smiling. But for a long time after, she stared over the River of Dreams, and though I could reach out and touch her, feel her soft skin under my fingertips, it seemed I was staring at a ghost, an echo of a person I once knew.
“Here,” she said one night, joining me at the bow. It was my turn for watch, and I was leaning against the railing staring into the passing forest.
When Ariel a dropped an orange into my hand, I blinked and looked at her curiously. “Eat something,” she ordered, pointing to the fruit. “I hardly ever see you eat, and I know even you get hungry from time to time.”
“How did you get this?”
She looked embarrassed for a second. “Never mind that.
Just eat it, Ash.”
Her tone was full of warning, but I couldn’t let it go.
“Where—”
“A group of winged monkeys threw it at me.” Ariel a crossed her arms and glared, and I had an odd moment of déjà vu. “On my last watch, we passed an orchard on the banks, and there were at least a dozen monkeys living there, staring down at us. I threw a rock at them and they…threw 176/387
things back. And not just food items, either.” She blushed with embarrassment and glowered, daring me to laugh. “So you’d better eat that before I stuff something else down your throat, and it won’t be a banana.” I laughed and raised my hands in surrender. “As you wish, your highness,” I said without thinking, but sobered quickly.
Now I knew why this felt so familiar. For just a moment, Ariel a had sounded just like Meghan.
And, judging from the look on Ariel a’s face as she pulled back, she knew it, too.
Guilt pierced me, sharp and painful. “Hey,” I said, catching her wrist as she started to turn away, “Ari, listen. When this is all over, when we come back from this crazy venture, I’ll make sure you can go home if you want to.” She blinked and gazed up at me, as if such a thought had never occurred to her. “Your father’s estates are still standing,” I went on.
“No one has tried to claim them yet. Or you can return to court—I don’t think Mab will try to stop you. If she does, I can talk to her. I still have some inf luence in the Winter Court, no matter what Mab thinks of me. I want you to know that you’ll be taken care of. I can give you that much, at least.” She smiled faintly, though her gaze was distant 177/387
and unreachable. “If I had wanted any of those things, I would already have them,” she replied in a gentle voice. “I’m grateful, Ash, but it’s far too late for me to return to that life.” “I want to help you,” I told her quietly. “Anything in my power, anything I can give freely is yours. Let me try to make
this right. Just tell me what to do.” She stepped closer, placing a soft hand on my cheek, so near I could see my ref lection in her starry eyes. “Finish this quest,” she whispered, and pulled away, walking to the aft of the ferry without looking back.
An indefinite time later, I woke from a dreamless sleep and gazed around, realizing it was nearly my turn for watch again. On the opposite bench, Ariel a slept soundly, a purring Grimalkin curled up beside her. A strand of silver hair fell across her eyes, and I raised my hand to brush it away before I realized what I was doing.
Clenching my fist, I turned and wandered toward the bow of the ship, where the Wolf sat in the moonlight, gazing out over the river. His ears were pricked, his nose raised to the wind, the breeze ruff ling his glossy black pelt.
“Change is coming,” he rumbled as I stepped up beside him and leaned against the rails, carefully balancing my weight. Even when the Wolf was sitting down, the top of my head was barely level with his shoulder, and wherever he went, the boat tilted, very slightly, to the side. “I can smell it.
Either something is approaching us, or we’re very nearly there.” 178/387
I looked down, watching a fish twice as long as the ferry brush up against the side, regard us with one enormous silver eye, and sink back into the depths. “Do you think we’ll hit anything before we reach the Briars?”
“Hard to say,” the Wolf replied. “I’m surprised we made it this far without any trouble. If you believe the cat, it’s because the ferry is a part of the river, and passes through dreams without drawing any attention to itself or its passengers.” He snorted and curled a lip, as if just realizing he had spoken about Grimalkin in a nonviolent manner.
“If you can believe anything he says, anyway. Besides, that will probably change once we hit the Briars.”
“How far?” I asked.
“Couldn’t tell you.” The Wolf raised his head and sniffed again. “But it’s close. The Briars has a particular smell, unlike anything else in Faery.” He turned and regarded me with burning, yellow-green eyes. “I hope your girl knows the way. I’ve stalked the Briars countless times, and I’ve never seen the End of the World.”
“She’ll get us there,” I said softly. “I trust her.”
“Really?” The Wolf snorted, looking back toward the river. “I wouldn’t.”