Tam swallowed hard as the queasy light surrounded him. The king was kicking them back into the real world, and he couldn’t say he was sorry. If he never entered another faerie court again, it would be too soon.

After a moment, the whirling stopped, and he could see Jennet’s gaming room through the tinted screen of his sim helmet. In the chair beside him, Jennet stirred. He sat upright and pulled off his helmet.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

He hadn’t liked the way she acted around the Bright King. It reminded him of his own fascination with the midnight beauty of the Dark Queen - an enthrallment that had almost been his downfall. No way was he going to let Jennet succumb to the same thing, even if he had to hold her down and smear fairy ointment all over her eyelids.

“More than all right.” She thrust out her hand. “Look!”

There, in her palm, was the golden box holding the grass from the faerie king’s throne. It looked rich and strange, even in the opulence of the Carter’s fancy house. Knotwork designs scrolled around the edges, and the metal had a soft sheen that seemed completely out of place in the modern world.

“It looks like it should be in a museum,” he said.

“I know.” Still holding the box, she took her helmet off. Her shorn piece of hair just brushed her cheek. “Should we open it?”

“Let’s get everything together for the ointment, first.”

He fished in his pocket and pulled out the plastic bag, which was a little crumpled from riding around with him all morning. Inside, the four-leaf clover lay, limp as a dead thing. But it would still work - it had to.

Jennet gave the wilted clover a doubtful look. “All right. I have everything else in my bathroom. We can make the ointment in there.”

He glanced at the clock in the corner, hoping the day hadn’t flown while they were in-game. He’d hate to have to explain to Jennet’s dad why he was locked in the bathroom with her.

He blinked at the readout, then turned to Jennet. “Is your clock set right?”

“Of course.” She looked over to it, and her eyes widened. “Really? All of that only took an hour?”

“Time’s funny in-game, we both know that.” Though this was severely weirder than usual.

She let out a breath. “We have plenty of time to make the ointment and get back to Marny before school’s out. Come on.”

She led the way down the hall, the plush carpet muffling their footsteps. Halfway to the main stairs, she turned left and opened the first door.

“It’s a little messy,” she said. “Hold on a sec.”

Tam trailed her into a bathroom that was as big as his living room-slash-bedroom at home. Dark-veined marble floors were softened with fancy patterned rugs, and there was a long countertop with two sinks. The counter was cluttered with girly stuff - mysterious bottles of pink and orange liquids, hair bands and barrettes, tubes of who-knew-what. The air smelled of soap, and flowers. Two hairbrushes and a comb lay next to one of the sinks, which seemed like more than enough.

He looked at her fine, pale hair for a moment. Well, maybe she needed two hairbrushes and a comb - what did he know? No question she had the prettiest hair he’d ever seen. The Bright King had certainly thought it a fair trade for magical faerie grass. The thought made him scowl.

“Don’t worry,” she said, her anxious smile reflected in the mirror. “I’ll get this cleared away.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I was just thinking about something else.”

Like how he’d wanted to charge at the king with his sword drawn. Probably not the best move, but it would have been momentarily satisfying.

Jennet swept a bunch of her stuff into the drawers beside the sink. She swiped the counter with a fluffy white towel, then pulled open a cabinet concealed by one of the mirrors. Taking out a few items, she lined them up on the counter - a jar of tiny green leaves, another full of curly orange petals, and a container of knobby nuts.

“Our ingredients. Thyme, marigold, and hazelnut.” Carefully, she set the golden box beside them. “And grass from a faerie throne.”

Hard won, too. Was it worth the cost?

Tam laid his four-leaf clover bag on the counter. “That’s everything,” he said. “Now what?”

“Now, we get creative.”

She pushed her sleeves up, then opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a white bowl and a weird stick, both made out of marble. She handed the items to him.

“What are they?” He picked up the stick thing - it was heavy, and rounded on one end.

“A mortar and pestle, silly. You use them to grind up herbs. Here.” She shook some of the thyme leaves into the bowl. “Grind.”

“Are you sure this is going to work?” He set the rounded end in the bowl and rocked it back and forth, trying to break up the tiny green herbs. A pungent smell tickled his nostrils.

“I’m not sure of anything, but we have to try. Now, the marigold.”

She added a handful of the orange petals, and a different tang joined the mix as he crushed them into the thyme. A greenish-brown paste was beginning to form in the bottom of the bowl, but it barely looked smearable. He bit his tongue on more questions. Clearly, Jennet had some idea of what they were doing.

“Hm.” She pressed her lips together, lifted the bag of nuts, then set it back down. “What’s next, hazelnuts or the clover?”

“Nuts? Since we only have one clover.” He didn’t know why that made sense, but it did.

She nodded and dropped three nuts in. They were harder to grind. One flew into the sink with a clack, and Jennet fished it out. She put it back in the bowl, and frowned at the mess of broken nuts and half-crushed herbs inside.

“Do you have a blender?” he asked. “That might be a lot easier.”

