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By the time we’d crossed the wide courtyard, my heart rate had slowed, and my eyelids began to droop.
“Talia!”
Rafael grabbed my hand, turning toward me. His eyes burned with intensity as he studied me. “Stay alert.” Then, stepping closer, he whispered in my ear. “Here.”
My body flooded with a new vigor, a strength not my own. I bounced on my toes. The pain, for the moment, was gone.
“But you’ll need your strength!” If he couldn’t steal the crown from Fabian, I was a dead woman.
He looked me up and down while our guide tapped his foot in annoyance. “That should help ease your pain for now.”
Rafael had said the change would be gradual, but what exactly did that mean? Claws first, then fur? A snout perhaps? The thoughts sent goosepimples down my arms.
Violins, a cello, a horn of some sort, and voices sweet as an angelic host cascaded down the steps. I sucked in a captivated breath. This music was not like Avencian melodies, but there was a familiar rhythm underneath the humming violins.
We stepped onto a terrace so large the shiny tiled edges disappeared into the landscape to my left and right. Ahead of me was a dance floor walled in on each side by four long tables arrayed beneath the stars. A veritable forest of greenery twisted around chairs and over tables, and tiny little hovering lights mingled with the flowers and the branches and the moss, casting a blueish hue over the plates and crystal goblets.
Aside from the madly passionate musicians, who appeared lost in their melody, the terrace was empty.
The fae wearing the long tunic turned sharply to face us. “Within the hour, the celebration will begin with dancing, followed by the crowning ceremony. Whoever is left standing by dawn will be invited to sit and dine with their new sovereign.”
“Left standing? Is this a ball or a brawl?”
Our guide coughed politely. “I take it you have never attended one of the Sun Sovereign’s dances.” His eyes slid ominously to Rafael as he flashed a mirthless grin. “Follow the deer.”
“The what?” I asked.
The man whirled, tossing up an annoyed hand, and floated away across the terrace.
I hadn’t taken the time to fully appreciate the walls of the inner palace. Delicate, intricate patterns of leaves and flowers were carved into every inch of the visible stone wall. Even at night, the stone had a faint sparkle that gave the place an ethereal glow. It was truly the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.
Every doorway cut into the pale stone was capped with dripping arches that made the dark spaces below look like spreading flower petals—or open mouths ringed with fangs.
Two deer trotted silently toward us, their noses twitching and eyes sparkling.
“Oh, those deer.”
Rafael stood close, his arm radiating heat. “They will want to separate us.”
The deer bounded off toward the palace, sure enough heading toward separate entrances.
I glanced back down the steps toward the courtyard we’d first entered. “What happened to Everence and your brother?”
“I presume the palace wall did not open to permit them entrance. Fabian wants me here without any allies.” At my concerned look, he added, “The hounds will be no match for the pair of them. It was me the dogs wanted, anyway. And my brother will want the dragons nearby. Stay close.”
I wasn’t sure how two deer could pose a threat, but I accepted his hand as it wrapped around mine and squeezed. The doe pranced on tiny hooves toward a wide archway, the stag toward an archway much farther down the terrace. “Don’t leave me,” I insisted.
“Never.”
He walked with me through the archway, following the doe. Inside was another archway, and yet another. Stacked together, each one smaller than the last, they evoked the sensation that the palace was shrinking around us.
The deer skittered up a set of shallow steps tiled in bright colors that depicted a sun rising. Light shone in alcoves along the wall, but not from flames. More relaxing cinnamon smells, now mixed with a citrusy-orange scent, permeated the air. I inhaled deeply.
This would be a fine place to live.
Rafael tightened his grip on my hand. “Don’t let it twist your thoughts. My brother’s magic is in every crevice of this place. I can feel it. How is your pain?”
I shrugged. What pain? This place was lovely, and I never wanted to leave.
