Jason applied the oars to the water with extra urgency. “Did you see that?” He looked over his shoulder. “What’s living in this lake, anyway?”
After a moment’s thought, I decided Jason should know about our competition. After all, Donovan might swim to the island instead of the shore.
“Actually, that splash was an invisible guy who stowed away on our boat.”
“An invisible guy?” Jason repeated doubtfully.
“His name is Donovan, and he’s after the queen’s goblet too. You’ll need to watch out for him.”
Jason’s eyebrows rose skeptically. “How do I watch for an invisible guy?”
“I didn’t mean literally.”
Jason cocked his head to the side. “Why does an invisible guy want the queen’s goblet? Doesn’t he have enough invisible goblets at his house?”
This was just what I needed. Jason thought I was crazy. I let out a frustrated sigh. “Don’t any guys know the story The Twelve Dancing Princesses? What were you all doing during your childhood?”
“What was I doing?” Jason asked, taking offense. “I was practicing. While the rest of you wannabes goofed off, I took guitar, piano, and voice lessons.” He went on for the rest of the trip across the lake talking about how everyone thought his success was a fluke—when actually he’d worked his butt off for years.
I nearly told him I was impressed to meet someone who could play musical instruments with his butt.
Wannabe. Honestly. I was taking his posters off my walls as soon as I got home.
As we neared the shore, I broke into his rant. “We need to get back to our plans for the goblet. The queen asks it a question at midnight. After that, she might not notice if it goes missing. So here’s what I think we should do: We’ll dance for awhile. A few minutes past midnight, go up to the queen and tell her you want to sing a song in her honor. Turn on the charm. Keep her attention on you. Can you manage that?”
Jason let out a snort as though it was ridiculous to even ask. “Hey, when I sing to a woman, she doesn’t take her eyes off of me.”
“Good. While she’s watching you, I’ll swipe the goblet. After your song, we’ll fade into the crowd. When no when is looking, we’ll leave and head back to the boat. Hopefully we’ll be long gone before the queen notices that her cup is missing. Once we’re through the forest, we can contact Chrissy. She’ll take us home.”
It sounded easy enough, and I desperately hoped it would be.
Jason’s speed had picked up once I’d pushed Donovan from the boat, and we weren’t far behind everyone else now.
The first boats were reaching the island. The trees there had an unearthly beauty, shining faintly, as though holding bits of sunshine in reserve. In between them, rows of lampposts lined a stone path leading to a large columned pavilion.
The other princes rowed as far as they could onto the shore, then hopped out of the boats and dragged them further onto the embankment so their girlfriends wouldn’t get their slippers wet. The princesses accepted these attentions with smiles, eyelash flutters, and beaming looks of approval.
Jason rowed our boat as far as it would go onto the shore, then mopped his forehead with his coat sleeve. He shook out the cramps in his hands took off his gloves to check for blisters, and seemed to be waiting for me to disembark.
I tried not to hold his lack of gallantry against him. He hadn’t been born in a time when women needed help hauling their dresses around. I gathered up my skirts, holding as much fabric in my arms as possible, and attempted not to trip while stepping out of the boat. My slippers partially sunk into the wet ground. I took careful steps to dryer land.
Overhead, a raven sailed through the moonlight, circled us, then glided down to the stone path. Before it landed, it transformed into a young man. He was perhaps in his early twenties, although it was hard to tell. He was handsome in an ageless way, in a fairy way. His dark hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, accenting a pair of equally dark eyes that oversaw our arrival.
He wore black pants, boots, and a loose black shirt—not modern but not Renaissance either. His wings resembled raven feathers and seemed fierce somehow. Warlike. So different from Chrissy’s silky butterfly wings.
He spread his wings out, then drew them together and with a flash of magic they disappeared. He waited for us on the path, arms crossed. I’d been standing in front of the boat, blocking Jason’s view of the man, which was perhaps for the best. Jason might have worried if he’d known our hosts weren’t human.
Jason stepped onto the shore after me, glancing around and still stretching the aches out of his hands. “Who’s that?” he asked, gesturing toward the man.
