I...sure have changed.
“Well.” Leanansidhe clasped her hands. “I believe that concludes our business transaction. Grimalkin, darling...” She looked at the cat, who had curled back up on the piano bench with his tail over his nose. “Be a dear and show them the way to the trod. You know where it is, right? Oh, and if you’re going to bring that horrid thin Forgotten through my house, do not let him anywhere near...well, anything really. I don’t want him sucking the glamour off the walls. Ethan, darling?” She smiled at me. “I wish you luck. And if you do end up facing Keirran in the near future, be a love and kick his royal little ass for me, would you? I would appreciate it. Ciao, darlings.”
A wind whipped through the foyer, tossing Kenzie’s hair and making the fire in the hearth flare up with a roar. When it died down again, the Exile Queen was gone.
“Well,” said a high, familiar voice, as the Thin Man turned into existence from a corner. “I do believe I am offended.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE GNOME BRIDGE
Back into the Nevernever yet again. I was beginning to feel a little run-down, as we’d been hopping from real world to wyldwood to Between and back again, with hardly a chance to rest or eat or catch our breath. At least Kenzie had gotten a few hours’ sleep that night in the tree, though she was beginning to show signs of exhaustion, too, despite trying to hide it. I was concerned about her health and trying hard not to be overbearingly protective as we trailed Grimalkin through several long, narrow corridors that led deeper into the mansion.
Which didn’t seem entirely solid the farther we ventured into its halls. Corridors would waver in the distance, shimmering like heat waves. Or they would flicker like they were in danger of disappearing. We passed several large rooms that were completely empty and others where ghostly furniture faded in and out of existence, as if there wasn’t enough glamour to make them completely real. Once, Kenzie paused outside a door, and I peered over her shoulder to see everything beyond the frame floating in midair. Sofas, chairs, a coffee table, lamps, a bookshelf, all drifting lazily around the room like astronauts on a space station. Quickly, I pulled her away, hoping Grimalkin could get us to the trod without the floors vanishing or us falling through the stairs or something.
Finally, the cat led us down a long flight of stone steps into Leanansidhe’s dungeon-like basement. Torches flickered in brackets on stone pillars, and the floors were cold and damp. It looked much smaller than when I’d been down here last, or maybe it just seemed that way because I couldn’t see past the sputtering torchlight. Beyond the circles of orange light, there was nothing but black.
“Here,” Grimalkin said, sitting in front of a stone archway. A pair of gargoyle heads each held a flickering lantern on either side of the arch, but much like the rest of the room, I couldn’t see anything but darkness through the frame. “This is the trod that will take you to the border of the Deep Wyld,” the cat went on, angling an ear back at it. “From here, the River of Dreams is not far. I will issue this one caution, however. The Deep Wyld is not like the wyldwood. It is far more dangerous, far easier to become lost and far more likely for mortals to stumble upon things they should not touch. Do be careful, humans.” Grimalkin sighed, waving his tail as he turned toward the arch. “I would hate to have to explain to the Iron Queen how her brother was eaten by carnivorous mushrooms because he did not watch where he put his feet.”
“Carnivorous mushrooms?” Kenzie looked back at me and grinned. “Kind of like the Goombas from Super Mario Brothers? Don’t worry, if you see any evil mushrooms, just hop on their heads—that’ll kill them.”
I gave her a bewildered stare. “What?”
“Super Mario Brothers!” Kenzie exclaimed, frowning. “Mario, Luigi, Bowser? It’s a classic.” When I still looked baffled, she rolled her eyes. “You’re a boy. How do you not know your video games?”
I smirked. “Possibly because I was more concerned about real monsters that could eat me.”
“Oh, whatever. When we go home, I’m going to borrow Alex’s Nintendo and introduce you to Super Smash Brothers.”
“Mushrooms.” Razor, perched on Kenzie’s shoulder again, wrinkled his nose. “Bleh. Nasty, evil mushrooms. Like kitty.”
The Thin Man shook his head. “Oh, this is going to be quite the experience,” he sighed, and followed us through the arch.
* * *
It took us a few hours to reach the river. The wyldwood was still as dark, tangled and uninviting as before, and I wondered how this mysterious Deep Wyld could be any worse. I had no doubt it was, of course. Because that’s how things in the Nevernever always worked. Things were never so twisted, awful and completely horrifying that they couldn’t get even worse.
Well, that’s a cheerful thought, Ethan. You’re just a ball of sunshine today, aren’t you?
My bad mood continued to worsen the farther we hiked, punctuated by occasional spikes of temper whenever I stumbled over a log, or a vine snaked around my foot and deliberately tripped me. Adding to my grievances, my many small cuts and gashes throbbed, making me even more irritable. I was, I realized, getting tired of Faery. I was tired of its wars and power struggles. I was tired of its stupidly dangerous landscapes that defied logic and sanity and would drive you nuts if you thought too hard about it. I was tired of faeries and faery bargains and quests and impossible choices. I was tired of it all.
“Hey,” Kenzie said when we stopped for a short break. Grimalkin was sitting on a log in a rare patch of sunshine, washing his tail, and the Thin Man had disappeared to somewhere or other. I was leaning against the trunk of a massive tree, feeling cranky and antisocial and wishing this journey was just done already, when Kenzie walked around with a granola bar in hand. Her eyes were worried as she gazed up at me. “You okay?”