“Your father has arrived home,” HANA said, interrupting Jennet’s homework. “He requires your presence in the living room.”

Great. “Tell him I’ll be down in a minute.”

After a short pause, HANA said, “I have notified him.”

When Jennet reached the living room, her dad was sitting on the couch. He looked tired as usual, his eyebrows pulled into a nearly perpetual frown. Getting moved off of Feyland hadn’t been good for him. Neither had swimming against the company tide, and it seemed the company-mandated psych sessions weren’t doing much to help.

He glanced at her. “Come in and sit down, Jen. We need to talk.”

She perched on her chair like it was the edge of a cliff. “What’s going on?”

“It’s come to my attention that you and Tam have been using the Full-D systems. Which you know are off limits.”

She swallowed and clenched her fingers together. “Dad, we had to. You have no idea what’s at stake! Feyland can affect the real world - we can’t let the game be released.”

“So by breaking the rules and using the Full-D, you’re saving the world?” He shook his head. “I’m afraid Tam’s not welcome here any more.”

“What?” Panic squeezed her chest. “But… he has to come over.”

If she and Tam couldn’t go in-game, how could they possibly find a solution? They’d saved Marny - but what about everybody else?

“I can’t trust you.” Her dad pinched the bridge of his nose. “If Tam comes over again, there will be serious consequences.”

“When Feyland is released, there will be serious consequences for every person who plays it! Dad, you have to believe me. Please… just come in-game.”

He gave her a tired look. “At least it looks like our hardware is fixed - since neither you nor Tam required hospitalization after playing.”

“I told you, it’s not the system, it’s the Realm of Faerie - ”

“This is the modern world, not some fairytale.”

“But - ”

He held up one hand. “Jennet, listen to me. The company is scheduling the beta-testing for Feyland. And I’ve volunteered to be a tester for the game.”

“You have?” She sucked in a breath. Suddenly the tables were turned, and she didn’t like it one bit. “But… what if you get hurt?”

 “I won’t - because I’m starting to believe Dr. Lassiter is right. A couple of the early prototypes had neural interface issues, but the company has worked everything out. And if there are problems, I’ll be right there, willing to speak up.”

Worry settled in the pit of her stomach, like she’d swallowed tar. She couldn’t talk Dad out of playing - especially not when she’d just been begging him to. And maybe, just maybe, he’d see she was right. She let out her breath.

“When does beta-testing start?” she asked.

“In another week. Now, do I have your promise that Tam won’t come over again?”

If she didn’t agree, he’d probably do something even more drastic, like forbid her to see Tam at all. Or ship her back to Prep, her old school, as a boarding student.

“All right.” The words tasted sour in her mouth.

A solution seemed as far away as the moon, but she and Tam had to figure out some way to keep playing. They had to break the Bright King’s power and shut off the connection between Feyland and the Realm of Faerie. Permanently.

***

Jolted from a deep sleep, Jennet opened her eyes, but it was too dark to see anything. What had woken her? She turned to look at the glowing numerals on her clock - but it wasn’t there.

In fact, she wasn’t even lying in her bed, but on something velvety and way too soft. Fear washed over her, kicking her heartbeat up and winding her breath tight.

Relax. Breathe. It’s just a bad dream. Any second now, she’d wake up. She kept her eyes shut, trying to ignore the faint chiming in her ears. Wake up. Wake up.

Warm air surrounded her, scented with flowers. Then brightness, red against her closed eyelids. A high, bright laugh, quickly smothered.

Maybe if she pretended to be asleep, whatever-it-was would just go away.

“Fair Jennet, why do you feign sleep, when our king awaits?” The voice was familiar - the sweet tones of the Bright King’s handmaiden.

Dread squeezed through her - she couldn’t deny the knowledge any longer. She was in the Bright Court. But how?

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. As she’d feared, there was the luminous pearl high overhead, the fantastical gemmed trees. And the dais where the Bright King sat, watching her. His silvery gaze was fathomless, and a faint smile etched his handsome, severe face. Fear shivered through her bones.

Pushing away the silken coverlet, she sat up. A quick check confirmed she was wearing the tank-top and flannel pj pants she went to sleep in.

She was in Feyland. For real, this time. A cold wave of dread washed over her.

