by K. M. Shea
I sighed and ran a hand through my loose hair. “Do you think I came on too strong?” I asked Steve.
Steve leaned into my leg and whined.
“I must have done something wrong. Because that felt an awful lot like rejection.” I sighed and shut my eyes, letting myself wallow in my pain for a few moments.
When Kevin brushed against my leg, I snapped my eyes open.
“It’s fine,” I told my shades. “It feels like my heart’s getting stabbed through, but I’ll keep on trying. Because giving up means deciding he’ll never love me, and that’s too depressing.”
I forced myself to wink at them, then strolled over to Skye and Indigo. “Did you guys hear? I’m going with Pet Appreciation Day for my Court holiday!”
When Comet stepped through the portal in the Night Realm into the Summer Realm, I wasn’t prepared for the wall of heat, which nearly slapped me off Comet’s back.
“Wow,” I said. “Do I regret my clothing choices for today.”
Rigel—riding Nebula—emerged from the portal, nearly ramming into Comet and me. Kevin and Steve slipped out of the gate behind him, looking a little shadowy and out of place in the sunshine of the Summer Realm.
The gate had dumped us on a road between two fields—I think they were of wheat, but I wasn’t positive.
A thicket of trees crouched on the far side of one of the fields. It radiated magic—not fae magic, interestingly, but dragon shifter magic. The seals—red and fiery—were obvious on the trees’ dark limbs.
The magic was so strong it made my teeth ache.
What the heck are they hiding there?
I grabbed my staff, which I had rested across the front of the saddle and my thighs, and squinted at the trees. For a moment, I thought I saw a small cottage, but I wasn’t positive.
“Hmmm.”
Rigel looked at the trees with me, raised an eyebrow—which made me suspect he felt the magic, too—then glanced at me. “You’re blocking the path,” he pointed out.
“Right, sorry.” I nudged Comet ahead, clearing the way for Indigo and Skye, who walked through the gate with Bagel and Fax.
Bagel was my fuzzy donkey I’d had back at my parents, but moved to the mansion with me. Fax was a sun stallion—the only one left from the herd the previous monarchs had bought. He was old, so instead of being blazing white or orange, his coat was a glossy copper color threaded with iridescent sheens of blue and green.
I hadn’t sold him because I’d been worried whatever home he went to would ride him hard despite his age. Sun stallions were a rare treasure that King Solis required you pay through the nose for and have perfect living spaces for. Since they were something of a status symbol, it was possible someone would have bought Fax with less than wonderful intentions.
But I loved Fax—he was the perfect dash of sweetness to mellow out my night mares, and was a calming influence on everyone in the stables.
And my keeping him is what started my friendship with Solis—he was thankful. And, now that I think of it, maybe the sun stallions are how Solis has stayed afloat? He gets hefty broker fees for any resales of his equines, and I’m pretty sure he requires Day Court fae to build any stables intended for them. Now that is a smart bit of specialization!
I gave the Day King a mental salute and turned my attention to my companions. “Ready to go?” I asked.
“Indeed,” Skye said.
Indigo nodded.
I noticed neither of them even glanced at the thicket of trees—maybe I could only sense the dragon seals because of my staff? It had greatly increased my magical power since it claimed me.
It doesn’t matter. I don’t care what Summer does in his realm as long as he’s not hurting anyone—and I think he’s too obsessed with Flora’s safety and his hidden kid to do much more.
“Are you guys sure you don’t want to double up and ride with us?” I asked.
“Positive,” Indigo said. “Riding a horse is like riding a dinosaur for me—I want to stay closer to the ground.”
“I am fine, but thank you,” Skye insisted.
Comet picked her way up the cobblestone path that hopefully led to the Summer Realm’s palace, climbing up a large hill. When we reached the crest, I could see the palace.
Each fae palace/realm had a unique construction. The Day Palace was constructed mostly out of super tall towers that reached so high into the sky it rattled you even if you weren’t afraid of heights.
