Chapter 10
Nightmare
A s the Fae Queen kissed her human, the cares of her position melted away. It no longer mattered that all three of her daughters conspired against her rule or how the magic of her court was fading. Sure, the human was an indulgence. Being queen meant dealing with problem after problem, but he was the one thing she kept for herself. She wanted to share more with him, even as she broke their kiss. “You know tonight is a special one.”
Tam’lin frowned, innocent confusion on his face. “Because of the coming of spring?”
“Yes,” the Fae Queen said, almost purring with satisfaction. “Because of the coming of Spring. Tonight, we will announce her coming to the whole court.”
She gestured out to the hall at large, which had the unfortunate side-effect of calling one of her stewards to her side. She never could get a moment’s peace.
The brownie bustled over with his scroll, full of self-importance despite his short size. “Your Majesty. I assume he has told you of the new human.”
The Fae Queen shook her head. “What new human?”
“The one sent to you by the Summer Princess.”
The Summer Princess? What was her spiteful daughter planning now? Her smile became something strangled. “It must have slipped his mind.” She turned back to her thrall. “Tam’lin. Do I have a new human?”
Tam’lin was silent for a moment, as if thinking the matter over. “I don’t remember.”
The Fae Queen sighed. “Of course you don’t.” Tam’lin could hardly remember anything anymore, and he often seemed blank and unfocused.
It was only natural; humans never lasted very long in the Fae Realm. Like a spark of ember, his life would be beautiful and brief. And if he had stayed in the Mortal Realm—unloved and neglected as a stray—his situation would be even worse.
But she had prepared for this. She would treasure him for however long he lasted, and with the coming of Spring, she would have something of his to carry with her after he was gone.
“I will look into this myself,” she said, dismissing them both. “Go and see to our other guests.”
The Fae Queen removed herself from the great hall to find the mirror in her dressing room.
The two realms touched in more places than the mortals seemed to realize. In shadows, dreams, and anything that could carry a reflection. And while most girls wished to become princesses, and most princesses wished to be queens, the Fae Queen still had enough of her own magic to continually foil the attempts her daughters made on her crown.
She spoke to the mirror. “Mirror, mirror in my home, where does the Summer Princess currently roam?”
When the smoky surface of the mirror cleared, a prison of iron took shape before her.
It was just as she thought. The Summer Princess had been bound in iron by a band of human heroes, serving as a lesson for anyone foolish enough to go against the Fae Queen’s edicts.
So, who was this new human, and where was she now?
Tabitha stirred on the hard wooden floorboards to the sound of pounding on the back door. Like waking from a dream, the dress shop slowly came into focus around her until she regathered herself enough to answer. A young boy stood there, expectant and eager. “Billy?”
“Hello, miss.” He bobbed his head. “Have you had the shop closed all week? Do you have any deliveries for me?”
Tabitha took in the information at a snail’s pace. She had so many strange and unsettling thoughts, but with the light of the late afternoon sun shining through the open door, letting in all the normal sounds of the city streets, her thoughts about the Fae Realm seemed so distant and foreign. Could it have been just another dream? Surely it was absurd to imagine that a cat could talk or that a missing prince would declare his love for her.
It was so absurd that her dream had quickly become a nightmare, revealing that the love the prince declared for her couldn’t be real.
She tried to focus on the young boy. “You . . . you’re here for the deliveries. But you only come on the third day of the week.”
Billy frowned at her. “Yes, miss. It is the third day.”
She had missed a whole week? She looked over her half-finished projects hanging off the mannequins, including the gown Lady Sabine had wanted to wear to the princess’s wedding. The cats peeked around the abandoned mounds of material, and many of the cabinets had been pried open in her absence. It was chaos and decay reminiscent of the Fae Realm, like parts of her dream world had followed her home.
She shook her head, trying to shake the last few traces of sleep away. It wasn’t even a very good dream with the way it had ended, and certainly not worth all the trouble it had caused. She might have already failed the shop that had been given to her. Its former mistress wouldn’t have stood for such an indulgence; Granny Tailor might have praised Tabitha’s imagination and even encouraged her to find her own dream, but never at the expense of what was real.
This shop was real. Her cats were real.
She couldn’t waste any more time on dreams.
She turned back to face Billy, now determined. “I’m a bit behind, but I should have some deliveries ready for you tomorrow.” She would just have to keep the shop closed and work through the night to finish the current load. “Would you mind coming back then? I’ll pay you extra.”
She would somehow find a way to finish this tonight.