Page 14

Chapter

Fourteen

“ P rincess Sparkles!” Ruin threw herself at me, knocking me back a step while she squeezed the breath out of me. When she pulled back, her expression showed her excitement mixed with frustration. “Don’t tell me that you didn’t make out with him this time! Everyone saw it. No one’s talking about anything else.”

I blinked at her. “Oh. They’re not talking about me vomiting up sparkling black death?”

She shrugged. “That’s not as weird as the alpha letting some fairy have her way with him in public. And he bought you drinks? That means you were on a date! Maybe he’s finally getting over his relationship issues. What was it like? I got it from Tim, who heard it from his cousin, whose mate’s friend dated the bartender of the Dog’s Breath. And you actually went there? What are you wearing?” She stared transfixed at my dress. “That’s new.”

“Oh. I left your hoodie and pants in Stripe’s shop. Do you know the clothing place?”

She shrugged. “Sure. Fancy consignment shop. It’s okay. Max already let me order a whole new wardrobe, but I got this set of monster manga dolls instead. Don’t tell Max. You don’t have to tell him everything just because you’re dating, do you?”

I stared at her while my stomach twisted. “We aren’t dating. I’m going back to Fairyland as soon as I finish terraforming the caves. I need to get started. It needs water and…” I started walking briskly, but the sound in the background wasn’t right. Instead of still silence, there was the cry of birds, rustling wind, and water flowing over rocks.

I left the owl cave and stepped into a magical forest with a waterfall coming out of the wall at just the right height to make the water foam and spark with energy as molecules crashed and ozone flickered. The trees towered above me, with vines and flowers covering everything that wasn’t filled in with underbrush of various herbals, all of them matched to werewolves. It was a haven for wolves, where everything would grow for their health and magic.

I walked through the woods, following the lively stream towards the sound of singing. Fairies don’t sing often, but when they do, it’s not musical like other species. I’ve never met a fairy that had a good ear. It sounded like chimes clashing in the wind, a hundred different voices singing a different song at different times, and all in different keys.

Berry was dancing on an enormous flower in the clearing surrounded by the memory trees, waving his arms and spinning in time to the rushing water. I blinked and could see the energy he was weaving, the forms that were echoed by the voices, the other dancers, everyone working the final seal on the spell that would bind the sky, the earth, and water together in one perfectly balanced whole.

“Woah,” Ruin breathed next to me. “Are they all on pixie dust? Doesn’t look very tempting to be honest. Probably to them it sounds good, though. Kind of wish I could get some ear plugs.” She squinched her eyes shut and whined in her throat.

I put a hand on her arm and smiled while my heart squeezed and felt empty and dry. “It’s just a spell they’re weaving to finish off the cave. I guess I didn’t need to come back after all.”

“Wait, you mean you’re going to Fairyland, like, now? But…” she sputtered and looked hurt and betrayed.

I squeezed her hand. “I’ll be back to visit.” Maybe in a hundred years, after I was sure the connection to Max had sufficiently faded. My chest throbbed at the thought of him, of not seeing him for a hundred years. I definitely needed a break.

She stared at me with big eyes. “Maybe I can come visit you in Fairyland?”

I smiled back at her, feeling a burgeoning of hope. Maybe I wouldn’t have to lose everything I’d found here in the undercity. “Yes. Of course you can. We can ride the water slides in the forbidden jungles and fly on dragonflies over the fields of fire flowers on the new moon. And we can journey to the forest of sweets and gorge ourselves until we’re sick. That was a terraform gone wrong, I have to admit. But fairies never admit to being wrong, so we just claim it as a cultural landmark.”

She beamed at me and then frowned. “But you did make out with Max.”

I hesitated, then grinned and leaned closer to her so I could whisper. “He’s really hot.”

She giggled and grabbed my arm. “What was it like? Did you guys French? And what about…”

The fairies shrieked their final notes, making Ruin wince and shiver while I turned to see the fairies in their final glorious poses.

I applauded and walked forward to congratulate them on a job well done, because that was my job, and Berry really had gone above and beyond. I floated over blooming vines, flowers budding and bursting as I passed, to show what they could do.

I turned around, taking in the glorious woods, the dappled sunlight, the birds fluttering, the smaller animals creeping while a deer or two frolicked, leaping over the stream. “It is a terraforific masterpiece, Berry. You are commended for your work here, as are all of you,” I said, smiling at the other fairies. The connection between us throbbed as they soaked in my energy, my magic, which was full up thanks to Max’s strength that I’d bled out of him.

They started glowing, floating, wrapped in the bindings of good feeling and accomplishment. Berry floated down from his flower platform and looked slightly out of place in his jeans and t-shirt.

“It is finished,” he said with a low bow. They’d usually say, ‘My Queen,’ but he wasn’t claiming my title any more than I was.

Although that would have to change. I needed a consort. Terraforming was a very useful skill. Would he make a good consort? I held out my hand to shake his. He took it gingerly, and with that, I was in his thoughts, sifting to see what kind of consort he’d make, but then he looked over my shoulder at someone coming up behind me, and the way he thought about Shotglass eclipsed everything else. He liked Shotglass even after she stabbed him and stole his pixie dust? He’d come here following her a hundred years ago? Poor Berry. No, he would not make a good consort for me.

