by Devyn Dawson
“I’m guessing she has the most important representatives from each of the faerie clans. I overheard a couple of people talking about not being able to sleep in the castle because the King and Queen of the Everlasting Court is here. The men standing in that entryway are Queen Teagan’s guards. King Tyler has his own guards, but they stay with him at all times. The rumor is they sleep in his room and stand guard as he showers. He’s paranoid. The Queen has tried to kill him twice for having a mistress. There’s more drama and rumors in this place than soap operas.”
“I don’t understand why they needed Jessie in such a hurry. The clans had to know it was us who was traveling through the woods.” I look down the table and see Jessie and Caleb talking to a beautiful woman with long auburn hair. They’re laughing and having a nice time. All I have is a goblin with beady eyes and warty hands. The chatter-filled room suddenly goes silent.
Prince Jack stands at the end of the table and announces the arrival of the King and Queen. He walks my direction and takes the seat on the other side of me. Jack leans over and whispers in my ear, “You clean up well.”
I bite my lip ring to keep my body from shivering.
“EVERYONE STAND! THE KING AND QUEEN HAVE ARRIVED!”
Great, now I have to maneuver this silly dress again. With everyone standing, I can’t see anything. After what seems like forever, we all sit down. Both Jack and Thorne, help tuck my dress in so I can sit down faster. Why am I the only one having so many issues?
I strain my neck to catch a glimpse of the King but all I see is a sea of arms between the people sitting down and the wait-staff filling water goblets.
“Which one is your dad?” I whisper to Jack.
“He’s across the table from Queen Jessie and King Caleb.” Our waiter leans between us to pour our water.
“What are you talking to him about?” Thorne asks.
“I asked him which one is the King. It isn’t as though I could Google him to see a photo. Don’t be possessive,” I say sarcastically.
“I’m not being possessive, I’m the guardian for your Court, and so I need to know the dealings with this Court.” Thorne turns his eyes away from me.
“You’re her guardian, not mine. Don’t be weird.” A hand reaches in and pours some type of soup in a small bowl. No one reaches for their utensils, so I sit perfectly still. The unknown announcer tells everyone to eat.
I unfold my napkin and set it in my lap. Thorne and Jack do the same, possibly we’re all waiting for someone else to show which utensil to use. I wish I could see Jessie, this is really unfair to put someone like me in a room full of stuffy people and keep me stifled.
“You’re about to burst, I can tell by your body language,” Thorne whispers to me.
“Is that what my heaving boobage is saying; that I’m about to burst over?”
“You’re a mess, no, I can tell you’re wanting to talk, scream, anything but sit here and eat dandelions.”
“I thought that was a dandelion. We’ve been eating for at least an hour, how many courses are there?” I only have one fork left, so I’m guessing we’ll get one more thing to eat.
“The last dish will be a cookie,” Jack says.
Hmmm, I wonder what the fork is for. “What happens next?”
“We’ll dance. My father will ask Queen Jessie for a dance and King Caleb will ask my mother. I guess that means I will be asking you, since Thorne will be standing on the sidelines making sure his Queen’s honor is not disgraced.” Jack’s eyebrow arches as he talks and I can’t help wondering if he’s telling the truth about the disgrace. “Don’t worry, Jessie’s assistant, Avalon, has shown up. She’s more of an advisor and will serve as the liaison between the courts in Fairyland. You’ll probably hate her,” he blatantly says.
“Ugh, you’re aggravating me. Am I allowed to say that? I’ll bite, why will I hate Avalon?”
“You’re going to bite me? Why?” His face is twisted up in a scowl, not a very cute one either.
“I’m not going to bite you. You baited me with me hating Avalon, so I am the fish who’s taking the bait. Get it?” I probably shouldn’t pinch him, or hit him, or yell….but I’d like to.
