“Are you really a member of the Brightwatch? Or are you simply a spy with the way you sneak around constantly?” She asked archly as she turned to him, startled by his arrival with the crown still in her hands.
“I’m neither Brightwatch nor spy, though I sometimes serve as both.” Alleno chuckled as his emerald eyes flashed with a subtle humor now at her quip. Moving forward, he took the crown deftly from Ariana’s hands and set it atop her hair, then with far nimbler fingers than she would have expected from a swordsman, began twining her hair up into it. “I am the Prince’s personal bodyguard. But as you’ve seen, he’s quite capable on his own. He’s not really needed me to guard his person for a few hundred years now, so I am his eyes and ears in situations where he cannot be, and his hands.”
Finishing his task, Alleno nodded Ariana to a tall mirror embraced by the tree’s trunk. Turning, she blinked to discover her long red waves had been elegantly twisted into the crown, held back from her face but cascading down her back. As she admired it, Alleno stepped to her dressing-table and fetched a silver case of makeup, beginning to apply it for her. Ariana held still as he worked – a slightly amused but deadly focused look on his face.
“Where is Prince Lucca?” Ariana asked, sensing that the treehouse was silent except for the wind and birds, normal sounds of a deep forest morning.
“At Court already.” Alleno spoke calmly as he worked, focused. “His father had need of him this morning. Prince Lucca will be at your trial with the Magistros, however. But his father the King is not expected to attend, as he has other matters of state today.”
“So I still won’t meet my Summer Fae King.” Ariana spoke as she frowned, and with a gentle touch, Alleno smoothed her brow so he could continue applying her makeup.
“Count yourself lucky.” Alleno spoke as he finished up, nodding for her to step into a pair of low heels that looked woven from sunlight and dew. “The King is not a person to be trifled with, and it is better if the Magistros only report the outcome of your case to him rather than him be present for it.”
“Why?” Ariana asked, curious as she stepped into her shoes.
“Because King Archivolio Bellari knows his Fae law, and is merciless in the courtroom as an examiner.” Alleno glanced at her with a dark look now as he gestured down the winding staircase inside the tree. “A close ally of the old King, Aurelio Incendari, he was once brutal in finding lawful ways to support our previous King’s tyrannical diplomacy in the Twilight Realm. It is partly why the War of Rome happened. Like Prince Lucca, I believe it is why unrest continues within the Summer Fae now.”
“So basically, if the King was there for my trial, you’re saying I would lose.” Ariana commented, frowning.
“Most likely, yes.” But Alleno said no more as they came to the dining table in the upper solar, and Ariana found it laden with a delicious breakfast, including lightly fried squash blossoms and roasted pheasant with hazelnuts, plus quail eggs in a spicy red sauce with boar sausage. Ariana’s eyebrows rose at the spread, far more than she could possibly eat.
Glancing at Alleno as he pulled her chair out, she shook her head. “Did you make all this?”
“I am a Fae of many talents.” He smiled in a pleased way as he took a seat also, then gestured to the food. “Please, eat. You may not be able to have anything more until after sunset tonight. And we are not in a rush.”
“Don’t need to tell me twice.” Ariana stated as Alleno poured coffee and mixed it with cream and sugar. As she loaded up her plate, being careful to not get anything on her gown, Ariana watched Alleno take a hearty breakfast also. “So, you’re like, a servant and bodyguard and spy all rolled into one?”
“Something like that.” He chuckled as he began to eat, eyeing her with humor in his piercing green eyes. “I’m part of the Darkwatch.”
“What’s that? Like the King’s Brightwatch?” Ariana asked.
“Close, but different.” Alleno spoke as he sipped his coffee. “The Darkwatch are an ancient sect of Summer Fae raised from birth to serve the Royal Houses. We don’t necessarily serve the King, we serve the House we are assigned to – though since the King’s from a Royal House, he has Darkwatch of his own. I was born into a family that participates in the Darkwatch, so once I came of age, I was assigned to protect, serve, and act as the eyes and ears for my Royal – Prince Lucca, in his twenties just after his father became King.”
“You two seem close.” Ariana hedged as she sipped her coffee, wondering about Lucca and Alleno’s connection. “Are you two…?”
“Intimate?” Blinking his emerald eyes in surprise, Alleno let out a short laugh. “No, gods no. I’m Lucca’s second-cousin on his mother’s side – Lucca’s mother Lauria was from House Massi. Royal House Bellari and Royal House Massi have strong ties, and I knew Lucca when he was young, though I’m fifteen years older. I have been with Lucca his entire life. And will be, until one or the other of us dies.”
“He listens to you.” Ariana spoke casually as she ate, though she watched Alleno closely as she recalled now that House Massi was one of the Thirteen Royal Houses of the Summer Fae from her history studies. It put Alleno and Lucca’s strangely casual relationship in a whole new light, to know they were family.
“He does.” Alleno nodded soberly, his steel-green eyes alert as he watched her also. “My Darkwatch duties include acting as an advisor to the one I serve, and so I must constantly educate myself, so that I can advise Lucca to my utmost ability.”
“Which is why you’re so well-read on Fae law, the Forbidden Lineages, and so on.” Ariana pressed.
“Perhaps.” Alleno chuckled now, though his green eyes flashed like blades. Setting his silver fork and knife down, Alleno wiped his lips with an embroidered napkin, staring her down. “Faeadonna. Lucca is a man of many interests. And what he is most interested in, is doing right by his people. He and his father do not see eye-to-eye on a great many things, and the treatment of the Forbidden Lineages these past six hundred years, including the Dark Fae, are among them. But Lucca is not a man without backing among the Summer Fae. Certain circles believe as he believes. Circles we hope to arouse today… by letting the public see you, and hear the story of your innocence.”
Blinking in shock, Ariana set her fork and knife down. “It was Prince Lucca who insisted my trial be public today, wasn’t it? So that Fae who support him against his father would see me and become more sympathetic to Lucca’s cause. He’s using me today to further his own aims.”
Closing her eyes, Ariana felt everything inside her drop through her feet as she finally understood her position. Her appetite for food vanished as it all came crashing together, why Lucca had cared so much about getting her this trial today. Pushing her plate away, Ariana crossed her arms as she stared Alleno down, a dark roil of energy cascading off of her in the bright day. Part of her felt sick that Lucca was using her for his revolution already – but part of her wasn’t surprised. Both the Summer Fae Prince and Quindici DaPonti had made it plain they desired to use her power for their own games.
And now she finally saw both sides of it.
“Lucca sincerely wishes you to win your case, Ariana.” Alleno spoke quietly now, though his green eyes were sharp and he did not refute her discovery. “But the public must see how unreasonable his father’s laws have grown. You are an innocent in our damnable politics, and that will become obvious during your trial today, Lucca is certain of it. You do not deserve the King’s harsh judgement. And Lucca honestly does wish for you to win your case. He’s… attentive with you in a way I haven’t seen him be with someone in a very long while.” Alleno spoke thoughtfully now as he sat back in his chair.
“He’s a Prince. I’m sure he gets as muchattentionas he wants.” Ariana was berating herself now for basically having swooned into Lucca’s arms last night when he’d stolen into her rooms at the Hotel, and again after they flew here. Once they’d delved into law all night, they’d simply seemed like a good team, his effect upon her wearing off as they worked. But this morning, the whole damn thing soured Ariana, and she wondered if quite literally sweeping her off her feet was all just part of Lucca’s plan.
To get her to spark a revolution against his father.
“But if you’re Lucca’s man, and his cousin, why tell me this?” Ariana scoffed as she stared Alleno down now, wondering if he had some secret agenda to throw her off her game today in court.
