“First, we don’t know what Faerie is like right now. We will pack and take food with us. We can exit the portal the same as we can enter it, so we can send some of us to replenish supplies as often as we need. We also can’t be sure of what all our queen can accomplish until she’s fully connected with Faerie and her power. This is a mission of faith. But you can’t expect Arabella to have all the answers right now, it’s unrealistic and rude.” His serious tone and logical explanation calms the hysteria floating through the room.
“Can I go with you? Or are simple mortals not allowed?” Jacob asks so quietly we almost miss it. But the question has me whipping around to look at him.
“You would come?” I ask, shocked, as the tears spill over again.
“I am your prince, after all,” he jokes through his own tears that are freely falling down his cheeks.
“Mortals can come to Faerie. I know that there used to be a legend that once a mortal enters Faerie, they’re stuck. It isn’t because we tortured or imprisoned them - it was because some didn’t want to come back, and in general human bodies take longer to adjust to the changes. Time is faster here than Faerie so after a while… if you come back and people know you, they’ll notice you’re not aging. Do not make this decision lightly," Andras explains. I’m surprised by how much he knows about it and bite back a personal question about what humans he knew that ended up in Faerie.
“Well, what do I have to lose? It seems like my only choice, although I will think about it,” he says with a nod to Andras, letting him know he’s taking the warning seriously. I don’t miss the flash of excitement on Andras’ face and when I glance at River she’s already grinning at them. I guess I’m not the only observant one.
“What about cold foods?” I don’t see how we could keep things safe once in Faerie but I’m also not sure we can survive on dried foods alone.
“Cooler? They sell big ones, we could get a few things in there," Jacob suggests. Andras looked deep in thought again, meaning something insightful is coming our way.
“You are half Winter fae, correct?” Andras asks and I nod. “Then we work on your ice magic first and build a cold room. You also have nature magic, but so do a few others. I think we’ll figure it out when we get there,” he states confidently, as if the matter is fully resolved.
“Yeah, if magic still works there,” River mumbles but Andras apparently wants to stay blissfully ignorant.
“I’m so not cut out for camping,” Jacob mutters to me and I can’t help but laugh. Neither of us are the rugged, outdoorsy types. This will definitely be an interesting adventure.
Outside of camping concerns, I’m not okay with their confidence in me. I still feel more human than fae. Hopefully Andras is right, and once we make it to Faerie I’ll know more about my powers. But what if I can’t do what they’re asking of me? What if Faerie rejects us all and this is a huge failure? It feels like the entirety of the fae species is depending on me.
“Andras and I’ll go and fetch food. Jacob, River and our Queen will clear the refrigerator of food and cook what you can for tonight and tomorrow. That way we can fit our travel food inside. When we get back, we discuss a final plan," Allwyn gives out orders like he’s made for it. In moments like these you can clearly see him as a leader and I have my own doubts that he was just a guard captain. Then again, Faerie was a whole new world.
“Alright, but please pick up chocolate and coffee. Also, plenty of water for us to survive in Faerie. Everyone pitch money in," I announce, but Allwyn apparently disagreed.
“I brought gems with me from Faerie when I first came through. They were worth much more here, so I have plenty of funds to cover this and more. We will return soon,” he replies, waving off my money.
Deciding to trust him, I nod and head to Jacob’s kitchen to handle prep instead. I pull out all of the items in his refrigerator and cabinets
and stack them on the counters, mentally going over what he has already. Jacob walks in with his eyes wide. He kept such a clean house he’d likely never seen it cluttered like this. But seeing his anxious face has me pausing.
“Jacob, are you sure about this? If you decide to stay, I don’t want you to have nothing left to survive.” I hesitate in emptying the last cabinets while I wait for his response.
“I’m going. I’ve thought of nothing else since Sam left and you changed. I knew it was a possibility you wouldn’t stay here in town, and I want in on the adventure. Though I didn’t expect you to go so far,” he chuckles. “My life here is nothing worth mentioning, but if I can be with you and help bring life back to a new realm? That is a life worth mentioning. I’m going,” he says firmly, clapping his hands as he looks around at my organized chaos. “Now, let’s do this, pour the champagne.” He grabs his wine glasses down and waits for me to pop open the bottle. After I pour the drinks we grab our aprons.
“This is too chaotic, can I make a list of what we’ll be able to make?” River cringes as she looks around.
“Paper coming up, Queenie you get the music," Jacob orders as he stalks off in search of paper. I pull out my phone and turn on my music app before placing it into Jacob’s sound system. We never cook without music and at least this time we don’t have to turn it down just for Sam or rein in our crazy.
“Okay list maker, take a stool and get to writing. Our resident chef can make meals out of random items, so she’ll tell you what we can make.” Jacob dances into the room, handing River his notepad and pen.
She sits and waits, pen poised while I look through the ingredients, forming a plan in my head before yelling them out. “Muffins will travel well, add them. Jacob, text Andras and ask them to pick up parchment paper and paper bags. Oh, Cookies! We’ll make all of the meat and frozen items today so it doesn’t go to waste, we can always drop off meals for the homeless. Granola bars would be easy. I think I have enough flour to make bread and rolls. We can repackage the pretzel sticks and make popcorn for the journey. That’s all I can think of now until we get the stockpile down a bit.” Somehow they both take my rambling in stride, Jacob separating items while she writes it all down. The fact we can figure this out and work together so easily helps calm me. Though it’s like a raindrop in the ocean of my anxiety.
“Andras said they’ll get the stuff. I also told him to get several bottles of our pink champagne,” he says, throwing a smirk my way. I laugh and take a quick sip from my current glass. “We all know Faerie booze won’t be as tasty.” He clinks his glass to mine before we delve in.
By the time the others return, I have a ridiculous assortment of food lining the kitchen table. I managed to make more food than you’d feed an army. Jacob ran some food to the homeless shelter and the rest was cooling.
“Let’s go help the guys bring their stuff inside. Thank God I live on the ground floor," Jacob says dramatically when he comes back and drops his keys down. “They’re waiting. Well, they said they’ve got it but it’s a lot.”
Of course, by the time we even get shoes on they’re carrying it all in. Andras looks winded but Allwyn looks as unbothered as always.
“Holy shit!” I exclaim as we look at the haul the guys managed to buy. They even got camping gear, huge backpacking packs, lanterns, foldable tables, a ton of tents and way more sustainable food than I thought they would and coolers for what we bring. It feels like we’re going away to a survivalist retreat… though we kind of are.
“How do we get this stuff through the woods and down to Faerie?” River asks, looking as shocked as I am.
“We’ll park close to the woods, then we can load what we can in our packs and the rest we'll just have to pull along or something. It was the best I could come up with," Andras shrugs.