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To my right was a slab of rock, atop it a barrel. A male stood beside it, forming chalices made entirely of ice with his Grace. He spotted me watching him, and threw me a wink, filling a chalice and pushing it into my hand. It was cold and instantly began to melt against my warm palms.
“Drink it before it melts,” he warned, turning to the other approaching Fae.
Tiernan frowned, holding out his hand for the drink. I rolled my eyes but handed it over. He smelled it first, then took a small swallow. Then a larger one. By the time he handed it back it was half gone, “It’s quite good,” he said with a mischievous grin. “He’s right though, better drink it fast.”
Turning in to Tiernan’s chest, I forced a little ice of my own back into the chalice—just enough to refreeze what had melted.
“There,” I said, turning back around to face the awaiting crowd, “That’s better.”
Tiernan, realizing what I had done, scowled, “You’d better hope Alaric didn’t see that, or he’ll drag you out of here by your ears.”
“He would do no such thing.”
But I anxiously scanned the faces of those around us, looking for Kade, or Finn, or Alaric, but finding no one I recognized.Where were they?
Somewhere on the other side of the roaring fire the sound of drums began to rise. A primal kind of beat. I could feel it in my chest, pulsing as though my it was my own heartbeat.
I took a swallow from the frozen chalice, reveling in the sweet berry wine I found within. I finished the drink in two more swallows and turned, throwing the chalice over the side of the mountain. “Come,” I said to Tiernan, “I want to see.”
I pulled him through the close-knit bodies, weaving around them and the enormous fire. Even from this distance, its intense heat warmed my skin. Almost burning. On the other side of the fire was a group, dressed in nothing more than thin cloth and straps of leather. They beat against the drums in perfect harmony, lost in the rhythm of the thunder. Eyes shut and mouths agape.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” I said, mostly to myself. Watching as Fae began to dance—if you could call it dancing. They swayed their hips, arms raised as though they could feel the music in the air. Some danced together, grinding their bodies against one another. The looks on their fire-lit faces were expressions of pure ecstasy.
“I had no idea the Night Court could be like this,” Tiernan said, watching the dancers with the same awestruck expression I was sure I also wore. “It reminds me of the Day Court.”
“But don’t you dance naked there? And I’ve heard they also—”
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” he interrupted with a wink. “It really isn’t much different from this court.”
“Dance with me?” I asked him.
He only raised a brow at me. A challenge, “Do you know how?”
My lips pursed, “No. But I won’t pass up the chance to try.”
Because who knew where we’d be next year, or the year after. We’d never be these same people in this same place ever again. I might never get the chance to be Liana the peasant girl ever again. I intended to revel in every second.
With a laugh, Tiernan pulled me toward the drums, “I am yours to command my queen.”
We dancedfor what felt like minutes but must have been hours. Our bodies tangled together. Sweat making my dress cling to my body and my hair stick to my forehead. I couldn’t remember ever having laughed so much. My cheeks ached from smiling.
“A drink?” Tiernan asked after a time, and I nodded.
He led me from the sounds of the drums, to a quieter area away from the fire so we could cool down.
“How long do you suppose this will go on?” I asked him after he’d finished filling two cups from a barrel and handed one to me.
He shrugged, still panting from the dance, “If it’s anything like Day Court celebrations it’ll most likely go until dawn.”
Wow.It seemed like a long time to spend drinking and dancing and flying about—if you were lucky enough to have wings—without falling down from pure exhaustion. Though I was certain it was close to or past midnight and yet I felt more energized than I had in weeks. Maybe in months. As if the memorial itself breathed life into every Fae in attendance.
A hundred paces away I spotted Kade and Finn, a filled chalice in each their hands, laughing with a group of males I’d never seen before. Bare chested, their skin stained umber from the crackling fire and their wings fanned out behind them to take in the heat.
I assumed the others were soldiers in the Horde army. But I didn’t pay them any mind. It was my Draconian I couldn’t tear my eyes away from. Watching them laugh, without a single line of worry in either of their faces brought me such joy I was near bursting. Finn caught my eye through the ever-moving bodies. Flashed me a smile. I wished I could capture his beauty—keep it forever.
“They really are something, aren’t they?” Tiernan said, bumping my shoulder with his own.
I nodded. “They are.”
