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  A muffled thump made her whirl around, all her senses suddenly on high alert. Aidan knelt in the tree hollow’s entrance, blinking and rubbing his eyes. She sighed in relief. He clambered out of the hollow, unfolding his lanky frame through the narrow entrance.

  “Morning.” He yawned then cleared his throat. “I’m awfully glad to see you. I thought for sure you’d been snatched away in the night.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Gwen said apologetically. She waved her hand toward the forest. “I was just seeing what we were up against.”

  Aidan scanned the forest, nose wrinkled.

  “It doesn’t look much better in daylight, does it?”

  They surveyed the woods another minute, neither wanting to broach the topic foremost on their minds. Gwen finally spoke.

  “So what do we do now? Just start walking until we get somewhere?” She bit her lip.

  “It’s as good a plan as any, and a better plan than some.” Aidan brushed at the dirt on his pants and straightened his shirt. “The forest can’t go on forever. And we might come across a path eventually. Corann knew where he was going, so there must be some human habitation.” He swallowed, looking into the trees. “Or other habitation.”

  Prickles of fear crawled up Gwen’s spine. She tried to ignore them. Aidan turned on the spot, looking up at the sun. Gwen considered him, puzzled.

  “Didn’t your cape have silver stars all over it? For your magician’s gig?”

  Aidan looked discomposed.

  “They must have fallen off. Cheap rubbish,” he added unconvincingly.

  Gwen frowned at him, but he kept his eyes in the trees. The stars hadn’t looked stick-on last night. In fact, Gwen could have sworn they were part of the weave of the fabric.

  Aidan said, “The sun’s already been up for a while. We slept better in that moldy old tree than I thought.”

  Gwen’s mind was still on the stars of Aidan’s cape, but she let him change the subject.

  “Let’s get moving then. Hey, if this is a magic land, maybe we’ll come across a breakfast tree, dangling with bacon and egg fruits.” She tucked her skirts more securely into her sash in preparation for their trek.

  “Don’t talk about food.” Aidan groaned and clutched his stomach. “I’m ravenous.”

  ***

  They scrambled through the logs and undergrowth as they had the night before. Immediately, a vine appeared out of nowhere to trip Gwen. She narrowly avoided tumbling headlong into a bush crowned with wicked looking thorns by clutching Aidan’s arm as she fell. He twisted with the impact, and his head landed in the middle of a vast spider web strung between decaying branches.

  “Gah!” Aidan made an inarticulate noise and fought furiously to remove the strands. Gwen tried to extract him and ended up with sticky palms for her effort.

  Aidan turned to get away from the web, and jumped over a nearby log. Gwen followed him. Too late she heard his startled shout, and landed next to him in a stagnant pool of water inconveniently located exactly where their feet had landed.

  “This forest has it in for us.” Aidan ducked as a branch cracked overhead and dropped with a heavy thud a foot away.

  “I swear it’s alive.” Gwen looked around at the silent trees and shivered.

  After an hour of this trekking, Aidan tripped over another branch and went sprawling headfirst through a patch of bushes with dull green leaves.

  “Gwen! I found a path!”

  It was little more than a deer trail, but it was infinitely better than what they had been traveling though. Gwen hugged Aidan, and they grinned at each other for the first time since the ball. They continued on the path.

  “Which way, do you reckon?” Aidan said, swatting away a branch that dangled low.

  “Does it matter?” Gwen replied.

  “Now, there’s the self-defeatist attitude we don’t want. Pick a way! Be confident!” Aidan grinned at Gwen, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

  The going was much easier on the path. Branches occasionally cracked and fell near them, and once a young tree uprooted itself and crashed onto the path right behind Gwen, but they could move much more quickly along the flattened trail.

  At mid-day, or as close to mid-day as they could tell in the murky half-light of the forest, they stopped at a slow-moving creek that didn’t appear too foul. They eagerly scooped up water with their hands and slurped at the dank, muddy-tasting liquid.

