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

Nights passed. I thought Father would calm down, or at least Mother would try to reason with him on my behalf, but it seemed hopeless. I worried that Ash didn’t know what had happened to me. What if he thought I’d left him? What if he foundsomeone elsewhile we were apart? I tried not to think rashly but it was hard. Panic and jealousy stole into my thoughts. I’d never felt like this before, and it was wretched. All I wanted was to be back at my warlock’s side. Did Father think if he locked me away I would forget Ash? He clearly knew nothing.


Garnet and Vesey came to see me at times, trying to coax me round. I insisted my mind was made up, although my mind really had very little to do with it. On the twelfth night of separation from my lover, I wrote him a letter. I had to let him know I was missing him. Later, I’d devise a plan to escape.


Chapter 23