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“So what if you have black hair instead of white and your skin is kind of green?” I demanded. “You’re still gorgeous.”
Which is definitely something I never would have said if I hadn’t sipped so much wine. I told myself I needed to slow down again…and then took another sip.
“Actually, Sel is considered quite ugly in the Midnight Court,” Krynn said, not unkindly.
“Ugly?” I frowned, looking at the big Fae’s square features. Seldarin stared back, his bronze eyes unflinching. “Well, I mean he’s not as pretty as you,” I said to Krynn after a moment. “But he’s still quite handsome.”
“Maybe by human standards. Fae have a different set of rules regarding appearance,” Seldarin said stoically. “I was such an ugly baby my own mother could barely stand to look at me. She used to make me wear a mask when I was younger—it’s one of my earliest memories.”
“What a horrible thing to do!” I exclaimed indignantly. “What mother would treat her own child like that?”
“One who was desperately ashamed of having Orc blood in her family lineage,” Seldarin said. “She left my father because of it eventually—as soon as I was old enough to fend for myself.”
“How awful. I’m so sorry, Seldarin.” Reaching out, I put a hand on his arm and squeezed gently. “No mother should treat her child like that.”
He shrugged stoically.
“It is what it is. And you can’t change the past—or the ways of the Court.”
“Appearance is very important to the Dark Fae,” Krynn explained. “Almost as important as pure bloodlines.”
“Well what about you?” I asked, turning to him. “You don’t look that much different from the other Fae I saw in the clearing.”
“I have these…” He pointed to the blond streaks in his long, silvery-white hair. “And I have…other differences. I’m half Fairy,” he added.
“Which is why he’s so fucking pretty,” Seldarin growled, but a teasing smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Krynn really was gorgeous—even considering the Fae standard of beauty, I thought, studying his perfect face. Only the squareness of his jaw kept him from being as beautiful as a woman.
“I still don’t see how being extra pretty and having some blond in your hair makes you an outcast,” I remarked.
“Well it didn’t help that I first came to Court as a servant—a pageboy to Lady Elgiana. Also…” Krynn hesitated and I could see all kinds of emotions crossing his lovely features.
“You might as well show her, Krynn,” Seldarin said. “She’s going to see them sooner or later.”
“All right.” Krynn tugged at the long robe he was wearing and shrugged his shoulders. The front of it fell down to his waist, revealing broad shoulders and a muscular chest, though he clearly wasn’t as built as Seldarin. But the back of the robe seemed to snag on something. Krynn reached back, but Seldarin was already there.
“Here—be careful, I know they’re sensitive,” he said. With surprising gentleness, he pulled down his friend’s robe and let it fall all the way to Krynn’s waist.
When I saw what had been caught in the robe, I gave a little gasp. There, sprouting from the Fae’s shoulder blades were two small, withered growths. At first I couldn’t tell exactly what they were, but then Krynn flexed his back and rolled his shoulders and they began to unfurl and grow larger until each of them was almost as big as my whole body.
“Wings!” I breathed as they flapped delicately, stirring the air in the cavern. They weren’t bird’s wings—more like butterfly wings, I thought. They were blue with swirling golden patterns and a gorgeous iridescent sheen. They threw rainbows on the walls when he moved them.
I was up and out of my seat before I could stop myself.
“Oh my God, they’re beautiful,” I exclaimed, coming around behind the lighter Fae to examine his back more closely.
“Thank you, my Lady, but the High Fae of the Midnight Court don’t think so,” Krynn said dryly. “I must keep them hidden under my robes at all times—if I didn’t, I would be thrown out of Court.”
“What? But that’s ridiculous!” I protested.
He shrugged, his wings fanning the air gently.
“It is the way of the Midnight Court. If I hadn’t kept my wings hidden all these years, I would never have risen to the rank of Keeper of the Royal Records and Court Historian.”
“Of course my differences can’t be fucking hidden,” Seldarin remarked, going back to his seat. “But nobody cares since I’m the Captain of the Guard—they like the idea of an ugly Captain, I think. To frighten our enemies,” he added.
“You’re not ugly and neither of you should have to hide anything,” I said indignantly. “Doesn’t it hurt to keep your wings scrunched up under your clothes all the time?” I asked Krynn.
