"I don't think this is a good idea," Coyote whispered to the raven-haired woman who stood next to him. He looked around nervously. He'd checked the area first when he learned of Tümas's plans and confronted her, but there were eyes and ears everywhere on Avalon, and one couldn't be too careful.
"It's calling to me, Coyote. I feel it every day, crying out for me," the woman said quietly, and she shuddered. She was slender and tall with coppery skin, high cheekbones, and a graceful aquiline nose. She wore beaded deerskin moccasins and a midnight blue cotton manta dress that was belted around the waist with a red sash. Only her pointed ears gave away her true nature. "I cannot ignore it any longer, and I fear if I do not go now, it will be lost to me forever."
Coyote glanced back towards the palace.
"If Ober—" he started, but the woman stopped him from completing what he was going to say by clapping a hand over his mouth.
"Do not invoke his name unless you want him to hear us," she hissed.
"If he finds out you have left without his permission, he may do to you what he did to Puck."
"I will be back before he even notices I am gone," the woman continued.
"I hope you're right, Mother," Coyote grumbled. "Say hi to the Mazas for me when you see them."
Tümas nodded and disappeared in the blink of an eye, a few black crow feathers drifted down to the ground where she once stood.
Once she was gone, Coyote turned from the wooded thicket and began to walk back towards the palace. As he did, a pair of eyes watched him from the trees before a large raven spread its wings and took off soundlessly into the night.
...
...
It didn't take long for Oberon's lakeys to find him, and they appeared in front of him without warning as he made his way back to the heart of Avalon and the palace.
"You have been summoned," Phoebe said.
"By our Lord and Master," Selene added.
"To his court," Luna finished.
Coyote looked at the Weird Sisters as they hovered several feet off the ground in front of him, and sighed. Someone had snitched.
"You do realize the word master has severely negative connotations these days, don't you?" Coyote snarked.
They only stared humorlessly back at him.
"Come in haste or suffer the consequences," they said in unison.
Coyote cursed under his breath, then he put on a fake, overly cheerful grin.
"After you," he said with a mockingly dignified air. The trio along with Coyote disappeared only to reappear in the courtroom of the palace in front of a large dais and Oberon's throne whereupon the Lord of Avalon and all of Faerie himself sat.
Out of the corner of his eye, Coyote watched Raven slink off, and his expression twisted sourly as he sniffed out the rat.
"Coyote," Oberon's voice boomed loudly in the large room.
"My Lord," Coyote said reluctantly as he bowed at the waist.
Oberon's face remained as stony as a slab of granite.
"It has come to my attention that Tümas has left Avalon without my permission."
"Hmm?" Coyote monotoned, feigning ignorance.
"Where has she gone?"
"I don't know what—"
"Your mother," Oberon said, his tone clearly annoyed. "Tell me where she has gone and why."
Oberon's voice reverberated through the room as if it were coming from several loudspeakers.
"If you had me for a son, wouldn't you want to disappear on occasion?" Coyote said flippantly.
"I'll ask you only once more. Where. Is. Tümas?" Oberon ordered and his voice reverberated with power through Coyote, compelling him to speak.
"She went to the mortal realm. To reclaim a part of her power."
"Where?" Oberon ordered, using the same voice, infusing it with his power.
Coyote strained against the compulsion, but it was futile. Oberon's power was far greater than his own.
"The Hopi lands in Arizona. Near Flagstaff," he choked out.
"And who possesses her power?"
Coyote held off as long as he could. He shook against the strain, and cried against it.
"Carmen…Carmen Maza!" he gasped.
"Maza…why is that name familiar?"
"You have encountered her descendent, Elisa Maza, before."
"Ah…yes. The meddling human woman," Oberon said, his mouth twisting with distaste.
He was thoughtful for a moment as he sized Coyote up.
"Tümas left without my permission, and you knew of it, though I can understand your maternal loyalty, your loyalty to your Lord comes first. You will be punished for this, but first your task is to retrieve your mother and bring her back promptly to face her own punishment. Failure to do so, and you both will pay a far greater penance than the Banshee or Puck, I can assure you."
Coyote swallowed nearly audibly.
"Yes, my Lord," he said.
"Do not return until your task is complete, and for your sake, you should do so in a timely manner."
Coyote bowed at the waist once more before he disappeared in the form of a small dust devil, and the yip and howl of a coyote echoed in the room before the small dust storm disappeared.
Oberon looked to the three sisters, his most loyal subjects.
"Go to the mortal realm and bring back Tümas. I do not trust Coyote to not take advantage of the situation. Report back to me if he goes off task," he ordered.
"As you wish, my Lord," they said in unison, and then they too disappeared in a flash of light
Oberon sighed with deep annoyance and waited. If they were gone longer than a couple of hours, he would be quite put out.