Glamour of Midnight

by Casey L. Bond

  I shrugged again and quirked a brow to let her know it was still true.

  She shook her head, but laughed when Mage jumped up and walloped Dusty and Root, yelling that he’d come back from the Court of Shadows just like Karis, and now he was going to eat them. They shrieked and ran away with Mage hot on their heels, bellowing a battle cry that echoed throughout the palace.

  Mage was my favorite, which was why I had something special planned for our visit to Ironton. “Were you there when they took his hand?” I inquired softly.

  Karis’s smile fell away as the memories clouded her vision. “One of Iric’s friends told us as soon as he learned Mage had been caught. We ran to the jail and tried to plead with his jailer, but he explained that his hands were tied. The Governor was the only one who could stop the punishment required by law. So, Iric asked for an appointment with him, which was a big deal. It was rare that a Trencher would be allowed to have a private audience with him, but for some reason, the Governor allowed it that day. I wanted to stay with Mage, but the Border Grays told us both to go into the Governor’s office.

  “The Governor sat behind a big, expensive desk while we sat on plush chairs that cost more than we ate in a month,” she scoffed. “The Governor advised that he was feeling generous and would hear what Iric had to say, so Iric begged for him to let Mage go. He told the Governor he would pay the person he’d wronged ten times over, that he’d take a flogging, and even offered his own hand in place of his brother’s.”

  My teeth ground together. “The Governor wouldn’t accept the exchange?”

  “No. He vowed that thieves would never learn not to steal unless they were punished. He said that Iric had his chance to teach his brother right from wrong and failed, and now Mage didn’t deserve a second chance. And while we sat there, with Iric pleading for him not to take his brother’s hand, we heard Mage’s screams. They cut his hand off while we were in the Governor’s office.”

  “I’m sorry,” I confided, pulling her into my arms. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, and that Mage wasn’t shown mercy.”

  “Me too.”

  I would right this wrong for her. She didn’t know it, but I would.

  Just then, Iric jogged down the steps. “Hey.”

  Karis pulled away from me and tried to smile at him, but the dark memory had taken the light from her eyes. I would see that it shone again.

  “Ready?” I asked him.

  He patted the pack on his back. “Yep.”

  “We’re taking an alternate route,” I responded, earning a nudge from Karis.

  Before we stepped through the mirror, I whispered to Iric, “I don’t know how to navigate this well, but did the Governor’s office have a mirror?” He thought about it a second and nodded, his face steeling. “Picture it, and I’ll take us there. I have business to discuss with him.”

  “What kind of business?”

  “You’ll see.”

  Inside the palace mirror, we watched as Karis waved, her image fading, and then there was a tug in a certain direction and I followed it, holding onto Iric. Suddenly, we were behind a mirror in a large room. There was a desk and two large, padded chairs, upholstered in red; my favorite color, and soon to be the Governor’s least favorite.

  A large man sat at the desk, dipping a feather into a bowl of ink and scratching it across parchment. He jumped back in his seat as we stepped nonchalantly into the room. “What the devil?” he growled.

  I smiled. “So glad you recognized me. I would have been hurt if you hadn’t remembered my name.”

  He nervously glanced from me to Iric, his eyes widening.

  “We came for two reasons,” I started. “The first is to see if you need help with winter preparations.”

  “We have survived winters on our own in Ironton for years. We certainly can do so without help from your kind,” he blustered. His rotund stomach hit his desk as he stood. “We don’t welcome fae into our city.”

  I glanced at Iric and smiled, unsheathing my knife. “Fine. On to the next order of business.” Iric went still as I stalked toward the Governor. “Years ago, this young man came to you and asked for mercy for his brother, who was six years old at the time. Do you remember it?”

  The Governor tugged at his collar and took a few steps backward until there was nowhere left to go. I continued, “He asked you to let him repay the debt, which you refused, and then he asked you to let him take his brother’s place. You ignored his pleas, because you thought the boy made a bad decision and needed to pay. Am I right so far?”