The palace in the Autumn Realm—which I’d only seen because Fell was an emotionally constipated twit who was afraid to ask for help—was a pristine white and built intermixed within trees that always displayed leaves colored bright yellow, blazing orange, and crimson red.
The palace in the Night Realm…well…it had a lot of windows even though its construction was vaguely castle-like, but it was pretty hard to tell what it was supposed to look like because it was in ruins.
The Summer Palace was very airy with high ceilings, enough open-air corridors so you could see straight through to the other side of the palace, and it had multiple streams that flowed through it, tumbling from the second floor to the first floor and weaving down the open hallways.
I spotted a figure in white hunched over, looking at something in their hands on the balcony of the second floor.
“That’s gotta be Rime. That must be where we need to go.” I twisted around in my saddle—letting Comet choose the path. “I know you said this was just a ‘summer tea,’ but is there some boring ceremony attached to it that you didn’t tell me about because you knew I wouldn’t come, Skye?”
The fae had a ceremony for everything, and all of them were dead boring.
“There is no ceremony,” Skye confirmed.
I relaxed in the saddle and breathed out a sigh of relief, until Indigo piped in.
“It’s a tradition for the Fae Ring to meet in the Summer Realm once during the winter season for tea to escape the chill of winter.”
I tensed. “Tradition? That’s bad, that’s really bad. That’s almost as bad as ceremonial ceremonies!”
“The only tradition is that you drink tea and eat appetizers,” Skye said.
“Which I can’t do,” I pointed out.
It was a snap for fae to bespell food, and since I still had someone out for my head, I needed to be extra diligent. Typically, I only ate food and drinks that Indigo herself made for me, but I’d learned I could make exceptions with human cafes and restaurants if I was careful.
“And,” Skye continued without acknowledging my point, “exchange insults.”
I sighed. “I became the fae rep because I hoped I’d be able to unite the fae, but it’s not looking good if the monarchs schedule time for insult battles.”
“You’ve been the representative for less than two months. You can’t change things that quickly,” Indigo said. “And you have to admit the monarchs have gotten to be less…testy.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Except for Fell and his punchable face.” I dreamily gazed up at the cloudless sky, dazzled by the brilliant blue. “One day I will punch him,” I vowed.
Bagel hee-hawed loudly, his ears flapping with the effort it took to bray in what I was going to assume was agreement with me and my very reasonable desire.
“But not today,” Skye said.
“Not today,” I agreed.
Maybe I can shoot him, though? I didn’t dare voice the rebellious thought—Skye would take away my gun. Plus I couldn’t take it into the tea with me, anyway—weapons were frowned upon in meetings with monarchs, and I didn’t want to lose it to some finicky guards because it was my handgun the Drakes had gotten me. Thankfully, Chase ordered me a special little saddle bag for its shoulder holster so I could attach it to my saddle, as I had today.
A bird flew above us—it was hawkish in appearance, but it looked enormous.
I pointed a finger as the bird circled above us. “Is that…?”
“One of the summer hawks, yes,” Skye confirmed.
Just as I had the n
ight mares and Solis had the sun stallions, the other Courts had their own animals. Spring had beautiful, white stags, and Winter had wolves that were big enough to ride.
“How…welcoming,” I said.
Peering up at the hawk, I was positive someone could sit on his back, but I wasn’t sure if the bird would be able to fly without magical aid due to the extra weight.
I heard my shades sniffing loudly at the edge of the path as I uneasily watched the enormous bird. “Kevin, Steve?”
They abandoned their smelling and loped up to join Comet and me at the front of our little group.
I glanced down at the pair, who watched me with crimson eyes that visibly glowed even under direct sunlight. “I want you two to stay with Fax, Bagel, Nebula, and Comet,” I said.
Kevin whined—a high pitched noise that unpleasantly tickled my ear.
“I know you want to come with me,” I said. “But I didn’t think to ask Birch for an invite for you two, and you’ll be safer hanging out with the night mares.”
