Page 26 of The Crown the Fae Forgot
There, seated across the street, was Vestele. It wasn’t an unusual sight. She always seemed to be close, always seemed to be waiting, watching, ready to fulfill my any whim or wantas quickly as she was to report to her master, Lady Phyrra. But today, unlike all the other days, she was not alone.
Two other fae stood beside her, their shoulders hunched close enough that though we couldn’t see their faces, it was clear enough that they were speaking. They shared a few surreptitious glances over their shoulders, checking to see if anyone was watching them before they all nodded together, as if coming to an agreement, and then split apart. Vestele remained in her seat, my watchful guardian waiting for me, while the other two shambled off down the street, hands in their pockets, pretending to be on some kind of casual, purposeless stroll.
“Those three have been out there whispering to each other all night,” Zev said, drawing our attention back to where he stood like a sentinel, towering over the other two fae in the door. “Lady Phyrra may have promised to help us, but she’s not taking any chances. She must think there’s a chance we’re going to run.”
“Which, of course, means there’s plenty of reason for ustorun,” Shiel said, almost absentmindedly. His brow had furrowed slightly, his eyes taking on that glazed-over look that they did when he was lost in thought, his mind far from the doorway in which he actually stood. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to prepare for the worst. But in case Lady Phyrradoesplan to betray us, it would be best if she didn’t know.”
“And that brings us back to why Aurra should be anywherebutthe house this morning,” Zev said. “We bring her out, get her a little lost in the crowd, keep those three goons occupied while you get things ready just in case, Shiel.”
I expected some kind of push back from Shiel at being ordered around, but to my surprise, he just nodded, that look in his eyes sharpening as he returned to us.
“Good thinking, Zev.”
Finch let out a small whine. “I’m the one who suggested it in the first place.”
Shiel shot him a look, and the red in Finch’s cheeks only deepened. Any further disagreement died in the whimper-like sound that forced its way up the back of his throat.
Even more to my surprise, Shiel turned to me next.
“And you, Aurra? What do you think?”
I was lost for words for a moment.
It was new, this…being included in Shiel’s plans. It was a small miracle to be told them, let alone actually asked myopinion.
I had half a mind to be contrary just for the sake of it, to test Shiel’s resolution to include me in the decision-making here, but as fun as that might be…I knew better. There would be better times to test the lord’s patience.
Here, on the brink of so much, where my very life might be on the line, wasnotone of those times.
I took one second to look over the three fae waiting for my answer in the door, allowing myself to admire, just for a moment, how much had changed from the first moment they appeared in my life. It was more than my life that had changed, more thanmewho had changed. They’d changed too.
A strange new sensation welled up in me, a feeling that I was so unfamiliar with that it took me another moment to understand what it was that I felt.
These three fae, with all their flaws, had become more than the fae that had happened to find me, happened to save me, to take a chance on me to save their own precious court.
These three fae were my family.
And with their help, I might one day have the power to reclaim the only remaining part of that family that was missing. It was all I could do to keep the thick knot of emotion forming in the back of my throat from choking me.
“We go with Zev’s plan,” I said, nodding my own agreement. “Lady Phyrra wants a show? Well then, let’s give her one.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
It wasn’t a verycomplicated plan.
It wasn’t exactly as if we needed much to create a diversion. The Midsommar festival, now in full swing, provided plenty of that.
I would have been hardernotto get lost in the crowd. As it was, it was taking a significant amount of effort to make sure that Vestele and the other two fae that had been assigned to tail us were actually, in fact, continuing to tail us—and not doubling back in time to catch Shiel’s last-minute preparations should we find ourselves needing to make a second hasty exit from another fae’s court.
It would be nice, after all, not to find ourselves completely unarmed and unprepared for a second time in as many weeks.
For the celebrations, the Southern fae had decorated all the streets with colorful lanterns, flags, and garlands of flowers strung overhead. The already colorful court now exploded into a near dizzying display, made all the more fantastic by the illusion magic that dripped from everything from the birds swooping overhead on glittering wings, to the fish that darted between the narrow canals, now enchanted to school in recognizable shapes.
Nowhere was there a bland spot to look at. Zev, Finch, and I explored amongst the crowded court streets, taking in all the new vendor stands full of flowers, food, and festive items. Vestele and the others followed us from a distance but we did our best to ignore them, at least, as much as theycouldbe ignored while still being kept at the end of our proverbial leash.
Finch’s head hung low, annoyance tinging the slope of his brows. More than once I caught him muttering something about “my plan”, but neither Zev nor I paid him any attention—and the fact that him only seemed to drive him more crazy brought us both a near euphoric glee that had me stifling a giggle the rest of the way as we wound through the crowd.
At Shiel’s suggestion, we sought out a clothier’s stall and purchased me a ready-made gown more fitting for the Southern Court’s festivities. While Vestele and the others were preoccupied with waiting for me to try on the flamboyant new dresses, Zev quietly purchased a couple changes of clothes far more suited to a sudden flight. One of these he slipped to me, a pair of breeches and a shirt far more suitable than anything I’d travelled in thus far, and which—thanks to the overflowing nature of this court’s fashions—fitted quite nicely beneath my new costume.
