which she attributed to Fancy.
"Spoiled, as in rotten. Everyone jumps to your whim. The
princess demands her pleasures. Whatever you should ask is given."
"What be wrong with that?" She stabbed her staff into
the ground.
They both looked to the ground to spy the clump of dry hornbeam
fluttering out from beneath the cloak. Flakes of the enchanted,
disarrayed and damaged.
"What is it I have heard about Faery finery and coin?"
Ulrich pressed a wondering finger to his chin. Glee sparkled in his
eyes, Gossamyr sensed, for it was dark save for the carriage lanterns
bobbing down the road. Private as it should have been, he enjoyed her
humiliation immensely. "It disperses to dust once introduced to
the mortal realm." He toed the flakes of her decimated
pourpoint. They disintegrated to a glitter of dust.
Gossamyr nodded. "Very well. Be there another village close?"
"Pray there is. Now mount behind me. I promise I shall not
attempt to befriend you along the way."
"Splendid."
"Though I wager it shall be difficult to ignore a naked rider
clinging to my waist."
"I am not naked."
"Steal not my hope, my lady."
The sky thinned and receded. A flutter of his wings proved
ponderous. Never before had he felt as though the world might...slip
away. That his footsteps would not take hold on a path simply not
there. 'Twas as if he were falling through the roots.
Images from the fetch proved Gossamyr had successfully arrived in
the Otherside. She had even found a companion for the road. Shinn was
not overconcerned a mortal traveled at her side; the man would prove
a boon. As well, Gossamyr had easily managed the attacking bogie. He
would have expected nothing less. The vision of the caged fée
had disturbed him perhaps more deeply than it had affected his
daughter. She was strong. Capable. Not a single reason for any
mortal to cage her.
And yet with every breath, Shinn felt the shiver that had become
his bane more deeply. Mortal touched. The result? His mortal passion.
A sweet punishment. And so much he had reaped from that risk.
Greatest of all, his child.
Gossamyr was gone from him. Gone. Child of mine.
Should he have told her more? Revealed—
He just...he wanted her to return to him. But Gossamyr's truth
would prevent that. She must never learn her truth. For if she
continued to Believe she would Belong.
Clutching the curved crystal doorpull that opened into Gossamyr 's
bedchamber, Shinn stood for a breath, blinking, struggling to find
hold. The spice roses Mince cut daily for her room seeped into him,
cloying and powerful. Gossamyr's scent.
He had set his only daughter off on a dangerous mission. It had
been the right choice.
There had been no real choice. Shinn had known for some time
Gossamyr would be called to the Otherside. The mortal passion was
ever persistent. He could not interfere. Would Gossamyr sacrifice to
remain on the Otherside? Would she wish to do so?
"It is the bargain we made,Veridienne. For your home, you
must sacrifice"
"I sacrificed my home for you, Shinn! To love you."
"I acknowledge that, but to have it back, you must —"
"Very well. I will do it. I will...leave her."
"Oh!" At Shinn's sigh Mince popped her head up from the
floor by the bed. "Lord Wintershinn." She tugged at her
tight blue gown, pulling it snugly over two gentle rolls on her
stomach. Her small wings fluttered madly as she backed away. Eyes not
meeting his, the rumpled fée backed right into the armoire and
bent a wing.
"Is there something amiss, Mince?" Shinn strode by the
bed. His fingertips grazed the cold, precise marble and danced
through the hanging bed curtains. Nothing out of ordinary. He walked
to the window where the long arachnagoss sheers fluttered on the
breeze. He turned abruptly, catching Mince in the act of shutting the
armoire—on a finger. "Are you looking for something?"
"Looking? Me?" The syllables shook more rapidly than her
tell-tale wings. "Why ask you that, my lord? Oh, no,
just...tidying up a bit. What of
"Spoiled, as in rotten. Everyone jumps to your whim. The
princess demands her pleasures. Whatever you should ask is given."
"What be wrong with that?" She stabbed her staff into
the ground.
They both looked to the ground to spy the clump of dry hornbeam
fluttering out from beneath the cloak. Flakes of the enchanted,
disarrayed and damaged.
"What is it I have heard about Faery finery and coin?"
Ulrich pressed a wondering finger to his chin. Glee sparkled in his
eyes, Gossamyr sensed, for it was dark save for the carriage lanterns
bobbing down the road. Private as it should have been, he enjoyed her
humiliation immensely. "It disperses to dust once introduced to
the mortal realm." He toed the flakes of her decimated
pourpoint. They disintegrated to a glitter of dust.
Gossamyr nodded. "Very well. Be there another village close?"
"Pray there is. Now mount behind me. I promise I shall not
attempt to befriend you along the way."
"Splendid."
"Though I wager it shall be difficult to ignore a naked rider
clinging to my waist."
"I am not naked."
"Steal not my hope, my lady."
The sky thinned and receded. A flutter of his wings proved
ponderous. Never before had he felt as though the world might...slip
away. That his footsteps would not take hold on a path simply not
there. 'Twas as if he were falling through the roots.
Images from the fetch proved Gossamyr had successfully arrived in
the Otherside. She had even found a companion for the road. Shinn was
not overconcerned a mortal traveled at her side; the man would prove
a boon. As well, Gossamyr had easily managed the attacking bogie. He
would have expected nothing less. The vision of the caged fée
had disturbed him perhaps more deeply than it had affected his
daughter. She was strong. Capable. Not a single reason for any
mortal to cage her.
And yet with every breath, Shinn felt the shiver that had become
his bane more deeply. Mortal touched. The result? His mortal passion.
A sweet punishment. And so much he had reaped from that risk.
Greatest of all, his child.
Gossamyr was gone from him. Gone. Child of mine.
Should he have told her more? Revealed—
He just...he wanted her to return to him. But Gossamyr's truth
would prevent that. She must never learn her truth. For if she
continued to Believe she would Belong.
Clutching the curved crystal doorpull that opened into Gossamyr 's
bedchamber, Shinn stood for a breath, blinking, struggling to find
hold. The spice roses Mince cut daily for her room seeped into him,
cloying and powerful. Gossamyr's scent.
He had set his only daughter off on a dangerous mission. It had
been the right choice.
There had been no real choice. Shinn had known for some time
Gossamyr would be called to the Otherside. The mortal passion was
ever persistent. He could not interfere. Would Gossamyr sacrifice to
remain on the Otherside? Would she wish to do so?
"It is the bargain we made,Veridienne. For your home, you
must sacrifice"
"I sacrificed my home for you, Shinn! To love you."
"I acknowledge that, but to have it back, you must —"
"Very well. I will do it. I will...leave her."
"Oh!" At Shinn's sigh Mince popped her head up from the
floor by the bed. "Lord Wintershinn." She tugged at her
tight blue gown, pulling it snugly over two gentle rolls on her
stomach. Her small wings fluttered madly as she backed away. Eyes not
meeting his, the rumpled fée backed right into the armoire and
bent a wing.
"Is there something amiss, Mince?" Shinn strode by the
bed. His fingertips grazed the cold, precise marble and danced
through the hanging bed curtains. Nothing out of ordinary. He walked
to the window where the long arachnagoss sheers fluttered on the
breeze. He turned abruptly, catching Mince in the act of shutting the
armoire—on a finger. "Are you looking for something?"
"Looking? Me?" The syllables shook more rapidly than her
tell-tale wings. "Why ask you that, my lord? Oh, no,
just...tidying up a bit. What of
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