“This won’t do. I won’t have it.”

  I jolted from my doze in surprise to see Cervis standing in the gardens. A number of korrigans flitted away as I woke. The Stag pawed the ground with one hoof, and his eyes shone- was that a flicker of sky blue beyond the white, or was I imagining it?

  “What won’t do?” I asked, groggy in the early afternoon. The seasons never changed here, it seemed; midwinter may bring snow elsewhere, but the gardens still effected a lazy summer afternoon.

  “I’ll not have you in a state of unending misery. There are… Loopholes. You know that. You’ve found some yourself. And I believe you shall be fine for a short visit back to your family, but there is one condition.”

  I sat up, hoping it would be nothing too taxing, and tried not to let my excitement build. “What is the condition?”

  “You mustn’t speak to any of your mother’s people. If faye come knocking- you must not allow yourself to converse with them. They will try and it will seem that they are ‘helping’ you, but if you speak to the faye, you will doom us both.”

  I nodded, standing. “Okay. I can accept that condition.”

  “Have you any to impose yourself?”

  “I’d simply like a full day with my family. That is all. I’ve been curious as to how they’re doing, anyway.”

  “They’re well,” he assured me, and then nodded. “Then, go pack for the trip and for a stay overnight. The journey is the same as before: silent in the Palewood, and you must not be afraid.”

  Having experienced the trip already, I could meet his eyes honestly and say, “I won’t be.”

  There was warmth in his voice as he said, “Good.”

  I set about his direction, returning to my tower to pack. At a ring of the bell, a leather knapsack appeared, and I filled it with clothes; I had crafted plenty during my time here, and my tailoring had improved. I was no master tailor by any means, but the tunics and trousers I wore now offered a little more aesthetic pleasure. I wondered if I’d be allowed to bring gifts to my family, and then decided it wasn’t my place. Anything I had here would technically be Cervis’- except…

  I packed a few of the lavender blooms from the garden, seven in total, and then strapped the bag closed. I couldn’t help the blooming light in my heart: I would soon get to see my sisters again! And my father- it felt as though it had been ages. I shook away the thoughts, trying to focus on the task at hand. It would be cold- it always snowed at Midwinter where we lived. Would they still live in the cottage? Cervis promised them a life of riches- perhaps they’ve moved to a manor… Would it still feel like home to see my family elsewhere?

  Thoughts swirled about as I packed, trying to contain my excitement, but I was buzzing all the while. It was impossible, then, not to cheerily anticipate what was to come.

  Sol buzzed around me, singing shrilly, and I imagined the Light was giving me a lecture on staying safe and coming back home. I assured the Light I would take all cautions- and I was surprised to find at this point, the floating palace almost felt like a home to come back to. I had heard of maidens whose minds went screwy after being trapped in the same place too long and they started to think it was where they belonged. I had heard tales of maidens falling in love with their captors. Perhaps that was the reason this place felt right to come back to- but I had known from the start I needed a life of adventure, and what was more adventurous than being trapped in a magical realm with a cursed captor? Honestly, I had a star for a best friend. There was even a snarky, unlikable friend to the captor- Nyx had become no warmer in the months since I’d first arrived. Cervis assured me it wasn’t personal, just the night-fox’s personality.

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  But it was a funny feeling, as I headed down the steps into the garden- going back home felt like the vacation from where I was supposed to be. Seeing Cervis at the base of the steps only assured me I would come back. This, somehow- this was where I belonged.

  And so I smiled at the Stag as I mounted him, and then we headed out, through the tall silver walls that had shifted from confining to protecting. We entered the forest with korrigans flitting around us, owl-fairies I never would have seen back home. We passed night-foxes and magenta sparrows that sang like flutes. We crossed the footstep of a mighty wendigo, and I felt the familiar chill of fear. It wasn’t all dreams and magic- it was nightmares, too. But what was adventure without the occasional shudder-inducing monster?

  The forest edge appeared and we had returned to the Desert of Dreams. The sun vanished with the forest; in the Desert of Dreams, it seemed the moon always hung high- I supposed this was one of those magical exceptions, as Cervis hadn’t turned back into a man. We passed the shallow black pools that seemed a solid black expanse- like glass, almost- until the creatures within them leapt out and executed their gymnastic displays in mid-air. As the wind blustered alongside us, I looked up this time, to the sky.

  It was beautiful- the usual shimmering black expanse of silver starlight remained, but here, it was dashed and splattered with all shades of the rainbow. A streak of forest green and shining gold here, a swirling swath of crimson and violet there- and, could that be? It seemed a sapphire-and-onyx dragon, made of the same vibrant stardust as the other splotches of color, soared through constellations in the distance. I pointed it out to Cervis, and he assured me this was a normal occurrence- Dream-Dragons painted the sky, swallowing nightmares and blowing fire into the hearts of dreamers. The idea that some astronomical beast had granted me my spark only confirmed that I was where I was supposed to be: at Cervis’s side, in magical lands, learning and witnessing things I would never otherwise imagine.

  It felt as though hours passed while we crossed the desert, but it was late afternoon when we left and re-entered the Land of Free Men. We sailed across open tundra, and then entered an ice-coated forest of tall, spindly trees. Well beyond this first forest, we crossed valleys and plains, mountain ranges and fjords, ravines and plateaus. It seemed there was no end to countryside, no end to the stamina that propelled Cervis’ ghostly legs forward, no end to the late afternoon in which we dwelled. Then we passed a village.

  After the first village, we passed several more, coming eventually to pass Overthrow, then the Sun Trail, then Hanswatch, then Wentworthy- we were back in my home forest.

  We carried on down the main trail through it, passing the turn-off for my cottage. I debated mentioning this, but decided Cervis would know better than I where he needed to take me. We passed through the forest and then a village I didn’t recognize. Just beyond this one, we entered a narrow range of mountains- about a dozen mountains in total, nearly lined up- and he took me up the nearest. Halfway up, nestled in a grove of oaks and cedars, a large manor house rose among a snow-covered meadow. The lights inside were warm and golden, and the porch was covered in Midwinter Fest decorations. I stared, open-mouthed, as Cervis came to a stop.

  “I believe this is where I leave you,” he said. “Till tomorrow evening. Please do not forget our condition- speak to none of your mother’s people. Should you have need of me before then, follow the moon.”

  I dismounted, taking my pack with me, and Cervis traipsed off into the woods as I climbed the porch steps.

  Heart pounding in anticipation, I knocked on the sturdy, polished oaken door of the home I'd left behind.