I turn to say something to Thorne, only to see the man on the other side of him has started up a conversation. They’re talking about weapons and laughing every minute or two. The room is getting louder, with the clanking of dishes, and the excited chatter of well-fed faeries. Do they call themselves faeries as much as I do? I don’t sit around in the human world and call us all humans. Oh I better go to math class with the rest of the humans. I don’t say things like, the next door neighbors who are from the democratic human clan. That would be silly. Maybe I shouldn’t think about them all being faeries. Just a couple of months ago I didn’t know a fourth of the things I know now. I think we’re handling it remarkably well for just finding out about all of this craziness.
I remind myself that Jessie and Caleb haven’t been together that long, and now they’re married. Who does that? They can’t even do the deed. Jessie wouldn’t anyway, she’s like a Mother Teresa or something. Caleb, I bet he’d do it if she wanted to, I’m just guessing though. The two of them were instantly connected, no questions or anything. Maybe when it happens for you, it all falls into place. That girl isn’t me. I won’t have insta-anything. Everything in my life has to be fought for, and I’m a scrapper.
A hand on my arm startles me from my thoughts.
“Save a dance for me,” Jack says as he gets up from the table. “We’re heading to the ballroom, see you in a few.”
“Sure,” I reply.
Thorne and I stand up and make our way to Jessie and Caleb.
Both of them turn our direction and let out a sigh of relief.
I scoot over to Jessie and we all walk towards the ballroom. We’re following a rather large gentleman wearing a burgundy suit. I didn’t know suits came in so many colors, fae sure aren’t afraid of color-expression.
“Who were all the people?” I ask Jessie.
Jessie loops her arm through mine, “I don’t really know. The leader of the various clans, from what I gathered.”
“Everyone looked human.” I struggle to keep my skirt from knocking me over. “I’m burning this dress when I take it off.”
“Yeah, I guess they’re all in their human form for us. There’s a charm or herb that will let them look like a human. What’s funny is, there is a real human that looks like them. One of the clans will go on the other side of the Shimmer and collect DNA and come back to add it to the herb. Each head of the clan will eat the herb and their appearance changes. Once they’ve transformed, that is the human they’ll be until the real human dies and then they’re assigned a new transformation herb. I don’t know how they activate it or deactivate it, but it’s fascinating to me.”
Fascinating? I think it’s downright creepy. “I hope they haven’t taken the DNA from anyone I know, that would be freaky!”
“You’ll be happy to know that after the first dance, we can go change into something more comfortable to wear. What their idea of comfortable is, I don’t know.”
“I’m sure it will be better than the outfits Thorne picked out for us!” I laugh at the memory of the silly clothes.
We study the room as the band starts to play music. They all look peculiar in their brightly colored suits and the girls in their neon colored tutus.
I turn around to see where Caleb and Thorne have disappeared to and see Thorne against the wall behind us. He gives me a quick wink and half smile, the kind that reminds me I’m a girl.
I remind myself to slap me silly for being such a girl today. Getting giddy over a guy is so Jessie, not me. One day, I’ll give myself permission to be a girl and want girly things. I like bright colors and tutus, that’s girly. It’s also very fae, so I’ve learned today.
“Caleb’s over there, I’ll meet you in my room in twenty minutes, we should be finished with our big dance by then. Our clothes to change into will
be in there. Later,” Jessie gives me a finger wave and I let out a sigh.
“Later tater,” Thorne says in unison with me. “I can’t stay long, I need to follow her everywhere she goes. There’s too many variables here tonight. Are you having fun?”
“I am now. It isn’t horrible like I expected it would turn out. The only problem for me now, is to remember who is who and what tribe or clan they’re from. Before you get possessive, I have to dance with Jack.”
His pupils dilate slightly as I say his name. “I know.”
“You do? You’re okay?”
“I’m not a little kid, I know the rules. It won’t be the highlight of my night, but it is what it is. Don’t run off and bond with him that will bother me.” Thorne reaches down and puts his finger under my chin, tilting my head up. “Besides, the highlight of my night will be giving those pierced lips a good-night kiss.”
“I’ll see if I can work that into my schedule. Where will you sleep tonight? We’ve been so busy all day trudging through the forest and having a seventeen course meal we haven’t had a chance to really talk.”