  “I don’t remember,” he sputtered, his face turning blotchy and red.

  “Let me take this opportunity to remind you.” I suggested with a grin, lunging for him and grabbing his closest hand, the one he had been writing with. “I want you to know that if you ever hurt a child like that again, a child that you helped starve, I will gut you.” I picked my knife up and trailed the blade across his abdomen. He trembled violently. “For now, I’ll simply take your hand as a reminder of the day you made a bad decision. A hand for a hand,” I told him.

  “No, please!” he cried.

  I slammed his meaty hand onto the desk. “Did Iric say please? Did he ask you nicely? He was reasonable. He wanted to make things right, and what did you say to him?”

  The Governor tried futilely to wrest his hand away. I turned to Iric. “Did he tell you that your brother, your six year-old brother, wouldn’t learn from his mistake unless he was punished?”

  The Governor turned a darker shade of red, sweat beading on his forehead. I slammed his forearm onto the desk, flattened it, and quickly cut the offending hand from his arm. As his screams filled the room, I grabbed the hand and my knife, pulled Iric into the mirror, and leveled a glare at the Governor that promised worse if he told anyone who was responsible.

  I merely thought of Karis, and the mirror took me home to her. She was terrified when she saw the blood sprayed on me, but smelled the air and calmed down. “Whose blood is this? It’s human.”

  I held up the fat hand of the Governor, his iron signet ring bulging tightly around one of the swollen digits.

  She was quiet, which was terrifying. It was always terrifying when women got too quiet. I expected her to shriek, or maybe to turn the hand to ash and keep the ring as a souvenir. So I was surprised when she knocked it out of my hand and pushed me against the wall, kissing me, devouring me, climbing up until I was holding her legs around my waist.

  Iric cleared his throat and stammered something about seeing us later before his scent trailed away and he left us right where we belonged. Together.

  “Take me to your room,” she begged.

  “No,” I panted against her lips. “Not like this.”

  “But I want you.”

  Boil me alive, I wanted her too. Every inch of me was taut. The muscles in my arms shook with my torturous need for her.

  Instead, I sat her down gently and all but ran outside.

  She followed me. “Where are you going?”

  “To wash.”

  “I’ll come with you,” she offered solicitously.

  I whirled around and pointed my finger at her. “You need to stay here.”

  She pouted, her lips puffing up. I wanted to stalk back to her, capture them with my teeth, and kiss her until she begged to be taken to my room. I wouldn’t have had the strength to say no.

  Instead, I jogged away from her. Away from the palace. Away from temptation.

  That evening, after the entire family had eaten dinner with us, after she’d rubbed her bare foot up and down my calf until I thought I might break the whole damned table from the force of my hands gripping the wood, there was a knock at the door. A familiar voice called out.

  Alistair strolled into the room and I chuckled as the boys went still, watching him approach. They didn’t know what he was yet, but would soon enough. This was going to be priceless.

  “Alistair!” Karis jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. I had no
idea the Leancan could blush. “We just finished eating, but if you want, I’ll see if I can round up some blood for you to drink?”

  He grinned, his fangs showing. The boys gasped, sitting back in their seats and shrugging their shoulders up to cover their necks.

  “Blood?” Duncan asked, confused. He was usually quiet and pensive. Maybe his time in the mines made him that way, or maybe it was his nature. But hearing his voice surprised me.

  Iric leaned in and told Duncan what he was.

  Root was mesmerized. “I knew they were real,” he breathed.

  “You’re too kind, Queen Karis. Actually, I was hoping you might open your court for us, Queen. The Leancan have… worn out our welcome in the Court of Spring.”

  “What did you do?” she laughed.

  “We stood at your side, Queen.”

  “Stop the Queen nonsense, Alistair. And I’m sorry I caused you trouble. This isn’t technically a court, but you’re welcome here, nonetheless. Just don’t feed off my brothers, and we’ll be good.”

