“I do. I just...” Keirran gave a helpless shrug. “Fine. We’ll just have to be careful. Lead on, then.”
“What is this place?” I asked as we continued across the field. Bees and butterflies floated everywhere among the flowers, sparkling like living jewels, and I could feel the sun’s warmth beating down on us. Everything looked peaceful, but I knew what a horrible lie that was in Faery. If everything appeared this tranquil, there was probably something stupidly dangerous lurking nearby. “If you visited this spot with Puck, that means you weren’t really supposed to be here, right? And you probably got into trouble with whatever lives here.”
“It’s sad that everyone knows him so well.”
“That’s just great.” I sighed, looking back for Kenzie. She walked quietly behind me, looking at everything. I dropped back a pace and took her hand, wanting to be close in case a dragon or other nasty creature burst out of the flowers and attacked. “Just let me know when I should be running,” I called to Keirran.
He glanced back with a humorless smile. “Oh, you’ll know,” he said ominously and gestured to something ahead.
I blinked. Rolling fields spread out before us, teeming with flowers and thick grass, but rising out of the dirt, planted in rigidly straight lines marching to the horizon, were hundreds upon hundreds of apple trees. I knew they were apple trees because the nearest one, a huge gnarled giant, had bright red clusters hanging everywhere. The branches were bent under the weight, and the grass around the trunk was scattered with red, bulbous fruit. And the smell... The breeze shifted, and the heady, powerful smell nearly knocked me down and made my mouth water. I didn’t even like apples that much, but I was suddenly filled with the desire to stuff my face with them.
“Oh, wow,” I heard Kenzie breathe, and her hand tightened on mine. “Does anyone else have a craving for pie?”
My stomach growled. Annoyed, I turned to Keirran. “Okay, hundreds of apple trees, all begging me to pick up an apple and eat it. What’s the catch here? Will I turn into something? Fall asleep for a century? Or will I just keep stuffing my face and be unable to stop eating until I burst?”
“No,” Keirran said solemnly. “They’re just regular apples. They don’t do anything special.”
“But...?” Kenzie prodded.
“But look at the ground beneath them. The branches. Do you see anything else eating them? Birds, deer, even insects?”
“No,” I muttered, casting another glance toward the lines of fruit trees. He was right; the apples hung full and untouched on the branches or rotting on the ground. The orchard was still, with no birds pecking at the fruit, no signs of deer, raccoons, rodents or anything. Except for the bees hovering around the flowers, nothing moved out here except us.
“The trees are guarded,” Keirran said, confirming my suspicions. “Nothing is allowed to eat the fruit here. The owners chase off anything that comes through the orchard. If they catch someone poaching their apples, they grind their bones—”
“To make their bread?” Kenzie joked. I snorted a laugh despite myself. Keirran rolled his eyes.
“To fertilize the trees,” he finished. “The point is, we don’t want to let them catch us trespassing, and we really don’t want to steal their fruit. They’re quite protective of it. Puck and I found that out the hard way.”
“Humans.” Grimalkin’s furry head poked out of the grass, tail twitching in annoyance. “Are you coming? Or are you going to stand there and talk until the guardians return and crush your bones to powder? And at the expense of repeating myself—do not touch any of the apples as we are making our way through the orchard. Do not even look at them. Please attempt to have some semblance of self-control, as small as it might be.”
Razor made a disgusted noise on Keirran’s shoulder as we followed after the cat. “Yuck,” he stated, curling his lip. “Nasty apples. Bleh!”
Well, at least we didn’t have to worry about the gremlin.
* * *
The rows of trees seemed to stretch on forever, marching up and down the lazy hills like soldiers in a line. They were all massive, ancient things, with thick trunks and gnarled branches overly full of bright red fruit. Plump apples dangled enticingly from the limbs or were scattered everywhere in the grass, not even a nibble taken from the skin. The scent was intoxicating, and I breathed as shallowly as I could to avoid being tempted by the sight and smells of the orchard.
“These guardians seem awfully greedy,” Kenzie remarked when we were deep between rows of trees. “I mean, they obviously have far too many to eat. What’s a few apples to them?”
“It’s the nature of the fey, sadly,” Keirran said. “We’re not really known for sharing.” On his shoulder, Razor had buried his face in his shirt and hadn’t come up since we’d entered the orchard. Kenzie gave the prince a puzzled look.
“You say ‘we,’” she observed, “but you don’t think of yourself as fey, do you?”
Keirran paused. “It’s hard to explain,” he said at last. “Would it be confusing if I told you I’ve been raised to be both? Human and faery, I mean. Dad taught me everything I know about fighting and magic and the Nevernever, and how to work the politics of the courts. But Mom...the queen...she made certain I understood that I was human, too. That I didn’t get so caught up in magic and glamour and faery politics that I forgot I wasn’t one of them.”
“Was it hard?” Kenzie asked, looking sympathetic. “Growing up human, being the only non-faery in the Nevernever besides your parents?”
“Not as bad as you might think.” Keirran smiled. “My parents were always there for me, no matter what happened, so I can’t complain about that. And growing up with gremlins and hacker elves and gliders, well, let’s just say I drove Glitch and the guard pretty crazy. But yes...” His smile faded, and he looked away, over the hills. “Sometimes, it did get...kind of lonely.”
As they talked, I continued to scan the orchard, trying to keep an eye out for these mysterious guardians and not to stare at the apples at the same time. From what Keirran had said, I guessed they were giants of some sort, but unless they were hiding behind a tree, I couldn’t see them.
A raven cawed somewhere overhead.
“I’m right here,” I announced, tired of being ignored, “listening to everything you say. You can talk to me like I’m a real person, you know.”
Puck’s amused gaze flicked to me, though I still saw the shadow of concern in his eyes. “Why are you here, Ethan Chase?” he asked, his emerald stare suddenly piercing. “You should go home—there’s no need for you to be tromping all over the Nevernever with the princeling. I can take him to Arcadia from here.”
My skin prickled. That secret again. The one about me and Keirran. The reason Meghan had disappeared, cut herself off from our family and never told us she had a son. The vision of me dead on the ground, a horrified Keirran standing over my body, came back in a rush, and I shivered. Everyone in Faery had known, it seemed. Everyone...except Keirran and me.
Kenzie spoke up before I could answer, putting her hands on her h*ps and frowning up at the Summer prankster. “Why are you so eager to ship us home?” she demanded, and Puck’s eyebrows rose. “We’re fine. We’re here to help Keirran and we’re not going back until it’s finished. So everyone can stop telling us to stay out of it.”
Puck grinned at her. “Wow, don’t you remind me of someone I know,” he exclaimed, and Kenzie blinked. “Okay, fine. You’re not going back to the safe, boring mortal world where you belong. Point taken. That doesn’t really answer my question, princeling.” He eyed Keirran again. “Why are you trying to get an audience with the Harpy Queen? You might as well tear out your heart and offer it to her on a silver platter. With sprinkles.”