“Come with me into the maze? There’s something I want to show you.”
Eric swallowed, suddenly acutely aware of the cool misty breeze rustling the hair slipping free of his armored hat, the scents of mulched earth, grass, roses and blood in the air.
He stole a quick glance Agdelina’s way, saw the mixed look of frustration and bitter acceptance even as she held a sleeping Emily close.
Eric quickly nodded. “Yes… if you’re sure.”
She flashed a wry grin, squeezing his hand. “You’re not the only one who can sense fate’s tale playing out. Come, Eric. Let’s go.”
Eric nodded, before his feature’s stiffened in alarm. “But what about Emily? Oliver made it damn clear that—”
“Oliver’s an idiot, boy,” Agdelina huffed. “Emily’s just fine in my arms. Now come. Let’s leave Oliver and Ivan to conspire the best way to seize the city in peace. The less fey beings like us show ourselves to the good salt-of-the-earth men who once served under my son-in-law, the better.”
Eric blinked at this, stealing a quick glance back as Ivan gave what looked like a roaring speech, pointing down at the fallen Inquisitors and the corrupt mayor before pumping his fist in the air, a look of fire in his eyes as the once more armed constables, those left anyway, cheered.
All the while, Oliver was standing solemnly as if Ivan’s right hand man, a pair of purple robed inquisitors somehow knowing to bring out plates of food and flask of drink, more than half of them armed with muskets and rifles themselves, even if the younger looking men who would have been considered boys at 16, had they been born in Eric’s own time.
And Eric couldn’t hear a single word being said. Not even with Perception now well in the twenties.
He flashed a wry smile. “It sees like Oliver and Ivan are most definitely planning a coup with Stibbs and the Head inquisitor both out of the picture, and somehow I doubt either of those egotistical fucks would have had anyone working for them popular enough to consolidate any sort of power behind their back.”
Agdelina flashed a jaded smile. “I see you understand how this game is actually played. Idealism is for the fools marching to Oliver’s banner. Boys who should be studying now at arms for the sake of their headmaster and the ideals of their academy.” She snorted. “Not that Ivan’s battle brothers who fled by his side are any better, and both groups of young fools are beyond lucky that Ivan and Oliver will actually honor their sacrifices, mourn their deaths, and assure that their families are taken care of like good leaders should.”
“But that’s the exception, not the rule,” Eric said with a sigh. “Most leaders see people as tools to rile up with a good speech, then send off happily marching to their deaths and the future profit of a given leaders fat-cat friends.”
Agda’s lips pressed together in prim disapproval. “The world shouldn’t be like that, where dreams die before the crucible of ruthless manipulators who just so happen to have all the wealth, all the influence, all the power. It’s jaded and awful.”
Eric dipped his head, inhaling the delightful floral scents somehow so much stronger even a few feet into the maze, no matter that only a few winter roses were in bloom at all. “You’re right, it is pretty awful.”
He then tilted up her chin, gazing into her eyes, praying that she could sense his hope, his conviction. “But the world, imperfect as it is, is also blossoming in ways you can’t even imagine right now. Ways so significant, that for the first time in perhaps forever, the corrupt and jaded are seen for what they truly are and silly youthful dreamers, like me and my sister, actually have a chance of putting so many wrongs to right. Of creating a world that truly does strive to meet the needs of everyone. A world where silly concepts like truth, justice, and honor, actually matter.”
Agda’s eyes widened, features paling by whatever she saw in Eric’s eyes. “You’re serious,” she whispered, shaking her head in rue, though an idealist’s smile hugged the corner of her lips. “You, as handsome and idealistic as any faerie prince, actually think you can save this corrupt, jaded world.”
Eric grinned, surprised to hear rich peels of golden laughter wash over them all. Even more surprised to find they were his own. “More like wrest it free of assholes far more corrupt and jaded than myself… before passing those territories on to benevolent third parties like my sister, who right now controls a kingdom by lake Eerie that truly is a marvel of faerie magic and wonder, with the kindest people and most fertile croplands imaginable. A glorious city that’s a marvel of whimsical castles, grand manors, and European architecture, with a temperate climate far closer to the Carolina coast than Canada.” He winked at both Agda and Agdelina’s awed expressions.