  His eyes fastened on Vivica. “Only your brothers?”

  I chuckled as Vivica sized him up. “Please,” she scoffed. “You couldn’t handle me, vampire. I’d eat you alive.”

  30

  KARIS

  Loftin was avoiding me. Probably because I was playing dirty. Hey – I wanted him, he wanted me. I didn’t see what the big deal was. And now I regretted giving him the power to use the mirrors, because any time things got hot between us, he jumped through one like his feet were on fire. I could’ve followed him, but… he was frustrating.

  I’d written to the Queen of Spring and the Kings of Summer, Autumn (Loftin’s father), and Winter to ask if they would be interested in celebrating Faery’s emancipation from Nemain. Surprisingly, everyone but King Kegan, the King of Autumn, wrote back and agreed that we should have the Festival of the Seasons on the Autumnal Equinox.

  I showed the letters to Loftin.

  “They’re trying to draw him out of hiding,” he surmised. “They want revenge.”

  “This is supposed to be a happy, peaceful event. To promote healing,” I snarled, snatching the pieces of parchment out of his hands. “Have you spoken to him?” I asked.

  He nodded. “He won’t come, but he’ll send someone to represent him.”

  I huffed. “Let me guess – you?”

  He shrugged. “I’m still his successor. The responsibility falls to me.”

  “But you’re already going.”

  “I know.” He smiled, pulling me close to him. He inhaled deeply, putting his face in the crook of my neck. “You aren’t making this easy on me.”

  “Why should I?”

  Loftin groaned. “Vivica taught you well.”

  My mouth popped open. “She did not.”

  “Fine.” He grinned. “Maybe it’s just a female thing.”

  Oh, for faery’s sake. I started to lean in to show him exactly how females could manipulate the male species, when he disappeared. I hadn’t even noticed the mirror behind us.

  “Not funny, Loftin.”

  His chuckle was muffled in the reflection as he walked away from me.

  LOFTIN

  I found my father in his palace, where he’d holed up and placed guards all around the perimeter. Not the best hiding place, I thought, but whatever. I had a feeling the Kings and Queen wanted to kill him in public, to make a spectacle of the event in order to show their power.

  “You could’ve at least written back to her,” I smarted.

  A scowl stretched over his face and his posture stiffened. “I won’t waste my time scribbling a note to your lover just to appease her.”

  “She isn’t my lover,” I growled.

  He grunted and stared out the window. His hair was bright red, matching the suit he wore today.

  “It may ease their anger if you apologize publicly.”

  He shook his head. “What’s done is done. Nothing will stop them from seeking revenge.”

  “I could have Karis place a shield over your court.”

  He turned to look at me. “She would do that?”

  I nodded.

  “I’ll consider it,” he conceded, rocking back on his heels. He was quiet for a long moment. “Lita claims that now you refuse to honor your betrothal.”

  “That’s right.”

  “The betrothal you asked me for, and trusted me to secure for you.”

  I sighed, tipping my head back as far as it would go. “That was before I met Karis.”

  “She is Nemain’s daughter, Loftin, which means she’s dangerous. The other rulers are right about that. She needs to be trapped away under the mountain with the other Unseelie fae.”

  I was in front of him in an instant, my hunting knife at his throat, ready to filet him like a fish. “Say that again, and I’ll end you myself and claim the title of King.”

  His eyes caught fire. “How dare you threaten me in my own home!” he seethed.

  “How dare you threaten the woman I love?” I didn’t remove my blade.

  He opened his mouth. “I didn’t realize you felt so… strongly about her.”

  “Now you know,” I acknowledged, sheathing my knife.

  The days flew by as I tried increasingly creative ways to avoid being cornered by Karis at every turn, but there was no avoiding her tonight. Tonight, we would travel to the center of Faery, only miles from where Nemain built her castle and Karis had fought for us all.

