A Fey Harvest

by Sumida, Amy

  The fabric rippled every time I moved, releasing a froth of steam that made me look like I was constantly walking through a sauna. It had warmth but although there was obviously water involved, the dress was dry to the touch, very silky but dry. I ran a hand over it, yet again, watching the steam lift off of me and the material ripple out like I'd skimmed the surface of one of the hot springs in the Fire Kingdom.

  “You look smokin' hot,” Arach's reflection smiled at me in the mirror.

  “Smokin'?” I laughed. “Very cute but seriously, this dress is amazing.”

  “Well, thanks to our new pixies, you can have as many amazing dresses as you want.”

  “So, no regrets over my stealing the earth fey?” I lifted a brow and stood up to face him.

  “Regrets?” He laughed, “I haven't had so much fun in millennia. You've insulted the Earth Queen while somehow looking not only innocent but righteous, and brought us master craftsmen in the process. Why do you think I want to visit Air so badly? I was hoping we could find something else to steal there.”

  “You know living with you is like living with a psychotic five-year-old sometimes. Now you've added kleptomaniac to the list. A psychotic, klepto toddler, that's what you act like.”

  “What is psychotic?” He narrowed his eyes on me.

  “Crazy, bonkers, lulu, mad, nutty, unhinged, flown the coop-”

  “Yes, I think I understand,” he grimaced. “Are you sure you want to go into the Kingdom of Water with a lunatic?”

  “Well maybe it's a lunatic I'm looking for,” I sang á la Billy Joel, and threw my arms around his neck when he only raised an eyebrow in response. “I wouldn't want you any other way.”

  “And you call me psychotic. Wait... what's a klepto?”

  Chapter Nine

  I've been to the Kingdom of Water only once before and it hadn't been a happy occasion. We'd been chasing a rogue Queen who'd tried to kill me and then to add insult to injury, she'd stolen my ring! It was okay though because she was dead now. At least I hoped she was dead because the place the ring had taken her to was a tad bit inhospitable for her kind.

  We'd taken our coach again, drawn by sleek black horses with red eyes. I wondered about them, I'd never seen a stables in or around the castle. I'd seen where the carriage was stored, inside the entrance cave to the right, but never the horses themselves. It was odd, now that I thought about it.

  “Where do we keep the horses?” I glanced out the window at them and saw one of them fling its red-tipped mane, sparks flying off the ends of it.

  “The what?” Arach looked confused.

  “The horses,” I said slowly, “the animals pulling the carriage.”

  “You mean the phookas?” He said just as slowly.

  “Phookas are dogs,” I gave him my what the fuck face. “Those are not dogs, they're horses.”

  “They're phookas,” he sighed and shook his head. “How can you have lived here this long and not know phookas can be dogs or horses?”

  “Wait, what?” I was aghast. “You're telling me those are fey out there? Neala isn't pulling us, is she?”

  “Of course not,” he scoffed, “she's got the babes to look after. Her husband is though.”

  “What?”

  “It's one of their jobs,” he laughed at me. “They don't mind. In fact I'm told they view it as an honor. Only four are chosen at a time after all. They have the stamina of regular horses when they're in that form, and this gives them some exercise.”

  “I just feel odd being lugged around by my friends,” I grimaced.

  “I understand but, A Thaisce, they're not just friends, they're your subjects. Didn't the Romans do something similar with humans? They'd have men carry other men about in big chairs. I'd think that was much worse than this, at least horses find the job comfortable.”

  “Alright, alright, I concede your point.”

  “Good,” he smirked, “cause I'd hate to have to walk everywhere just because you didn't want phookas pulling us.”

  “We could have just stayed home,” I made a face at him.

  “You're the one who didn't want to visit Air,” he reminded me again.

  “I have a bad feeling about the Air kingdom,” I frowned, “plus I'm afraid of heights.”

  “You're a dragon-sidhe,” he gaped at me, “you cannot be afraid of heights. It's not possible.”

