Robin woke to cold darkness. He slowly sat up, rubbing his arms to try and remove the chill from his limbs when he felt Capala touch his arm. "Hush," she said. "We're crossing the border."
Puck nodded. The rumbling of the truck's engine sounded too loud in the silence of the night. On the other side of the truck bed, Robin saw Meghan shivering in the black, a thick blanket covering her small body. Capala sat by his side, her eyes wide and clear and her body tense for action.
Soon they approached the border, identified by spotlights and armed guards at the gate. A long wooden wall separated the two countries, and Puck felt his stomach churn as they grew closer to the gap between the barrier.
"I hope your magic does well," Miguel said from the front seat. "They have many guards tonight."
Capala and Robin shared a glance before wrapping a blanket of glamour tightly around the truck, muffling all sound and sight of the vehicle from mortal senses. Puck couldn't stifle a small gasp as they passed beneath the spotlights, armed guards standing within arms reach of the car and not even acknowledging it. Their guns shone in the light, dangerous and frightening.
Several painful minutes passed as they waited for the gate to fade into the night, only a distant glow left before they dropped their cover. Robin exhaled, and heard Capala do the same beside him. "That wasn't tense at all," the trickster said, forcing a smile.
Capala smiled back, and Puck saw relief and exhaustion in her eyes. "Not at all."
"I can drop you off at the nearest village," Miguel interrupted. "We will reach there by daylight. But it is a few days drive until we reach the first big city."
The female soldier checked their supplies. "We can make it to the big city," she announced. "Just keep driving."
"As you command, miss."
The next few days passed slowly, their supplies dwindling to bottled water and Doritos. Meghan either slept or brooded, reluctant to talk with either of the others. Capala and Robin sat close together, taking turns sleeping and conserving body heat in the cold nights, since Meghan took their only blanket. In his sleep, Puck would lay his arm around Capala's back, not quite touching. When Capala would sleep, her head would lay on Robin's chest as she sat in the crook of his arm, her normally hard, stoic expression one of peace and relaxation. When Capala and Robin were both awake, they would stare out into the desert around them, and the trickster would compare the soldier to one of the many prickly cacti they passed.
And then Capala would jab him in the ribs with her elbow, and Puck would laugh. Meghan would smile, and for a moment they didn't worry. They were the only ones travelling on the old, two-lane road, and they felt almost safe. During the second day, they approached a big, bustling city, and the world around them grew and grew, the buildings pushed closer and closer together.
Bright colors of reds, yellows, blues and greens painted the walls, drawing the eye to them. Everything looked old and ruined, held together by spit and wishes. People walked in woven sandals or drove massive trucks through the throngs of people who gathered in the road, walking in all directions and forcing the cars to slow their pace. Rusted, thin scooters and motorbikes whizzed through the crowds, sounding their horns to pierce the cacophony of human voices and divert people from the vehicle's path.
The glamour was overwhelming.
The sheer force of human emotion gave Robin a headache. The fear and isolation of the past few days made him extra sensitive to the glamour mortals exuded, and he knew Capala and Meghan felt it too. Miguel pulled over on the side of the road and dumped them there. "From here you can catch a plane or a car to wherever you want to go," Miguel shouted, struggling to be heard over all the noise.
"We'll be taking a different mode of transportation, but thank you," Capala replied. She smiled. "May you have good luck on your journeys!"
"And you!" Miguel turned and returned to the road. As he left, Robin took away the glamour of his english, but gave him little spell that would keep him under the radar.
"See," Capala said, when Puck turned back to her. "it all turned out for the best."
"Tell that to my headache."
Capala shook her head and smiled, even as a stranger bumped into her. "Follow me. I know where to go from here."
They maneuvered through the crowds, fighting against the human current as they marched towards Capala's supposed destination. As they walked, they saw faeries, or rather, duende, that played with the mortals. Robin saw one goblin-like creature shove a man pushing a cart, which made the cart crash into another group of men and cause a fistfight. The goblin looked on and laughed. The fae here didn't seem much different from the fae back home, Puck noted, aside from appearance.