  Gwen found a fallen tree to sit on and kicked off her shoes with a groan. She lifted her foot onto her knee and examined it.

  “Damn it,” she muttered.

  “What’s up?” Aidan stretched back on a log, narrowly avoiding a slimy-looking fungus protruding from the bark.

  “I got a blister from these shoes, which were absolutely not meant for hiking in.” She prodded the offending footwear with her toe. “At least they weren’t heels.”

  Aidan stood up, looking around. He strode over to a nearby cluster of bushes, rummaged near the roots for a minute, and emerged triumphant. He knelt down in front of Gwen.

  “Let’s see your foot, then,” he said, holding out his hand. She reluctantly placed her foot in his outstretched palm, hoping it didn’t smell, not that he would notice beneath all the mud and bog water. She stifled a nervous laugh. How could she be worried about what Aidan thought of her when they were trapped in an unending forest in another world?

  Aidan produced the leaf he had plucked. He rubbed it against her blister gently, keeping his eyes fixed on her foot. It hurt at first, but the pain numbed almost immediately. When he stopped rubbing moments later, the redness had faded and the blister had shrunk to half its size. She peered at her foot, amazed.

  “What was that plant? How’d you know that?”

  Aidan tossed the leaf aside and stood up, ineffectually brushing his filthy pant legs. He spoke without looking at her.

  “Oh, it’s a common herbal remedy in the country. My—granny taught me.” He took a step away. “If you’re ready…”

  Gwen slipped her shoes back on and pushed herself to her feet. “Yeah, let’s get moving. The path has to go somewhere, right?”

  ***

  The afternoon lasted forever. By the time shadows from the occasional sunbeam slanted through the gloom, Gwen’s legs screamed at her for a rest and her stomach wouldn’t cease its growling. Aidan’s pace ahead of her had dropped from a brisk hike to a slow trudge, and his head drooped. Gwen’s initial blister had improved thanks to Aidan’s ministrations, but her other foot throbbed with another angry sore.

  Gwen stopped in front of a bush that looked like the one Aidan had plucked for its medicinal leaves. She grabbed a leaf, balanced on one foot, and rubbed the leaf tenderly over the reddened sore. All she managed to do was aggravate the blister, and she sucked in her breath in pain. Aidan turned around.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, puzzled.

  “Trying your herbal cure for blisters.” She winced as she put her foot down. “It doesn’t work when I do it. Do I have the wrong leaf?”

  He took the leaf from her. His expression fought between amusement and sadness. He bent down and took her foot again. Instantly, the pain subsided.

  “Thanks,” Gwen said, relieved but puzzled. “How did you do that? Why didn’t it work for me?”

  Aidan avoided her gaze.

  “Come on, let’s keep moving. This path to nowhere won’t walk itself.” He placed her foot carefully on the ground, taking his time letting go.

  Gwen looked at Aidan’s back at he walked away, utterly confused. Why didn’t the leaf work for her? Aidan’s cape fluttered with every step, showing a few rents in the smooth, star-free fabric. What was Aidan not telling her?

  ***

  The already dim light had grown even paler when Aidan stopped and turned around. The look of hopelessness on his face made Gwen’s stomach clench. She looked past him at a tree with a large hollow in its trunk.

  “No,” she gasped. She ran forward. It was unmistakably the tree they
had slept in the previous night. “How is this possible? We’ve been walking all day.” She found herself breathing in great, gulping breaths.

  “The path must have led us in a circle.” Aidan’s voice was flat with exhaustion and despair.

  Gwen was almost beside herself with worry and pain. She took one last look at Aidan’s hopeless face, and she couldn’t help herself. Her eyes welled with unexpected tears. She covered her face in her hands as she tried to control her emotions.

  A tentative hand rested on Gwen’s shoulder.

  “Don’t cry,” Aidan pleaded. “We’ll figure it out.”

  She leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder, letting the tears drain out. He put his arms gingerly around her.

  Eventually she snuffled and said, “Sorry. It’s been a long day.” She lifted her head and looked at the wet spot on Aidan’s shirt. “Oh, I got your shirt all wet.”