“Easier, maybe, but does using electricity for this feel right to you? Besides, I don’t want to be in the kitchen, where Marie could see us and ask questions.”

“Fair enough.” Anything that kept him away from Marie was fine by him.

He pounded for a while longer, then took a look at their handiwork. “It’s not very ointmenty.”

“I know.” She stared at their concoction for a minute, a frown bending her eyebrows. “We need something else. Something to help it stick together.”

Tam glanced around the bathroom. “Soap? Lotion? Um, shampoo?”

“Not pure enough. Wait! I know. Stay here - I’ll be right back.”

Like he was going anywhere. He nodded, but Jennet was already out of the room. Ok then - back to mortaring, or pestleing, or whatever the verb was.

She returned a few minutes later, carrying a bottle of something golden and viscous.

“Olive oil.” She held it up with a smile. “This should totally work.”

“If you think so,” he said. “Let’s do the other stuff, and add the oil at the end. A little at a time, until it’s the right consistency.”

“Good idea.” She set the bottle on the counter. “Clover’s next.”

She opened the bag and coaxed out the four-leaf clover. It mushed pretty well into the mixture, though the bits of nuts were still kind of coarse.

“Faerie grass?” he said.

She took a deep breath. “All right. Here we go.”

Slowly, she lifted the lid of the golden box. A soft glow illuminated her face, shimmered over her pale hair. He peeked over her shoulder, aware of the heat of her body, the soft smell of flowers rising from her hair.

Inside the box, the handful of grass shone, strands of spun gold. Like something from an old fairy tale with a goblin and a princess. Hard to believe, but they were in a faerie tale - though this was no story he’d ever heard of.

Jennet picked up the grass and put it into the bowl. It glimmered, looking strange and magical against the glop.

“Do I grind it?” he asked.

“I don’t think so.” She stared at the mortar and pestle a second, her blue eyes intent. “Just a guess, but I think we try the oil now.”

“So far, your guesses have turned out pretty good.”

He held out the bowl, keeping his hands steady as she tipped the bottle. She poured a small dollop of olive oil into the mixture. As soon as the liquid touched the faerie grass, it began to dissolve, imbuing the oil with a faint but unmistakable golden glow. Then the herb and nut mixture began to change, the greenish-grey paste turning a rich jade color. The oil seeped down, gold on green. Tam felt a faint breath of warm wind against his neck and the sweet scent of the Bright Court swirled about them.

Jennet pulled a spoon out of her back pocket - something way fancier than any of the battered utensils Tam used at home. Probably pure silver, or maybe even platinum. She dipped it into the bowl, stirring once, twice, three times. Widdershins, he noticed. The mixture flared, and he swore he heard the faint, chiming laughter of pixies.

“I think we did it,” Jennet said. Her voice trembled a little. “That was… magic.”

“Right here in your bathroom.” He studied the ointment, now a smooth, emerald-green concoction. “It looks good.”

She pulled a jar from one of the drawers, wiped it inside with a tissue, then held it out. “Pour it in here.”

He nodded and tipped the bowl. The contents flowed slowly down into the jar, leaving only a slight residue behind. He lifted the glass jar. The ointment glittered, jade green, with flecks of golden dust suspended in the light.

“One jar of faerie ointment,” he said.

“Whew. That was a little more complicated than I thought it would be.”

She leaned back against the counter and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It was the piece the faerie maiden had cut, so a second later it swung free again, brushing her cheek. She pushed it irritably away again.

“Hold still,” he said.

He opened the top drawer she’d dumped her stuff in earlier and fished out a blue barrette. Without thinking too much about it - otherwise he’d completely lose his nerve - he gathered up the loose strand of her hair and secured it with the barrette. Damn, her hair was the softest thing he’d ever felt.

She smiled at him, then set her hands on his waist and drew him close, closer, until their bodies were touching. Heart thumping, he bent his head and brushed his lips over hers. He could feel the shape of her smile. He pressed his mouth more firmly against hers, and she sighed.

 This was even better than their first kiss, though his nerves still trembled at the fact that he was holding her, Jennet Carter, in his arms. Her breath was warm across his mouth. He deepened the kiss, and her hands tightened around his back.

Sparks flew through him, like the golden flecks scattered in the ointment they had just made. He could stay here forever, in the safety of her bathroom, kissing.

But they had the little matter of the world to save.

After another long, perfect moment, he drew back. “We should go.”

“Yeah.” She sounded breathless, and he knew the feeling. “Let’s go out the back. I convinced George this was a one-time emergency, but Marie won’t be so easy. I’d rather not run into her.”

“Me either.” He could just imagine the scene, if the house manager caught them. At least the chauffeur didn’t seem to mind keeping their secrets.

Jennet leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose, then let go of him and grabbed the jar of ointment. “Too bad the hardest part is still to come.”

Tam raised his brows. Seemed like winning their way to the Bright Court, bargaining with the king, and then figuring out how to make the ointment had been more than enough.

“What’s that?” he asked.

 She made a face. “Getting the faerie ointment on Marny.”

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

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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