Before she glanced once more to Lucca.
Gorgeous in a sky-blue 1800’s military-style jacket embroidered with gold, Lucca’s breeches were dark grey, his matching boots tooled with vines from his House crest. His ash-blond hair rakishly styled, his gaze was intense as it pinned Ariana; and also deliciously lecherous as he took in her darkly erotic Vampire couture.
For the first time, Ariana saw the resemblance between father and son as the Summer Fae King and Prince stood together upon their high platform. While Lucca was just as intense as his father and just as haughtily striking, he was both calmer and more smolderingly beautiful than the King. And as Lucca lifted a straight eyebrow that she was still staring at him rather than attending to the King, Ariana realized the biggest difference between Lucca and his father.
That Lucca had a sense of humor – while his father decidedly didn’t.
“Master Quindici DaPonti of the Dark Haven of Florence and his Dark Fae. Be welcome at the Summer Fae High Court.” King Bellari spoke at last, his searing golden aura boiling slowly around him in the already hot morning.
“She has a name.” Quinn spoke mildly, flicking his gaze gently to Ariana as the subtlest smile ever lifted his full lips.
“Ms. Ariana Summers, Dark Fae.” The King spoke with a growl in his voice now as his golden aura flashed, searing. “Be welcome in my Court.”
“My King.” Ariana spoke politely, inclining her head though she did not bow. She was no longer one of King Bellari’s subjects, and while it could be argued that she never had been as a Dark Fae, she knew she didn’t have to bow to him now.
Nor would she.
Hushed whispers broke out behind fluttering fans as the noblefae noticed this slight. Quinn and Ariana weren’t being confrontational, but neither would they bend the knee to the King – and the Summer Fae noted it, gossiping all around as Ariana felt their intense rumor mill begin. She knew now that the Fae rumor mill was everything in their society; Ariana smiled as she heard it start. Speculation was already running rampant on why they were here today, invited by the King himself even though he’d been after Ariana’s head just three weeks ago.
And probably wanted Quinn’s also – if he could ever get it some dark, moonless night.
“I did not think you would come today, Quindici.” The Summer Fae King started over from his high position of power as he gazed down upon Quinn with piercing gold eyes. “Considering your history here at this Court.”
“Can I help it if your summons intrigued me, my King,” Quinn answered as he stood regally at Ariana’s side, “and made me curious?”
“One might think you’d had your fill of curiosity,” the King spoke with a derisive snort as his full lips curled up in a sneer. “Six hundred years back.”
“Clearly it was not enough,” Quinn spoke with glib panache now though his dark eyes glittered dangerously as the Summer Fae King alluded to his past – of how Quinn and Lucca had gone seeking to become Dark Fae long ago and failed. “Curiosity is ever my weakness, my King, and today you have exploited it. For you are reconsidering your stance on our dear friend Ms. Summers and what relationship she might have to her original Court, is it not so? Which is why we are here today, kindly escorted by your loyal Brightwatch,” Quinn smiled as he nodded his head to Commander Alterri, hovering nearby with a tall gilded spear. “Or am I mistaken?”
As the Summer Fae King gazed down upon them now, Ariana felt his gilded aura churn through the hall. Far up on his dais, the King was stewing that Quinn was perhaps a far more clever negotiator than he – and publicly losing face to Quinn’s subtly glib tongue was not something Archivolio Bellari could permit today. As his eyes flashed gold-white, barely-contained fury in his aura, Ariana knew he’d wanted to break Quinn down publicly today in the Throne Hall before going into their private audience. But she saw Archivolio Bellari change his mind now as he set his jaw.
Then flick his fingers at a palace servant in gold and white livery waiting at the foot of the dais. “Show them to my Butterfly Solar. We shall have breakfast. Lucca, come.”
Ariana seethed inside as King Bellari treated his son and Prince-heir like a dog yet again, flicking his fingers imperiously at Lucca and then turning on his heel and striding from the dais. With a biting humor, Lucca lifted an eyebrow at Ariana then followed his father, maneuvering elegantly across the dais despite his caustic manacles. As hushed talk erupted amongst the Summer Fae, Ariana knew it was both a win and a loss that the King had so abruptly departed. She had not had a chance to use her powers to influence the Summer Fae Court, but neither had she and Quinn been embarrassed by whatever King Bellari had wanted to say to them.
As the King’s elite butler beckoned, Quinn put Ariana’s hand to his arm, escorting her through a side-alcove at the foot of the dais. Egressing from the Throne Hall as Devi and Curio silently followed, they were trailed by only four guards now as the butler led Ariana and Quinn away from the crowd. Moving through a long hall, they came to a solar of towering crystal spires interwoven with endless varieties of orchids. As they entered, Ariana was astonished to see thousands of live butterflies moving gently around the humid, almost tropical space.
As Curio and Devi nodded to Quinn, taking up positions flanking the doors outside with the Brightwatch guards, the butler led Ariana and Quinn to a gilded ashwood table set with an opulent breakfast. As Ariana sat in the chair the butler pulled out, she felt how her energy was soothed here, like something free breathed through her in a vibrant summer wind. It was intoxicating; as she glanced at Quinn, seated beside her as the butler departed and closed the doors, he lifted an eyebrow.
“Your Light energy is rising, strongly.” Quinn spoke quietly as they waited. All around, the hall burbled with fountains and the whisper of butterfly wings as Ariana inhaled the humid air.
“This space… invigorates me. The entire palace does.” She spoke back as they waited. “I can actually feel myself generating energy the longer I enjoy it.”
“Revelry.” Quinn nodded with a knowing look. “The Fae side of your magic is strengthening to be in its natural environment.”
But they had no more time to speak as a herald by the doors suddenly announced the Summer Fae King and Prince entering. As Ariana and Quinn pushed back their chairs, standing to receive the Fae monarchs, Ariana’s breath was stolen by Lucca’s arrival.
No longer clad in manacles, Lucca was resplendent in his blue and gold attire as he swept in after his father, though the King was like a golden thundercloud as he came briskly to the head of the table. As he sat with Lucca at his right, Ariana and Quinn resumed their seats, Ariana across from Lucca now as she sat next to Quinn.
“Master DaPonti.” King Bellari spoke without preamble as he snapped out a gold-embroidered napkin and thrust it in his lap. As he did, ten servants flowed forward in the hall, uncovering gilded platters and hovering beside each guest with coffee and spirits as others prepared to serve their plates.
While Ariana had dined in exquisite company in the art world, she’d never sat at a King’s table; she nodded embarrassedly at what looked like boysenberry brioche French toast, bacon, and eggs Benedict plus espresso with cream and sugar. Everything was immediately arranged on her plate and her coffee served promptly. Everyone else was being served also, and as the commotion finally settled, Ariana realized Quinn was waiting for the King to take his first bite, so she waited also. As the King finally began to eat, the servers melted back to the walls out of earshot, before Lucca began to eat, then Quinn and Ariana.
“Your Majesty. Thank you for agreeing to meet us on such short notice.” Quinn spoke with cordial manners now and his best fellow-well-met calm. But it was both a pleasantry and a barb at the King’s sudden audience, which might have caught Quinn unprepared had he not planned a thousand scenarios for just such an occasion. Ariana saw the King’s eyes blaze as he lifted his head sharply, staring at Quinn. But Quinn was peaceable as he lifted his cappuccino cup. “Your espresso is very nice. My congratulations.”
“It had better be.” The King spoke bluntly as he continued to eat. “It comes from my own shade-grown stock here on Summer Fae lands.”
“Incomparable.” Quinn nodded as he took a gracious sip, though his dark eyes shone with mischief. “My own Florentine Vampires could make no better.”