“I don’t know.”
“Must be a show worker. Good.”
Instead of looping his arm through mine like the other princes had done with their princesses, Jason strode up the stone trail, not caring that I had to struggle to keep up with him. The other couples were a little ahead of us, chatting as they strolled toward the pavilion. They hardly glanced at the fairy guy, and he didn’t pay any attention to them.
His gaze slid to Jason and me. I noticed a scabbard hung at the fairy’s side, revealing the hilt of a sword. Was he here to guard against intruders?
“Only eleven couples have graced the ball before,” he said. “And yet now comes a twelfth. How is it you found your way here?”
“I rowed.” Jason wiped sweat from the back of his neck. “And it’s harder than it looks. Can you have someone get me a drink?” He fluttered his hand. “I don’t care what it is, as long as it’s chilled.”
I stared at the fairy and gulped. I hadn’t expected him to realize we were new to the story, and I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t lie, and I couldn’t tell him the truth—at least not the part about Chrissy sending me here to get the queen’s goblet.
He turned to the couple passing him, Catherine and her prince. “Who is yonder maiden?”
Catherine let out a laugh of surprise. “Do you not recognize her? ’Tis Sadie, our youngest sister.”
“Your sister?” The fairy’s gaze skimmed over the group, checking their responses.
Elizabeth sent me a teasing look. “Perhaps you don’t recognize her because Kayla did her hair tonight. Sadie looks presentable for once.”
The fairy smiled genially at the couples. “Very well. Go eat and drink. The music has already started.” He turned to me, and the smile faded. “I’ll take you to meet the queen. She wishes to speak with you.”
“Thank you,” I said, though the ominous tilt of his brows suggested he wasn’t doing me a favor.
Chapter 14
The fairy motioned for me to follow him. Before I did, I curtsied politely. If we were all polite to each other, the queen might not . . . say . . . get mad at me for crashing her ball and turn me into a topiary bush. “May I have the pleasure of your acquaintance?” I tried to sound royal, but the tone sounded false in my ears, like play acting.
His lips quirked up, humoring my attempts. “I am Kailen, Queen Orlaith’s son.”
That made him a prince. Fairy royalty. I curtsied again. “I’m pleased to meet you, Your Highness.”
“Yeah, pleased,” Jason added absently. “Drinks are waiting for us, right?”
Kailen swept his hand toward the pavilion. “This way.”
I followed the others up the trail, listening to the orchestra music. Violins, flutes, cellos, oboes, clarinets, and instruments I couldn’t place. The sound of running rivers and the hush of wind twisted into the music, playing the tune along with the brass and strings. “What are those instruments?” Jason asked. He’d noticed them to. “Cool sound. I like it.”
I adjusted my grip on my dress. “I guess we’ll see.”
He didn’t speak to me after that. The rest of the way to the pavilion, he tapped his hand against his pants to the rhythm and hummed along with the song as though committing the tune to memory.
After a couple of minutes, we reached the pavilion. Alt
hough the word pavilion didn’t do the place justice. It wasn’t the sort of structure found in a park. It was more of an open-air cathedral with a high arched roof made of white stone.
Marble columns were etched with silver vines so detailed I nearly expected them to sway in the breeze, to stretch and grow. Each buttress, each roof panel was decorated in patterns of leaves and flowers, making it seem like an overhead garden. The flowering bushes surrounding the pavilion were so laden with blossoms that in places they dripped onto the dance floor in splashes of color.
On one side of the room, two long tables were covered with platters of food and pitchers filled with pastel drinks. A dozen chairs sat nearby, waiting for couples who wanted to rest. I couldn’t tell where the music came from. It was just there—drifting about the dance floor.
My attention was drawn to the back of the pavilion. Two large wooden thrones stood behind a white marble table. A beautiful, dark-haired woman sat in one of the thrones. Queen Orlaith.
