“It’s fine,” I tell her, even though it’s not all that fine. As it stands, this will still be analyzed by fans. Her storming off will probably be a GIF by morning.
But I can’t tell her that or let her focus on it. Right now, she needs to get back to the panel.
She takes a few seconds to compose herself, and then we walk back toward the stage.
Luke is standing in the same spot I left him. Onstage, one of the cast members—Zara Ellis, the actress that plays Kaelric and Thalen’s younger sister—is answering a question.
“What did you say?” I ask Luke after guiding Bailey to the stairs.
“I told the moderator that she needed a minute,” he says. “He told the room she’d be right back and then pivoted to the others.”
“Thank you,” I say as Bailey takes her seat and Ben welcomes her back to the stage.
We just might have pulled that off.
However, Bailey now looks rigid in her seat, purposefully not looking at River and leaning away from him, toward Zara sitting next to her. All our hard work out the door.
But questions go back to being about the show, and the crowd seems to be okay with that. Someone asks the man who plays the villain—Fletcher Hale—if he enjoys playing the bad guy. He’s an incredible actor and plays the part of Malachar so well that he’s the most hated man on the show, which is evident by the lack of questions coming his way.
The next question is for Declan, and then another one for Zara. Then a woman dressed up as a sylph—an air spirit—with golden hair pulled into a thick braid that hangs over her shoulder, and wearing layers of flowing sheer fabric, approaches the microphone.
“Greetings, Sunbeams,” she starts, using the nickname fans of the Sun court have given themselves. People cheer.
“FableCon is weird,” Luke says to me.
“Yeah, totally,” I say.
I won’t tell him that under other circumstances I might have come here as a fan, and last week Sam bought us prosthetic pointy ears to wear while we did our rewatch. Which we did, with pride.
“This is for Bailey and River,” the sylph lady says.
Luke and I look at each other, and he gives me a tentative-looking smile. I give him one back that saysPlease let this just be a normal question and nothing about their relationship.I think he understood.
“You’ve given us three seasons of buildup. I think we all would like to know how you plan to give us a believable love story with all that’s gone on between the two of you.”
Hold on a second . . .
People are cheering again, and Ben is scrambling to take control.
But I know that voice. That grating, nasal voice.
“It’s You Oughta Know,” I say to Luke, grabbing him by the arm. She’s wearing a wig, but I should have recognized her pointy nose right away.
“The influencer?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say.
“I think the fans deserve to know how this is going to work,” she says into the microphone. Her voice is even harsher sounding in person.
“You’re going to ruin this show,” the person on the other mic adds.
“This is bad,” Luke says, and all I can do is nod in response.
People are yelling questions now. A group of fans dressed as people from the Eclipse court—all in black, their faces painted with glittery gold—start chanting, “Save the show! Save the show!”
I signal to Ben to shut this thing down, drawing my hand across my throat rapidly, and, luckily, he spots me after a few tries.
“Okay, thanks for coming, everyone,” Ben says, but he can barely be heard over the yelling.
