Inside, the ceiling appeared to be at least twelve stories over our heads despite the exterior being no more than two floors tall, and all the interior walls were covered in books and windows.Oh,I thought, admiring the beauty of the shelves and the winding staircases leading up to each area individually.Why haven’t you shown me this place?
We’ve been a little busy mastering physical arts,he replied.And no, that’s not a euphemism for sex.
Any other time, I would have laughed.
But we had a horde of very serious fae behind us.
Shade squeezed my hand, then started toward the center of the space where a table with four chairs sat conspicuously in the middle of an ornate blue-and-white rug fringed with gold.
He placed his foot on loose strings, then stepped back as the table and chairs began to rattle.
“Oh, hello, hello!” a feminine voice called from above. “Well, well, what do we have here?”
“A party of twenty, please,” Shade said.
“Yes, yes, of course!” Wind whipped through the air as an invisible figure began pulling the table apart.
A figment?I guessed.Like at Acaward?
Figments,Shade replied.And yes.
I almost asked why it was plural, when another female called, “No, no, over here.”
“Yes, just like that,” added a third.
“Drinks? Snacks? Blood?” a fourth offered.
“Blood coffees,” Zakkai said. “And scones.”
“Oh, he’s fancy. Fancy, fancy, fancy. I like fancy.” His white strands blew around his face as the figment did something to his cheek.
Did she just kiss you?
Unfortunately,he muttered, glaring at the space.
“Grumpy, too!” The figment giggled and repeated the action against his face.
“Careful,” Zeph drawled. “He belongs to the Midnight Fae Queen.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” I said, absolutely amused by Zakkai’s expression right now.
His silver-blue eyes slid toward me.You’re going to regret that later, little star.
Am I?I gave him an innocent look.How terrible for me.
Brat,he accused, grunting as the figment placed a third kiss against his face with a loud smack before tittering off into the distance.Pretty sure she just grabbed my groin.
I’m sure it impressed her,I replied.She’ll probably kiss you again now.
Laki cleared his throat, I thought perhaps to grab my attention, until I realized it was to smother a chuckle. “Figments are always attracted to power,” he said, his tone not matching the humor in his gaze.
“Then, by that account, it’s Aflora they should be hitting on,” Zeph drawled.
The figments all giggled again, chairs and table pieces appearing out of thin air as they reassembled the center of the room. I stepped back as the rug began to grow to accommodate us, the area transforming in a wild show of moving furniture and chittering figments.
When they finished, one of them kissed me on the forehead, and another whispered, “Lucky, lucky queen,” in my ear. I suspected that comment was from the figment who had fondled Zakkai.
After a whirlwind of activity, the air began to calm, coffee cups and carafes manifested along a white cloth down the center of the table, and plates of scones appeared at every place setting in front of twenty chairs.
