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At her look of relief, I knew I’d hit the nail on the head. She teared up, and dashed the tears away before they fell.
“Yes. I’m ever so happy. Please don’t mistake me, Your Highness. But it’s overwhelming. I’m not sure…am I grand enough for the job? My family, they depend on me.” At that, she sank down, covering her face.
I leaned down and tipped her chin up so she was looking at me. “Druise, listen to me. This is overwhelming for me, too. I wasn’t born to this—I never expected any of this, and it’s all happened in the past few weeks. We’ll learn together, okay? And speaking about grand…I’m not grand enough for the job, but it’s mine and I’ll do it. So we’ll muddle through together, okay?”
She flashed me a grateful look and hurried to her feet. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I should never trouble you with my worries.”
“Nonsense. If something’s wrong, I want to know. You understand me?”
She nodded.
I smiled. “That’s better. Let’s get me dressed.”
As Druise scurried to gather my underwear and bra, I forced myself to wait for her. I wanted to pick up my brush and just run it through my hair, but I was learning. No more meltdowns.
She hooked my bra after I slid into my panties, and then I slid on my skirt. She laced me into the corset and I pulled my leather jacket over the top. As she brushed my hair, pulling it back into a sleek ponytail at my request, I dabbed on some mascara and lip gloss. Lastly, I pulled on my favorite boots and zipped them up.
The door opened and Grieve peeked around the corner. “If you hurry, you can talk to Rhiannon before heading into your meeting with Strict. She’ll be at breakfast with you.” He motioned for me to hurry and I gave Druise a thumbs-up, then followed him out the door.
Breakfast was held in our main gathering spot. We weren’t allowed out much to interact with the population yet. Rhiannon was there, standing with her back to me. She was dressed in forest green and gold, and when she turned, I gasped because her eyes had shifted color, too. They were gold, no longer hazel, and they glimmered with an unnatural light, just like mine.
She seemed different, taller and more regal. As she gazed at me, her face lighting up, I knew that she was seeing me in a different light, too. I grabbed her and hugged her, and she wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her forehead against mine.
“Was it terribly painful for you, too?” The look in her eyes told me that it had probably been harder on her than me.
“It wasn’t a walk in the park, that’s for sure. Are you okay?”
She gazed into my eyes, and it felt like we were testing each other, to see where we were. “Yes, but I feel so odd, and I miss talking to you. It feels like they’re keeping us apart as much as they can.”
“I think they might be.” I glanced around. Lainule wasn’t here yet, so I pulled Rhia aside. “You know they don’t want us mixing now that we’re moving to separate Courts. I know Wrath doesn’t mind so much, but we’re bucking tradition and it’s going to be a struggle to make certain we don’t just knuckle under because that’s the way it’s always been done.”
Rhia shook her head. “We won’t. Lainule and Wrath will be leaving soon, and we’ll be the ones in charge. And you know Chatter and Grieve will do whatever they can to make us happy.”
I studied her face. She meant what she said. I just hoped that we’d both have the courage to fly in the face of tradition and create something new out of the two Courts—because it was time, like it or not, for the world of the Fae to face the present and move forward.
“We’ll talk. I have to eat—I’m starved—and then my advisor, Strict, wants to meet with me. I have a feeling this morning’s going to be crammed with facts and figures and lists of things to remember.” I frowned. “He lives up to his name.”
“I’m meeting with my advisor, too. Edge. She’s very nice, but I have the feeling that she’ll live up to her name too, if I do something she doesn’t like.” Rhia laughed then, and I giggled with her.
“I’m glad you’ve had a chance to catch up, but we must hurry. Cicely, Rhiannon, your advisors await. I will sit in with Rhiannon. Wrath, my husband, you tend to Cicely.” Lainule was standing in the door, a faint smile on her face. Her hair had turned entirely auburn, a blazing bush.
I stared at her. “Your Highness…” It was impossible to ignore the changes in her coloring, on her face.
“Don’t be surprised, Cicely. I warned you this would happen. And it’s all right, truly. When I return to the Golden Isle, I will stop aging until the end of my natural life span. Until then, I continue to change.” The Queen of Summer was now autumn’s matron, and she looked tired, but happy.
“Rhiannon, Cicely, tonight you will undergo your coronations. Then you may plan your weddings. I am afraid that Wrath and I shall not be able to stay until then. But our hearts will be with you.” And she turned, motioning to Rhia, and glided down the hallway.
Wrath nodded for me to follow him. I caught up to him, Grieve on my heels. For a moment, Wrath didn’t say anything. Then he glanced back at us.
“Daughter, I am…there are no words to express how glad I am you came through the trial. I know what it entails, but we are never allowed to warn the prospective Queens what they will face.” He looked tired, and when I looked closer, I saw that he, too, was changing. His face was lined, like Lainule’s, and his jet-black hair was peppered with white.
“Will you truly be all right when you go back to the Golden Isle?” I didn’t want to lose him. I’d only just found my father, and I couldn’t imagine losing him again. “I wish you could stay here.”
“I wish we could, too, my dear. But we can’t. You, Cicely, and Grieve, you must take up the crowns without us to guide you. As well as your cousin Rhiannon, and Chatter. But you will have help where you least expect it. Do us proud. Defeat Myst and lead your people well.”
He turned in at one of the doors to the side of the passage, and we followed. Inside was what appeared to be as close to a conference room as I’d seen in the Barrow. Strict was there, along with a woman whom I hadn’t yet chanced to meet. She reminded me vaguely of Regina with her shimmering black form-fitting dress and upswept golden hair.
“Cicely, meet the keeper of the Treasury, Silverweb. She keeps the accounts. Not that money is all that much of an issue among the Courts of Fae, but still…we must keep tabs of what we accrue.”
