They stood in a pale grove, the usual ring of mushrooms surrounding them. Tam peered at Jennet, but in the dim light it was impossible to tell if her character looked any different.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
She took a hesitant step, then leaped over the ring. Whirling, she grinned at him. “Good! Fabulous, in fact.”
“Glad to hear it. Do you think we’re close to the Dark Court?”
He stepped over the luminous mushrooms and glanced about. The sky above them was dusted with stars and the trees gave off a faint glow.
“Yes, we are,” she said. “Do you hear that?”
He tilted his head. Music twisted through the air, pulling at his senses. Pipes and fiddle and the steady beat of a drum. “Yeah.”
“Come on.” Staff in one hand she stepped forward, down the shadowy path.
Tam hurried after her and took her arm, halting her. “Me first.”
“Really, Tam, I’m—”
“This is my job. Besides, you know in a fight that the tank goes first and the spell-caster stays back. We have to do this right, Jennet.”
“Ok. But don’t go too slowly.”
“I won’t - but I’m not rushing into danger either, alright?” Without waiting for a response, he strode past her.
The shadows under the trees shivered as they passed, but nothing leaped out at them. The music was stronger now, the trees taller and more widely spaced. A silvery light gilded the branches, and Tam glanced up to see a crescent moon floating in the blackness.
There were lights visible before them now, too, floating glimmers that looked like fireflies. The path widened, and Tam curled his fingers around his sword hilt. This was it. The Dark Court of the faeries.
He and Jennet stepped forward, into a clearing. An odd purplish bonfire burned in the center, and figures moved around it, their silhouettes inhumanly graceful or oddly grotesque.
Just past the fire, directly across from where they stood, was a throne made of vines and shadows. On it sat the Dark Queen. She smiled at him.
His breath left his lungs, and forgot to return. Who needed breath when she was there? Half-whispered secrets, the taste of moonlight, a brush of midnight across his senses. Bright stars sparkled behind his eyes.
“Tam!” Jennet hissed.
Abruptly, his lungs decided to work again. He sucked in a breath and forced himself to look away. His gaze landed on the Black Knight, standing utterly still in the darkness behind the queen. Now that was an enemy he could fight.
Beside the knight were feasting tables covered with delicacies, and a group of musicians playing sweet music. Fabulously beautiful women with gossamer wings danced, small twiggy creatures swooped past, and laughter chimed like bells in the soft, dark air.
Then, sudden as a slammed door, everything stopped. The music cut off, the dancers halted, the laughter ceased. Tam felt every creature in the clearing turning to look at them, and fear skittered across the back of his neck.
“Fair Jennet. And Bold Tamlin,” the queen said, her voice full of smoke and promises. “Have you come to issue a challenge?”
“We have.” He took a step forward. “We are here to regain what was lost.”
“Is it so?” The queen’s voice took on an edge. “What I have, I won fairly. Now you would take it from me?”
“Not take,” Jennet said, “Win. I need it back.”
“Ah,” the queen said. “Need.”
The way she spoke that single word made Tam’s whole body tighten. Need. It echoed through him.
“Yes.” Jennet sounded scared, but defiant. It was her life they were talking about, after all. “I demand another chance.”
“So much trouble,” the queen said, “for something so simple. Are you quite certain, Fair Jennet? Are you willing to place your champion in such danger?”
“It’s not—”
“Her champion chooses this freely,” Tam said. He would not make this Jennet’s fault, no matter what the queen said.
“Ah. So bold.” The queen breathed the words. “Very well.”
She extended one hand, palm up, and a glowing sphere appeared there, cupped in her hand. Jennet gasped, and the queen laughed her chiming laugh.
“I see you recognize yourself, Fair Jennet.” The queen turned the globe back and forth between her slender fingers. Bright orange and pink flames were trapped inside the sphere, dancing desperately, seeking freedom. “But if you may have a champion, then so may I.”
There was a flash of silver, like a lightning bolt had struck the clearing, followed by bone-shaking thunder. The purple bonfire snuffed out. Tam turned, sword drawn, to find that he and Jennet now stood on a raised, circular platform. The fey-folk gathered around the edges, their expressions avid.
The queen and the Black Knight faced them. Tam’s blood surged, hot and scared. With a sharp smile, the queen lifted her hand.
“Begin!” she cried.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
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