As Ariana exited the carriage upon Quinn’s arm with Devi and Curio behind, she gazed up at the heights of the sculpted white marble and granite palace – half-expecting Brightwatch guards to come pouring out of every pristine archway to come arrest her again.
But the Palace of Light with its gossamer butterfly domes, dragonfly minarets, and blooming vines devouring every portico was just the same as it had been the day of her trial. Calm and beautiful, the palace blazed beneath the summer sunlight as a host of gardeners tended greenery around the promenade, making it surge and blossom with their magic. Escorting Ariana up the wide stone steps of the main ingress, Quinn was stately as Fae guards and nobles stared to see the accused from the other day now being escorted straight into the palace.
But as Florence’s Master Vampire and his strongest lieutenants came in through the grand arches of the palace’s entrance, twenty Brightwatch guards in shining armor suddenly did surge forward, lowering long silver-gold pikes to bar their way. Moving so fast Ariana hardly saw them, Curio and Devi surged in, prickling fiercely with power as they placed their palms on those long spears, making eye contact with the guards.
Devi and Curio’s skin sizzled as they contacted the rune-worked silver; through her bond to Quinn, Ariana felt the mind-swaying commands they poured into the Fae guards.See how we burn for you,they thought as the Brightwatch guards trembled beneath the duo’s intense stares.Apparently, it meant something in Fae culture as the guards pulled back with deep nods.
Though they were still wary as the Florence Vampires crossed into the Summer Fae Palace.
Guards surrounded them now as they stepped into the palace proper. More came rushing down ornate marble staircases in the vast foyer of burbling fountains, blossoming vines, and gold-white butterfly domes. But arriving suddenly from an alcove, the Summer Fae High Commander Junius Alterri waved his men and women off with a sharp blast of his power.
Arriving before Ariana and Quinn in an ornate silver- and gold-embroidered military coat, breeches, and boots today rather than armor, Junius stared them down for a tense moment with his vivid emerald-violet eyes. As his purple-green Summer Fae aura flowed all around him with a fierce of sweep wind, Ariana felt his disdainful scrutiny. She hadn’t seen the Brightwatch Commander since that night they’d fought at the waterfall ravine and Quinn and his Dark Haven Vampires had come to join the battle. Quinn and Junius had known each other before Quinn had become a Vampire, and there was no love lost between them.
But as Quinn held Junius’ gaze, perfect as marble in his austere command today, Ariana saw the Brightwatch Commander falter. His blond lashes flickering, Junius broke before Quinn, giving him a deep nod – and Ariana saw the acknowledgement in it, that Quinn had once been his Prince. Junius was one of only a handful of people who knew Quinn had been the Summer Fae Prince Valerio Incendari, son of the old King; gesturing into the central palace, Junius opened his palm now, inviting them in the way visiting royalty deserved. With a nod, Quinn proceeded regally with Ariana on his arm and Devi and Curio behind.
As they entered the domain of the Summer Fae King.
Escorted genteelly through the Palace of Light now by Junius and only a handful of his elite lieutenants, Ariana felt a breath of relaxation finally curl through her. Though she was still wary, their royal escort now was a distinctly different situation than their tense welcome at the entrance, where Ariana and the Vampires had practically needed to bust their way in.
Shown through marble halls and past luscious drawing rooms, Ariana finally got to see the true wealth of the Summer Fae. Their world was insanely opulent; drawing rooms of pure crystal and diamond were accentuated by real peacock feathers woven to create luscious archways and cascading chandeliers. Domes of dragonfly wings topped waterfall atria full of birds, the walls coated in mosses of thirty different varieties. Entire halls had been grown from trees, towering to form domes of latticework out of the highest branches. One gaming hall was made of nothing but blossoming vines all twisting together in a thousand colors, while another was formed of cascading fountains, the shimmering walls of water leaping with Japanese koi fish and blooming with lotus.
The palace was endlessly beautiful; through it all, Ariana felt a wealth of energy flow through the magnificent space. Fae created life from reveling in their environment – and Ariana felt that energy rush all through her now, sighing from every wall and column, every dome and delight. Noblefae in the halls were perfection in their draping gossamer silks and gemstones as they eased back and let Junius and his charges pass. Even the palace household wore the finest attire, their outfits gold and white.
The colors of the Summer Fae King.
Guards on the gilded ashwood doors of the Throne Hall bowed back now as Quinn and Ariana entered. Ariana’s breath caught, as far above and all around, she saw the hall was made of bright white marble with gold and silver veins, ancient twisted vines and dragonfly-gossamer creating a shimmering, breathing space of air and diamond-bright light. Ornate fountains carved like snarling gryphons and soaring Phoenix burbled from every wall, pouring down from upper balconies in patterns that defied the laws of nature.
