Page 67 of Lord of the Hollow Court
“And to heal Misman—and anyone else infected,” Katty interrupted.
“Once the relic is in my possession,” Muis said, voice steady as though he’d meant to say this all along, “I will use it, the power of this land and my own abilities to heal Misman and all others infected, as I myself will use the relic, the power of this land and my own abilities to heal my own body of the fae wasting.” Muis punctuated this with a nod. “Now say it. Make your vow to fulfill your side of the bargain.”
Her throat was too dry to swallow, her words raspy. “By my vow and the power of my name, I swear to aid you in this step of your journey to—heal from the Fae Wasting and be on your way.”
Muis tightened his grip on her hand, then dropped it. “It is done. Do not fail me, Lady Braam, or you and all those you hold dear will regret it. Bargains made at midnight are truest, especially with a witch.”
Katty’s eyes bulged. “What?”
“Hurry.” Muis turned and strode up the bridge, long legs taking him back over its crest in the blink of an eye. Katty scrambled after him.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Awakened
As Katty followed Janus Muis, the burning of the geas began to fade. She still felt a magnetic pull towards the woods and Hollow Hall, but she was able leave its borders now with little more than a twinge in her stomach.
Her wedding ring, though—why was it so hot? She had thought she felt the same earlier, just as she woke. But then the ring was winter cold again, and she assured herself it was a dream. She twisted the band again, thinking of Braam, wondering if he really was on his way home like Muis said.
Him and another. She trembled, an icy premonition crawling over her. That was enough to convince her Muis knew of what he spoke. Somethingwascoming to Hollow Hall. The sooner they finished this task to retrieve this lost fae thing, the better.
She’d thought they were headed to Sleepy Hollow, but Muis brought her on a strange, circuitous route. Even so, she was beginning to recognize the buildings. The postmaster’s house, with its cramped lower room for receiving post. The bakery, dark at this hour but with the scents of sweet bread and yeast still hanging in the air. They were following the line of the woods, viewing Sleepy Hollow from the outside in.
And how strange it was! Katty felt as if she were revisiting her old life in a dream. Little details were changed—an entire house had a new coat of paint, yet did not have its odors. A street lamp had been removed, its base sitting empty. There were signs of a damaging occurrence—a gale or some such event that skewed some shutters or had taken them entirely.
And the trees. All the trees were bare of leaves, and the ground reeked of decay. Whenever Muis and Katty strayed too close to the tree line, their progress was marked by a cacophony of crunching leaves. As they grew nearer to the homes, Janus Muis took more care in the paths they chose. Katty tried to follow his meandering trail as closely as she could.
Sleepy Hollow was so quiet, so foreign and quaint. “I feel like a stranger here,” Katty whispered as she caught up to Misman. “It all looks so different.”
Misman grunted. “You’ve been in fae lands. Time moves differently here.”
“What doesthatmean?” Barely able to keep her voice in check, Katty hissed and said, “That can’t be—time is time. Are you telling me more of it has passed here than in the Hollow Court?”It wasn’t possible.
Muis nodded, distracted by whatever he saw ahead. The next house had lights blazing in each of the lower windows. The shuffle of horse hooves filtered in quietly from the street. “I don’t suppose you know that dog?” he asked her.
“What dog?” Katty squinted ahead. She saw a shadow beneath the porch, rising and falling with sleep. She blinked a few times. “This is the de Vries house! The big dog is Spark, but he only hides there when—are they having another ball? So soon?”
Katty crept forward eagerly, leaving Muis behind her. She felt a tug at her cloak but ignored it, slipping into the alley to avoid waking Spark.
“Lift me,” she demanded, pointing at a window on the side of the house.
Muis’s snort was soft, nearly lost among the voices and nickering of horses in the street. “Or I can look.” He straightened, cracking his neck. He was tall enough to see without any help.
“It appears to be a revel,” he proclaimed, then ducked back beneath the sill.
Katty bristled. “I should be there.” Except she shouldn’t. She was the Lady of the Hollow Court now, married to its lord. Her place was there. The tugging in her chest became more insistent.
“If you know the family,” Muis said, “that should make it easier to take the artifact from within.”
Slowly, an awful realization dawned on Katty. She was going to have to enter that house, uninvited, fresh from a trot through the forest with this ring on her finger and no husband? Would her parents be there? What would they even say to her?
“Are you sure?” Katty asked. “Are you absolutelycertainthe object we seek is inside?”
Muis nodded. “It is a diadem, but it is possible it’s changed shape in human hands, to an object more suited to human desire.”
Katty huffed. “How am I to recognize it, then?”
“Some of its aspects cannot change. It would appear as something shining and new, untarnished. Something that would look alluring to humans and fae both.”
