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I followed her, wondering what she wanted to tell me. We'd barely entered the kitchen when Iris spun around, her eyes wide.
"Do you know who that is?"
I shrugged. "Feddrah-Dahns, a unicorn from the Windwillow Valley. He showed up on the street outside my shop today with a goon squad from OW on his heels. They were intent on bringing him down with a blowgun. Something about him helping a pixie or something."
Iris shook her head with a puzzled air. "Camille, that's not just any unicorn standing there in your living room. He's the crown prince."
I stared at her. "Say what?"
"Feddrah-Dahns is the heir to the crown of the Dahns unicorns. You have a crown prince sitting—standing—in your living room."
"Holy Mother Moon." I slid into a chair at the table, unsure of what to think. "How do you know? He didn't say anything of the sort. Are you positive?"
"Didn't you see the etchings on his horn?" Iris leaned against the counter. "Surely you haven't been Earthside long enough to forget all that you learned when you were back home? Hell, I'm an Earthside Fae, and even I can recognize him for what he truly is."
"Find out what's keeping Chase, would you?" I hurried back into the living room. At the shop, I hadn't had enough time to focus on Feddrah-Dahns's horn. I'd been too busy keeping Lindsey from hurting herself and keeping the goblin brigade from hurting the unicorn.
As I slowly entered the room, Feddrah-Dahns looked over at me, and in that moment, I saw what I'd so thoroughly missed before. Or maybe he'd cloaked himself from me; it would be easy enough for him to mask his markings. As I watched, a golden glow flickered around his horn, and when I looked closer, I saw the faint markings etched on the golden spire that were indeed the sign of a king.
I shuddered. Unicorns were rare enough back in OW. Meeting one of their royalty was far from common.
The Court and Crown in our home city, Y'Elestrial, had treated my sisters and me like we didn't exist. We were pariahs, Windwalkers, half-breeds. But now that we were stuck Earthside, facing a bunch of demons and under a death threat, we seemed to be magnets for out-of-the-ordinary royalty. Elfin queens and unicorn kings were making their way to our door like stray cats.
Bringing my attention back to Feddrah-Dahns, I knelt into a deep curtsy. "I'm so sorry, Your Highness. I didn't recognize you until now. A poor excuse, but it's the truth. What may we do for you?"
Feddrah-Dahns let out a long whinny that sounded like a sigh. "It's what I can do for you, young witch. The new portals that have opened are producing mayhem of the worst kind. I told you the goblin and his cohorts stole something from me. It was a gift that I'd sent my assistant to bring to you."
"To me? What could you be sending to me? We've never even met."
A wave of dizziness swept over me, and I caught myself on the back of the recliner. Earth shift. When major portents streaked across the sky, or when a witch found herself at a crossroads, reality would jostle in a tangible wave. These shifts left me reeling with vertigo. Back in Otherworld, I'd barely noticed them—magic was so embedded within the land. But here, they caught me off guard.
Feddrah-Dahns flared his nostrils, a short burst of steam wafting out. "Shall we wait for your sisters to join us? This involves Shadow Wing."
I rubbed my temples. A twinge was forming behind my eyes, threatening to become a full-blown headache. "I think I need some tea."
He gave a shake of his mane. "As you will, my lady."
"Delilah and Chase will be right down. They got caught up with something on the computer," Iris said, entering the room. With a knowing glance at me, she added, "I set the kettle on for a pot of Richya tea. I thought you might need it."
"You were right." I glanced at the clock. Quarter past six. There was a sudden movement at the archway leading into the living room, and Menolly stood there, in all of her waxen beauty. Pale and petite, with a nimbus of burnished copper braids that floated down to her shoulders, her skin was whiter than any woman's skin should be. But other than that, it would have been hard to tell she was dead, until you glanced at her face. Her story echoed through the haunting eyes with which she viewed the world. Menolly had experienced far too much pain to ever be innocent again.
"Good evening," she said softly, gazing at Feddrah-Dahns. "I see we have company."
Just then, Delilah and Chase clattered down the stairs. Compared to Menolly, Delilah was almost a giant. At six one, blonde and athletic, she towered over both myself and our younger sister.
"Chase said—oh my, he was right." Delilah skidded to a halt in front of the unicorn and sank down on the ottoman. "You're beautiful," she blurted out.
Feddrah-Dahns switched his tail. "Thank you, mistress feline. Now that you're all here, could we get down to business?"
Just a hint of impatience in his voice which, for a unicorn, meant he might as well be throwing a fit.
"Of course." I motioned for Menolly to join me on the sofa. "Feddrah-Dahns is the Crown Prince of the Dahns Unicorns. I met him in front of my shop today when a trio of thugs from OW tried to kill him. Something about pixie theft."
"Ah," Menolly said, nodding. "Pixies are notorious thieves. Almost as bad as goblins."
Feddrah-Dahns let out a loud sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort. "Pixies are nothing like goblins. And not all pixies are scoundrels. This one happens to work for me—he's my assistant. He was carrying something of grave value that I entrusted to him. He came through one of the newly discovered portals, but we didn't realize he was being followed."
"The goblin and his cronies?" I asked. It made sense that they'd been on the pixie's trail rather than it being just some random encounter.
