Midnight Wonders

5.3.2. The Collector of Lost Children

"Do you know Tristan?" said Cora, feeling a sudden relief.

"Indeed I do," she said. "He's here already, isn't he?"

Cora nodded. "Are you with him?"

"Not in that way," Annabel said, and laughed. Cora hadn't even realized her question, and she flushed a little, though she remembered Tristan's ring. But maybe it was just a ring. Princes, she figured. Wealth, jewelry. It wasn't anything unusual. "No, we're not necessarily working together. Tristan likes to do things himself. But we are friends, and we can certainly work together now that we're all here. I'm with Emma."

"Emma?" Cora couldn't imagine what Emma was doing in Under-The-Green-Hill. Unless... "She's from here too?"

Annabel nodded. "Oh, and Luc."

"Luc is here?" Cora's heart did all sorts of flip-flops and somersaults. "What is he doing here? Why is he in here? He's..."

"He's come for you, of course," said Annabel.

Was Cora glad or upset? She wanted nothing more than to see him, her brother, even if he wasn't. And yet, what if someone tried to keep him here too? What if they both got caught here? Symphora surely wasn't about to let Cora go, and what if she kept Luc here too so Cora would never leave?

"Can I see him?" said Cora.

"He's with Emma right now," Annabel said. "They're seeing your father."

"He's not going to let me go," Cora said.

"Well, they're not exactly trying to convince him," Annabel replied. "They're just hiding from Symphora since she doesn't go up top often. You'll get to see them in a bit, don't worry. And we'll get you out of here. Both of you."

"How?" Cora hoped they'd come with a more solid plan than Tristan. She of course appreciated him coming at all, but it had been a while and they were still making minor progress in an escape plan.

Annabel reached into a crib and pulled out one of the lambs—Lilias. Cora recognized her by the blanket. "This way, of course," she said, cradling the little lamb. Lilias was awake, looking around with wide eyes.

Cora frowned. "What way—"

The nursery door banged open, and Symphora stormed into the room, a thin branch clenched tightly in her hand. "The wand," she said, and made to throw it to Annabel, then seemed to realize that was rather unbecoming and walked across the room to hold it out more graciously.

"Let Cora use it," Annabel said. "My arms are a bit full."

Symphora gave Cora the wand. "So I just...tap?" Cora said. "Three times?"

"Haven't I already explained it to you?" Symphora snapped.

"Thank you for clarifying," said Cora. The branch—the wand—felt strange in her hand. It felt so thin and fragile, but somehow, she felt that it was strong, stronger than her, that her bones might snap with even the slightest whack. She tapped Lilias three times on the forehead, slowly and in rhythm: one, two, three.

A second was an eternity, and nothing happened. Then, all of a sudden, the lamb morphed. It wasn't a grotesque transformation, as Cora had feared. Somehow the transitional stages between lamb and human were almost...beautiful. There was something in its impossibility. And it was over so quickly Cora could hardly remember what it had been like, for now there was no lamb but a little human infant in Annabel's arms.

Lilias blinked up with her dark brown eyes, waving chubby little fists. She was much rounder than Cora had expected for a baby that was only fed three sips of soup a meal. It was reassuring to see that she looked so healthy. She had a little smattering of dark hair, which curled in the cutest way around her ears. Cora hadn't thought there could be anything cuter than the lambs, but she was surely proven wrong at the sight of Lilias. It was all she could do to keep from squealing aloud.