Jason saw the refreshment table and made a beeline toward the drinks. Kailen didn’t call him back. Instead he motioned for me to follow him toward the queen. She didn’t look old enough to be Kailen’s mother. No wrinkles lined her face, no signs of age. Still, something about her told me she wasn’t young. A depth of experience in her eyes, a lack of innocence.
She wore a long green dress and a white crown. It wasn’t silver or gold like I’d expected. Instead the crown was made from rows of sharp curving teeth. What sort of animal had those teeth come from? A huge wolf? A bear? I had to tear my eyes away from it, make myself stop staring at it in horror.
I did a quick scan of the table, looking for the goblet. Only a box lay there, wooden with ornate carvings of deer, birds, and flowers. How was I supposed to steal the goblet if I couldn’t find it?
Kailen stopped in front of the table. “Mother, may I present Princess Sadie.” The way he emphasized princess made it clear he knew I wasn’t one.
I curtsied nervously.
“The other princesses believe she’s their sister,” Kailen went on. “Magic must have influenced them.”
Queen Orlaith’s eyes were bright with interest, studying me like I was a dress she might buy. I noticed small green vines grew up the side of her throne. They wrapped around the arm rests and trailed over the back. I gulped, remembering that Queen Orlaith could command plants to capture people. The flowering plants and vines overflowing onto the pavilion suddenly seemed sinister and dangerous.
“Which fairy sent you?” she asked. “For what purpose have you come?”
For what purpose had I come? I swallowed hard, felt nerves stinging my stomach. I’d come to steal her goblet. This was such a bad time to be unable to lie. “Chrysanthemum Everstar is my fairy godmother, Your Majesty. I wished to be a famous dancer so she sent me here.” I swallowed again. “Your pavilion is beautiful. Thank you for letting me come here.”
“Chrysanthemum Everstar?” the queen repeated. “I don’t recollect a fairy of that name.”
Kailen gazed out at the dance floor, bored. Most of the couples had ventured there, and the princesses’ gowns flared out in a kaleidoscope of colors as they twirled. “Chrysanthemum is of the Seelie Court—one of the younger fairies. She’s training to be a godmother.”
Queen Orlaith ran her hand along the end of her armrest, and a vine tendril wrapped around her finger like a pet snake. “What else do you know of her?”
He shrugged. “Like most fairies in the Seelie Court, she’s silly, vain, and pointless. She hasn’t even finished her schooling. She’s as harmless as a trinket.”
Queen Orlaith lifted her hand and the vine tendril retreated. “Then why do you know of her?”
He gave a reluctant smile. “I never said she wasn’t pretty.”
Queen Orlaith didn’t comment on her son’s answer. He went back to watching the dancers, and she turned to me, her expression a mixture of suspicion and disdain. “Was that the only wish your fairy godmother granted you?”
“I also wished for a beautiful voice.”
“And?” she prompted, sensing I was holding back.
I dropped my eyes, staring at my slippers. If I kept my gaze on them, I wouldn’t blush. “Um, I wished Jason Prescott loved me.” I glanced at the refreshment table. He stood by Isolde and Clementia, talking with them while he poured himself another drink. “Jason is from the twenty-first century too.”
A smile bloomed on Queen Orlaith’s lips. “You wished for love?”
I nodded.
She turned to her son. “The girl loves the boy so fervently she used a wish to ensure her feelings were returned. Perhaps that is the sort of love that will feed the trees.”
What was she talking about? “Trees?” I eyed the large diamond trees flanking the thrones. They grew all along the edges of the pavilion, and had thicker foliage than the trees I’d passed in the forest. My mouth went dry. All sorts of horrible visions presented themselves in my mind. “Wait, you’re not going to feed us to them are you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kailen said, sparing me two seconds of his attention. “Trees don’t eat flesh. You would give them indigestion.”
Queen Orlaith leaned back in her chair. “Bring your prince hither so I can meet him.”
I curtsied, relieved that feed wasn’t a literal term. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
When I reached the refreshment table, Jason was standing close to Clementia, a drink in his hand. He was trying to get her to throw grapes in the air and catch them in her mouth. “Come on,” he told her, in that teasing tone guys use when they’re flirting. “I know you can do it. Your tongue has talent.”