“It looks like they are getting ready for the formal dance. I better go, and I’m sleeping in Jessie’s room on the couch.”
“Oh fun, sounds comfortable. I better go get closer to the dance floor.” I put my hand around his forearm and gave it a flirty squeeze. My threshold for PDA for today has been met.
The room is all white marble with large candle chandeliers. I can actually smell the candles burning, it reminds me of being a kid at church and going over to light a candle. People are standing around a large circle where Caleb and Jessie are arm in arm standing in the middle. The music is soft and beautiful like nothing I’ve ever heard before. The King, or I assume the King, is approaching Jessie and he bows in front of her. Caleb and Queen Teagan steps into the circle to dance once Jessie has made it half way around the circle. People are whispering about Jessie and how graceful she is and how lovely her hair looks. Once I get a look at the King, I’m surprised how young he looks. He can’t be older than forty if he’s even that old. He has short, perfectly groomed hair and one of those beards that are sculpted into a design. My mom would say something cheesy like, ooo la la, if she saw him. Every time George Clooney is in a movie, my mom is the first in line to buy tickets.
Jessie looks graceful as she glides across the floor. I can’t begin to imagine what people are going to say about me when I flop around on the floor like a fish out of water.
“Would you like to dance, Lady Amber?” Prince Jack whispers in my left ear. He snuck up on me while I was entranced by the Kings and Queens on the dance floor.
Why am I about to agree to do this? “I’d love to,” I whisper. I’d love to go change clothes, not go dance in front of a bunch of strangers.
His hand slides around to my back and his other hand takes mine in his. I nervously place my hand on his waist and pray no one is watching. Especially, no one like Thorne.
“You’ll do fine,” he says only loud enough for me to hear.
I’m so glad my mom forced me to go to all of those ballroom dance lessons she started taking when that ballroom dancing show came on.
“Can I ask you something?” I say to him.
He glances down at me and smiles. "Are you going to ask me to be your boyfriend? That would be fun, but I have a reputation to uphold. I have bad-boy written all over me.”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
“I’m kidding you. Ask away.” His eyes sparkle as we make eye contact.
“Why did you talk in that silly accent when we met you?” I want to tell him it made him sound strange.
“Ha! When I’ve gone to that side of the Shimmer, I’ve heard people talk like that, I figured everyone sounded like a cowboy western.” His cheeks flush ever so slightly. He’s cute when he’s admitting to trying to sound like a southern boy.
“You should try cutting back, it isn’t needed. You’ll get the attention you need by the way you look and the accent sounds fake. People might get offended that you’re trying to make fun of the way they talk. You’re like a robot trying to sound southern.”
His hand tightens around my waist, pulling us in a little tighter before spinning around in a circle. What should have looked smooth and beautiful, probably looked more like an ape dancing. I wear combat boots whenever possible. When I do wear heels, I try not to get ones that squeeze my toes so tight I feel like my foot is going to turn black and fall off. That’s exactly how my feet feel, like they’ll fall off.
“How long have you been dating the guardian?” Jack blurts out.
“The guardian is Thorne, and we’ve been dating for a couple of weeks,” I admit.
“I must have hit a nerve, am I missing something?”
“No Jack, you’re not missing anything. I don’t know what’s going on, but I really like Thorne.”
“That’s okay, Amber, I won’t get in the way. You’re different, and I like that about you.” Jack whispers to me.
I don’t know why, but every time he whispers, it sends my nerves in a frenzy. “Have you ever gone out with a human girl?” Where did that come from? Why did I just blurt that out?
“Yes, I’ve dated a few human girls. The hard part is them wanting a commitment, and I can’t give them one.” The music fades in the background and we stop to applaud the band. Before I have a chance to run out of the room while my crunched up toes will still let me, another song starts and we continue our dance, and our conversation. “As fae, we’re not like werewolves and vampires, we can’t turn a person into a faerie. I can’t very well bring anyone home to meet my mother.”
