by A Lonergan
The wind licked at my face, and made me feel invigorated. I closed my eyes and breathed it all in. There was no need to watch, Gestavos knew the way and he wouldn’t let me down. I had trusted him for many years, and he always proved to me that he was the best of the best. On and off of the battlefield.
I had Gestavos land behind the castle where the stables were. The landing was smooth besides a sudden jerk in the saddle. The saddles weren’t made for flying, and they always had a hard time keeping up with Gestavos and his speed. There weren’t many winged horses in the Realm, and there weren’t many men or women that had worked with them. Everything we had done had been trial and error at this point. This saddle was the only one that had worked, kind of.
I dismounted first then helped Willow down. Her body slid down mine sensually, and I grasped her to me harder when her feet touched the dirt floor. She pushed away from me.
“What was that about?” She ran her hand down Gestavos wing and watched me. “I thought I was supposed to get the bright welcome into your life, and kingdom.”
“You lived your life in shadows, and I just forced you out into the light. I didn’t ask you how you felt about it, either. I am terribly sorry.”
Her face softened and she took my hand in hers. “There is nothing to apologize for. Thank you for being thoughtful, though. Not all of my life was in the shadows, after all, I was paraded around as a Lady during the light.”
I paced the hallway.
So much for commending the women on getting ready quickly. Here I was waiting another hour for them to finish their prep for tonight’s ball. It had been thrown together last minute, by none other than Madam Colver, who was beyond delighted that I had chosen Willow. Madam Colver wasn’t in the least bit offended that Willow wasn’t who she claimed to be. She said she had suspected it as she ordered the genies to decorate this and that. They had happily obliged. For the first time I could see the pink and blue sisters smiling as they worked. Which was a first. They were usually pretty somber.
Wyna, my fairy advisor, had taken that moment to return home. I could feel her come through the portal in the highest tower of my castle. The place my sister had been imprisoned. I air walked to the hallway and then took the stairs quickly.
When I opened the door she flew at me and hit me in the chest. Her little body was full of joy as she gazed up at me with the biggest smile.
I quirked an eyebrow. “Just a baby shower, huh? That was a long baby shower.”
She grimaced. Her hair was now past her shoulders and dark brown. She wore a tiny dress and was barefoot like usual. “I wanted to stay for the baby’s birth. I know it’s a tough topic for you…” She trailed off and backed up a few feet, looking me over thoughtfully. “There’s something different about you.”
I laughed. “It’s been weeks, Wyna. Of course something is different. Lots of things are different.”
She got closer to me and frowned. “Your face, what did I miss?”
“Armia came back.” Wyna faltered in the air and I had to catch her in my palm. “It’s okay, I had help.”
She sighed. “I want to hear all about it, but I am exhausted. The time change between realms is unreal. Freya calls it jet-lag.” I nodded as she prattled on and on, and then she stopped and tears started to fall from her eyes. “She had a little girl.”
I expected myself to feel sadness. Grief. Anything for the life I had so desperately wanted with the woman I had found myself desperately in love with, but the more I thought about it, I found that I was happy for her. Happier than I thought I would ever be.
“As much as you would like to get some rest, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Wyna made a face like she smelled something rotten. “If we go down there and there is chaos from me being gone a few weeks, I am going to lose it on all of you!”
I didn’t say anything else and walked down the stairs with her trying to scold me the entire way. When we reached the last step, she looked at me with wild eyes. “I hear the castle getting ready for a party! What for?”
“Wyna, there is someone I would like you to meet.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Willow
The little fairy in front of me held up her finger and interrupted me. “I swear, if you say it, I will send you to the Mortal Realm’s hell and I have heard it’s a terrible place to end up.”
I quirked an eyebrow. I had a feeling I would survive if she decided to send me to any kind of hell. I would probably thrive there, unfortunately. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
She put her hand on her hip and licked her front teeth. “I am not the cutest thing you have ever seen.”
I laughed, and even let out a snort with it. I had thought about saying that. She probably got enough in the Mortal Realm that she could sense when it was coming. I had a feeling they were just surprised by her as I was. Fairies didn’t exist in Arinal. Or they once had and were ran off. I had never encountered one before.
“I am well aware that fairies don’t exist in your past kingdom, and that is great, but that doesn’t excuse you from calling me cute. I look in the mirror multiple times a day, I don’t need the sentiment. I know exactly how I am.”
Cal coughed behind her. I couldn’t help but snicker. The little spitfire was something, not scary, but something. “You certainly found yourself while you were gone.”
The small being cocked her head. “I was never lost to begin with.”
Cal obviously didn’t know what to say as his mouth opened and closed in bewilderment. “Okay, well, that’s great. We have a party to get together.”
After all, I was still wearing my robe and my mother was probably fussing running around the Queen’s rooms like a drunken festerfoust. Watching those little birds toddle about our garden was probably the highlight of my childhood. I had no doubt that was how my mother was behaving as she waited for me. Parties were her thing. It was about the only thing she could enjoy when we were back in Arinal, even after my father was murdered, she still tried to find joy in the music and dancing. Which brought my thoughts back to her being a consort. Had she been ordered to participate?