  “And it was such a clean shirt too,” Aidan said in a mock-complaining tone. Gwen chuckled through her tears and straightened.

  “And what are you two young things doing out in the woods alone?”

  Gwen’s heart stopped and she and Aidan whirled around.

  Chapter 8

  A man stood before them. Glossy brown hair fell in waves around his face, which was tilted to one side in question. He was dressed in a fawn-colored shirt which hung loose over brown pants tucked into well-worn leather boots, supple and well-fitting. A short cape completed his attire. Dozens of patchwork diamonds made up the fabric of the cape, in every shade of green imaginable. The cape swirled around his body like a living thing, incongruent in its complexity but camouflaging in its coloration. A green tattoo that might have been a leaf peeked out of his shirt collar.

  Gwen’s jaw dropped. Aidan moved in front of her slightly. Gwen wondered if he was trying to protect her then immediately felt guilty at the jolt of pleasure in her stomach. He didn’t have to be here, taking risks for her. Ellie was her friend and her responsibility, not his.

  The man raised one dark eyebrow in a high arch.

  “You’re both absolutely filthy. How did you end up so deep in the woods?” He looked them up and down.

  “We—got lost,” Aidan said stiffly. The man moved toward them and Gwen tensed. He reached out swiftly, like a snake striking, and pulled back the neck of Aidan’s shirt to expose his left shoulder. The freckled skin was smooth and pale in the evening light. What was the man looking for?

  Aidan flinched at the sudden motion and stepped back, pushing Gwen behind him.

  The man laughed merrily, loud and clear in the deepening gloom. He said, ‘Two baby birds fell out of their nest before they could fly.”

  “Who are you?” Gwen said, trying to sound strong and suppress the tremble in her voice.

  “My name is Loniel, little bird. And this is your first time in the queen’s realm, is it not? Otherwise you would not be so hopelessly dirty and lost.” He looked between the two of them. “Open your inner eye and see the world as it should be.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Aidan spat out. The man’s grin widened.

  “The birds are even younger than I thought. What very sheltered lives you must have lived in your nest, where no one taught you what wings are for.” He pointed to a tree behind him. “Stare at the tree. Then look past the tree, through the tree.”

  Gwen looked at him skeptically. He laughed.

  “It will help, little bird.”

  “What are we going to do? This guy is crazy,” Gwen whispered to Aidan.

  Aidan frowned at the tree.

  “Just humor him until we know.” They stared at the tree. The moss-covered bark was as solid as Gwen expected it to be.

  “How do I look through a tree?” Gwen asked in confusion.

  “I think he means to unfocus your eyes,” Aidan said.

  “Indeed, my nestlings. Now notice the edges of your vision. Can you see the pieces of lovely swimming almost out of sight?”

  Gwen’s fingers clenched and unclenched as she tried to control her breathing. They were being forced to do mindless tasks by some potentially dangerous stranger after an exhausting day of exertion and despair. Her throat constricted as she fought against the emotion welling up.

  A flicker caught her attention. She could have sworn she’d seen a flutter of brilliant orange wings at the edge of her vision. She moved her eyes to look, and the orange vanished.

  The man laughed.

  “Focus, birdling. Once you see the edges change, let them take over your eyes bit by bit. Will them to take over.”

  Aidan stared intently at the tree, brow furrowed in concentration. Gwen looked back at the tree and unfocused her eyes. Gradually flickers of color presented themselves at the edges. She forced herself to keep looking forward into nothing. The colors began to bleed into the gloomy greys and greens of the forest. Finally the tree was the last dark vestige of gloom in a bright and cheery world until it too faded, replaced by a tall birch with white bark gently lit by rays of sunlight that pierced through a shifting canopy of brilliant green leaves. Birdsong filled the air, and a butterfly flitted past Gwen’s nose. The sun’s rays lit the little clearing with a soft, warm light, illuminating emerald green moss and cheery white mushrooms on the forest floor. A wide path cut a swath through the forest on either side of them, clearly maintained. Gwen looked around, amazed, and turned to Aidan whose jaw hung open in astonishment.

