I turned toward the sensation and saw a trio of men by the entrance, each dude more handsome than the next, fair-haired and so gorgeous it almost hurt to look at them. The one in the forefront could have been a Norwegian heavy metal rocker, with blond hair that fell past his broad shoulders, spilling over a scarlet cape accented with gold feathers. He wore fitted black leather pants and a cobalt blue vest, revealing his muscled arms.
Professor Tristal tugged me back down to the floor then dipped into a flawless curtsy. “My king.”
The other two fine men flanked King Oberon, his escort on the left angelic and radiant with wings that trailed behind him like glowing streamers. The second had the broad-shouldered build of a bear-shifter and short, spiky white hair. He looked feral by contrast to the other member of the king’s guard.
After fighting with my uncooperative mouth, I found the power to squeak out a greeting and throw myself forward into a deep bow at the waist.
King Oberon gestured with both hands. “Rise, please.”
God, even his voice was sexy. My knees quivered.
“Your arrival is unexpected, Your Majesty,” Tristal said.
“Training a new sylph is a matter of urgency, is it not?” He smiled and stepped forward. “You must be Skylar. I’ve heard so much about you.”
He knew my name. He knew my name! I struggled to breathe, words stuck in my throat as I tried to determine if it was a good or bad thing that the king of the fucking fae actually knew I existed.
“You’ll have to excuse my student. She appears to be a bit starstruck.”
Starstruck didn’t begin to describe it.
Oberon chuckled, the sound rich and warm, wrapping around my heart and giving my ovaries a squeeze until I remembered I liked my men dark-haired and golden-eyed. Oberon’s were as blue as the heart of a flame. “Allow me to introduce my companions. Eldan is general of my personal guard, but Dain comes on behalf of your provost’s request for a sylph’s tutelage.”
Eldan, the big one with the muscles I didn’t think fae could grow, bowed respectfully. “An honor.”
Then the sylph dipped at the waist, silver and white wings sparkling behind him. “Honored to meet you.”
“I, uh… Thank you. Honored to meet you all.”
“Splendid. As we have all honored one another now, shall we begin?” Dain offered his hand and gestured to the central floor with the other.
Professor Tristal moved aside and stood with the king and his general. Watching me. Between their attentive silence and Dain’s expectant gaze, I floundered, with no idea what to do.
“Um, do you want me to do flying drills?”
He raised one brow at me. “No. I think we’ll try something else.”
Once again, he gestured to the center of the room, and this time I kept my questions to myself and moved where directed. As hard as I tried to ignore the king’s presence, I could feel his gaze on me, and the inner music continued to drift through my soul.
“You are a sylph, and yet you do not know what it means to be a sylph. You have yet to embrace your new form. Together, you and I will change that.”
“But how?”
“I will teach you, young one. Now, close your eyes. Feel the air against your face. Stir it with your wings. You can move them, yes?” There was no condescension in his voice, only a question.
“A little.” Enough to make slow laps around a room that even a toddler could outwalk.
“Good. There is a nice wind winding through the chamber from that opening above us. Can you feel it?”
My brows creased, but I didn’t open my eyes. Instead, I extended both arms until the gentle draft brushed the fine hairs on my bare forearms. “Found it.”
“Think of this air current as something that is not a malleable force, but something that simply exists within you. Part of you. It blows through you and creates music as wind chimes do, but with your wings instead of metal columns.”
Trying to block out my royal observer, I shifted both wings to their full span and felt for the bare whisper of air current that had tickled my arms. At first, there was nothing, but then a soft breeze brushed against my cheek. Thinking of it like energy from a happy human charge, I reached out with my magic to scoop the breeze toward me, cocooning myself in it.
“Excellent. Don’t fear the air. Let it aid you. Gather it around you.”
My feet lifted from the floor until I was levitating at least two feet from the ground. The wind continued to swirl and twist with increasing force. A tingle started at my shoulders and spread out through my body, suffusing me with energy both familiar and alien at once. It was almost like static electricity.
