In the 17th Century, the ancient sprawl of Epping forest is bursting with magic and those who go unseen by human eyes: the elves who rule the summer court, and the goblins who rule the winter court. It is said that if a human catches the eye of one of the fey, they are either doomed or blessed. Contains the stories: Wulfren and the Warlock: When Wulfren wakes from a strange dream of a human captor with long silver hair, and grey eyes, his brothers tell him they rescued him from a warlock, and take Wulfren back home to the goblin king's palace. But Wulfren isn’t so sure the matter is that simple. Why was he missing so long? What are the strange dreams of the beautiful man with the silver hair? Dalliances with humans are severely frowned upon, especially by Wulfren’s father, but Wulfren is willing to risk the scorn of his family to find the human who haunts his dreams. Quiller and the Runaway Prince: After a hard winter, Quiller is sent deep into the forest on a family errand, and is surprised when a human stumbles into his path. Quiller swoops in to pester him, perhaps even eat him, but there is something special about the human: his scent is royal, though he protests that he is not, and soon Quiller finds himself agreeing to help the human with his troubles—in exchange for a kiss.

Goblins

He set down his basket of plants, and the torch which still glimmered in the dark. He threw back his hood, revealing a head of ash blond hair. When he swept the cloak away I got my first look at him.


He was a much younger man than I’d expected. Upon seeing the full length of his hair fall free, like a waterfall of silver down his back, my first thought was, he’s an elf


I tilted my head to watch. No, he was far too manly to be an elf. Too rugged, and yet, he was too handsome and graceful to be a man. He was somewhere in between, and very pleasant to behold. I greedily drank in his image, my eyes growing owl-wide. Another bark outside from Garnet, and I unwittingly answered with a soft hoot.


Chapter 4