I folded my arms. “What? Are you two the king and queen of the fairies? Like, queen Mab and all or is she UK only?”
“Our names are not a concern of yours, Avalon,” said the man. “But your affairs are a concern of ours.”
“That sounds really creepy,” I pointed out.
“We know why you came here,” said the woman. “Our kind enter your world very rarely now, and yet the moment you realized we were about in yours you decided to enter ours. Why?”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, it’s pretty obvious I don’t actually need to inform you, but I’ll play along. I came to tell you guys to stay away. And since my friend is now somewhere in this realm, I feel a bit validated about that assumption. I’m fine if you guys exist and stay in your realm, just don’t mess with my world and where I live, got it? If you do –”
The man, the king, suddenly laughed. “We know all about your ferocity. You will fight tooth and nail to protect that which you care about, but your alarm is unwarranted. We mean you no harm. The ways between our worlds grow fewer, and as man has grown blind we have grown wise. When we can, we go to your world and help our dying planet. Nothing more. We have given up many of the tricks we were known by, saving them for those who deserve them.”
I frowned. “How do I know you’re telling the truth? We fell down a hole to get here.”
“To enter our world all mortals must face a challenge. Those are the rules. Even we cannot break them. We swear to you, we mean no harm. You have no reason to challenge us.”
I thought it over for a minute. “Fine. If Natasha and I get home safe, I’ll believe you. Otherwise I swear you’ll regret it and I’ll use everything at my disposal to make sure of that.”
“You mean that which sits in your pocket,” said the queen. I stared at her in surprise and she smiled. “We know about it. The charms placed to ward off our interference with the book are old, older than you think. It holds much knowledge, and we understand that you will use it.”
“Oh – well – yeah. Good.” After a moment’s hesitation I asked, “Do you know who wrote them?”
“No. That knowledge is beyond us. Few creatures know the identity of their creator,” the queen admitted.
“That means some do,” I murmured, my mind already racing.
“Take care, Avalon,” the king warned. “The knowledge in the books and that which you seek is powerful. You have decided for yourself that you will investigate and that you will conquer those who get in your way. You are marching to an end you think you know but do not understand. Your fate is sealed, would you risk that of those you care about as well? You have decided this way for both yourself and your friend, and this is not the path she would have chosen.”
My gaze was ice cold. “I don’t believe in destiny.” I turned on my heel and strode off.
Blasted fairies – who were they to declare sudden omnipotence? They’d just admitted they didn’t know the writer! No one was going to get hurt. Not one of my friends and certainly not Natasha. They knew nothing about me. I’d find some way to learn who the writer was and I’d protect everything I wanted to. And I wouldn’t let some fairy nonsense get in the way of that.
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