“Good, Skylar. Now open your eyes and release the power at this training dummy.”
I floated in a vortex, a miniature tornado of my own making. With my eyes on the target, I focused all the winds I’d harnessed and directed them toward my goal.
The resulting gale howled across the distance and threw the dummy into the far wall.
Dain clapped. “Well done!”
“Holy crap. I did it.”
My new tutor offered his hand and drew me back to the floor. A light breeze stirred my hair back from my face, but I wasn’t sure if I had done it or him.
“You must not fear your new gifts,” Dain told me. “Even the strongest tempest will bend to your will once you master your abilities. Now then, again. Let us see if you can attack faster.”
He restored the target and ran me through the exercise three more times before he was satisfied with my performance. Each attempt had become easier to draw the winds around me.
I turned to glance toward Tristal, hoping for some reaction, but found the room empty. Tristal, Eldan, and Oberon were gone.
I blinked. “They left you.”
Dain smiled. “I believe His Majesty intends to remain for the day and may have gone to announce his presence to your provost. He hasn’t paid a personal visit to this school in quite a while.”
“Oh.”
“Am I so frightening that you need a chaperone?”
“No, not frightening. A bit, um…” The right word escaped me.
“Usually my brother is seen as the intimidating one.”
“The general is your brother?”
“We share a father, yes.” He cocked his head, as if hearing something beyond me, then offered his arm. “King Oberon awaits.”
And one should never keep a king waiting.
We met up with what could only be described as a parade outside the gymnasium. King Oberon hadn’t come alone, accompanied by what looked like his entire court. Or at least a good chunk of them.
It struck me as almost sad and made me wonder if he ever got to go anywhere alone.
“Ah, Dain, there you are. How was the lesson?”
“She is a bright student, my king. I expect Skylar and I will make great progress throughout the year.”
I blinked and turned to Dain. “Wait, you mean we’re going to have more lessons?”
“Of course. While your professor has done an admirable job in your education, you won’t learn your true strengths from anyone but another sylph.”
“All right, but you’re…” My gaze darted to Oberon then back to Dain. “You serve the king.”
Oberon’s laughter filled the air, a rich, musical sound that should have totally been illegal. “I believe I will be fine without him for an hour or two, but your concern is touching. Besides, it is in my self-interest to see you trained by the best.”
“It is?”
His eyes glinted, and he smiled, offering his arm but no answers. I set my hand on his bicep—holy crap, he was muscled—and floated alongside him in a dreamlike trance, aware that my wings hadn’t receded yet.
“Where shall we go, Lady Skylar?”
“Lady?”
“You are of Tenanye’s blood, and as she is a duchess of Tir na Nog, it is only courtesy to recognize your relationship.”
“She has a lot of progeny.” My brows drew togethe
r. “And you’re a king. I didn’t realize kings called others by titles.”
“We do when the mood suits, and only when the recipient has earned it. As you assisted with the destruction of Carmilla, you have most certainly earned it.” He smiled again and gestured to the fork in the path ahead of us. “Where do you go after your lesson with Cordelia?”
“Left. I usually meet my friends for lunch before heading to bed.”
“Bed?” Dain asked from behind us.
I twisted around and nodded. “Yeah, most of my classes are at night with the sentinel students.”
He grimaced. “Ah.”
Students spilled out of buildings and onto the paths to watch the king of the fae escort me across the campus grounds. We were followed by a retinue of twelve fae lords and ladies, a gathering of aos sidhe, dryads, and undine in vibrant garments befitting royalty. Of them all, the king, Eldan, and Dain appeared to be the only ones who hadn’t overdressed.
All around us, as our procession moved through the quad, people dropped to their knees or bent in postures of deference. Countless eyes watched, and enough of them smoldered with envy for me to expect childish antics in the coming days, because if my people were good at anything, it was causing mischief and holding on to their spite.
