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Baka bows to the Shadow King. “Ye know I’m not one to complain, Samhain…but with only three seedlings to tend to, I might as well find a new hobby.” She smiles at that, though it doesn’t quite meet her big eyes. Her gnarly hand wraps around my arm, tugging me toward the copper bathtub. “Come on, now. We have to get ye ready to meet the king.”

I almost topple over, my gaze darting to the masked man. “The king? But?—”

“See you later, kitten.” With a sly smile, the dark man saunters off, clearly pleased with himself. I gape at his hasty retreat, and the door closes behind him without a sound.

“That wasn’t the king?”

Baka giggles like I’ve just said something incredibly funny. “You’ll see the king at dinner. He’s throwing a banquet for the new seedlings.”

My brows pull together, my mind reeling. “Seedlings?”

“Why are ye here if not to be trained in the ancient ways of our house?” She bows her head respectfully. “I’m Baka, your handmaid,” she adds like she just remembered her manners.

Trained? “I’m Nell.”

If I’m to survive in this realm, I need to be smarter and quicker on my feet than Penelope Darcy. Why did I assume the king would fetch me personally? I shouldn’t have presumed anything, and I need to be more careful going forward. Their polite manners must be a ruse, a way to ease me in.

“Let’s get you in the tub, Nell. You smell like a horse,” Baka says.

My nose wrinkles, and I take a discrete sniff. It’s not so bad…

The sprite flaps her wings and rises into the air once more. A touch of hesitation comes when she starts unfastening my corset. “I hevny seen this model in ages…are ye from Demeter, Nell?”

“Yes.” I watch our reflections in the mirror.

She unlaces the tight knots and makes quick work of it despite her small size, her mouth twisted in a pout. “By the spindle…they will eat ye alive, deary.”

I draw in a slow, controlled breath to keep the fear at bay and strip from my clothes, ignoring all the alarm bells going off in my mind. I’m bathing—naked—in Faerie in front of a creature I didn’t even know existed five minutes ago… so much for Esme’s tutelage.

I shall not flee.

I shall not give in.

I shall endure.

Chapter 4

Little Black Dress

“Ican’t wear this. Any of this.” Hands clenched around the fluffy robe Baka gave me after my bath, I eye the dresses she laid out for me. Just looking at them heats my cheeks.

Baka’s face creases. She empties the tub the same way she filled it—with a single snap of her fingers. “You’re young, seedling. Enjoy it.”

What the crops does this have to do with my age? “It’s…obscene.”

“It’s pretty.”

I press my lips together, hands on my hips, no closer to winning this argument than I was five minutes ago. “Is there another option? Can I keep my own clothes?”

She shakes her wrinkled blue head with a grimace. “Ye’d stick out like a sore thumb, and this banquet is expected to hold up the decorum of the court.”

A crude, vulgar decorum—but this is another test. I straighten my spine and consider the four dresses again, feeling like I’m playing an impish version of eenie, meenie, miney, moe.

The yellow one has no sleeves whatsoever, but its long silk train makes it the most conservative choice. The skirt of the empire-waist, green dress is so short that it would leave my thighs bare, and I fail to mask a cringe at the thought. The black one has too much cleavage. The white one is all holes and lace, and the bridal color unnerves me. No. Definitely not white.

“Let’s try the yellow one,” I finally say.

“A classic.”