“The wind remembers,” the Winter faery said, its voice low and grave. “Even if we do not, the wind remembers those days of blood and fear. The Lady will destroy us, remake the Nevernever in her own image, bring back the terror and bloodshed of those early days, before the land rose up to overthrow her. She must be stopped, but the Iron Prince stands between her and anyone who would try.”
“Well, I’m certainly going to try,” I growled, ignoring the shivers crawling up and down my spine. “And I’ll do it by talking, pounding or beating some sense into Keirran. I don’t care if he’s become her champion or whatever. We’ll make him see, somehow.” Both faeries gave me a very solemn, dubious look, and I crossed my arms. “I have to try. I promised Meghan, and Ash, and everyone, that I would bring Keirran back.”
“You are no match for him,” the Winter faery insisted. “He will blast you apart before you get within twenty feet of him. But,” it added, as I took a breath to argue, “if you insist upon this course of action, if you truly intend to face the Iron Prince, there is something we can do for you.”
I instinctively recoiled, fighting the urge to back away. Never make bargains with faeries, that was my number one rule. I’d lived my life by that code, refusing to compromise, knowing faery bargains never turned out the way you wanted.
But this was bigger than me now; an entire world ready to plunge into chaos and destruction. Could I really let fear stop me? Even if it screwed me royally, if it meant I had a chance to save the ones I loved...
A chill crept over me. That was exactly what Keirran had been thinking when he started down this path. “No,” I rasped, and now I did back away. “No bargains. No contracts. I can’t promise anything, I’m sorry.”
“Not a bargain, Ethan Chase,” the dryad said, holding out a twig-thin hand. “An agreement. An understanding. We will hold you to nothing, except the promise that you will find the Iron Prince and do your best to stop him, whatever that might mean.”
“This war affects us all,” the Winter faery added. “And the Iron Prince is the piece that determines which direction the balance of power will sway. As the prophecy says, he will either unite the courts or destroy them. And you, a mere mortal with no magic or power of your own, might hold the fate of the Nevernever in your hands.”
I blew out a shaky breath and pressed my forehead into my steepled fingers, thinking. Dammit, this isn’t about me anymore. This is for Meghan, and Kenzie, and everyone. I need all the help I can get. I just hope I’m not making the same mistakes he did. “What are you offering?” I asked without looking up.
A pause, as if the two faeries were sharing a glance with one another, and then one of them stepped close again. “The Iron Prince commands the magic of Summer, Winter and Iron,” the dryad said. “Before, his human side tempered his power a bit. Now, as a full-blooded fey, nothing is holding him back. If you are to face him, Ethan Chase, you must prepare for him to bring his full might against you. Summer lightning, winter’s death chill, turning the very land against you—Keirran can control it all.”
“No normal human will be able to stand against that barrage of magic,” the Winter faery said, as my insides shriveled a bit. I’d seen Keirran truly lose control only once, when he attacked Titania, the Summer Queen. And though the Seelie monarch was clearly stronger, especially in her own court, the magical throw down between the Iron Prince and the Summer Queen had ripped the ground apart and shredded the forest around us. “However,” the Winter faery continued, “though we are unable to do anything about his Iron glamour, we can make it so that the magic of Summer and Winter will not be able to affect you.”
I straightened. “What? Really?”
It nodded. “It can only be granted to mortals, and only if the Nevernever itself chooses to bestow the gift. It is not something we can grant on our own. But all magic comes from Faery. Humans generate glamour, but it is through the Nevernever that we are able to use our power. Faery sustains us, and in the same way, Faery can render a mortal completely invisible to glamour. Magic will pass right by them, or slide around them without touching, because they are no longer ‘there.’ They are an empty space, a hole, where glamour simply cannot exist.”
“This does come with a price,” the dryad added, as I stared at them, imagining what could’ve happened if I’d had this knowledge sooner. What would my life have been like if I was completely invisible to faery magic? “If we complete this ritual and the Nevernever grants you immunity to magic, you will ignore all glamour. Including beneficial effects, like healing, or invisibility. Nor will it stop physical harm in any way. This will not save you from an arrow to the chest, or from something’s jaws biting your head off.”
“But it will stop magical attacks,” I repeated, just to be sure. “Say, like a lightning bolt. Or a bunch of ice daggers.”
“Yes.” The Winter faery nodded again. “Anything that is produced by the glamour of Summer or Winter will slide right off you. The Iron Realm, however, and its poisoned magic, is beyond our understanding. Immunity to Summer and Winter magic will have to be enough.”
“Can you give this ability to someone else? Like Kenzie?”
“We do not yet know if we can grant it to you,” the dryad said, narrowing her eyes. “Like we said before, this ability does not come from us, but from Faery itself. You are part of the prophecy, and you are the Iron Queen’s kin. The Nevernever knows you. It does not know her.”