“I could also tell you it’s a place of living dreams and wonder, where everyone’s guided by gentle benevolent fates and the world really does care about the fragile stories of their lives. Where young men and women find that being true to themselves and following their hearts’ desires, so long a they deliberately harm no innocent soul, can lead them to lives of profound happiness and comfort, even if it’s as simple as falling in love with their family farm and the girl who caught their eye at the spring festival. But maybe that would be overselling it.”
“Eric! If you truly know of such a wondrous place…” Agda shook her head with wonder. “Take us there.” Her cheeks flushed at the audacity of her words.
Agdelina snorted. “Hush, child. Next thing you know this silly boy will be telling us this magic kingdom’s an extension of Faerie. And if we’re that eager to lose ourselves in eternal dream… we need merely take this maze to its eventual destination! A place from whence no girl or boy enraptured by the golden notes of Arcadia has ever returned.”
“Grandmother, stop!” Agda hissed, before gazing back at Eric, truly looking like a beautiful girl of seventeen with her eyes so filled with hope… and the heart of a certain beast having enhanced her Strength and Vitality, as it had her father and most especially the man before her.
The lines of weariness and care had left her as if they had never been. She squeezed his hands with hope and excitement in equal measure. “What is the name of this wondrous territory, Eric? And can you take us there? Truly?”
Eric’s cheeks flushed, stealing a look at Agdelina’s cynical stare, her arms crossed as much as possible with the baby sleeping in her arms.
“Funnily enough, I named it New Arcadia.”
Agda froze at those words, Agdelina giving a satisfied huff.
“See, granddaughter? Faerie is nothing but enticement and peril.”
Eric frowned. “Hardly, Agdelina. It’s my sister’s kingdom, and she’s even more of an idealist than I am. She wants everyone to have a charmed life and a happy ending to their life’s tale. And this kingdom is very much part of Terra, I assure you. Even if not exactly, um, a part of your timeline.”
Agda blinked. “You’re sister’s kingdom. A kingdom you yourself named,” she whispered, before her features paled and she gave him a low curtsy. Even Agdelina was giving him an oddly grave look now, dipping her head as well.
“Forgiveness for our words. For taking too much as lighthearted jest. I pray we haven’t offended you, Eric. Or should I say, Your Grace?”
Eric winced at the alarm in Agda’s eyes, waving her words away. “No, stop. It’s not like that… well maybe it is, but I’d really prefer it if you just treated me like you normally do?”
This earned a smirk from Agdelina. “A half-wild tiger we entice with good food and acerbic wits, hoping we can always keep you smiling, so you never tire and rip out our throats?”
Eric froze at those words, feeling a sudden sharp ache in his chest. “Is that really how you see me, Grandmother?”
Agdelina glared at him for long moments, before slowly shaking her head. “No, boy. As much as it frightened me, how quickly, how readily you took out Stibbs’ dirty lackeys, my son was fighting by your side. But I most definitely felt that way about the one you were so friendly towards.”
Eric’s cheeks flushed. “Jim? Yeah… good thing sound doesn’t carry here.”
Agdelina flashed a bleak smile. “Why do you think I brought you here?”
Eric blinked in surprise at that. “Jim?”
“Well, he was but one reason. Now tell me true. He’s like you, isn’t he? Whatever he is… you and he have far more in common with each other than the rest of us. Is that not so?”
Eric, cheeks flushing, realized he had no good answer to that question.
“Grandmother! That man was a monster! The look in his eyes, that manic madness.. the way he tore through those Inquisitor knights as easily as a boy smashing piles of hay with a stick!”
Agdelina snorted. “As easily as a wild bull can gore a foolish milk maid. Yes. Absolutely terrifying.”
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Eric swallowed. “Believe it or not… you two aren’t the only ones who were shitting bricks.”
Agda furrowed her brow. “But why did you speak to him like you were close friends?”
Eric sighed. “Because at that moment, I had two very distinct choices. I could either be his very good friend who he remembers did save his life, not that long ago. A friend with all sorts of useful information and contacts that will prove quite valuable to him, and thus I become a worthy side-character in the story of his life. Or I could be seen as little more than an enticing fruit he could pluck off the tree of life, savoring my heart just as sweetly as you and I savored a certain wolf heart, Agda.”
Agda’s eyes widened. “When I ate just those few pieces of it, I felt such a rush of strength and vigor… like I’ve reclaimed several years of my life!”
