Another journal

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Dry-Eyes answered a question Emily hadn’t thought of. “You’ll be your regular size on the journey, of course.”

“Oh!” Emily had forgotten the change, remembering it brought back the punched-in-the-stomach feeling applied magic had given her. “I guess it would be faster, huh? Longer strides, or whatever?”

“I can fly faster than you can walk, girl.” There wasn’t derision in Dry-Eye’s voice, but Emily felt chided. “However, the King’s castle is very, very far from here, so yes, any advantage in speed will be helpful.”

“How far?” Emily realised she had no conception of the scope of the Sidhe. If it was the size of a continent, a world, or something bigger.

Dry-Eyes looked up at the woven grass roof of the gazebo they sat in. After the breakfast meeting the two women had gone to the public gardens to plan the journey. Emily waited, toying with the compass, which seemed to be pointing in a different direction than in the fields, though it was hard to be sure.

“Far is maybe not the right word, or it doesn’t have the correct definition in this context.” Dry-Eyes turned to look at Emily. “It is not a matter of distance but place. The King’s castle is in a different place from here. So to walk there directly will take considerable time and therefore planning.”

Emily wrinkled her nose. “Like, it’s not on the same plane of existence as here? But isn’t this all the Sidhe? Is the castle not in the Sidhe?”

Dry-Eyes began to answer, but stopped herself, holding up a hand. “It doesn’t really matter and I’m not the person to explain it.” Her wings fluttered irritably. “What I am trying to say is that to go there directly will take longer than to go there indirectly.”

“Like a shortcut?”

“If that explains it for you, then sure. A shortcut.”

“So why not just take the shortcut, why even worry about planning for the long way?”

“Because you may not like it.”

Emily felt like she was in a script again. She played along, knowing what she was supposed to say. “What could be so bad about a shortcut?”

“You.” Dry-Eyes looked at Emily from the corner of her eye. “What we encounter could be—unsettling to you, not being one of the Folk. Some of the things in shortcuts are unsettling even to those of us used to this place.” She looked back up at the roof for answers. “It will involve jumping to other places, sort of hopping from step-stone to step-stone. Some of the places we’d jump to won’t be very enjoyable.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “but it will get us there faster?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s do it!” Emily grinned. “Couldn’t be worse than waking up in the middle of nowhere or being threatened by self-important insects.”

Dry-Eyes grabbed Emily by the chin, turning her head to meet her gaze. “It could be a lot worse. What you’ve so far encountered is nothing. That dryad sent you to the fields, only a three day walk from here, where you could gain assistance. It was helping you. And the grasshoppers were less than nothing. I do hope what we encounter is trivial, but it is not something I can predict. Do not take your mission lightly.”

Jerking herself free, Emily narrowed her eyes. “I don’t. I know what I’ve encountered has been nothing and that scares me. Like I’ve said, I don’t know a damn thing about this place. I’m just waiting for the other big, bad, magical shoe to drop and laughing at the dark until then.”

They sat silently for a while, Emily rolling a cigarette. When they returned to planning, it turned out that they wouldn’t need much for the jumps that Emily didn’t already have in her backpack. Dry-Eyes was certain there would be water at regular points, but she’d carry a canteen too, though she didn’t need it.

“You have a weapon?” She gestured to the knife at Emily’s belt.

“Yeah, but I haven’t used it before.”

“Hopefully you won’t have to.”

Emily thought of the court, remembering the gift party. She touched the handle of the knife, half-smiling. “That’s what the woman who gave it to me said too.”

Mirrored from Journal of a Something or Other.