“And you?” his father asked in an emotionless voice.
“No, not now,” Seth said evenly.
“Well.” Linda stood. She laughed uneasily. “That’s … new. They’re … new.”
“Actually, they’ve always been around,” Seth said cautiously, “but most mortals can’t see them. I can make it so you always can see them … if you want.”
His father wrapped an arm around his mother. After a tense moment, he nodded. “That seems like a good idea.”
The fears Seth had when he’d considered telling them came rushing back to him. This was exactly what I didn’t want. They were awkward, staring at him and unmoving.
His mother stepped away from his father. She took both of Seth’s hands in hers. “Are you happy?”
“I am.??
?
“Safe?” his father asked in a rough voice.
“Yes.” Seth glanced at the faeries. “Very.”
His parents exchanged a look, and then his father nodded. “Okay then … are they staying or going … wherever they go?”
Startled, Seth looked at his father. “Staying?”
“I only have a few beers, but maybe you can do that thing you just did”—James gestured at the sofa—“and magic up some more refreshments.”
At that, Seth laughed. That sounded like the father he remembered, understated and adaptable.
“Can we see what they really look like? Like you did when you looked different?” Linda asked quietly. Her eyes were wide, not in fear but in the same childlike excitement that sent her off on hobby after hobby, fancy after fancy.
“Only if they want,” Seth told her. Then he turned to the assembled faeries and said, “Glamours are optional around my parents.”
They started dropping their glamours, and Seth watched the awe on his parents’ faces as they saw the strange wonder of the less human-looking faeries for the first time. Tears slid down Linda’s cheeks. “They’re beautiful”—she glanced at one very inhuman faery with feline features—“and, well, a little terrifying.”
“Yes.” Seth pulled his mother into a hug and whispered, “Just remember that they are my, um, subjects. From here on, they’ll be around, keeping an eye on you, making sure you’re safe.”
Somewhere in the crowd, faeries had started singing, and a few drums were produced. The campfire was joined by several other fires. Seth envisioned drinks and snacks, and his solitary brethren rejoiced together.
His parents danced and laughed, and Seth shook his head. It hadn’t taken them long to get past the initial shock.
“Not bad,” Niall said from behind him.
Seth turned. “What?”
“Your first revelry.” Niall gestured at the faeries who were cavorting in the woods all around them. “Later, though, we probably ought to talk about that little surprise trick of yours. No faery can create reality from nothing … at least none who live outside of Faerie.”
“I didn’t know I could do that,” Seth protested. “Honest.”
The Dark King shook his head, and they stood silently for a few moments. “You’re not going to try to give the role of Dark Court balance to someone else.”