  “Not when I'm a dragon, no,” I shrugged, “but I was only able to shift that once because Faerie shifted me. I'll probably never fly again, therefore heights still scare me.”

  “Preposterous,” he declared, sounding oddly British for a second.

  “There's the falls,” I said as the sound of rushing water filled the carriage.

  Castle Deuraich stood at the top of a cliff which served as a sort of boundary/dam for the Kingdom of Water. It was more of a basin really, since the cliff rose up all around the kingdom, holding the massive ocean like a bowl of seafood chowder. Probably not the best analogy.

  The bowl was super full though and was constantly spilling over, in the form of a massive waterfall that flowed through the center of the castle itself before taking the plunge over the cliff. It fell into a large pool at the base of the cliffs which actually fed an underground river that spanned the entire realm, going directly beneath the Castle of Eight and the Kingdom of Fire. It surfaced at the end of our kingdom, where it became a body of water we called the Tine. Each kingdom was bordered by all elements, so at the end of the Water Kingdom was a giant volcano which connected to our magma moat by an underground river, at the end of the Earth Kingdom was a wall of mist, and the Air Kingdom ended in mountains.

  The Water Kingdom didn't just have the one waterfall either. There were waterfalls on either side of the kingdom as well, going over the cliffs that bordered Earth and Air. The waterfall in Earth went straight through the crystal valley, which I'd seen already, but the one that fell into Air became mist, with the help of the heat of our kingdom. It was a great example of how the kingdoms were separate yet intimately connected, depending upon each other for their existence.

  I was told that the water changed from salt to fresh as soon as it passed the borders of the Water Kingdom. Not possible, you say? Ah, well, welcome to Faerie. I watched the massive amount of water tumble down the cliffs and wondered how the ocean remained so full. It was probably magic but I decided to ask Arach anyway.

  “What do you mean, how does it stay full?” Arach cocked his head at me.

  “How does it lose that much water and remain at the same level,” I gestured to the waterfall. “I know, I know, it's magic.”

  “Yes and no,” he shrugged. “I thought I told you about the underground river connecting Water to Fire.”

  “Yeah but that's even more confusing. Shouldn't the Tine be overflowing as well?”

  “It is,” He frowned. “It flows back underground and returns to Water, refilling the ocean. It's a circle, which is a type of magic.”

  “You never told me there was a second river,” I rolled my eyes.

  “I assumed you'd figure that out for yourself,” he looked at me like I was an idiot. “How else would it replenish itself?”

  “That's why I asked,” I groaned.

  “There's another river of lava which flows back to us as well, replenishing our fire.”

  “You suck as a teacher,” I grimaced at him.

  “I'm an excellent teacher, I just made the mistake of assuming that my pupil could think on her own.”

  “Watch it, snake breath,” I growled, “or I'll be thinking up ways of making you pay for that comment.”

  “I'll wait with bated snake breath,” he laughed and I punched him in the arm. Hard. Which I think he enjoyed.

  We traveled up the path carved into the side of the cliff, and up to the castle, where it sat on an outcropping of stone. There were two ways in, one on each side of the outcropping, as there was a river of water flowing through the center. A bridge connected the two sides, at both the front an
d the back of the castle but hopefully we wouldn't be seeing the back. That was where the tubes leading underwater were and I was fervently hoping we wouldn't be going to the other castle, the one in the center of the sea.

  “Welcome,” King Guirmean himself came out of the door on our side of the castle. “It's an honor to have you here, you're my first guests as King.”

  “Thank you,” I glanced past him to the bright interior. “Will we be dining here or further into the kingdom?”

  “Oh,” he lifted his brows, “here of course. We do all of our entertaining in the main castle. It's the whole reason we have it.”

  “Really?” I shot Arach an annoyed look. “I'd been led to believe that you sometimes brought guests further in.”

  “Not usually but if you'd prefer-” King Guirmean looked worried.

  “No!” I interrupted him and then lowered my voice. “No, I ah, this is so much better. I didn't really get a chance to see the castle last time.”