Steve growled and showed a glimmer of her teeth, then sneezed—losing the fearsome look. She licked her chops as Kevin wagged his tail, and the pair fell in line with Rigel, who rode behind me.
Briefly—twisted around in my saddle as I was to watch my shades—I met his gaze.
He was dressed as he usually was—black breeches, black boots, and long-sleeved fitted black shirt.
I’d seen him wear that getup in the summer, so the oppressive heat of the realm probably wasn’t bothering him much—even though I was starting to sweat in my light gray riding breeches and navy-blue sweater. And yes, I was wearing one of my helmets.
The fae were weirdly opposed to helmets—their loss. (Literally. I’d outmaneuvered Birch once because he fell off his horse and smacked his head so hard he couldn’t move for minutes.)
I held Rigel’s gaze for a moment longer. “Is there a reason why you decided to come with?” I curiously asked. “You didn’t have to.”
Rigel shrugged. “I’ve shirked my duties as consort for too long.”
I squinted at him. “I don’t know how to interpret that.”
“Is it not fine?” he asked.
“Hey, you can’t use my own catchphrase against me,” I said.
“It’s a terrible catchphrase,” Indigo piped in.
Rigel didn’t seem like he was going to say anything else, so I turned back in my saddle, and contemplated the Summer Palace as it grew closer and closer.
When we finally arrived, a servant led us to the courtyard in front of the palace—where some of the streams convened. There were two shaded pergolas covered with viny plants. One of the structures was occupied by a giant white stag, but despite my animals’ appearance he flicked his small tall and called encouragingly to us.
I was a little surprised at the reception, especially when Kevin and Steve trotted over to the stag and he pressed his muzzle into the top of their heads.
Maybe the stag I rescued in fall told the rest of Summer’s herd about us?
“You can follow the servant up to the tea, Queen Leila,” Skye said. “Indigo and I will see to your pets.”
I swung off Comet’s back and patted her shoulders—which were dappled with faint yellow-ish hairs. “Are you sure? That seems a pretty shabby deal.”
“We’re sure.” Indigo tugged the reins of Comet’s bridle from my grasp. “You’re late to the tea.”
I groaned. “Great, Fell is going to bellyache during the whole meeting about that. Thanks, guys!” I unclipped my helmet and handed it to Indigo before I jogged over to the servant, who was waiting at the entrance of one of the open-air corridors with Rigel.
The servant kindly guided us through the maze of hallways—which was way more confusing than you’d think because every time we came to what I assumed was going to be a staircase or something it was actually a waterway.
I thought the waterfalls and streams were for aesthetic, but maybe it’s actually to confuse and hinder attackers?
We finally reached a staircase and then had to do the intricate maze backwards to get all the way out to the tea room—which opened into a patio that overlooked the courtyard where my animals were.
I waved to Bagel—who brayed at me—before following Rigel into the shade of the tearoom.
It was super bright considering one wall was entirely open air. Its high ceiling contained a mosaic of green plants stretching for the blue sky, and it also held a massive skylight in the center of the room that added an extra dose of sunlight.
There were a few wooden support columns that were carved with images of hawks, fluffy clouds, and stylized gusts of wind. Most of the room’s decorations were brightly colored ceramic tiles fastened to the walls in patterns and pictures. One grouping depicted a growing garden, while the one directly opposite it was a giant waterfall.
The other monarchs were gathered under the skylight, next to an enormous planter that held a couple of small palm-tree-ish plants and maybe some small bamboo shoots?
I know I’m fae, but I’m seriously the worst at identifying plants, so that was my best guess.
“Hello, everyone.” I yanked off my sweater—thankfully I was wearing a plain white shirt underneath.
“Such a casual greeting,” Fell sneered.
“Fine, hello everybody except for King Fell who I specifically do not greet,” I said.
“What?” Fell barked. “That’s rude!”
“Wow, you just can’t be pleased can you?” I asked.
Fell opened his mouth to reply.
