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"You accuse rowled

Oh, I could I could accuse her of murder most foul, as in the best it is, but I have done my own share of reddish work and I do my best to eschew hypocrisy

"No I forbid my hound to hunt with you There is no accusation of any kind there" Flidais e, hairy arrival of Perun

"Is this faery?" he asked hopefully, speaking English His eyes roved over Flidais and enjoyed the journey He wasn’t subtle Flidais, for her part, gave Perun an appraisal that was not a whit less wanton He was, undeniably, a mobile mountain of musk and virility, and Flidais was rather famous for her appetites I introduced them to facilitate their mutual seduction; I didn’t think either of them would have to work very hard at it

As they continued their ocular foreplay, I spied Granuaile hanging back a bit, her face a gri of her training, and while she’d come to terms with the necessity of the Baolach Cruatan--the test of mettle--she didn’t have fond oddess of the hunt didn’t get so lost in Perun’s eyes that she forgot why she had cood, she said, "I’ll leave a marker for you to follow, Atticus It’ll take you to a tree directly outside the Fae Court I know you’re too paranoid to arrive without your sword drawn, but do try to be careful I’ll make sure the area is clear"

"Hopefully it won’t be clear of edible foodstuffs"

Some of this penetrated the al over Perun’s head "What? You are leaving?"

"We will have occasion to speak th," Flidais promised "Soon"

"Very soon!" Perun said

Flidais nodded to Granuaile, acknowledging her existence but saying nothing My apprentice responded in kind, and the goddess padded her way silently to the tree we’d all been watching She winked at Perun as she laid her hand on it and shifted away

"By axe and sky, she is fine woman!" Perun rumbled, and then a flash of white teeth under his beard o!"

"Rein in your nads for a od’s enthusiasm disappeared in a cloud of confusion "What is nads?" he asked "And why should I make it rain on thenored hi to be like? What should I watch out for?"

I sighed "I’m afraid I don’t have a helpful answer You should watch out for everything Though I’ve been to Tír na nÓg plenty of times, I haven’t been to the Fae Court since before I arach It’s been more than two thousand years and I was still inwhat it looks like The Tuatha Dé Danann--however many of theine every faery you see will be wearing a gla you see Even the furnishingsand don’t feel secure just because you have your back to a wall"

"Will the food be real food?"

Probably not "Oberon just brought up a good point," I said aloud "Don’t eat or drink anything while you’re there Accept no gifts, , because you’ll be held to it Words are binding in Tír na nÓg more than anywhere else To be completely safe, if you’re addressed or asked a question, tell them that I speak for you Don’t let the on your own--they’re trying to get you rattled so that you’ll et separated for any reason Youattractive--don’t take a closer look If someone wants to tell you a secret, don’t listen to it There are those ould love to use any one of you as a hostage in order to control ht?"

"Yeesh! I can see why you’ve been avoiding the place!"

As we returned to the tree that would take us back to Tír na nÓg, I searched for a token of Flidais’s to follow to a certain point on that plane It was a shortcut to folloithin the realm; we’d shift to the saet here, then hop over to the center, using hergreen ribbon of knotwork that pulsed like a ready light

"All right," I said "Weapons free, mouths shut" I held on to my sword, Perun had his axe, and Granuaile held the blade of a throwing knife between her fingers

We shifted to Tír na nÓg and found ourselves facing a small crowd of faeries on a field of heather Simultaneous shouts of joy and disold or other tokens were exchanged in as clearly a good-natured settling of debts

"What are they doing?" Perun asked