“Welcome again to my court, Fair Jennet,” the king said. “You grace us with your mortal beauty.”

“How did I get here?” And how could she get out? She was afraid of the answer.

“As you used that which you took from my realm, so I summoned you.” He nodded to his handmaiden, who held up a dainty golden box.

The twin of that box was currently sitting on her bathroom counter. She swallowed, and tried to project a confidence she didn’t feel.

“Well, I appreciate the invite, but I can’t stay long.”

Laughter shimmered over the gathered fey-folk, and the pixies flew in mirthful spirals. She had the hollow feeling she didn’t have much choice in the matter. If only Tam were there, he would know what to do. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to think.

The king had used his magic to bypass the interface of the game altogether - his power was growing way too strong. How was she going to get back? Despite the warm air, she felt chilled to the core.

“You will stay as long as I wish it. Am I not the ruler here? Come, Fair Jennet, and sit beside me.”

When he beckoned to her, her body rose, pulled to standing against her will.

“Hey!” she cried, “stop it.”

She tried to sit back down again, but it hurt - like ramming her head on a concrete wall. After a second, she gave up, tears of pain blurring her vision. The king smiled in satisfaction as he watched her walk to the dais and settle upon the golden grasses.

Ok, calm down. She took a shaky breath. Her body wasn’t under her control, but at least her mind was. And her mouth. Still, it wouldn’t do any good to insult the Bright King or rail against him. She had to play this smart, and that included not insulting her host. Yet, anyway. She didn’t even have any weapons, so challenging him to a duel was out. It would have to be a battle of wits.

So, what did she know that could help her? Anything about escaping the Realm of Faerie?

The fey-folk loved stories, if she remembered it right from her book. And somehow, Roy managed to freely come and go from the Bright Court - if only in his avatar form. Maybe Roy’s adventures would hold a clue to her freedom, if she could get the king to talk.

“Will you tell me a tale, your majesty?” she asked.

The king raised his thin brows. “A tale?”

“Yes. Have other mortals visited your court? I mean, recently?”

At that, he threw his head back and laughed, a crystalline sound that set the bejeweled trees clinking.

“A tale of a mortal in my court? Methinks you do not mean Burd Ellen, who visited nary a handful of moons ago - yet centuries in your fragile, mortal time.”

“Never heard of her.”

Although… the name tickled her memory. Something she’d read in her old book, a scrap of story or ballad. She pressed her lips together, trying to chase down the wisp of recognition. No luck - it was gone.

“Fair Jennet, I know it is the tale of the Royal one you seek. His reflection is in your eyes, though it is Bold Tamlin who holds your heart.”

She stiffened, as much as her body would let her. The king saw way too much. “Tell me about Roy.”

“Very well.” The king steepled his fingers together. “It was first a disturbance at the edge of my Realm. I sent one of my guards to investigate, and he returned with the description of a proud young mortal questing too near my lands. I sent the white stag out, to lure him closer. When the stag failed, the dryads aided me, closing the forest behind so that the path here was the only open way. And thus, the Royal one came to my court.”

She wanted to ask him how long ago, but any answer the king gave was useless in terms of human time. At a guess, a few months. Last summer, maybe, around the time she had gone to the Dark Court. It made a sort of twisted, symmetrical sense.

“He claimed to be a prince among humans,” the king continued, “and I took him at his word.”

Right. She blew a puff of air out her nostrils. Trust Roy to always claim the spotlight. Not that she was going to blow the whistle on him right now.

“Okay,” she said. “Did he make some kind of bargain with you?”

That was how it went in the stories - and you had to be very careful when dealing with the faeries. She frowned, wishing she could cross her arms. Seemed like she and Tam hadn’t been cautious enough, trading her hair for the faerie grass. Not as if they’d had a choice.

“Indeed, he did strike a bargain.” The king smiled, painfully bright, like sunlight reflected off a mirror. “In return for his assistance, I bestowed on him a small bit of faerie magic.”

“The power of glamour.”

The Bright King gave her a thoughtful look. “Indeed. I understand now why you desired the grass from my throne. But no matter. The Royal one has proven difficult, of late. Perhaps we shall see what he has to say for himself.”

