A rattle of the window interrupted my ruminations, and Shea stood to check that the latch was secure.
“That’s odd,” she said, brushing aside the curtains and peering through the glass. “There’s no wind tonight.”
I went to her side and gazed into the darkness, scanning the trees and the shadows they cast. Everything was peaceful and still, the snow sparkling in the brilliant light of the moon and stars. There wasn’t even a whisper of a breeze to explain the noises we’d heard.
“You’re right. No wind. Maybe it died down.”
“That fast?” Shea’s voice was tight, and worry lines furrowed her brow.
“I don’t know.” I opened the window and glanced beneath it for tracks, but couldn’t make out much in the gloom at the base of the house. “I don’t see anything.”
“Do you think I should tell my father? Maybe that hunter—Gray—told the authorities where to find us.”
“It’s not someone coming after your family, Shea. Humans can’t cross the snow without leaving footprints.”
“A Faerie?”
Though my first reaction was to say no, for there was little reason for my kind to travel this far into an unsettled part of the Warckum Territory, I hesitated. Falk’s missing son, for one, might have a desire to leave inhabited areas behind. I squinted and leaned farther out the window than before, my eyes darting back and forth to examine the ground. Might he be stalking me? I was a perfect target for his revenge, which he was sure to be pursuing. Trying to banish the paranoia that roiled inside my chest, I reminded myself that Fae looking for medicinal herbs might likewise travel far afield. At last I answered Shea, who was watching me with furrowed brow.
“I doubt it was a Faerie, although it’s not impossible. Most likely it was just an animal. We can have a look around tomorrow if you want.”
Shea nodded, though the fear did not fade from her eyes.
“There are some Fae who work for the Governor, you know,” she warned.
After refastening the latch and tugging the curtains into place, we slid into our respective beds, and quiet descended upon the room. But try as I might, I couldn’t fall asleep, for an unexpected resentment of Zabriel was growing inside me. Why had he left the Realm of the Fae? How could he have voluntarily abandoned the things for which I was yearning, the things I would miss forever if I couldn’t get home? And since his decision to desert the Fae had at least been voluntary, why couldn’t it have been him to lose his wings and me to retain the option of returning to Chrior? Unable to reconcile the morality of these thoughts, I closed my eyes, my head beginning to ache. I wasn’t aware of falling asleep when a memory so vivid it felt like a living experience exploded across my mind.
* * *
The Great Redwood was filled to capacity with warm bodies and joyful noise, so full that not an echo could be heard despite the tree’s magnificent size. It was our beloved Queen Ubiqua’s birthday, and she celebrated with food and revelry for all Faefolk, preferring to give rather than to receive. Her blue eyes scanned the crowd, and she smiled graciously, nodding greetings here and there. But when her gaze landed on a particular individual, her smile became as bright as a sunbeam.
At my side, Ione tracked my aunt’s line of sight. We were holding hands, and she tugged at my arm to draw my attention to Zabriel. His grin was vivid and contagious; he loved celebrations, the opportunity to meet new people. His dark brown eyes were alive with the fever of excitement, and his presentation was exquisite. Some of the Fae doubted he would be able to command our people because of his lack of an elemental connection, but it was times like these I realized how wrong the naysayers were. To see him was to want to be near him; to speak to him was to fall under his spell. He needed no magic for that.
Ione’s face was flushed, but not from the warmth or the Sale. My cousin was trim, well dressed, and well-groomed, undeniably handsome with a crown of berries around his head, and Ione was in awe of him. In the spirit of the evening, I shoved her toward him; to her mortification, she bumped into his shoulder.
Zabriel steadied her, glancing automatically behind her. When he caught my eye, I winked, and he loosed his warm, rich laugh. He took Ione’s hand and spun her in a dance. Her halo of blond hair shone in the light. Girls watching whispered and fidgeted enviously.
A moment later, hands playfully covered my eyes, blinding me. A kiss to my cheek and an arm that spun me into an elegant twirl left no question who was responsible—in Davic’s hands, it was impossible not to dance well.
Dipped into a graceful back bend, I gazed upside down at the line of thrones and chairs against the wall of the Redwood. My father raised his eyebrows at me, and I giggled, pointing him out to Davic when he pulled me up and into his arms. My dance partner grinned shamelessly and sent a dramatic bow in my father’s direction. The Lord of the Law chuckled and waved a hand of dismissal toward us.
The chair next to my father’s was empty, though it had earlier been occupied by Enerris, Queen Ubiqua’s brother, who was probably mingling with the revelers. One more seat down, my cousin Illumina watched the party with wide, cautious eyes. She would not leave her chair, let alone dance.
“Anya!”
Immediately recognizing Ione’s voice, I took Davic’s hand, leading the way through the crowd to my best friend. Though she hadn’t been particularly loud, something in her tone had pierced through the gleeful noise and struck a chord in me. She needed me.
At first glance, everything seemed fine, but as I came closer, I saw that Zabriel was in conversation with Enerris. The Queen’s older brother was silver haired and wizened, taller and more physically imposing than my cousin, and his presence cast Zabriel’s untouchable glow of youth into shadow. I didn’t know what was going on between uncle and nephew, only that it was unlikely to be good.
“You’re not a boy anymore,” Enerris said to Zabriel in his deep rumble. “The people are beginning to remark upon your qualifications as a ruler.”
“I’m aware of that,” Zabriel replied, irritation in his voice. Enerris seldom let him forget.
“Then take the opportunity to show that you are one of us.”
Zabriel’s face grew suspicious. “And what would you suggest, Uncle?”
Enerris smiled and extended a bark mug to my cousin, and I knew with a seizing of my heart that Zabriel would not refuse. I glanced wildly about for someone who could stop him, then moved toward him myself. Extending an arm to ward me off, my cousin took the mug in his elegant, long-fingered hands. Before I could speak, he raised it in a toast and put it to his lips, downing the Sale in one draught.
“Zabriel!”
The scream cut through the celebrations, bringing the music to a discordant halt. Confused murmurs whirred through the Redwood, and a ripple began in the crowd as Faefolk made way for the Queen and her Lord of the Law. Enerris backed away from his nephew, but Ubiqua caught his movement.
“Seize him!” she ordered, and my father obeyed, twisting Enerris’s arms behind his back while the Queen hastened to her only child.
“Mother, I’m all right!” Zabriel averred, horrified by the scene.
Her eyes wild, Ubiqua struck him across the face with the back of her hand. Zabriel staggered, his dark eyes shocked and betrayed—his mother had never, never hit him before. But this time he had gambled with his life. Queen Ubiqua had forbidden him ever to consume Sale, afraid that with his human blood, the drink would poison him. In an hour, or two, or twelve, he could be dead.
Ubiqua clutched at him in a panic; then her wrath found Enerris. I saw in her cold expression that forgiveness of her brother would never come, and I leaned against Davic as his arms encircled me protectively. This night, the world had changed.