Page 198 of The Knucker King

Avice leant her temple gratefully against his scales, and he let out a low purr.

“Bargaining with a Goddess?” Eostre chuckled, her amusement washing over them like the sweetest honey. “It can indeed be done.”

“Where will you rest?” Avice asked. “Where must I travel to perform this duty?”

Eostre glanced around the clearing, her gaze landing on the behemoth oak that Avice had called the previous night. “I will return here at my seasons end, and you will bring me a potion to make me sleep.” She pointed at the hollow. “Then, when it is time for me to bring new life back to the woods and fields, you must come back and awaken me.”

“I will bring quartz stones to make a circle, and charge it with my protective magic,” Trewoofe added. “The clearing is a sacred space, and it will be treated as such.”

“Just so,” Eostre agreed. “Your Kingdom will be extended, Well King. A mighty Otherworld under your protection, from the Standing Stones to Land’s End.”

Trewoofe considered. The area was huge, with great swathes of woodland teaming with animals, Good Neighbours, and the odd human village. His tunnels in the Underneath did not stretch that far. He would have to burrow further to extend the rivers of the healing waters. That way, he could move from one end to the other more quickly if needed. It was a momentous task, but it could be done.

“I await my soul-bound’s opinion,” he replied, nuzzling into Avice.

She rolled her shoulders at his touch. “Will it be too much for you? I can manage a visit twice in a turn of seasons, but looking after an Otherworld that is so large…” She covered her mouth with her hand, before dropping it again. “It may not be quite as challenging as we think.”

She went on to tell Trewoofe about her meeting with Derrowen, and how he had explained the function of the Green’s Sidhe. That only those who meant no harm could enter, and those who left would forget the wonders they had seen. Eostre looked on with a bemused expression, her lip twitching like she was holding back a good joke.

“I told Derrowen they could stay.” Avice bit her lip. “I hope you do not mind.”

“I do not.” He nudged her. “What should we tell Mother Eostre?”

Avice took a deep breath. “We accept.” She turned to the towering Goddess. “We will look after you, and this Otherworld—”

“Avalon,” she interrupted. “This Otherworld is called Avalon. Now, it will be like this…” – she gestured vaguely to the fruiting and flowering trees that circled the clearing – “always, so you must take note of the cycles of the Moon. Three between my awakening and when I must be sent into slumber once more, so my Summer sister, Grian, can begin her seasonal work.”

“I will. My familiar can help with that, he is good with the Moon,” Avice said. “We accept, Mother Eostre.”

Trewoofe purred his agreement.

Eostre was a radiant beam, winking out of sight in an instant. Then, Trewoofe felt warmth between the two largest horns on his head. The warmth spread from his crown, down his spine, and twitched his tail tip. He watched as Avice jolted and patted the top of her head. She held her hand in front of her face and wiggled her fingers.

“Did you feel that?” Avice asked, looking at him in wonder.

“Yes, it was like drinking your honey and chamomile tea after a long cold day.”

She grinned at his description. “Speaking of which, I would commit crimes for a cup of tea.”

He laughed. Deep and long, until happy tears pooled in the corners of his eyes. Avice joined in, her lighter tones mingling with his rumbling chuckles. She laughed so hard she had to lean on his leg for balance. Finally, their chortles petered out. Their eyes met, and they regarded each other with a look of two beings irrevocably in love with each other.

“Home, then?” Trewoofe asked.

“Yes, for a cup of tea,” Avice agreed, shoving on her boots, and leading the way back up to the oak so they could gather the rest of her belongings.

“And perhaps…” He peeled his lips back in disgust as his paws squelched in the thick mud. “…a bath?”

“And after?” she asked, stopping by her dress to tug it on, and stuffing her stockings up her sleeve.

“A good rutting,” Trewoofe replied, using his snout to give her a boost into the hollow.

She shook her head at his flirting before she entered the gloom and quickly returned with her medical satchel strapped her shoulder.

Her mouth was rounded with astonishment at what was in her hands. “I believe that this is King Draig’s egg,” Avice stated, holding it out for Trewoofe to inspect. “It was beside my bag.”

He brushed it with his tongue and then pressed his ear to the scarlet shell. The Drakling inside chirruped. Instincts warred within Trewoofe. Yes, this was another Sidhe King’s heir, and that thought made him flex his talons. However, he was also simply an unhatched youngling.

Trewoofe would never abandon a vulnerable offspring. “We will take him with us.”