As Ariana crossed the threshold into that ancient space, like if the Paris opera house met the Roman Coliseum, she saw the chamber was full of Fae in their finest. If she’d thought the outer palace had been busy, the vast rotunda of the Throne Hall was absolutely packed with noblefae milling about and awaiting her impromptu audience with the King. Courtiers were in thick attendance, and heads turned as Quinn and his retinue entered. All eyes were pinned to Ariana as Fae men and women both snapped up fluttering fans to hide their gossip.
As Florence’s Master Vampire and the Dark Fae entered the hall.
Passing through a set of sculpted columns that arched like bird’s wings far up into the rotunda, Ariana was lit suddenly by a beam of sunlight slicing down from the blue summer sky high above. She heard gasps as Quinn escorted her towards the King’s elevated dais at the far end of the hall, though she didn’t know what her magic was doing as she proceeded on and didn’t dare look. She only gazed upwards to the King’s dais now, seeing tiers of private boxes soaring up the sides of the hall for the highest nobility.
Focused on their goal today.
All around, those viewing-boxes were occupied as Ariana came up a set of steps with Quinn, to a platform situated below the King’s dais but above the milling crowd. Fae of the Royal Houses shuttled quickly into seats up the tiers like they were there for a sporting event as a chime like silver bells floated through the hall and people on the main floor crowded close.
As Ariana waited with Quinn upon the low platform with Devi and Curio behind, she watched thirty aged Fae men and women in dark blue gossamer robes take viewing boxes immediately flanking the King’s dais. Silver embroidery decorated their robes; one in a pattern of a rushing river while another had birds in flight, yet another sporting a design that looked like rain in a whipping wind. Ariana knew who they were; the Summer Fae Magistros, filing into their respective boxes as their people settled.
To judge the Dark Fae today – and see if an alliance was merited with the Summer Fae Court.
Something inside Ariana firmed as she took in the Magistros and the noblefae’s stares – loving Quinn’s brilliance in dressing her and the Vampires in modern black attire today as a protest to all that old-magic opulence. She knew there was a dark underbelly to the Summer Fae; darker than any shade of black she could wear, or the darkest part of her aura when it raged.
Suddenly, Ariana knew she, Quinn, and Prince Lucca were the ones to expose everything that was wrong with the Summer Fae as she gazed ahead and watched the King enter the Throne Hall from a side-alcove with Lucca following – in manacles. It caught Ariana’s breath and tugged furiously at her heart as King Archivolio Bellari strode to an enormous golden dragonfly throne rising from the center of the high dais, motioning Lucca to a lesser throne of white and blue beside him like a dog.
As King Bellari waved his court to silence, Lucca stepped to the throne at his father’s side, his manacles swirling with Faeanic sigils of caustic white fire even though they were made of pure gold. Ariana knew Lucca’s manacles were painful, as sad eyes from the Fae Court took in their Prince, paraded in like a prisoner even though he stood at his father’s side.
But as hundreds of Fae silenced in an instant, more Brightwatch guards eased into the hall and held a stern perimeter, Prince Lucca’s blue eyes shining as he stood before his throne. And as he took in Quinn and Ariana standing defiantly regal at the foot of his father’s dais, the smallest smile curled Lucca’s beautiful lips.
The only sound in the hall now was the burbling of fountains as the Summer Fae King stared down at Ariana in silence. King Archivolio Bellari held a thinly veiled hatred in his searing gold eyes as Ariana stared back at him, unflinching. Quinn’s dark fire surged through her veins along with her own magics, and Ariana let her black rainbows truly open up now, cascading around her in the tense silence that flooded the hall.
As noblefae paused all around, watching Ariana’s Dark Fae aura roll out from her like some beautiful, poisonous flower in the bright July morning, they shrank back. And as she stood staring up at the Summer Fae King on his high royal dais from her lowly petitioner’s platform, she was not afraid of his royal, manipulating, brutal presence.
She was pissed – feeling it fill her as she waited to give him hell.
CHAPTER 9 – AUDIENCE
The Summer Fae King Archivolio Bellari was gorgeous in his tall ruthlessness, his entirely gold outfit a royal militaristic 1800’s style with breeches tucked into ornate riding boots. Everything was tooled with vines, and Ariana realized it was the Bellari house crest as the King pinned her with his brutal golden eyes below his level gold brows and above his haughty cheekbones. As she stood strong before his scrutiny, she felt his gaze move to Quinn, who stood just as stalwart beside her. The King’s demeanor was eagle-sharp as he assessed the Master Vampire of Florence, once the old Prince of the Summer Fae. It gave Ariana a moment to truly take in King Bellari’s military-short golden hair, the intensity of his features, and his fiery nature.