Agdelina hissed, brow furrowing as she peered at Agda’s now utterly fair features. “You do carry the spark of Vitality, child. You’ve dared spirit beast meat!”
Agda lifted her chin. “I did, Grandmother. And I profited from it. Handsomely.” She then turned, gazing at Eric with luminous eyes. “Is that what it’s like for you when fighting… well, others of your kind?”
Eric’s cheeks flushed. “Shit. You understand that much already? And I’ve hardly told you a thing.”
For some reason this earned a wry look. “Eric, it’s in a dozen tales of the Winter Court. Wild princes slaying one another like autumn stag, the strongest growing hale and fearsome with a grand harem of his own before claiming the throne of his people and ruling for a single turn of the seasons, however long that might actually be in the realm of Faerie, before it’s his turn to fall like an autumn leaf… renewing the forest’s fecundity and enriching the blood of his people.”
Eric blinked at that. “I was called Autumn’s child once or twice, and it wasn’t a good thing. But I had no idea.” He suppressed a wince and tried to ignore their too knowing stares as he shook away a bittersweet past that need not mar his future, his mother’s tragic tale no longer his own.
He’d take inspiration from her glorious ascension and all she strove to be in the end… and let the darker rituals of the Winter Fae fade from the Summer rule that he knew he and his sister both intended, no matter their own origins or affinities.
Together, like phoenix in truth, they would assure that a new kingdom glorious and wondrous blazed forth from the ashes of tragedy and despair and all that had come before.
“But none of that matters, now. What matters is that we are safe, that a certain wild-eyed tiger still feels an ounce of gratitude for the mouse that freed his paw of a most troublesome thorn.”
Eric gently stroked Agda’s cheek. “And should you desire, I will do my utmost to gift you with the keys to your heart, transporting you all to a kingdom truly as wondrous as a dream. But only if you’re willing to help me.”
Agdelina gazed at Eric for long moments. “By claiming our key in turn.”
Eric dipped his head, denying nothing.
Agda’s gaze hardened. “Eric, that key is everything to us. Do you understand? Even if I’m seen as no more than a fallen woman, a humble farmer’s daughter, with that key, we are safe. Something sacred protects us. Without it…” Her solemn gaze somehow took in both the maze and all of New York and whatever lay beyond the mists. “Without that key…” She shivered, hands wrapping about her shoulders. “I can’t help but fear that the storms of fate will wash us all away upon oblivion’s seas.”
Eric dipped his head, denying nothing, clarifying instead.
“That key serves as an anchor, it’s true. And so long as you claim it, the world you love will stay much as it is.” He then tilted up her head, solemn eyes meeting her own. “A forest that extends a handful of miles in all directions with two small settlements and the Inquisitor’s lonely tower the only other landmarks of significance.” He gazed in the direction of the lonely docks. “A port that will never see a ship, for there are none that sail through the mists here. And I think, in your heart of hearts, you know why.”
He smiled sadly at Agda’s stricken features, Agdelina also looking troubled.
“Tell me, for all your memories… in the last few months, have any new ships come to port? Have you taken on any new students, Agdelina? Have you seen any new faces… save for myself, Jim, and Maybel Drachen, perhaps?”
Agdelina’s lips pursed tightly together. “No. Save for Luigi, whose twinkling eyes hint at so many secrets he’s all but said we’re better off not knowing, we have not.”
Eric took a deep breath. “Your key has far more potential than keeping a lonely village in a tiny shadow world that is, in it’s own way, a version of faerie safe, Agda. With that key and four others, I can unlock the gates of fate that control the city this area eventually evolves into. And, I suspect, it will allow me to shape the fate of the entire state of New York. Perhaps the continent as well.”
He gently squeezed Agda’s trembling hand. “Give me the key, Agda, and I will do all I can to rescue you, your family, and assure that you’re far more than ghosts of the past that only a handful of living souls will ever see.”
Agdelina blanched and stumbled back. “That you would dare to say such things! Imply we ourselves are nothing more than shadows or specters… or a pocket realm of faerie? How dare you!”
Eric winced, yet Agda’s solemn gaze never left his own.
“You’re not lying, are you, Eric?”
“I’m afraid not, Agda.”