I, on the other hand, couldn’t find joy in watching my mother being alone. Watching her from the shadows some night wistfully observing the other couples dance while she sat alone beside the Emperor, and his bratty children. But she hadn't been alone if the Emperor had his hands on her. Had it been willing?
Wyna flew closer to my face and narrowed her tiny eyes. “There’s something about you, something dark.”
I swallowed, unable to help the nerves that flooded my body. Even though I was experiencing panic on the inside, I was stoic on the outside. “Oh?”
“Your magic is,” she paused. “You do have magic, don’t you?”
I nodded my head. I was thankful for the robe’s sleeve that was covering the tattoos on my arm. I didn’t want her to make assumptions based on it. I wanted her to like me for, well, me. Not some preconceived notion that I was evil because I had worked for an evil man. It didn’t sound good, but I didn’t want to be the person I had been forced to be and I needed this little creature to understand that.
“One minute your magic is there, and I can feel it.” Wyna waved her fingers. “And the next it’s gone, like you don’t even have it.” She peered at me again, getting even closer. She could touch me now, if she wanted.
But before she could say anything or do anything, Cal spoke up. “I’m sure Mrs. Bane is waiting for Willow and she will kill us all if we don’t let the future queen finish dressing.”
He leaned forward and passed a kiss on my cheek before he pulled Wyna away. She protested loudly, all the way down the hall. “I was just about to break the code! I wasn’t finished! I needed a few more seconds and I would have understood her magic.”
I could barely hear Cal reply, “You will have all the time in the world, stop trying to ruin her first impression of you.”
Sure enough, my mother was fr
antic. “We don’t have nearly as much time as we hoped! Do you know how much hair you have? You need to bathe the powder out of your hair from earlier, the stink of the ship off of you, and then pick out a dress. Mercy Mother, I have no idea how I am going to make this possible.”
I ignored her comments as she opened the door and shouted for some help. I was surprised that she wasn’t doing everything herself. But she was in a castle, and if things continued at the rate they were going… I was going to be the Queen. Someday. Hopefully, at least, after much more courting and kissing…
Kissing was much nicer than I had ever imagined, and apparently there was more after that. As the warmth started to spread through me, my mother yanking on my hair pulled me right out of it.
A knock at the door had her letting go of my poor scalp. Ifrīt and Marîd bowed low before us. I couldn’t help the smile that pulled at my lips. “No need for that rutting practice.”
My mother swatted my arm. “Language!”
I could have rolled my eyes, but I didn’t want to get smacked again.
Ifrīt spoke first, “What can we do for you?”
“I would have done it myself, but I have no magic, and it seems to me that everything in this kingdom is run by that.” My mother’s voice softened, as she humbled herself. She now reminded me of the woman I had always known and seen when I was home. She was far from harsh, and now, with all of the newness, she was panicking.
Marîd smiled, and snapped her fingers. A full steaming tub was before me in the blink of an eye. “I don’t know how your kingdom survives without it.”
My mother shrugged. “If you didn’t have magic, you would either die or adapt. We adapted, though I prefer magic.”
Ifrīt nodded her head and a screen appeared around the tub, for my privacy. My mother waved her hands forward and encouraged me to get started. I closed the screen around me and let the robe pool around my feet before I stepped into the burning water. I would have it no other way. Bathing in the servant quarters had been misery. The water was always cold, because I had no magic to warm it and no friends to help me.
Friends.
I swallowed.
No, not now.
The tears came forward and I couldn’t help, but let them spill over. I hiccuped and the screen moved. I didn’t even bother with covering myself, there was no use. The bathing chamber in the servant’s quarter wasn’t private, and I was too emotional to really give a rut anyway. Marîd peered down at me with pity. I wiped at my eyes and pushed myself farther under the water, until my lips were completely submerged.
Marîd sunk to the floor beside the giant tub I was in and pulled at the tassels on the rug beneath us. “Why are you sad? Did you not want Cal’s affections?”
“Where is Ifrīt and my mother?” I asked, instead of answering her question first.
“Ifrīt insisted on taking your mother to find a new gown for a little bit, to get her out of the castle and see her new home.” Marîd kept her eyes on the floor. I wasn’t sure if it was to help me feel comfortable, or because she was uncomfortable.
“I thought of my friend, Fin, that was killed, and I was having a hard time.” The genie looked up at me with surprise. “I am truly sorry. Armia took much from all of us, and I hope she suffers down there.”
I nodded my head. Anger replacing the grief.
“Did you know I had magic?” I asked finally.
Marîd didn’t say anything, and summoned a few exotic bottles. Each of them landed on the floor around us. There were turquoise, pink, red, and purple bottles. I leaned over and picked up the red bottle. It smelled like clove and cinnamon. I closed my eyes and let the scent wrap around me. I didn’t mind with the others, this one had stolen my heart. The genie took the bottle from my fingers and positioned herself behind the tub. She pulled my wet hair over the side and dumped the contents of the bottle over my head. The magical woman started to work the substance into my midnight locks.