  “Oh wonderful,” Guirmean sighed in relief. “Please, follow me.”

  I slapped Arach's arm before taking it properly and he laughed, then shrugged. A psychotic five-year-old, I swear. I couldn't believe he let me think I'd have to go underwater again. We walked into a open entryway, bisected by the river which rushed past us on the left. The ceiling was vaulted to the level of the second floor but all we could see of the second floor was an open walkway going across from one side of the room to the other.

  There was no furniture in the room, only stairs to either side of the river. The ceiling did drop beneath the walkway but the room continued on beyond it, straight to the back of the castle, where it opened to another promontory which led to the sea. We didn't head that way though. Instead, Guirmean led us to the right and up some stairs along the wall. I glanced at the shimmering color it was painted and then realized that it wasn't paint, the walls were coated with mother-of-pearl. We went into a doorway to the right, at the top of the stairs, which opened up into a large dining room.

  It looked like a successful pirate had added his own touches to a Victorian formal dining room. Successful in that he'd had a lot of available treasure to throw around. The room wasn't as large as I'd been expecting, with only a single table running its length, though it was a long one. The walls were papered in a gilded and hand-painted wallpaper with pictures of shells on it. A large mirror with a gold frame hung in the center of the wall across from us and a long side table sat beneath it with a beautiful coffee service displayed on top of it.

  The table linens were white, the silverware was actually gold(did that make it goldware?), and the chairs were gilded and upholstered in a blue tapestry material. Three chandeliers hung in a row down the center of the room and large floral arrangements dominated the table, the flowers thickly petaled with a wet look to them.

  Now here's where the piracy came in, there were strands of pearls draped on the chandeliers and seashells full of faceted stones were clustered around the vases of the moist blooms. There were ship instruments on the walls, including a captain's wheel, and there were kegs of liquor next to the shiny coffee service. I half expected Johnny Depp to come walking in wearing his Captain Jack costume and shouting for the rum. It was awesome!

  “I have another room prepared for your subjects to dine with mine,” King Guirmean led us further in and waved to the table, “please, sit wherever you'd like. I thought we could have a more informal visit, no pressure to behave,” he winked at me.

  “Oh thank goodness,” I sat down with a relieved flourish. “I don't want to have to steal your pixies too.”

  “Ah yes,” Guirmean laughed. “I think there's a few waiting to see you,” he waved a hand toward an open door and I saw a few tiny heads jerk out of sight. “I agree with you that the pixies should be treated fairly. It's not their fault that they were given less elemental power than us. They are still fey and as such, still my blood. I don't abuse my family.”

  “You're going to make a wonderful King,” I beamed at him.

  “Well,” he cleared his throat, pulling a little at his cravat(can you believe it? A freaking cravat). “I'm trying my best. The Water Kingdom has been very supportive and we're muddling through it together.”

  “It was time for a change,” Arach nodded.

  There was that damn word again. I hoped that it meant Guirmean was changed enough for his fertility to return. Of course, he needed to get himself a wife to test that with but hey, one thing at a time. Besides, the fey probably had children out of wedlock all the time, he could have some babies without getting married if he wanted to. What good was it to be King without some perks?

  “Some wine?” Giurmean gestured and a beautiful blue woman sashayed in carrying a carafe.

  Now when I say she was blue, I mean completely blue. Her skin was a blue seafoam color, and against Guirmean's much darker tone, she looked almost white. Her hair was deep sapphire, and her eyes even darker than that, so they appeared almost black. In her neck were delicate gills but other than that and her coloring, she looked pretty normal. Pearl combs held her thick hair back and pearl broaches held up her slinky blue dress.

  She sauntered up to Arach first and when she leaned over, her hair swirled forward and curled over Arach's arm like it had a life of its own. I rose my brows at that but Arach just slowly pulled his arm away and didn't say anything. The tendrils pursued him though and he had to lean back in his chair to get away from them. Guirmean cleared his throat and the woman looked up with her huge dark eyes blinking innocently.

