Robin Goodfel ow shrugged, uncertain and carefree. “Who knows?
Maybe I’ll try to find the End of the World again. Maybe I’ll travel the mortal realm for a while. It really doesn’t matter where I go, or where I end up. There’s a whole huge world out there, and it’s high time for us to get reacquainted.” He looked at me, and his eyes gleamed. “I’m glad we had one last little adventure, ice-boy, but its time for me to strike out on my own. Try not to have too much fun without me, okay?”
“Puck,” I said, stopping him as he started to leave. Turning back, he raised an eyebrow, a faint, wary smile crossing his face.
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Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward and held out a hand.
Puck blinked, then very seriously reached out and gripped my palm, squeezing hard, as I did the same. “Good luck,” I said quietly, meeting his eyes. He grinned, not one of his leering, mocking smiles, but a real one.
“You, too, Ash.”
“If you’re ever in Tir Na Nog, say hi to Mab for me.” Puck laughed, shaking his head as he backed away. “Yeah. I’ll be sure to do that.” On the other side of the bridge, he raised one hand in a salute as glamour shimmered through the air. “See you around, ice-boy.” A ripple of magic, and Puck’s form twisted and shrank into a huge, black raven, beating the air with powerful wings. With a raucous caw, he rose above me, shedding glamour and feathers, and spiraled away over the trees, until he became a tiny black dot on the horizon and disappeared.
I smiled, turned my back on the wyldwood and crossed the bridge, slipping into the Iron Kingdom alone.
EPILOGUE
THE IRON QUEEN My name is Meghan Chase, monarch of Mag Tuiredh, sovereign of the Iron territories, and queen of the Iron fey, and whoever said kings and queens had it easy certainly didn’t know what they were talking about.
The throne room of the Iron palace was filled to capacity again, and the murmur of voices along the walls was a constant buzz in my mind.
Today was going to be another long day. As sole ruler of the Iron 369/387
Realm, it was up to me to resolve disputes, manage resources, listen to complaints and somehow keep my own lands and people safe from the other fey courts that wanted them dead, all while trying to rebuild and establish my own kingdom. I wasn’t complaining, but it seemed a lot to ask of a once-normal seventeen-year-old who had only recently in-herited an entire realm of Iron fey. And, admittedly, some days were more trying than others.
I shifted on my throne, a great monstrosity of wood and iron, made no more comfortable by the thick cushions I was sitting on. At first, I’d jokingly suggested using a La-Z-Boy recliner for these long hearings, but that was rather fervently vetoed by both Glitch and my chief adviser, a packrat named Fix. The Iron Queen had to appear strong and imposing, they said, even while sitting down. At least in public, the Iron Queen had to seem invulnerable. I suppose, to them, invulnerable meant rigid and uncomfortable. At least, that’s what my back thought.
This is the Iron Kingdom, I thought during a short break in the hearings. This doesn’t have to be so old-fashioned. I bet I can get Diode to set it up so that some of these petitions come in by email or something.
Another petitioner approached, a wire nymph whose territory rested very close to Tir Na Nog and the Winter Court. I listened patiently as she poured out the latest development: groups of Winter knights ter-rorizing the tribes that sat closest to the border. I’d have to speak to Mab about that, make sure her court was following the treaty agreement, as well. That was going to be loads of fun. The Winter Queen already hated me for being Oberon’s daughter, and now that I was a queen as well, the look in her eyes whenever she saw me was down-right scary. Still, I was queen. I ruled a court, and by Faery law, the Winter monarch would have to hear me out, whether she liked it or not.
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“Alkalia,” I said, making sure to remember the nymph’s name. “You were right to bring this to my attention. I’ll speak to Queen Mab about it as soon as I am able.”
“We are very grateful, your majesty,” the wire nymph said, bowing as she was ushered away. I nodded at Fix, and he punched the request in-to my planner, adding it to the already lengthy list of things that needed doing.