“Yes, I could feel your magic early on. It was why I had insisted on Ifrīt and I working with you. But, I knew there was a cap on it. I could feel that too. It was strange and a mystery to me. A mystery that I knew I had to uncover or I would go rutting crazy trying to figure it out.” She continued to work her fingers into my hair, while I processed what she said.
“Why didn’t you say anything? Why did you lie?” I asked.
“Why would I? Ifrīt can sniff out intentions.” That explained why she was so solemn. Being able to know everyone’s true colors didn’t seem like a good time.
“That explains a lot.” I muttered.
Marîd plopped my hair back into the tub and summoned a little saucer to rinse out the grime, and nasty from my hair. “You really don’t have to do this.”
“I don’t think you understand the conditions of our slavery. This is what we live to do.” She worked her fingers into my hair until she was happy with the final result. She handed me a light pink bottle and told me to wash my body as she stepped around the screen.
I would never get used to the attention being bestowed upon me, would I? It was so new, and it weirded me out. Special treatment from the Emperor was only for the elaborate parties he threw, so I could actually look the part I played in his web of deceit.
When Marîd returned, I was preparing to get out of the cooling water. She held up a towel, and I gratefully stepped into it. It wrapped around my shoulders, and then she had another in seconds to wrap around my hair.
“I am incredibly curious about your magic though.”
She was fishing, and for whatever reason, it made me uncomfortable. She ushered me to the vanity and shook my head around with the towel on it for a few minutes, until she was satisfied that my hair had dried enough.
“Isn’t that what magic is for?” I winced.
The genie smirked at me in the mirror. “Don’t go getting soft on me.”
I rolled my eyes. “I wouldn’t dare.”
“Yes, I could use magic for that.” She paused, like she was considering her words. “I don’t have an endless supply of magic. Most magical beings don’t. I only use magic on the necessary things, like producing a warm bath, or defensive magic. But my vault inside of me will only produce so much. Even if me and Ifrīt are some of the most powerful in the realm."
“Then what?”
“Then we don’t tell little meddling humans our business.” Ifrīt said from the doorway. “Are you an idiot?”
“I have no idea what came over me,” Marîd blinked a few times, and gave me a strange look. “I think I know what some of your abilities are. Persuasion seems to come easiest to you, without you even realizing it.”
“That’s a new one,” I muttered.
“But is it?” the blue genie looked me over. “How many times have you been able to get your way without having to do much? Did you do that to the King?”
I frowned. “I would never! I didn’t even think of the possibility of romance for my life, much less with a King!”
“At least you’re telling the truth, and your intentions are pure, for now.” Marîd clicked her tongue.
“Look, I can’t say that I am in love with the King, I can’t say that I will be a good Queen. But I will try, and if I don’t fall in love with him,” I paused, because I was already falling in love with him, but I didn’t think I needed to let that be known. “I will leave, and I will find my own place in this world without magic, without all of you. Even though it’ll make me very sad to do so.”
“Your honesty continues to impress me, Goddess,” Ifrīt remarked. I tried my best to ignore the last part. She knew. Of course.
“Your mother chatters when she is nervous.” She shrugged.
That made sense.
Marîd saw an opening and was going to exploit it in anyway she could. “So, if you aren’t in love with the him, then how can you let tonight’s festivities commence?”
“Because I know that what I am feeling is something that doesn’t come for everyone, royalty or no. I car
e for him deeply, and just the thought of having to leave him makes me a rutting mess.” I picked at the bristles on my comb. “I don’t know what love is like, but if this is it, its possibly the best feeling I have ever felt.”
The genies seemed to like my answer, and they didn’t press me again. Marîd pulled my hair back and got to work on it. She twisted and tugged until my scalp was sore, but my mother was grinning, when she finally made it back. My mother crouched in front of me and expertly handled the makeup. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I didn’t know who I was staring at. My mouth dropped open, and the mirror mocked me with the same motion. There was no way it was actually me.
My mother looked up at me from the floor with tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. “Just wait till you see what you’ll be wearing, Cal won’t be able to keep his hands off of you.”
I inwardly groaned. Please, not another stupid dress.
But what Ifrīt brought through the door had me pause. It wasn’t a dress. I frowned.
What was this nonsense?
“What is this?” I asked as I made my way toward the contraption. It was a gorgeous looking suit, but it was connected where the tunic and the britches would be separate.
How magical.
“You will step into the top,” But before my mother could continue, I was already in it.
The pink genie rolled her eyes, and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m impatient when it comes to new things.”
“So much for that vault of power,” I muttered, under my breath.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The King
I paced.
I didn’t know why I was so nervous, but my heart rate was going faster than a twittlebird. I wiped my clammy hands onto the front of my leather trousers, and waited. The only other person that had made me this nervous had been Freya, and look how that turned out. I clenched my fists, thinking of her wouldn’t do me any favors today.
