Page 85 of Beyond the Faerie Gate

The houses have tall, sloping roofs and wide, arched windows. The builders seem to have favoured wood and curves over stone and straight lines wherever possible, giving the space a much more relaxed and quaint charm.

It also increases the contrast between the homes and the wall.

The houses are built right up to the second wall, which separates the farmlands of the outer city from the metropolis of the inner city. Almost like the buildings themselves are overflowing, spilling out from it.

The fae cheer even louder as we pass under the immense portcullis, but they don’t follow us inside as we enter the gatehouse.

It’s a moment of calm which I’m grateful for. Guards on foot rush around us, keeping the crowd back, and I try to smile for Florian when he looks over his shoulder to check on me.

The doors in front of us are closed, and it takes a second for me to realise why. Groaning, clanking noises echo through the space, as hidden machinery whirrs to life. The matching set of immense wooden doors slam closed behind us, just as the ones in front spring open, revealing the inner city in all its glory.

“It’s huge,” I whisper.

The buildings must have roofs, but they’re high enough I can’t see them even though I’m craning my neck. They share the same style as the ones on the other side of the wall, but they’re so much taller. Bridges crisscross above our heads, and more fae are sitting on them, raining flowers from above us as we ride.

I’ve never been somewhere with so much… verticality. There are fae on every level, straining to see me around the greenery, which is just as abundant.

The city stretches out in every direction, and I desperately want to drop to the ground and go out to explore. Instead, I settle for gawking and waving, like a tourist, as Titania gives me a full tour.

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