  “My apologies,” she purred with a voice of a seductress, as she brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “My hair has never been able to behave around the Fire King.” Her skin glowed white for a second and the men looked on her with dreamy little smiles. I, on the other hand, just got angry.

  “What the fuck?” I growled and broke the spell.

  “Dearbhail!” King Guirmean snapped and the woman flinched, holding the wine to her chest defensively. I noticed then that her hands were webbed. “Leave the wine and leave us. Now!”

  She carefully placed the crystal carafe down in front of Guirmean and beat a hasty retreat. I could hear a chorus of high pitched laughter coming from the room she'd disappeared into.

  “I am so sorry,” Guirmean sighed. “I should have known better than to allow an asrai to serve us but she promised to behave and she can be quite persuasive. It's one of their gifts, you know.”

  “I'll bet,” I snorted.

  “It's quite alright,” Arach gave me a look and I stopped chuckling. He was right, Guirmean was new to ruling, we should cut him some slack.

  “What's an asrai?” I asked.

  “They're a type of water sidhe,” Guirmean explained. They're usually quite shy and stay in the deeper ocean. The sun can turn them into a pool of water, so usually they choose not to chance it.”

  “Yeah, that would suck,” I glanced quickly at Arach, wondering if that was an inappropriate comment, but he just rolled his eyes at me.

  “They're all very attractive and they have the magic of persuasion over the opposite sex,” Guirmean cleared his throat, “but as I said, they're usually more elusive than Dearbhail. I'm not really sure why she wanted to serve us today.”

  Arach cleared his throat and gave Guirmean a look I couldn't decipher.

  “Oh yes, I apologize. Here,” Guirmean held out a hand, “let me fill your glass.”

  I passed him my glass as three men entered holding serving platters. These guys were all dark haired, with large liquid eyes and sweet faces. They had a similar look about them, so I assumed they were the same type of fey. Each one went to one of us, so we all had someone at our elbow at the same time. Guirmean handed me my full glass before turning to his server and taking a portion of food. I looked to my right and saw the platter held out to me at the perfect height. I took the serving fork, which was placed neatly beside the food, and took a piece of delicate white fish in some kind of creamy sauce.

  “Thank you,
” I said to my server and he smiled serenely, nodding his head before moving to Arach. The three waiters shifted as one, moving around the table gracefully, so that once more, we each had someone serving us at the same time. It was beautiful and perfectly executed. I wanted to applaud but when I glanced over at Arach with a gleeful expression, he just shook his head, albeit with the hint of a smile about his lips.

  When the men finished their maneuvers, they headed out just as silently as they'd come in and we set to work on the first course. The food was amazing and unsurprisingly seafood dominated. Besides the fish, which turned out to be in a beurre blanc sauce, there was a fey version of lobster thermidor, and a puff pastry stuffed with a buttery crab filling. The wine was light and sparkly, the perfect accompaniment.

  “This is wonderful,” I groaned happily as I put another bite of lobster in my mouth. “Thank you for not making me eat anything slimy.”

  “Vervain,” Arach huffed, an undertone of laughter in his voice.

  “No, it's fine,” Guirmean laughed. “I love your wife's honesty. I've never enjoyed the fey court style of conversing. All this grandstanding and posturing and then sweet compliments that actually hide insults. I never got the hang of it, much to Dubheasa's disappointment, and so would often remain behind when she went to High Court. I'm relieved I don't have to do that with you two.”

  “See,” I shot Arach a sassy look. “He's cool.”

  “Cool,” Guirmean grinned, “ yes, I guess I am but I'd never thought to hear that as a compliment from a Fire Queen. Thank you, Queen Vervain.”

  “It's her human vernacular,” Arach explained. “I'm slowly beginning to understand it myself. Evidently both hot and cool are complimentary terms, along with sweet, sick, and groovy, although I admit sick completely confounds me.”