Chapter 23 Magyk & Mischief #2
Oberon nodded. “I…could not bear to give you your mother’s old room, but some of the things here belonged to her.
She did love to collect.” He motioned to the shelves, which had been stacked with books and other small treasures.
I walked along them slowly, running my fingertips over the book spines, then the shells, rocks, antlers, bones, and snakeskins.
A few things, I recognized as having come from Nottingham—a little glass dragonfly, like the ones sold in a fancy shop near the cathedral, several coins stamped with old King Henrik’s grizzled face, and a small, tattered Athenian flag.
I smiled, imagining my human father bringing these little pieces of the human world back to his faerie wife.
“It’s perfect,” I murmured.
“You must be exhausted,” Oberon said. “I’ll have Ceres bring you a meal. Your clothes are all here, but if you need anything more, I will send Puck to Arachne’s for it.”
“And I’m free to leave…whenever I wish?”
Oberon pursed his lips, a line appearing between his eyes. “You are certainly not a prisoner here, but I would ask that you keep me apprised of your comings and goings. And that you avoid spending more time than necessary with…certain individuals.”
“Like who?” I asked, turning to face him.
“Marina,” he sighed, “I am only trying to protect you, and others. Titania is obviously well aware that there are still certain humans, and those with human blood, who cannot leave our domain, but drawing more attention to the fact could endanger them. If you care about the people you met in the Hollow, you will avoid it.”
“Oh…” I muttered, glancing out at the balcony. “Is she watching me, then?”
“I can never say for certain what she knows or does not know, but she has eyes everywhere.”
“And what about your eyes?” I asked. “The ones you’ve had following me my entire life. Will they be watching me here in the Arden too now?”
“I left you at Locksley because I imagined it safer than anywhere else, but I was never going to let you be completely alone, Marina. You are still my flesh and blood, no matter where you are in the world.”
“That wasn’t an answer, so I am forced to assume that your little minion and his fireflies will continue to spy on me.”
Oberon visibly cringed, then went to stand behind one of two armchairs situated beside the balcony door.
He gripped the back of it, clearly agitated.
“I should apologize for Puck. He can be…overzealous when it comes to you. I never truly gave him another purpose, which I realize now might have been a mistake.”
“You could have at least taught the creature some manners,” I said with a soft laugh.
“Well, now you are home, so I will return him to the Arden and find you a more suitable bodyguard. Perhaps Antenor—”
The implication of his words rushed over me like freezing water. “Return him to the Arden? You mean…kill him?”
“Puck is not alive,” said Oberon with a shrug, “and so cannot be killed, as you or I could.”
“So, you will…take him apart?”
“You needn’t concern yourself with his fate.
He has become difficult to manage and I would not burden you with him.
” The faerie king’s tone was placating, but also flippant, as if we were talking about a tool or a toy that had been put together wrong.
Anger burst in my chest and I clenched my fists again.
“He is your creation!” I said, trying to keep my tone in check. “Has your immortal life made you so cold and detached from us lesser beings?”
Oberon eyed me carefully for a moment. When his answer came, it was soft. “No. It was your mother’s death which caused that.”
My rage slipped when I saw the pain etched into every line of his face—a yoke he had borne entirely alone for two decades. Something that had changed him so inextricably, all the other centuries of his life felt light in comparison.
“I-I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I did not mean to…”
“You are also no lesser being, Marina,” he continued. “You are my granddaughter, the most precious gift I have ever been given. Puck is…an amalgam of all my fear and paranoia, my hurt and need for control. I am not proud of his creation, nor of what he has become.”
“But the Huntress gave him life,” I argued. “He told me…about when my mother came to the Arden, while she was pregnant.”
“I cannot pretend to understand what happened that day,” Oberon sighed, shaking his head, “but it does not change the fact that he is unpredictable, not to mention unworthy of you.”
“I will decide who is worthy of me.” The righteous anger inside me would not abate, no matter how hard I tried to quash it, and I hardly knew what I said next. “If you harm him, I will not help you save the Arden.”
Oberon blinked, then spoke slowly. “You would sacrifice your people, your own family, just to save one unnatural, haphazard creature? I did not realize you shared his…attachment.”
My cheeks burned. “You chose to leave me at Locksley Abbey, and the Church of Holy Martyrs teaches that no life has more or less value than another. Devil…Puck…he might be a bothersome, uncivilized monster, but I will not abandon my beliefs now.”
“He has no heart, Marina,” said Oberon gently. “No matter what he has said, he cannot truly care for you, and that makes him dangerous.”
“I do not need care, I only—” I stopped and cleared my throat. “I need loyalty, and he is…already trained for it. If you cannot find a use for him anymore, perhaps I can.”
Oberon sighed again and clasped his hands, his expression making me feel far too exposed.
“You certainly have your mother’s heart,” he murmured.
“A heart whose desires I never could deny. You have my word that Puck’s life is in no danger from me.
Command him as you will, so long as he stays away from Titania, and out of mischief. ”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “I do not think I have the power to keep him out of mischief, but thank you…for listening, for understanding.”