My friends held our usual table outside the student center, shaded by a flowering maple tree some students had enchanted with glamours to sprout bell-shaped blossoms in autumn colors. Ben spotted us first and stared, his burger held halfway to his open mouth.
I smiled. “Hey, guys. I brought company.”
Liadan remained frozen in her seat, eyes wide, but Pilar stumbled to her feet and dipped into a deep, perfect curtsey. Ben hastily followed suit and bowed.
“Please, that is unnecessary. I am honored to meet those closest to Skylar.” King Oberon smiled and turned to Pilar first. He took her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. One of her knees buckled. “And you are?”
“Pilar, Your Majesty.”
“A pleasure.” He delivered a second kiss before releasing her hand. Then he turned to Ben. “A mage in good company. What might I call you?”
“B-Ben, Your Majesty. Benjamin Matthews.” After they shook hands, Ben gazed down at his fingers in wonder, as if he may never wash that hand again.
He’d probably scrape it later to see if he could gather essence of faerie monarch for his alchemy.
When Oberon’s gaze turned to Lia, she jolted to her feet at last. “Please forgive my earlier rudeness, King Oberon. I am Liadan Maguire.”
He took her hand and delivered the same courtly kiss to her knuckles. “There is nothing to forgive. I am the one who has interrupted your noonday meal. May we join you?”
“We’d be honored.”
King Oberon dismissed his attendants with a wave. Only Dain and Eldan remained while the others ventured off to explore the campus on their own. Two nymphs headed straight for a gaggle of starstruck male mages, and the others dispersed over the grounds.
The three fae took their seats among my friends, Lia shooting me a panicked look when she wound up between Oberon and Eldan.
Better her than me.
I shrugged helplessly and nudged Ben over until he made enough room for me to wiggle onto the bench with him and Pilar. Dain took the empty spot on Pilar’s left.
Eldan eyed the hamburgers on Ben and Liadan’s plates then turned his nose up at Pilar, her chicken caesar salad an apparent affront to him. “How does one dine in mortal lands?”
“This would have been a great day to order a pizza,” Ben muttered.
“Ben,” Pilar hissed. “We can’t feed pizza to royalty.”
Oberon cocked his head, studying us all with a wry smile on his lips. “Please, allow me.” He waved his hands across the table and conjured a miniature feast.
Lunch materialized in a shimmering cloud of non-burning embers, creating a feast with improved versions of what they’d already ordered—gourmet burgers, a gorgeous salad for Pilar with succulent slices of fruit from Tir na Nog, and a platter of sashimi for me. A crystal flute of bright orange Sunny D appeared before Pilar, and a small glass of brandy popped up beside Ben’s plate.
Ben gawked and turned to whisper in my ear. “Can I drink brandy out here?”
“You can when the faerie king serves it to you,” I whispered back. I sure as hell was going to drink my limoncello, underage or not. It wasn’t like it stopped me in the past.
I sipped the sweet Italian drink then plucked a piece of sashimi from my plate with the jewel-studded chopsticks that appeared.
Everyone but Pilar had a smile, even Eldan, who had appeared stern and serious moments before.
Oberon leaned forward. “Pilar?”
“Yes, my king?”
“I see great sadness in your heart and a heavy weight upon your shoulders. Will you tell me of them?”
“I wouldn’t wish to bother you,” she said, her gaze trained on her lap.
“If it was a bother, I would not have asked.”
When Pilar looked toward me, I gave her an encouraging nod.
“I lost my charge,” Pilar whispered. “She died. I didn’t protect her.”
“No, you can’t blame yourself,” Liadan said. She turned her head to look at the king. “It was a leanansidhe, the one we call the Scary Godmother. She inspired Pilar’s charge to make a foolish choice.”
