The Iron Seer

Chapter 5 - Different Places, of Light and Dark

Ash took my hand, and I jumped, startled from my thoughts. I gazed up at him, my heart beating erratically. He was close. Too close. I wanted him closer. Why did I want him closer? "Would you like to come hunting with me sometime?" he asked me.

Startled from my heated thoughts, I could only blink. "What?"

"You want to see more of the Nevernever. I can show you."

For a moment, I considered it. We could leave right now. No one would know.

I gasped as I felt the tug of my secret promise to my father tug at my heart, like a string. Binding me to Glassbarrow. Pulling me back.

I'd promised that I would go home if I even considered leaving. That oath compelled me to return now. It was impossible to ignore, to fight, but I struggled against it anyway. Not now, I thought frantically.

Ash stared at me, concern in his eyes. "Ari?"

My name on his lips made me meet his stare. "I can't," I whispered. "I have to go back. I'm sorry." My hand slipped out of his. Turning on my heel, I fled the garden, leaving a lovely, enigmatic, and very confused prince in my wake.

Sitting in my father's study, I stared at the pile of papers in front of me. The words had begun to blur together, and now they looked like some lost language unknown to me, incomprehensible to my exhausted mind.

I set the quill back on the desk and rubbed my eyes with my fingers, but dropped them immediately when I realized they were stained with ink. All I needed were inky smears on my face to complete my "tired ruler" appearance. Worse, I might look like one of those small, furry animals from the human world, the ones with black patches around their eyes. I'd seen them in a book before, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what they were called.

I finally understood why my father was exhausted all the time. All of my lessons had given me an idea of what to expect about ruling - the endless letters to respond to, the grueling taxes to sign off on and oversee their collection. Not to mention controlling some of Glassbarrow's wilder residents, keeping them from fighting and killing each other, and having them punished with death if they did, per Mab's policy that restricted violence between members of our own court. But what my lessons hadn't prepared me for was the stress and the mind-numbing fatigue.

"Ugh," I groaned, and Tiaothin snickered behind me. She was perched on the top of one of my father's bookcases, but I was too worn out to tell her to get off. At least she wasn't destroying anything - for now.

"If you fall asleep, I'll draw a mustache on you with that quill and ink," the phouka informed me.

I grumbled agreement and stood from my chair. "I'm going to go see how the Duke is doing and if he needs anything."

She hopped off the bookcase, landing silently on her feet, and cocked her head at me. "Shall I bully a servant into bringing some tea to your room?"

"You are a servant," I reminded her wearily.

"It's just my disguise," she whispered conspiratorially.

I gave her a tired smile.

"It lives!" Ti declared with feigned surprise. Then she stuck her tongue out at me, waggling her eyebrows, and I had to laugh. She dropped the silly face with a pleased cat grin. "I'll see what I can do about that tea," she said. "After all, I live to serve." With a flourished bow, she changed into a black cat and darted out the door.

I sighed and arched my back, raising my arms above my head in a stretch that made my joints pop satisfyingly. I didn't recall having moved from that chair all day.