After what felt like hours, the trio found a small, open building with faded paint and holes in the roof. As they all stepped inside, the smell of mildew and what Puck could only describe as "ass stank" filled their nostrils. Meghan gagged and turned to run back outside, but Puck grabbed her arm and gave her a napkin to hold to her nose. Capala approached the small, nervous man that sat at the front desk. The man spoke a hurried, frightened string of Spanish but Capala ignored him.
"I'm not here to play games, Alfredo," she said, her voice emotionless. The man blinked and his nervous façade vanished. With a flick of his hand, he dismissed the one or two odd mortals sitting at the back of the room, talking. They scattered, disappearing into different rooms outside their sight. The glamour on the man melted, and in his place stood an even shorter, disfigured, coal black dwarf.
When the dwarf spoke, his voice had an unnerving feel to it, like a violin that plays music a bit off-key. Enough to send shivers down Robin's spine. "Ah," the dwarf said, lips spreading to reveal big, yellowed teeth. "Ms. Capala. We haven't seen you for a long time."
"It's Officer Capala now," she said, raising her chin. "I've moved up in the world."
"So you have." The dwarfs eyes flickered to Puck, then Meghan. "And now you travel in the company of the Iron Queen and the recently revived Robin Goodfellow. How interesting."
"Very." Capala cleared her throat. "We're going to use the trod. If anyone asks after us, we've never been here. And if you tell them that we have, I'll kill you."
"I wouldn't expect anything less." The dwarf grinned. "I'll let you three be on your way. But if you happen to see any children cross your path, feel free to direct them back to me."
"I'm sure I will." Capala motioned for Meghan and Robin to follow her to the far wall and through one of the doors. When the door shut behind them and cut them from the dwarfs line of sight, Robin released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "This way," Capala whispered, and she guided them through the tunnel.
"Why was he asking about children?" Puck asked, after they had walked for several minutes. "Or do I not want to know?"
"What do you think?" Capala muttered. Robin didn't ask again.
Soon they reached a large, metal door. Light shone from around the edges, and Puck felt the tell-tale burning of iron on his skin. Capala opened the door without a word, and the three fey stepped through the opening.
"Why the hell are we back at the Iron Court?" Robin's jaw dropped. "Cap, did you know about this?"
"Of course I did," she said. "This is my family's transportation room, with trods leading all across the globe."
"Your family must be very wealthy," Meghan murmured, eyeing the extensive wall of doors, all themed according to their destination. The door they came from smelled musty and had bright colors painted over it. Other doors smelled and looked different, with some smelling of baking bread, or smog, and others looked futuristic, or sophisticated, or rural.
Capala muttered something in response, then cleared her throat. "My relatives may be a tad surprised that their queen and the Summer Jester are in their house. We should go say hello." She paused and spared Puck a worried look. "And we need to get Robin somewhere safe as soon as possible."
"That would be nice," Puck croaked. He took a breath and tried to clear his throat. "So, following up on what Meghan said, is there anything we should know about your family, Cap?"
Capala sighed. She began to speak while they climbed a set of stairs nestled in the corner of the roon. "They're very political. My cousin governs one of the districts of the city, and her wife handles the more societal aspects, like hosting dinner parties and coordinating fundraising events. Quite the power couple."
Robin raised an eyebrow. "Your cousin and her wife?"
Capala stopped walking for a moment. "Yes," she said, her voice half dangerous and half amused. "Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Course not," Puck snorted. "Just thought I'd misheard, is all."
Capala grunted and resumed her ascension. "Well, my people were created in the modern era, Robin. We have a more open view of sexuality than the other races."
"You're preaching to the choir, Cap," Robin smirked. "I'm pansexual myself."
"Really?" Meghan asked from behind him. "I never knew."
"Yeah, it's a thing when you're a shapeshifter. Hell, I could be a woman if I wanted to. I was, a couple decades back. But the whole periods thing kind of turned me off, so I'll stick with the dick for now."
"...I'm not even going to comment on this," Capala said. Puck laughed, and the conversation ended.
Soon they reached the top of the stairs and entered a large hallway that had doors to several other rooms. A startled looking young woman opened one of the doors and peeked out, her mouth falling open as she saw the three disgruntled and dirty fae standing in her hallway. "Capala!" the woman cried. "What are you doing here?"