She swallowed, biting back tears. “So we’re just figments of ghost and shadow.” She bit her lip. “And my child, Eric? My beautiful Emily?”
Eric braved a smile. “Will be as real as everyone else I pull free of the mists of history and dream, just as soon as I claim New York and make it my own.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean by everyone else?”
Eric forced a smile, surprised to find himself blinking back tears of his own. “New Arcadia has a population of almost seven million happy and healthy Elves and other citizens of my sister’s precious kingdom. And not a one of them was born on this world.”
Agdelina crashed to her knees, gazing at him with a look of such profound awe that his cheeks blazed.
“Please get up, Agdelina.”
“You brought the dead to life!”
Eric solemnly shook his head. “I simply coaxed what was and will be to a different possibility along the faultlines of fate. You could also say that I simply have a knack for collapsing probability waves into highly unlikely states. But since it is, in fact, a state of existence that is very much real… perhaps it was what was destined to occur all along, and I’m just the catalyst needed to make it happen.”
Agdelina, eyes bright with terror and wonder, shook where she knelt. “The Enigma rings with the truth of your words. You’re so much more than any Faerie Prince! You’re a—”
Eric gently lifted the trembling woman to her feet. “I’m what’s known as a Contender, in my own time and place. Just another soul seeking wonder and adventure and finding a bit more of it than most. And as you saw quite clearly, with the look Jim was giving me, here and now, I’m almost as fragile as any other man. So I’m hardly that special, I assure you.”
“Eric!”
Eric caught Agda’s gaze, surprised by the desperate intensity of her words.
“If I give you the key… can you make my daughter… real?” She bit her lip, tears in her eyes as she held her still sleeping child, gently claimed from the grandmother still gazing at Eric as if he were so much more than he actually was.
Eric swallowed the lump in his throat, gently leaning over to kiss Agda’s brow.
“I swear to you, Agda. I will do everything in my power to make is so that you and your entire family can travel with me to my sister’s wondrous fairytale kingdom where you will be feted as friends and heroes and dine with me in a glorious ivory white palace before being feted with as large a farm as you like, with countless young dreamers and would-be heroes and handsome suitors who will serve as friends, confidants, and so much more. Whatever you want.”
“What if what I want is you?”
Eric froze at those words, locking gazes with the beautiful girl before him.
Eric’s heart began to pound. In that moment, there was just the two of them.
“I’m not perfect, Agda. I’m pretty fucked up, actually.”
“Like I care,” she whispered, before her lips locked with his own.
The sweetest, gentlest of kisses that left him breathless.
Before blinking the golden light out of his eyes, beholding the wondrous gift now in his hands.
A perfect golden key.
“Agda, thank—” His words died off, heart lurching in his chest as he spun about the tiny clearing in the center of the maze.
Hearing nothing but the rustling of rose bushes. “Agda? Agda!”
His voice echoed eerily, a lonely plaintive call in the overgrown, and long abandoned maze.
He shivered with a growing sense of dread, seeing no sign of ANY winsomely smiling beauty.
No soft gurgle of the beautiful blue-eyed baby who had felt so warm when he held her tenderly and kissed her cheek, not that long ago.
No sign at all of exasperated elder secretly hoping for a connection that would have come so easily to Eric, had the scars and savagery of the past year not happened at all.
“Agda?” He managed to stumble out of the maze that no longer matched his interface map, ready to race inside and demand Oliver’s aid when he stopped, frozen to speechless horror.
For the grand temple to scholarship and enigmatic arts was now a lifeless ruin of stone and decaying wood. The beautiful gilded door that had sported such graceful carvings upon its surface was now rotting off its one remaining hinge, and Eric didn’t have the heart to go inside and discover a palace’s worth of paintings and furniture and art and libraries relegated to ruin.
Yet even that was better than focusing on the sharp, agonizing ache twisting his stomach with the awful realization that Agda, Agdelina, baby Emily, and indeed everyone he had met in this place and time had vanished.
He choked back a sob, recalling Agda’s words.
That the key was the anchor they all depended upon. And without it...
He collapsed to his knees and wept, holding the key in his hands so tightly.
“I won’t forget you, Agda. I will bring you back. Somehow. I swear!”
Squeezing stinging eyes shut with that oath, he allowed the key to fade from sight, accepting its promise and terrible burden as his own.