 “Wait,” she said, her stomach knotting. “If you mean to bring Roy here, it’s really not necessary.”

Not what she’d had in mind at all. Things were already way too messy without adding Roy Lassiter to the mix.

“Ah, but it is, Fair Jennet. Just as you carry the echo of the Dark Queen within you, the Royal one is marked by my magic, and he has a reckoning to give. Now, silence.”

The king raised his hands. Brilliance began to coalesce between his palms, shining brighter than the pearl suspended overhead. The king’s control of her body meant she couldn’t even turn her head away from the glare. It was so intense, she had to close her eyes.

The clearing grew quiet, the dryad’s plaintive harping dying away. Even the pixies stilled, their silvery chiming hushed by the greater magic of the king. There was a flash, scarlet behind Jennet’s eyelids, and then dimness.

“Hey! Whoa, what’s going on?” It was Roy, sounding sleepy and confused.

Jennet opened her eyes, to see him sitting on the velvet couch where she had first arrived. He was wearing a white t-shirt and plain boxers.

“Greetings, Royal one,” the king said. “I have summoned you to my court.”

“But it’s, like, the middle of the night.” Roy scrubbed his face with his hands, then looked up. His eyes widened when he caught sight of Jennet. “Jen, you’re here? This is some tweaked dream, for sure.”

She frowned at him. “Not a dream, Roy. Sorry to say.”

“What?” He stood up and kicked the couch. “Ow.”

Grabbing his bare foot, he sat back down. Behind him, the pixies shimmered with mirth, and the faerie maidens laughed. At the edge of the clearing, the harper struck up a lively tune.

Roy looked over at her. “I don’t get it. Why are you even here?”

“An unwise bargain between me and the king,” she said.

He made a face. “Yeah, these guys are tricky to deal with. Sorry you got sucked in. I should have told you Feyland was, uh… different.”

“I already knew, Roy.”

“You did?” He frowned. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because - ”

“Enough of your mortal bickering,” the king said, an edge of fire in his voice. “I am not best pleased, Royal one. Three times now you have failed to uphold the bargain we struck.”

“Your majesty, I’m sorry, but life happens, you know? I’ll do better next time.”

“There will be no next time. The agreement we made is now at an end.” The Bright King stood, suddenly fearsome in his contained fury.

Roy paled. “But, what about my powers? I still have to - ”

“No more.” The king held up his hand. A moment later, a glass sphere containing flickering violet fire appeared in his palm. “This is only half-full, Royal one. You have failed me.”

Jennet bit her lip, trapping her gasp of surprise. The sphere was nearly identical to the one the Dark Queen had used to imprison Jennet’s mortal essence. The king passed his hand over the glass, and the flames leaped up, out of the glass and into his body. For a moment, he was outlined in a freakish violet glow.

“Hey,” Roy said, reaching for the sphere. “I can get more, I swear. Give it back. Just one more chance?”

“No.” The king’s voice was cold. “Your chances are spent, mortal. Our bargain is finished.”

The words hung in the air, then shattered. The sound of breaking glass - the end of a promise made in the realm. Jennet flinched. When she looked at the king again, his hands were empty.

“Um. Ok.” Roy hunched his shoulders. “I guess you can send me back now. And her.” He jerked his head at Jennet.

“It is never that simple. I am still owed the bright flame of humanity, Royal One. You and Fair Jennet will bide with me for some time longer, until that debt is paid. Now - sleep.”

He waved his hand, and Jennet felt her body begin to fold down into the soft grasses of the dais. No! She had to warn Tam. She had to fight the soothing darkness twining around her senses, the sweet lethargy stealing up her limbs. She had to…had to…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This book will be completely uploaded by August of 2014, at the rate of a chapter every 2 weeks. Can't wait? Feyland: The Bright Court is published and for sale in both print and digital formats (only $4.99 for the e-book version) from all online retailers. Did you miss the first story? Feyland: The Dark Realm is here on Wattpad, and also available from all online retailers.

NOW AVAILABLE: Feyland: The Complete Trilogy in one epic digital bundle for only $8.99. Three full books - The Dark Realm, The Bright Court, and The Twilight Kingdom - in one awesome adventure~     http://www.amazon.com/Feyland-The-Complete-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00B73TD9I/

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