I smiled and patted his hand. “You are a master terraformer. The world glows because you are in it.” I touched his face and he lit up, green specks reminding me of the emerald statue the owl had hacked up. Hopefully Max could find something to do with it before it corrupted him. No. I wasn’t allowed to worry about Max. But he was so sweet and soft. There were so many things that could corrupt him. Like a death fairy.

I released Berry and turned to beam at the other fairies. They beamed back at me, glowing brighter and brighter until their true natures bloomed. This was a good ceremonial ending to a marvelous day.

Then Shotglass clapped her hand on my shoulder. “This is all very pretty, but do you have my funding?” Her voice was harsh, a jangling that disrupted the tinkling. Still, she was exactly who I needed to see.

I smiled at my people for another moment, then turned to her. Berry liked her? He’d cleaned up so nicely, but she still had that feral look beneath the pink sparkles. “We’ll discuss it away from the gathering. It is time to celebrate. Perhaps someone should invite the wolves,” I suggested, glancing over at Ruin.

She nodded and turned to dash into the underbrush. I walked to the other side of the clearing with Shotglass, until we were out of sight of the happy fairies.

I turned to face her. “I’ve got the deed to a place and an account, but I’ll need you to offer your healing services to the werewolves on retainer. You also have to strive to pay the alpha back.”

She showed her sharp smile as she looked me up and down in a way I was used to. “What are you doing to earn it? He’s dressing you well. You almost look like a queen. Do you have the deed?”

I handed it over and she took it greedily, reading over the lines and nodding to herself. She could read? Of course she could. Everyone else could read, but I’d been busy riding on moonbeams and dragonflies and dodging my tutors. “I bet Berry reads, too.”

She looked up at me, frowning, then glancing back towards the clearing, which was now blocked off by a thick hedge of white-flowered bushes. “Of course he does.”

“Why did you stab him and steal his pixie dust?”

She glanced at me and then away. “Because I’m a pixie dust addict. Obviously.”

“But you didn’t need to stab him like that.”

“I was too angry at him, but he would have survived even without you.” She didn’t look certain, but she raised her chin. “He got too much dust. He would have overdosed, and his mind would be lost completely. He’s better than that. You’ve seen how he took your crude efforts and turned them into something magnificent. You should have rehabilitated him instead of me. He has gifts worth keeping.”

I stared at her. “Oh.” She liked Berry? He liked her? Why were they not together? “He likes you.” Yes, I was the queen of subtlety.

She looked shocked and horrified. I patted her shoulder. “He likes you so much, he followed you out of Fairyland. He could terraform a hat into a little tiny world you could live in, inside your hat shop. That sounds so delightful.” I beamed at her while her face went paler and paler.

Finally, she grabbed my neck and side of my face, the pressure of her fingers digging into me. “You gave me what I want. Now break the binding.”

She helped me find the tiny uneven edge that I could pick at until it peeled away, then another and another, until the binding came apart in a rush.

I was standing in a hall, an exquisite crystal chandelier above me, someone standing behind me, her voice familiar. I’d heard her before, talking about poisoning werewolves. But also some other time that tickled my memory.

“You will lead him back to the gates of Fairyland. That’s all you must do, Buttercup.”

I didn’t see the face, but I turned and saw a war beast, dusky mottled skin blending with the shadows that clung to him like my cloak. Malamech’s second. I’d never forget that vicious snarl. He looked at Buttercup, at me, like a soulless beast, and then he said in a smooth voice that rippled with control and contained violence, “You smell of fear. I hope your fear speeds your flight.”

I nodded rapidly and then turned and darted out of the hall, into a garden constrained by pillars and arbors, then I spread my wings and flew while the war beast ran below, barely making the underbrush shiver he moved so stealthy and quick. Had any creature been so fast without making a sound? Malamech’s second was his muscle, his strategy, his champion. And I’d let him leave Fairyland with his wolves, showing mercy they didn’t deserve. It wasn’t for them, though, but for me. If I’d finished slaughtering all of them, the land wouldn’t ever recover, and neither would my people.

I blinked the woodland cave back into focus as Shotglass dropped her hand and gave me a flat look. “He was Malamech’s second. He came first to scout Fairyland, to make arrangements with the one who planned the Queen’s downfall. I didn’t understand everything at the time. I didn’t know the wolves would bring slaughter. I didn’t understand death and pain. But now we know all too much.”

I shivered and then took a deep breath, trying to calm down. I had to have dignity even though one of my own had worked with the enemy to destroy us. Max was right about all of it.

“Who told you to take him to the fairy gates?”

She raised her brows. “You didn’t pick that up? I thought the Queen could see everything.”

“I’m not the Queen, and I could see if I looked, but your mind is delicate, and I don’t like violating people’s privacy.”

She blinked at me, then took a deep breath. “Dawn, the Lady of the House of the Rising Sun, made a deal with Malamech. Your aunt’s plan was to overthrow your mother and take the throne herself.”

