"Yes, I am avoiding her on purpose."

Lise rolls her eyes as she listens to the conversation.

She rolls her eyes. ,, Well, shes like thirty seconds away so youre doing a pretty bad job of that. ,,

"Enough." Oberon's rep broke in before the centaur could leap across the table and strangle the goblin. "We are not here to fight each other. I wished only to know what your scouts have reported, not the silent war between them."

The centaur sighed and gave the goblin a murderous look. "It is as the goblins say," he said, turning to the representative. "The skirmishes we have fought with the Iron abominations seem to be advance units. They are testing us, probing our weaknesses, knowing we cannot follow them into the Iron Realm. We have yet to see the full army. Or the Iron King."

"What if this is a ruse? What if the Iron King intends to attack elsewhere? We might be better served defending Arcadia and the Summer Court than waiting at the edge of the wyldwood."






He kind of just stares at her, not responding

She would've liked to see the centaur strangle the goblin, But she just stayed silent.

"No." It was Mab who spoke then, cold and unyielding, apparently having slipped in at some point. "If you leave to return to your home court, we will be lost. If the Iron King taints the wyldwood, Summer and Winter will soon follow. We cannot retreat to our homes. We must hold the line here."

"Agreed," said Oberon's rep in a voice that was final. "Summer will not retreat from this. The only way to protect Arcadia, and all of the Nevernever, is to stop the advance here. Kruxas," he said, looking at the troll. "Where are your forces? Are they on their way?"

"Yes, your majesty," growled the troll, nodding his huge head. "They will be here in three days, barring any complications."

"And what of the Ancient Ones?" Mab looked at the general who had spoken. "This is their world, even if they slumber through it. Have the dragons heeded our call to arms?"

"We do not know the state of the few remaining Ancients, your majesty." The general bowed his head. "Thus far, we have only been able to find one, and we are unsure if she will help us. As for the rest, they either sleep still or have retreated deep into the earth to wait this out."

The rep nodded. "Then we will do without them."

She rolls her eyes. ,, Quit staring. Im not Arialla, so its rude to do that. ,,

She still didn't say anything.

He averted his gaze. "That wasn't why I was staring."





"Forgive me, your majesty." It was the centaur who spoke again, giving Oberon's rep a pleading look. "But how do we stop the Iron King if he refuses to engage us? He still hides within his poisoned land, while we waste lives and resources waiting for him. We cannot sit here forever, while the Iron abominations pick us off one by one."

"No," said the rep, looking straight at Lise. "We cannot."

All eyes turned to her. Puck let out a puff of breath and gave her a wry glance. "Well, thats our cue."

"Liseolette Chase has agreed to go into the wasteland and find the Iron King." Curious, disbelieving, and disdainful stares followed her. "Her half-human blood will protect her from the poison of the realm, and without an army she has the chance to slip through unnoticed." Oberon's rep eyes narrowed, and he stabbed a finger into the map. "While she is there, we must hold this position at all costs. We must give her the time she needs to discover the location of the Iron King and kill him."

"Sure it wasn't." She huffs, crossing her arms.