“Ahh.” Oberon’s gaze lingered a moment on Lia, and then he turned back to Pilar. “A leanansidhe is a terrible adversary for even an experienced faerie to face. Not only do they inspire the wrong choices, but they block we summer fae from sensing anything is amiss. There was nothing you could have done. No way you could ever have known. The blame does not reside with you, dear Pilar, but with the bitter creature responsible for your charge’s fate.”
“But if I had been a better godmother, she wouldn’t have been compelled to text and drive to begin with.”
“If I have learned anything of mortals and their technology these last few years, it is that many hold an unhealthy fascination with their phones, and the young ones are especially reliant. You cannot fully separate them.”
“But—”
The king rose from his seat and rounded the table, exchanging places with Dain, though instead of sitting, the king drew Pilar to her feet and swept a tear from her cheek with his thumb.
All eyes in the courtyard were on them. Traffic halted, as if by magic, though glamour and spellcraft had nothing to do with it.
“Believe me when I say I understand your pain. Loss is a terrible burden to bear, especially when it is one for whom you care. But also believe me when I say you are not to blame, Pilar. This is what the darklings crave, for beings of the light to fall into despair. Do not let this Scary Godmother claim two victims from the attack.”
Pilar sniffled, but her spine straightened, and she dipped her head in a tiny nod. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
His solemn expression brightened into a smile. “Thank me by attending the ball at my side.”
Somewhere behind me at another table, a girl squeaked.
Pilar’s eyes went huge. “Ball?”
“Yes.” He turned his attention to all of us. “I and your provost have decided to hold a ball tonight. I imagine word will spread shortly.”
As if his words set off an alarm somewhere, a campus text alert beeped from our phones.
All afternoon and night classes cancelled. Please log in to your student e-mail accounts for further details.
“Shall I escort you from your domicile?” Oberon asked after we’d all had the chance to read through the details.
I admired the fact that Pilar wasn’t drooling or falling over herself in glee. She kept her dignity intact and managed a genuine smile. “I’d be most honored, Your Majesty.”
“Excellent. Now then, please enjoy the remainder of your meal.” He kissed Pilar’s hand then bowed to the rest of us. “Until tonight.”
As the three fae left, I had to wonder just
what the hell kind of alternate dimension I’d stepped into when I crawled out of bed this day, because way too many good things were happening all at once for the circumstances to be natural.
13
Compassion Personified
With a mere hour to go before the scheduled start of the ball, my friends assembled in Pilar’s bedroom where she kept a floor-to-ceiling mirror large enough for all of us.
Holly eyed the enormous frame with skepticism. “I’m not even going to ask about why you need a mirror this big in your bedroom.”
Pilar made a face at her. “It’s for clothes, you degenerate. If I wanted it for sex, it would be on the ceiling.”
Liadan flushed rose-pink from head to toe. Contrasting her ordinary summer dress, I wore a T-shirt and leggings as the base to my wardrobe glamour, practicing magic on each other while Pilar changed minute details about her dress every two minutes.
“Ugh. Is this too much?” Pilar spun to face us, revealing a sweetheart neckline and generous cleavage. “Or should I…” When she gestured with the wand, it transformed the champagne gold dress into a high-neck halter.
Holly shook her head. “Boooo.”
Liadan pursed her lips. “Agreed. You’re dressed like a nun now.”
I nodded. “Put the titties back.”
“All right.”
While I flipped through look books and magazines for inspiration, Liadan created a stunning sheath dress in midnight blue, accented with silver specks that winked like starlight against the silk molding to her curves.
I envied her and Pilar. They were naturals at creating their own style.
Holly had stood back and watched the magic fly without comment most of the afternoon. I turned to face her. “Your turn, Holly.”
“I actually have a real dress, thanks.”
“Well then, go get it on and let me glamour your hair or something. I could use another extra credit point.”
“My hair is fine—”
“Bitch, if you don’t let me fix your split ends so I can move from an eighty-eight to an A, I will cut you.”
“Oh my God, fine. Gimme a minute.”
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