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With a gentle stroke of the crossbar, the shimmering wisp that commanded the chariot brought it lower to the island, where lively music and the scent of warm baked pies greeted us. We touched down. I lifted my dress enough to step onto the brick road.
Already, fae paused on the street to gesture toward us. They whispered behind hands and bowed when our eyes met.
Talen placed a hand on my back. “That’s the only taste of you they’ll get. Let them spread the word that their queen has arrived. The real fun waits inside.”
He flashed an invitation to the fae at the door who opened it for us. The home was built from wood and laughter, both stretching from the floor to the low ceiling. Strings of springtime flowers hung in lines from the crossbeams above, dropping never-ending petals like soft rain to the floor. Talen’s hand flicked and I stilled. He stood proudly beside me.
King Brock’s eyes found us first from across the room, and he nodded knowingly. But true to his deal, the deal that cost Talen greatly, he must not have told another soul of my shortened punishment, for the rest of the fae gasped.
“My Queen,” they whispered. The entire room swiveled to soak in the sight of us. Drinks lowered from lips, and conversations hushed bit by bit, first in the entry room then farther back as the attention found us.
“I would never leave you for long,” I spoke the line Talen had prepared for me and watched him grin.
Odette smirked as she sipped from a glass, tucked in a corner with her knife at her hip and her watchful eyes hovering over the room. Most of the guests bowed.
And at that, I found Bash. He didn’t bow but stood as still as a statue with his lips slightly parted. His cloak hung off one shoulder, and his hand lifted to his chest.
He mouthed something, but his lips barely moved.
My answer was to deepen my smile. The mystery would be what charmed them, Talen had told me. Let me be a mystery.
That was all I needed to accomplish, but we had a second desire for the evening, and that was to charm Thorn into owing me a favor. I moved my eyes from Bash to search for the unmistakable band of the fae kings.
“My Queen.” An older fae smiled at me as if what I’d just pulled was a trick we had planned together. “You escaped your bond early. Not many get out of Brock’s punishments.”
“I’m blessed in my alliance,” I said with a nod to Talen. Several others overheard and were acknowledging Talen with admiration.
“Perhaps we underestimated the Delvers,” she mused.
“I think you have,” Talen said, breaking away to place himself at her side and steer her away. “Are you needing a new alliance? The House of Delvers can do more for you than the Lows or the Berns.” His hand moved slightly at his side as if torn between behaving or picking her pocket. Rich thieves.
Brock had turned away and resumed speaking with another king as if he knew I’d be here the whole time, but the king he spoke with glanced at me more than once.
Odette wafted through the crowd to link her arm through mine. “You must see the view from above,” she sang.
“Thorn?” I whispered. She nodded.
She pulled me after her, each fae slowly turning away. “That was perfect,” she exulted in a low voice. “I’d just spent the hour telling everyone I could about how I missed your companionship, but oh powerful Brock’s commands can’t be broken, and there’s nothing my beautiful queen could do to escape. Then you walked in looking like a goddess.”
I gripped her hand to let out some of my excitement. “Thank you, my friend.”
“Of course,” she said. “Anything I can do for my queen.”
She led me up a narrow stairwell to the roof, where a few dozen fae lounged on couches or leaned against the banister to overlook the city. Odette’s eyes darted to the left. “Golden hair.”
I found his face and gasped.
I’d never fail to be overwhelmed by the splendor of the fae kings. But this one stunned me for a different reason. “I’ve met him,” I said.
“He’s been at almost every party you have. I’m not surprised.”
I tried to focus my memory. “He approached me at my coronation to ask for an alliance. Said he had the fastest chariot around. I turned him down. But he wasn’t wearing the band of a king that night.”
At that moment, he looked up. Ours eyes met, and he held mine before a smile crept over his face.
Odette lowered her hand. “Don’t turn him down again,” she whispered.
I summoned as much confidence as I could in my walk to him.