“And my tongue?” Isolde asked, tapping her fan against Jason’s arm. “Has it also talent?”
Jason wagged his eyebrows at her. “Maybe I’ll find out sometime.”
Isolde giggled and flipped open her fan, making slow, demure strokes. Her prince stood at her side, scowling.
Clementia tossed a grape into the air, and opened her mouth like a baby bird waiting for its mother. The grape hit her chin and ricocheted at Jason, an event that made her shriek with laughter. Her prince stood on her other side with his arms crossed, forgotten and sullen.
Maybe that was the point of Jason’s flirting. Maybe he was getting back at the princes for their earlier jibes. Or maybe Jason just loved doll-like blondes.
I didn’t care. At least not much. The fangirl feelings I’d had for Jason were quickly dying. I was at the ball for one reason: to steal the goblet. I looped my arm through Jason’s to get his attention. “The queen wants to see us.”
Jason put his drink down and winked at Clementia. “You may not be able to catch grapes, but I’ll catch you later.”
Nice. He was handing out pickup lines to my sisters. So classy.
Clementia giggled and waved goodbye to us. I pulled Jason toward the queen’s table.
“She’s a cool girl,” Jason said, glancing back at Clementia, “She’s got a weird name, though. Clementia. Isn’t that some sort of a disease?”
We didn’t have time for small talk. I leaned close to his ear. “Don’t mention the goblet to anyone. No one can know we’re after it.”
“Oh yeah. The all-important gobletto. Where is it?” Jason glanced at the queen’s table for the first time.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s inside the box.”
We didn’t say more. We’d walked within earshot of the table.
Kailen was seated in the other throne: dark, aloof, and looking like the cover of a brooding romance novel. His gaze slid over Jason, unimpressed.
Queen Orlaith smiled at us, her fingers absently caressing a leaf that twined around her wrist. There was something about her that reminded me of a cat. Specifically a panther. “Welcome to my ball, Prince Jason. It will give me great pleasure to see you dance.”
Jason dropped my arm and stretched his shoulders, all celebrity and smiles now. “This isn’t my usual kind of music, but I’m game. I can work any beat.” H
e took off his collar, tossed it to me to hold, and swaggered a few feet onto the dance floor. “Hey everybody, let’s get this party going!” He threw his hands in the air, adding a couple of Woot! Woots! and fist pumps.
Several people peered around the pavilion in confusion as though wondering if Jason was warning them of impending danger.
Jason didn’t notice. He was in his own world, one of stages and spotlights. He hip-hopped through the song, spinning, arms waving. Each swish of his hair was practiced, each thrust of his hips precise. During a concert, it would have been a great performance. Here, it looked borderline crazy.
The other couples stopped dancing altogether and stared at him—something that only egged him on. At that point he seemed to be channeling Elvis.
I put my hand to my mouth as I watched him. There was no graceful way to stop him.
Beatrix sidled over to me, her dress rustling in satin whispers. “Is something wrong with Prince Jason?”
“Many things, probably,” I said.
“Should someone fetch a physician?”
“No, just clap when he’s through, and he’ll be fine.”
At last the song ended. Jason slid across the floor on his knees, hands stretched into the air for a grand finale. I clapped. Beatrix joined me, worry etched on her face. The others just kept staring.
Jason stood up, brushed himself off and smiled triumphantly at the other princes. “See if you can beat that, bros.”
Rosamund’s prince cocked his head, perplexed. “Is that what you were doing? Beating something?”
Another prince nodded. “I suppose that explains your gyrations. I’m sure whatever you stomped on is quite dead.”
Jason let out a huff of offense. “You posers are just jealous.” He stalked to the refreshment table, shaking his head and using his sleeve to wipe perspiration off his forehead.
While the next song started, he downed a drink, then strode back over to me, muttering about critics. I held out his lace collar. He didn’t take it. I couldn’t blame him really. It looked like a doily on steroids and must have been nearly as uncomfortable.
My Fairly Dangerous Godmother Page 16