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30
Lily
The minivan was just where I had left it—thank goodness! I sighed with relief as I climbed into the car, slammed the door shut behind me, and locked it.
The first thing I did was to reach for the bottle of water I knew I had stashed under the seat. It was lukewarm from sitting in the car all day but I didn’t care. I drank the whole thing thirstily, then jammed the key in the ignition and turned it.
At first I didn’t think the minivan was going to start. It had a few false tries that put my heart in my throat. What would I do if I couldn’t get it going? Despite my new status as a Princess in the Fae Realm, back here in the human world I was still technically just an unemployed mom. A broke unemployed mom and I didn’t have the money for an Uber or a Taxi to get me back to my old house.
Finally, however, the engine turned over and the old minivan roared to life. I breathed a sigh of relief as I backed out of the parking spot and sped out of the Grab N Go parking lot.
I don’t know if time flows differently in the two worlds, but a glance at my dashboard clock showed that it was eight o’clock in the evening. Which was good because it meant that Christopher should be home. I wondered if his little blonde girlfriend had made him dinner. I pictured the two of them eating whatever it was she’d whipped up and then settling down on the couch for a night watching a favorite show together. That was how we’d spent our nights after the kids were in bed—back in the good days of our relationship.
But had they been any good? When I looked back on my marriage with a dispassionate eye, I saw all the times I had eaten alone with the kids while Christopher worked late. Now I wondered if he had really been working—maybe he’d been having affairs.
How many nights had I put the kids to bed all by myself and then cleaned the house so it would be nice and neat for him while I waited for him to get home? Then, when he finally came in he might give me a kiss on the cheek…or he might just go directly to bed without even bothering to greet me.
He treated me like a maid and a nanny—like the hired help. No, not even that because it wasn’t like I ever got paid for all that labor—he just expected it of me. And I went on stupidly delivering everything he wanted, right up until the day he kicked me out and changed the locks.
I wondered now why I had been willing to accept so little from the man who said he loved me. Why had I given up my dreams of a career to cook and clean for him for free—to raise his kids without his help? Why had I let myself be such a doormat?
It was thoughts like these that were simmering in my brain as I finally pulled into the driveway of my old home. I could see Christopher’s Range Rover parked there but also a cute little hot pink sports car that must have had a custom paint job. It looked brand new and when I pulled in behind it, I saw that it had a bumper sticker that said, “Yield to the Princess.”
I felt my irritation growing—my ex had never bought me a new car. Even the minivan had been used when I got it! But apparently his new girlfriend got anything she wanted. I squeezed my hands into fists—I would show them what princess they had to yield to! Christopher and his little blonde whore had better watch out because this princess was pissed off!
Then I realized what I was thinking and took a deep breath to calm down. Okay, I couldn’t go into this situation all fired up or my emotions were going to get the best of me and Christopher would probably end up calling the police. I just needed to get the Jewel of Lolth from him and then get back to the Palace. After all, I had left both Sel and Krynn strapped into the Quenching chairs—who knew what Mordren and lady Elgiana might be doing to them?
The thought made me anxious and I pulled my long white satin robe tight around me as I climbed the front steps and rang the doorbell. There was nothing for a minute, then I heard familiar footsteps and Christopher muttering,
“Now who could it be at this hour?”
“It’s me, you asshole,” I muttered under my breath. “I’m here to take back what’s mine!”
When he opened the door, it was clear my ex didn’t recognize me at first.
“Uh…hello?” He frowned at me, his forehead wrinkling in confusion.
I couldn’t help thinking that I’d used to consider him handsome. He had kind of a Dad bod and his hair was still thick and looked quite distinguished now that it was going gray at the temples. His blue eyes were probably his best feature. At least I had thought so when we were still together.
However, now that I had been at the Midnight Court and had seen all the gorgeous, perfect Fae, my ex-husband didn’t look so hot anymore. I couldn’t help mentally comparing his pudgy, slightly out of shape physique to Seldarin’s muscular build and his faded blue eyes and ordinary features to Krynn’s exquisite beauty.
It made me realize that Christopher was nothing special. He was just a middle-aged human man who happened to be a complete asshole.
But despite my severe irritation and yes, anger at him, I was determined to keep things civil.
“Hello, Christopher,” I said, lifting my chin. “I’m here to get something you took from me.”
Finally I saw recognition dawn on his face.
“Lily? Is that you?” He stared me up and down in disbelief. “What are you doing here this time of night? How did you get your eyes to glow like that—are those contacts? And what did you do to your hair—is that a wig?” And he actually reached out and tugged on a long piece of my hair!
“Ouch! No, it’s not a wig,” I snapped, pulling my hair out of his reach. “And it’s only eight o’clock so stop complaining.”
“You mean you got it dyed that way? Purple and white? Really?” He was still fixated on my hair but then he looked at the rest of me. “Hey—where did you get that robe? It looks really expensive! And did you get a boob job too?”
“No, you asshole!” I snarled, feeling even more pissed off. “I did not get a boob job!”
“You must have,” he protested. “Just look at you—I can tell you’re not wearing a bra, but you’re not saggy anymore. I mean, if you’d looked like this while we were still married well…we might still be married, you know?” He gave an incredulous laugh and made a motion to indicate my new de-aged body.