  Loniel clapped his hands together slowly. He spread out his arms.

  “Welcome to the queen’s forest. She has it enchanted to discourage strangers and humans who stray here.” Gwen dared not look at Aidan, who stiffened beside her. Was his theory true? Was this man one of the people of the barrows? And who was this ‘queen’ he mentioned? Gwen remembered Corann’s locket with the picture of her mother. What was the connection? Had her mother travelled to this strange world too?

  “Luckily for you,” Loniel continued, oblivious to their discomfort, “I feel Breenan strangers should be welcomed to the realm. Humans, on the other hand, are only good for amusement.” He cocked his head to the side. “Did you stumble over from King Faolan’s lands?”

  Aidan was silent. Gwen said, “It felt like we walked forever.” It definitely wasn’t a lie, but didn’t answer his question. She was confused by his assumption that they weren’t human, but it seemed clear that they would receive better treatment if she kept up the charade.

  He seemed satisfied with her answer and glanced upward.

  “But now it’s time for merriment, since the sun has set. Come and join me and my fellow merrymakers for dancing and a feast.”

  “Food?” Aidan’s head lifted, and Gwen’s stomach asserted itself noisily.

  Loniel laughed.

  “Of course. Just let me make you presentable.” He held out his hands toward them. A warm breeze ruffled Gwen’s skirts and flowed upward until it lifted her hair off the back of her neck. Her heart pounded as she turned to Aidan, who looked down at himself. His clothes were immaculate once again, and his face was clean and free of scratches. Where before he had looked half-wild and desperate, now he was once again the dashing magician of Thursday’s ball. Gwen’s forehead wrinkled in confusion as she glanced down at her dress. It was fresh and unstained, the rents torn by malevolent vines healed over and the fabric smoothed. She and Aidan stared at each other in astonishment. Loniel clapped his hands again.

  “Much better. Now come with me to the feast.” He turned to go.

  “Wait.” Gwen collected herself. She was shaky and on edge after Loniel’s overt use of—magic?—but she couldn’t forget why they were here. “I know it’s a long shot, but have you seen two travelers pass by? The man has dark hair, pointed chin—the girl is blond with a blue dress on.” She held her breath, waiting for his answer.

  “Ah, yes. They passed by me late last night. The girl was human, correct?” Gwen nodded tentatively. The man said, “Aye. They’d be heading to the queen’s castle.”

&nb
sp; “Please, can you tell us where to go?” Gwen’s eyes opened wide in her eagerness. “We need to find them.” Perhaps this horrible day hadn’t been wasted after all.

  “Much too late for traveling, little bird.” He swept his arm toward the path. “Come dance and feast tonight, and tomorrow I will send you on your merry way.” He nodded his head down the path in the other direction. “It’s that way, so you know.” He waved his hand at them and smiled impishly. “Come, come. I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Gwen and Aidan glanced at each other.

  “At least there’s food,” Aidan said in a light tone, but there was tension in his voice. “And we can go to the castle in the morning.”

  Gwen nodded tightly.

  Loniel clapped Aidan on the back.

  “Come roost at my fire, little birds.”

  ***

  Gwen and Aidan followed Loniel along the widened path. The difference in the forest was monumental between what they now saw and their journey earlier. Gone were the pitfalls and serpentine booby traps. The pools of water that were stagnant and dark before now glimmered in the dusky air, clear and calm. The trees grew straight and tall, not leaning broodingly toward the path. The evening sun cast dappled shadows of bright warmth and cool darkness, highlighting the brilliant emerald of mosses on the woodland floor. The forest was peaceful, so different from the malevolent force of earlier. Gwen thought that perhaps she could even like this forest, given time. Aidan smiled as she glanced at him, his face calmer now. She slipped a hand into the crook of his arm and they walked that way for a few minutes.