The front of the Yew was very similar to the front of Sycamore, with a large door framed by winding trees. These trees, though, were markedly different from those at the Sycamore, with darker, rougher bark that twisted many times more, like the wound-up fibers of a rope tied in elaborate knots.
"Do you want to..." Annabel asked, looking at Emma, who was staring up at the Yew with apprehension. That expression had persisted since they'd left By-The-Well, and it was almost anxiety now.
"No," Emma said. "Not right now."
Annabel nodded. "I'll take the front door," she said. "Maybe I'll run into the Queen of the Yew and she'll show me where Cora is. Luc, Emma's just going to show you inside through the top, and she'll make sure you don't get caught by the Queen of the Yew, all right?"
Luc figured he should leave the plans up to Emma and Annabel, who seemed to have this all carefully mapped out. He wished he could go with Annabel to find Cora, but this seemed like a safer bet. "All right."
"Good luck," Emma said to Annabel.
"You need it more," Annabel said, smiling. Then she waved them off, turning to the doors.
"Come on," Emma said, leading Luc along the side.
"Where are we going?" he asked, trying to keep his voice low.
"To see my father," she said. "He's the King of the Yew."
"Oh," said Luc. "You're a princess?"
"I suppose so." Emma grimaced. "Well, my mother married him, so now she's the Queen and I'm a princess. And the King is my father—technically my stepfather, but I've never known another."
"Wait," Luc said, stopping. Emma paused to look at him. "Your mother is the Queen of the Yew?"
"Oh," she said. "I should have mentioned that, shouldn't I've? She is, though we don't...get along. I haven't seen her for a while."
"That's why we're avoiding her?"
Emma nodded.
"All right." Luc didn't really want to see the woman who had kept his sister here for so long anyhow. "Where does your father reside?"
"Up top," Emma said. "The administrative duties are left to him, and Symphora—that's the Queen—deals with internal affairs of the palace. She controls who comes and goes and what happens to them. But if we get in through the top, she'll never know." She grinned.
"So...how do we get 'up top'?"
Emma gestured with a flourish to the trees around them. "We climb."
Luc stared at her, wondering if she was being serious. Emma, with another grin, hooked her fingers into a groove in the tree and hauled herself up a bit. She had scaled several feet when she looked back down at Luc, who was staring up at her in bewilderment. "Are you coming?"
"Um..." Luc blinked. "I don't know if I can do that."
"Have you never climbed trees?"
"I'm usually getting people to not climb trees."
"It's easy. You can do it."
"You and Kay have too much faith in my abilities to do dangerous things."
"This is hardly dangerous."
"Life itself is dangerous, Emma." She shrugged and continued on, and reluctantly, he followed.
Climbing a tree was marginally less terrifying than riding a horse. At least he was entirely in control, so any mistake was entirely his, and he had not to worry about the capricious tendencies of a horse. He did, however, feel like a very ungraceful spider clambering up the tree, and he was glad that no one was there but he and Emma.
YOU ARE READING
Midnight Wonders
FantasyFor Luc, life began seven years ago. It began on a bus, by the hills, beneath a black sky, with no one at his side but his sister, Cora. His world is mundane, routine, and perfectly adequate. At work, he teaches, and at home, he takes care of Cora...