“You sound as if you fell for someone, did you?”
His eyes are shifting back and forth as he watches my face. “Is it that obvious? Yes, I did fall for a human….once.”
“Did she fall for you too?”
“I like to think she did. That’s stuff in the past, let’s talk about the here and now. What do you think of the Seelie Court?”
I shrug my shoulders. “From what I’ve seen of it, I think it’s pretty. Everything is so colorful and bright, which I happen to like. Do you like living here?”
“I don’t live here full time. When I joined the military, I had to leave the castle and live wherever they need me to. There are times I’m required to be here, and this is one of those times. Jessie’s Court is on the same side as ours, so we’ll be involved with you guys too. Unless of course she decides to side with the Unseelie Court, then we’ll become enemies. In answer to your question, this is home.”
I smile up at him as we continue to dance.
As we pass Thorne, I glance over at him and notice he’s not watching us, he’s looking over where Jessie is dancing. It’s just as well, he’s not a big fan of Jack.
Thankfully, the music comes to a stop and it couldn’t be better timing, my toes are going to pop through the sides if I don’t get these shoes off. Jack and I walk over to Jessie and ask if she’s going back to the room.
“Are you ready?” I ask. Please say yes.
“They want Caleb and I to dance, go on to the room, I’ll be there when this song is over, I promise.”
“Okay, I’m going to your room, these shoes are killing me,” I complain.
“If you wore something other than combat books and flip flops, you might be able to handle heels,” Jessie says.
“I’ll see you in a few.” I turn my attention to Jack for a second. “Hey, is there someone who can show me where her room is? We got lost earlier, I’ll never be able to find the way back.”
“I’ll take you there,” Jack replies. “Follow me.” He places his hand on the small of my back and guides me towards the large arched entrance to the room.
I didn’t bother saying anything to Thorne, he has to stay with Jessie anyway. The halls are vacant except a person standing outside of each restroom. “Who are they?”
“They’re the guards. We can’t allow some of the people here
to be inside the restroom at the same time. There are a lot of conflicts between the clans who are here tonight. They’re putting on a show so the new Queen will side with them. Everything is political.”
The hallway becomes a maze as we pass room after room, many of them have closed doors. Everywhere I look there is elaborately carved woodwork. In one of the rooms we pass there’s a huge fireplace with a carved mantle. Despite the deep rich wood, the hallways are bright.
“Since your friend is still dancing, can I show you something?” Jack asks.
How is it that I get a boyfriend and then this good looking faerie comes along to tempt me?
“You know you want to,” a small voice whispers in my ear. Lila.
Maybe I do, but my head it telling me to be smart and ask to go to the room. I’ve never been known to make the smartest decisions. “Sure, that would be cool. What is it?” Take it back, tell him you have to go back to the room. If he knew how bad my feet hurt, he’d offer to carry me around.
“Would you like a pig ride?” Jack asks.
A pig ride? “What’s a pig ride?”
“Where I carry you on my back, isn’t that what you call it?”
I don’t know why, but the next thing I know, I’m cracking up. After snorting a couple times and gather the ability to talk again, I tell him it’s a piggy-back ride.
Whoa, did he read my mind like Caleb does with Jessie? “That’s an odd question to blurt out, why did you ask me if I want a pig ride?”
“You’re walking funny. You didn’t limp when I met you this morning. Since we danced, you’ve been favoring your right foot. It doesn’t take a genius, which I am, to figure out your feet are bothering you.” He gives me a crooked smile and I can’t help but smile back.
“I can walk.”
“Okay….follow me.”
Chapter 7. Sweet Dreams
JACK and I climb a set of marble stairs until we’ve come to a small landing that juts out from the castle. We walk through a pair of French doors onto a small Juliet balcony. From where we stand, we can see out onto the grounds of the castle and as far as the bridge we crossed earlier. There’s a carnival atmosphere going on outside. I hear people singing and the sounds of laughter and cheering. The energy floats all the way to our little spot and I want nothing more than to go down and join in on the fun.