Before he could speak, Rigel approached me, standing close enough that our shoulders brushed. He glanced at me, then shifted his gaze to Fell.
A strangled noise escaped Fell’s throat, before he loudly sniffed and looked away.
“Hello, Leila!” Verdant offered me a smile before she took a sip of her tea.
Rime glanced up from her cellphone game long enough to give me a courteous nod.
Consort Flora smiled and stood. “Greetings, Queen Leila, Consort Rigel. Can I get you some tea?”
“I’ll take a small cup, thank you,” I said.
With luck, no one will notice that the tea level in my cup never goes down.
I threw myself on a wooden sofa that was fitted with an orange cushion and blue pillows. Rigel sat next to me—which I hadn’t planned for, so I was hogging most of the couch and didn’t notice him until he nudged my knee aside.
I stared at him as Consort Flora poured tea into a porcelain cup decorated with purple irises.
Is he getting over my love cooties?
As I watched, he casually brushed the ever-present bracers on his forearms and discreetly felt the back of his boot.
Ahh, no. He’s acting as my protective detail.
Rigel carried two daggers—which were actually artifacts—hidden in his bracers, and I knew from experience that he had another small, butterknife sized artifact he could slip into his boot that, when powered by magic, turned into a sword.
Oh well. I can still count it as progress. Or I’m going to count it as progress!
I peered around the beautiful tearoom as Flora set my teacup on a wooden stand positioned in front of the sofa. “Where’s Solis?” I asked, not seeing the sunny Day King.
“Late,” Fell said. “Just like you were.”
“Someone is a sour-faced grump today,” I said.
“What did you call me?”
“Technically I didn’t say you were the sour-faced grump. You decided that on your own.”
I heard the clatter of hooves in the courtyard. Intrigued, I boosted myself off the sofa and prowled out to the patio where I saw Solis—wearing a gold tunic—leap from his sun stallion’s back.
The sun stallion ignored the servant scurrying forward to take care of him and pranced over to Fax and Bagel, who were sharing some hay with Verdant’s stag.
“Hey Solis!” I waved to the Day King.
“Leila, greetings. I’ll be right up,” he called up to me.
“Okay!” I watched as he and a servant disappeared into the innards of the castle.
Indigo and Skye were chatting with a gnome by one of the waterfalls, and Kevin and Steve were playing in a stream that passed by the pergola Comet and Nebula had taken over.
Someone had pulled the saddles off the horses, but I laughed to see that my staff—impossible to miss with its giant moon topper—was leaned against one of the inner support beams and was guarded by Nebula and Comet.
It’ll be safe with them.
I smiled as I returned to the tearoom.
Not long ago I would have hated hanging out with the other monarchs. They’d been toxic.
But things have changed. And things will keep changing, I just have to be patient.
I returned to the sofa and plopped down.
“You should have brought your staff,” Rigel said. His voice was certain, but quiet—like the heavy silence after a fight.
“Haul it up here and show it off in front of all the other monarchs? They’d interpret that as an act of aggression,” I said. “But I don’t totally disagree with you.” I held up my wrist, showing him the charm bracelet I’d gotten from my mom when I was first learning how to use fae magic.
It wasn’t nearly as powerful as my staff, but it was discreet and rested against my skin, so I could activate it and start using magic almost immediately.
Rigel nodded, but the line of his lips said he wasn’t satisfied.
“Are you expecting trouble?” I asked.
“I always expect trouble,” Rigel said. “It’s what keeps me alive if ambushed.”
“I think we’re pretty safe,” I said. “I don’t think anyone here is the one who keeps trying to off me, and with all of us gathered like this, only an idiot would attack us now.”
“Except you’re away from your Court,” Rigel pointed out.
“Yeah, and?”
“You’ve easily been able to ward off outright attacks due to the support of your Court,” Rigel said. “The only time they’ve gotten close was the trap set between our rooms. That’s going to be noticed. Eventually, you’ll be attacked when you’re away from your people, and they’ll do everything they can to put you at a disadvantage.”