  I wore the clothing she laid out for me; a copper-colored tunic, dark pants, and a new leather belt with leather knife sheaths bearing the designs of falling leaves, announcing that I was Prince of the Autumn Court.

  I must have made her angry. She refused to see me today, but through her bedroom door snipped that she’d meet me at the bottom of the staircase an hour before sunset.

  It was time.

  I tugged at my sleeves. This evening had to go well, for the sake of all of Faery. Karis had dropped a dome of smoke over my father’s palace, just in case his refusal to show up tonight prompted someone to go searching for him.

  Iric led the boys down the steps. “She’s almost ready,” he said, chuckling.

  The boys all wore brown pants and mustard-colored tunics, while Vivica padded down the steps in a bright red gown, followed by Alistair, who stared at her backside the entire way. He smirked when he made it to the bottom, stopping to stand at my side. “I was given strict orders to hold you back if necessary. You can’t ruin her dress before the Festival.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He chuckled and ticked his head toward the staircase.

  A flash of orange.

  Karis was at the top. Her hair was curled. The dress she wore matched my tunic, but the copper gown that was plastered to every one of her curves sparkled in the evening sun streaming into the windows.

  Slowly, she made her way down. I stepped forward, but the Leancan pushed me back. I growled at him and tried again.

  “Loftin,” she began. “You aren’t allowed to touch me tonight.”

  “Pardon me?” Scald me, what was she talking about?

  “You’ve made it quite clear that you want space, so tonight, you’ll have it,” she replied, tipping her chin up haughtily.

  The little minx. I knew what she was doing. Two could play at this game.

  “Very well,” I replied, making myself look away from her. Alistair and Vivica both laughed at my sides. I didn’t think it was a bit funny.

  “Where are the other Leancan?” I asked Alistair, trying to diffuse the situation.

  “I will represent them.” He offered Vivica his arm, and she slid her hand into it and gave a throaty laugh.

  I looked to Karis, who was busy beaming a smile at Iric.

  The Festival of Seasons started out formally. Proper introductions were made between the Queen and Kings of the Seasonal Courts and Karis. Gwyndlyn asked me where my father was, and I told her that he’d sent me in his stead.

  “Of cours
e he did,” she replied.

  Night fell over the festival quickly. Faery lights were strung from tree to tree in each Court’s colors. There were overflowing tables of food and wine, and benches that lined a cleared space in the center of the woods. Karis was in awe, taking in every detail and probably committing them to memory.

  Musicians just beyond the clearing began to play, and I asked Karis to dance.

  “Sorry, but no touching,” she replied demurely.

  My eyes popped out of my skull when Iric asked her and she immediately agreed to dance with him. As he twirled her around the dance floor, laughing and talking, I wanted to explode.

  I gulped one glass of Faery wine and then another. And then another. There were fae of every Court here; the Spring fae with their green gowns and tunics and matching eyes, the Summer fae with their blue-green or sapphire tunics and matching eyes, and the Winter fae with their icy garments… and matching eyes. And every pair of those eyes, regardless of court, watched Karis as she danced, bearing the color of my court. I wanted to beat on my chest and roar to all the males ogling her that she was mine.

  Alistair sidled up to me, sipping from a wineglass filled with blood. “Where do you get blood now that the Unseelie are gone?” I asked curiously.

  “Oh, here and there,” he answered vaguely. I shouldn’t have asked. “She is stunning.”

  “She is,” I agreed. She was the most breathtaking thing I’d ever seen.

  “The other males think so, too. They may initially be attracted to her power, but she isn’t hard on the eyes, either.”

  “Do you have a point, Alistair?”

  He shrugged. “She wants you, Loftin. But if you won’t have her, someone else will be happy to take your place at her side. Look how eager they are…”

  He was right. The males couldn’t stop staring. I started toward her, but the Leancan stopped me. “You know how to prevent anyone from taking her away,” he said knowingly.

  “I’ve been planning it since she woke up.”

  He smiled. He knew. The bastard knew.

  31