like it even less when you speak. Then I know you’re up to something.”
“I think you have this backward but far be it from me to argue. Banish him if you must.” The faces of the council fell all at once. There were two places one never wanted to find themselves with Coyote: agreeing with him and disagreeing with him.
Ruadhri’s face fell firmly into the palm of his hand. “I know I’m going to regret this, but what exactly do you mean?”
Coyote motioned to Ruadhri as if to say I’m glad you asked. “Prophecy, in my experience, has never been hints of what might happen; it is warnings of what will be. Banish this boy now, and you might be paving the road to your own destruction. Of course, ignore him and you risk the same thing. Even more troubling is that this boy and his guardian, though arriving at the opportune time that they did, never saw the Wild Hunt. Only Dithers and the younglings did. Everyone else who saw it is now dead. So who was the warning really meant for? Those of us here on the council? Or the boy upon whom our court will so soon rely?” He paused. “It was his mother, after all, who came.”
The council stood silent. The air was still. The night felt hollow, devoid of answers. Schafer was the first to speak up. “I hate you so much,” he growled.
“This doesn’t change anything,” said Ruadhri. “If it does not concern the boy, then there shouldn’t be anything keeping us from turning him away.”
Coyote shook his head. “No, there isn’t.” Everyone stared blankly at him. “I told you there was no reason for me to argue. You merely have it backward. Unless”—his smile crooked to one side—“the very act of me speaking up is what brings about the hunt’s future.”
Schafer crossed his arms, pacing back and forth in place, his eyes trained upon Coyote. He swore softly through gritted teeth.
Coyote bowed politely. “My work here is done. So if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
Schafer spit in the dirt. “Trickster, if you’re up to something . . .”
Coyote stopped smiling and the very air around the court grew cold. “Redcap. When will you ever learn? I’m always up to something.”
CAITLIN SLIPPED OUT of her dress and into her nightgown in a single, fluid motion. Her eyes were heavy, the lure of her bed too great to stay up any longer. Aodhan followed closely behind her. Crawling beneath the covers, the two lovers wove their bodies together.
Above them, perched silently in the rafters of their underground dwelling, crouched Knocks, a white knit cap clutched tightly in one hand and a small, wicked dagger held in the other. He peered down at his parents from the dark.
“I saw him today,” said Caitlin.
“Who, my love?” asked Aodhan.
“Our son.”
“How was he?”
“He looked good,” she said. “Strong. Healthy. It makes me so angry.”
He squeezed her tighter. “I know.”
“Why can’t he live here? Where he belongs? With us.”
Knocks loosened his grip on the knife, his jaw and eyes widening at the admission.
“I know. I know. But Meinrad was very specific. He could not have been clearer. He’s not ours.”
“But he should be. We asked for him. I told Dithers: bring me a son. And he went out and got our son. And he brought him back to the court. And Meinrad took him away.”
“It’s for the best.”
“I just miss our baby boy, Ewan, so much.”
“We’ll have one of our own one day. A proper one. I promise.”
Knocks gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the knife.
EWAN AND COLBY each lay passed out in their sleeping bags, a cluster of half-open comic books sprawled between them, lit by a slowly dying penlight. Each was deep asleep, so much so that Coyote almost dared not wake them. But he knew what was coming, and there was only one thing left to do. He reached down and shook Ewan awake by the shoulder, then—as Ewan groggily yawned and rubbed his bleary eyes—did the same for Colby. Both, for a moment, felt as if they were still in some dream.
“Sorry to wake you,” said Coyote. “But I’m afraid something has happened.”
Both boys yawned simultaneously. “What?” asked Colby.
“The Five Stone Council has ruled that you must leave the kingdom by sunrise.”
“What?” exclaimed Ewan loudly.
“Sssshhhh . . . ,” shushed Coyote, speaking softly. “Not so loud that the whole camp will hear you. We haven’t much time. If you two boys want