Nightside 11 - A Hard Days Knight

and ours. Now she’s gone, all the elves must bow down to King Oberon and Queen Titania, by right of succession. The elves are one people again, with no need of civil war. I must thank you, John Taylor, for making this possible. No-one else could have brought us all together.”
    “This isn’t the ending I wanted,” I said.
    The Puck shrugged again. “You never did understand elven humour.” He looked at Oberon and Titania. “Well, Your Majesties, have I done right in your eyes?”
    “Of course,” said Oberon. “A most elegant solution. We shall now oversee the passing of our people, from Shadows Fall and the Sundered Lands, to the new Earth that has been promised. But Titania and I ... will not be going with them. To be a new people, they must leave the past behind. And Titania and I ... have too much past in us. We are the old way, and the old way must be forgotten. So we shall remain in Shadows Fall, where all things of the past belong.”
    “Some others will no doubt wish to remain with us,” said Titania. “The future is not for everyone. But the race will continue, elsewhere, and that is all that matters.”
    “I will stay with you,” said Puck. “Because there’s still far too much mischief to get into in our world to ever give it up.”
    “Dear sweet mischievous Puck,” said Queen Titania. But she was looking at Queen Mab’s dead body when she said it.

    Sometime later, Suzie and I and Arthur and Kae stood watching through the Door, looking out over the empty Earth, as the Fae came through an endless series of dimensional gateways to claim their new home. Thousands of them, on foot and on horseback, or on other magical creatures, some of which I couldn’t even put a name to. The elves came proudly, singing and laughing, and for the first time I thought I saw in them something of what Arthur had always seen. They had their pride back, and their grandeur. They had been Humanity’s enemies for so long, we had forgotten their magic and their glory. And perhaps they had, too. Seeing them now, it almost made me sad that I’d never see them again. Almost.
    The crossing took a long time, but when it was finally over, Oberon appeared out of nowhere to join us at the Door. He waited patiently for us to recover our self-possession, then he ceremoniously closed the Door, spun the brass combination lock, and said a simple but very binding spell over it. No-one would ever be able to access that particular alternate Earth again. He said nothing, merely bowed briefly to King Arthur, and vanished before Arthur could bow in return. Back to Shadows Fall, leaving history behind, to become legend.
    The Doormouse crept up to join us, his whiskers twitching anxiously. “Well, this has all been very interesting, and perhaps even moving, but now that it is all quite definitely over; do you think you could all please get the hell out of my life? You’re all too weird, even for me.”

    Outside in the street, Arthur looked round him, suddenly seeming a bit lost. “What do I do now, Mr. Taylor? It would seem I have done what I was brought back to do, though I can’t help feeling you did more than me.”
    “Couldn’t have done it without you,” I said, and I meant it.
    “Do I have to go back to sleep now? I’ve seen so little of this brave new world that has such wonders in it. I dreamed centuries of history, but I was never a part of it.”
    “You must come back to Castle Inconnu, with me,” said Kae. “Let me show you what I’ve built, tell you all the amazing things the London Knights have done, all the marvellous victories we won, in your name and in defence of your dream.”
    “All these years, and still so desperate for my approval?” said Arthur. He put both hands on Kae’s shoulders and shook him slightly. “You’ve always had my approval, brother. I have always been so very proud of you.”
    “But you can’t stay, Arthur, and you know it,” said a familiar voice. “This isn’t your time—in oh-so-many ways—and it isn’t the Final Battle. That is yet to come.”
    We all looked round, and there was Gayle, or Gaea, Mother Earth herself, standing in a powder-blue business suit, looking very elegant and very efficient. King Arthur bowed to her.
    “Greetings to you, my Lady of the Lake. I should have known you’d turn up. Must I go back to my grave again?”
    “No,” said Gaea. “The word is out, and already far too many people know about it. I suspect a certain bartender of