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

“Father doesn’t need me. You’ll all do fine creating the winter without me. Or are you just afraid you’ll get the horrid chores that I was made to do?”


“Pfft.” Quiller snorted. “Don’t be so dramatic.”


“Yes, yes, Wulf.” Quiller patronised me further by patting my head.


I slapped his hand away. “You don’t understand!”


“No, I don’t.” Quiller pulled a face. “But I shall help you anyway.”


“What?” I paused, staring at him in disbelief. “Really?”


“Yes, I’ve resigned myself. If only to stop you from moaning. So you’d better start telling me how wonderful I am, before I change my mind.”


“Oh, Quill!” I leaped up and hugged him tight. “You’re wonderful, amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”


“That’s better.” Quiller shrugged me off. “Now, you’d better grovel to Garnet, too, as we’ll need his help.” 6


Chapter 25