CHAPTER 214

"They can't use nails," the queen informed them. "You'll need to do that part."

Tink shrieked with joy and ran at the house wielding her hammer. Tools were quickly gathered up as the centaurs joined in as well, everyone helping to hammer the home back together. Up on the roof, Abella was using her thumb to shove nails into place, and Kisa ran along the edge with a small hammer of her own.

The porch was rebuilt in an hour, the roof in two. Where the home had sagged, it was now shored up, and except for the lack of a paint job, it looked as good as new once more. The queen had created a forge made out of clay, and tiny creatures that looked like motes of ash now churned out glass for the windows. The yard was being tilled by gnomes and creatures that looked like flowers, all of whom were being eagerly assisted by some very excited centaurs.

The sun was halfway down toward the horizon when the job was finished. The magical trees had been used up completely, and the hedge maze had been rebuilt.

Beth stared in awe at the scene before her, her face flushed from working so hard with all the others. The others went still in the front yard as Mike walked up the porch to finish the final task that had been left for him alone.

Just to the left of the front door was a porch swing that looked like it had been hand-carved from an ash tree. Intricately designed flowers adorned the swing, and when Mike knelt down to pick up the chain, the fae went quiet.

He lifted the chain of the swing and hooked it into place, then gave the seat a push to make sure it swung correctly. He nodded to himself, then turned around and looked at Cecilia, who was hovering over a rose bush.

"Welcome home," he told her.

Cecilia wiped tears from her eyes as she hovered to her swing and then sat on it. The swing shifted beneath her, and a broad smile broke across her face.

"'Tis good to be home," she whispered.

Beth looked away from the scene and toward the queen. She had so many questions about what had happened in the faerie realm and had wanted to ask more than once why the queen was suddenly feeling so charitable. Maybe it was something Mike could tell her later. Order had risen up from the chaos, and the world seemed to be just a little bit brighter.

"It is done," declared the faerie queen, and her denizens winked out in groups like tiny little lights. "Cecilia, my daughter. You are free to live in this house as you choose for as long as you wish."

"Thank you," replied Cecilia.

"Caretaker? I shall hold you to your new agreement."

"Of course, Your Majesty. Thank you for this generous gift."

"Sulyvahn?" The queen turned her head, and Beth felt her heart plummet through her stomach. It hadn't really occurred to her that Sulyvahn would most likely have to leave when Cecilia returned, but now that moment was suddenly thrust upon them.

"Yer Majesty?" The dullahan, who had been assisting with the garden, knelt before her.

The queen just shook her head. "Don't assume that I am unaware of what you've been doing here. I disapprove."

Sulyvahn snorted. "I imagine ye do, yer Majesty. I dinna be askin' fer forgiveness, ye know. It's been fun livin' as the mortals do, and to be making friends with them. It's the most fun meself has had in centuries, te be honest."

The queen sighed. "Do you want to stay, too?"

He chuckled, then looked over at Beth, then to Mike. "Only if ye'll be having me. I wouldn'a mind watchin' o'er the place, much like me sister."

"You may stay as long as you are welcome, then. Your new charge is to assist in the passing of the creatures of this home, and to protect its occupants until I say otherwise." The queen then threw a knowing look at Beth, which made her breath catch in her throat.

"Ah, now that be perfectly grand, yer Majesty." Sulyvahn rose and stepped back.

"Now where is Quetzalli?" The queen turned her head, scanning the yard.

"I am here." The dragon walked out of the front door, her hands demurely together in front of her stomach. "I was helping inside."

The queen pursed her lips, then let out a sigh. "I have had a change of heart regarding your punishment. When you are ready, I will change you back into your true form."

"That won't be necessary." Quetzalli smiled. "I have discovered that I will turn back eventually, and am quite enjoying my time here learning how to be human. I never thought there was so much to learn from them, and am grateful to continue enjoying this unforeseen opportunity."

"Indeed." A thin smile appeared on the queen's lips. "In that case, I think I've been gone from my realm long enough."

The golden archway formed behind the queen and she walked toward it, only pausing long enough to look back at Mike. Mike nodded as if responding to a question only he could hear, and the queen gave him a smile just as the archway collapsed with a rumble, then a pop.

"Looks like I'll be around fer a bit, lass." Sulyvahn tossed his head into the air with a whoop, and then caught it. "Lookin' forward to seein' what trouble we be getting into."

"I've had enough trouble for this year," she told him with a laugh.

He put his head back on and embraced her. She closed her eyes and smiled.

Dana had been waiting almost an hour in Zel's yurt. While the wait was an inconvenience, it had given her plenty of time to unroll the maps she had made of the region. She had almost twenty square miles around the village properly surveilled from the air and had spent quite some time putting them together into useable information for the centaurs to use.

She didn't pretend to understand the full value of what Zel hoped to accomplish, but even the location of the riverbed was useful information, she supposed. The plan was for the tribe to do some re-organizing in the area, and then eventually expand. It really didn't matter how far the centaurs moved from the greenhouse door anymore, not with the rats assisting with a portal-style shortcut to allow them to remain connected to the house.