“Then why not destroy it now?” Oberon wondered, and the air around him crackled, like the energy before a lightning storm. “Place the cursed thing on the table, and we will take care of it here.”
“No,” I said quickly. “It doesn’t work like that.”
All eyes shifted to me. “No one else can destroy the amulet,” I said. “If you do, you’re pretty much assuring he’ll lose his soul forever. Keirran has to do it himself.”
Another moment of silence as the circle of fey realized what that meant. “Then,” Oberon said slowly, “someone must take the amulet to Keirran, and either convince or trick him into destroying it. How do you expect to accomplish this, Iron Queen?”
“I will do it,” Annwyl said, quiet but firm, lifting her eyes from the table. “If I can get to Keirran, I can talk to him. He’ll listen to me. I can convince him to destroy the amulet.”
“And how do you expect to reach the Iron Prince, much less convince him?” Mab wanted to know. “No one has seen Keirran, or the Forgotten army, anywhere in the Nevernever. You cannot speak to someone who is not here.”
“Ah...I believe I can help with that,” said a voice, and the Thin Man appeared in the corner. Fey jumped, put their hands on their swords, uncertain whether or not to attack. Meghan raised an arm.
“Hold,” she said sharply. “I called him to this gathering. He is not an enemy. If you all would listen to him, he’s here to help.”
“A Forgotten?” Oberon gave the Thin Man a suspicious look, his face cold. “Why would you help us?” he demanded. “Your queen intends to destroy the courts, remake the Nevernever and give it to her followers. What do you seek to gain from opposing her?”
“She is not,” the Thin Man said firmly, “my queen. You all have forgotten the days before, when the Lady ruled. You chose to purge it from your memories, erase all knowledge of the First Queen, so that not even the Nevernever remembers what it was like before the courts existed. But a few of us remember. Oh, yes, a few of us know what will happen if the First Queen wins this war.”
“Which is why the amulet must be destroyed,” purred a familiar voice, and Grimalkin looked up from the middle of the table, his tail curled around his legs. Nobody seemed shocked to see him. “The Lady’s secret weapon is the Iron Prince,” the cat went on, slitting his eyes at us. “On her own, she is powerful, yes, but he is the instrument that will bring destruction to the courts and the Nevernever. The prophecy is not about the First Queen. The Iron Prince has always been the key.”
“As I believe you know, the Iron Prince has learned how to open the Between,” the Thin Man said, picking up where Grimalkin left off. “That is how he has been able to avoid detection, and that is how the First Queen has been hiding her army of Forgotten. The prince will be with the Lady in the Between, so naturally, you will need someone to part the Veil, enter the Between and find him. And, as I am the only one here with that skill, I guess it falls to me.” He pointed to me. “I can take Ethan Chase and the Summer girl into the Between to find the prince. Beyond that, any convincing will be up to them.”
“If this creature can open the Veil,” Mab said, “let us march our armies into the First Queen’s territory and force them to engage us now.”
“Ah, no,” the Thin Man said with a grimace. “I cannot do that. Sending a whole army through the Veil takes tremendous power—power I myself do not have. Not only that, the Veil is still quite unstable. Packing that much glamour, power and emotion within the Between could have disastrous consequences. The Forgotten have no glamour and little to no memories, so they can slip between worlds without leaving any scars of their passing. That is not the case with your armies or yourselves. A war in the Between itself might very well tear it apart again. Perhaps permanently this time.” The Thin Man narrowed his pale eyes. “And I do believe that is exactly what the First Queen wants.”
None of the faery rulers argued with him, not even Titania. “So, fighting in the Between is a no-no, got it,” Puck remarked, and shrugged. “Okay, then. Let’s say Ethan and Annwyl convince the princeling to stop being a jerk and come home. Yay for that. Anyone have any ideas on how to lure the First Queen out of her safe little hidey-hole? Maybe she likes cake?”
“Master!”
A shrill cry rent the air before anyone could reply, and Kenzie jerked up. A second later, a tiny streak of darkness flew through the opening and launched itself at Kenzie with a cry.
Mab rolled her eyes. “Apparently we cannot get through even one meeting without cats and Forgotten and Iron fey popping in whenever they please,” she remarked, as Razor scrambled all over Kenzie, buzzing in a shrill, frantic voice. “What does the creature want, mortal? Silence it or get it out.”
“Razor!” Kenzie snatched the gremlin off her shoulder and held him at arm’s length. He hissed and crackled like a bad radio station, and she frowned. “I don’t understand gremlin, Razor. English! What’s going on?”
“Master!” Razor squawked. “Master coming! Master coming now!”
My blood chilled as, almost at the same time, the tent flaps opened and a Summer knight dropped to a knee in the frame.
“Forgive me, Your Majesties,” it gasped. “But there is a large horde of Forgotten approaching the Summer side of the camp. We think they mean to attack!”
“Ready the troops!” Oberon boomed, striding from the tent. “Gather our knights and protect the front lines! Go!”