Feyland: The Bright Court

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Tam swallowed hard as the queasy light surrounded him. The king was kicking them back into the real world, and he couldn’t say he was sorry. If he never entered another faerie court again, it would be too soon.

After a moment, the whirling stopped, and he could see Jennet’s gaming room through the tinted screen of his sim helmet. In the chair beside him, Jennet stirred. He sat upright and pulled off his helmet.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

He hadn’t liked the way she acted around the Bright King. It reminded him of his own fascination with the midnight beauty of the Dark Queen - an enthrallment that had almost been his downfall. No way was he going to let Jennet succumb to the same thing, even if he had to hold her down and smear fairy ointment all over her eyelids.

“More than all right.” She thrust out her hand. “Look!”

There, in her palm, was the golden box holding the grass from the faerie king’s throne. It looked rich and strange, even in the opulence of the Carter’s fancy house. Knotwork designs scrolled around the edges, and the metal had a soft sheen that seemed completely out of place in the modern world.

“It looks like it should be in a museum,” he said.

“I know.” Still holding the box, she took her helmet off. Her shorn piece of hair just brushed her cheek. “Should we open it?”

“Let’s get everything together for the ointment, first.”

He fished in his pocket and pulled out the plastic bag, which was a little crumpled from riding around with him all morning. Inside, the four-leaf clover lay, limp as a dead thing. But it would still work - it had to.

Jennet gave the wilted clover a doubtful look. “All right. I have everything else in my bathroom. We can make the ointment in there.”

He glanced at the clock in the corner, hoping the day hadn’t flown while they were in-game. He’d hate to have to explain to Jennet’s dad why he was locked in the bathroom with her.

He blinked at the readout, then turned to Jennet. “Is your clock set right?”

“Of course.” She looked over to it, and her eyes widened. “Really? All of that only took an hour?”

“Time’s funny in-game, we both know that.” Though this was severely weirder than usual.

She let out a breath. “We have plenty of time to make the ointment and get back to Marny before school’s out. Come on.”

She led the way down the hall, the plush carpet muffling their footsteps. Halfway to the main stairs, she turned left and opened the first door.

“It’s a little messy,” she said. “Hold on a sec.”

Tam trailed her into a bathroom that was as big as his living room-slash-bedroom at home. Dark-veined marble floors were softened with fancy patterned rugs, and there was a long countertop with two sinks. The counter was cluttered with girly stuff - mysterious bottles of pink and orange liquids, hair bands and barrettes, tubes of who-knew-what. The air smelled of soap, and flowers. Two hairbrushes and a comb lay next to one of the sinks, which seemed like more than enough.

He looked at her fine, pale hair for a moment. Well, maybe she needed two hairbrushes and a comb - what did he know? No question she had the prettiest hair he’d ever seen. The Bright King had certainly thought it a fair trade for magical faerie grass. The thought made him scowl.

“Don’t worry,” she said, her anxious smile reflected in the mirror. “I’ll get this cleared away.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I was just thinking about something else.”