I stared at her while the world swam alarmingly. I tried to stand there and be reasonable, dignified, and in-control, but instead, I turned and ran until I hit a tree, literally, and then I climbed it.

I crouched on a branch as high as I could get with my wings wrapped around me while the tree swayed and the earth shook me out of its usual orbit.

My own aunt betrayed all of us. Was it really for power? She hadn’t fought in the war. She talked of surrender, of peace, but after the slaughter of my mother’s court, there was nothing for me but retribution. We would get rid of the monsters or die. Come to think of it, she’d been on the team to help develop my medicine. She and Vervain were from the same house, but they always seemed cold towards each other. Was that a lie? Were they working together? Was even Vervain against me? No. He’d fought beside me every second. He’d never allow wolves into our land.

I heard distant howls as the werewolves joined in the celebration. I smelled some smoke and saw a distant flicker of fire. They loved the welcoming beacon of the flames, but I looked up and stared at the moon. It was night. How long had I been sitting in the tree while my world shattered?

There was a creak of a branch, and then a flicker of wings brought a stunning specimen of cool green and silver to my branch. Vervain the Terrible, of the House of the Rising Sun.

“What are you doing?” he asked with a slight smile and a narrowing of his silvery-green eyes.

“If you’ve betrayed me and my mother, you will be exiled.” I sounded like ice, death, and I certainly had that feeling, like I might suddenly erupt and rip hearts out of chest cavities.

He studied me thoughtfully. “Search my thoughts. You have my loyalty.” He thought I wouldn’t do it, that I’d respect him and trust him without question.

I reached forward and took his face in my hands, peering into those silvery green eyes while I went through his memories, everything about the ruler of his court, about Buttercup who was now called Shotglass, about the war, and the wolves.

There wasn’t anything I didn’t know. He was sent as a likely candidate as my future consort, wishing to get away from my aunt’s predatory advances. Well. That made me feel creepy to see in his thoughts. Fairies should take no for an answer. He didn’t know about her betrayal. In my mother’s court, he was obsessed with weapons and strategy and war games of any and all kinds. He’d gotten more invested in politics later, after my mother rubbed off on him. The war of the court manners. Vervain was astute at every kind of strategy and maneuver you could make. But however long he spent with me, there was no binding. He’d looked into it to find out why he couldn’t give me his strength from any number of sketchy sources, but he’d always been loyal.

I knew where he was during the war, fighting at my side, or working to collect intel from his sources. I searched out his thoughts about the war beast, Malamech’s second, Slayer. There was only one notable thing. Of all the war beasts that were Malamech’s inner circle of magical shifter werewolves, he was the only one who put down his weapon in surrender once Malamech died. Slayer had led the exodus out of Fairyland and into their world. Was he still working with my aunt? My heart trembled at the thought.

I watched Vervain’s memories of hunting down fairy traitors, torturing them to get any information they could on the one who had betrayed Fairyland, allowing in the wolves. Shotglass had been one of those he’d tortured. And she thought I’d ordered that? That explained the way they called me ‘death-fairy’.

I gasped and pulled away from Vervain, almost falling out of the tree. “You tortured fairies? You can’t do that!”

He gave me a slight smile. “I was sanctioned by the Queen.”

“The Queen was dead.”

“She sanctioned me before she died. Until there’s a new Queen…”

I frowned at him. There was a memory of her commissioning him to protect me and guard me with his life. I poked his chest.

“But if you knew that someone on our side betrayed us, why didn’t you tell me? I can look into people’s minds without the torturous spells you used.”

“Of course you can. When you aren’t wrapped in your cocoon bed unable to do anything useful. I wasn’t going to give you more burden when you couldn’t carry what you already had.”

I scowled at him. “That’s not your place to decide.”

“I was commissioned by the Queen. Until there is a new Queen?—”

“Fine. Be my consort. I will be your Queen.”

It was silent in that tree for a long time while he stared at me and then slowly shook his head. “That’s not going to work.”

“You think I can’t be Queen?”

“I cannot be your consort. The binding won’t take between us, not like you and Singsong’s alpha.”

I inhaled sharply. “There’s nothing between me and the alpha. Max is not someone I’m going to ruin.”

He studied me thoughtfully. “You think that you could ruin him? He’s a warrior wolf.”

“But he’s not like Malamech’s men. He’s soft and compassionate, and he cares about everyone, not just his wolves. He’s been taking care of the fairies for years.”

He smiled slightly. “I wonder why that is. And he has been feeding you strength. You’ve been taking his power, or you wouldn’t be glowing, looking, acting like a Queen. That’s who needs to be your consort, if you’re serious about taking your place as queen. Are you?”

I stared at him, my heart jerking and sputtering in my chest while I positively ached for Max. He’d rehabilitated me, but not for himself. He just went around rehabilitating people. Why did he do that?

I slowly shook my head. “There is no one. I’m going back to Fairyland. I’ll find someone there. I do need a consort, and quickly. You’ll help me find someone, won’t you? But first, I need to exile Dawn before she does something even more dastardly than poisoning werewolves and betraying us all.”