Standing in the foyer of the Palace of Light the next morning, Ariana tried to not fret as ten Brightwatch guards kept glancing her way. Dressed in flowy emerald-green riding pants and russet boots, a white silk shirt plus her ornate black diamond and onyx jewelry, Ariana couldn’t help but stew about Quinn as she waited for her outing with Prince Lucca. Devi had gotten Ariana ready today, and though Ariana had asked about Quinn, the supermodel Vampiress had only said briskly that he was busy meeting Masters this morning. Quinn had not been there to see Ariana off, and she’d been dropped off alone to wait for Lucca. Now, she resisted pacing as noblefae wandered by in impeccable finery and gemstones.
Casting intrigued glances at her as they whispered.
“Ms. Summers! Forgive me for keeping you waiting!”
As Prince Lucca’s clarion voice rang down a stairwell to her left, Ariana turned – to see the Summer Fae Prince come jogging down the gilded marble staircase with a pleased smile. A beaming light was in his eyes and Ariana found herself speechless as he arrived, dressed casually in light grey riding breeches and dark grey boots, a flowing Fae-silk shirt, and a wide silver-blue sash at his waist like a pirate. Silver and gold cuffs adorned Lucca’s wrists, a matching torque around his neck and men’s rings with fire-opals upon his fingers. His short ash-blond hair was a glorious mess, his summer-blue eyes blazing as his beautiful aura of rainbows and light swirled all around her.
Ariana felt her worries evaporate as Lucca took up her hands and kissed them, pinning her with his brightly carnal gaze. Something about Lucca’s roguishness was such a welcome contrast to Quinn’s dark decadence, and it alleviated Ariana’s worries like a gust of fresh air as she felt her entire body breathe. As he took her in, watching her stare at him, Lucca beamed more; Ariana’s life sparkled with light as he suddenly laughed.
A gregarious, musical laugh she could get lost in.
“Well, we could stand here and stare at each other all morning while my father’s guards look on,” he chuckled as he winked at her, “but I do have a day in Florence planned for us. It seems Quinn has dressed you as per my request. Shall we stroll around the palace grounds before we head into the city?”
“Sure.” As Lucca briskly tucked her hand upon his arm, Ariana felt everything inside her brighten. As nobles in the palace stared, she and Lucca exited the main building through a side-ingress rather than heading back out to the promenade. Meandering through an outdoor causeway of latticed marble vaults draped with morning-glory and festooned with white fountains and benches, she saw more noblefae sitting and reading. Outside now, they came into a campus-like area as ornately sculpted as the palace but with buildings of lesser decoration all around.
“None of these buildings exist in the human world. What are they?” Ariana asked as she nodded around.
“This area is known as Palace Central.” Lucca commented as he nodded to a palace servant who bustled by in white and gold silks. “Florence has its own city-center, but when the Summer Fae Court took up residence here after the War of Rome, we expanded the auxiliary palace that was already here to make this our hub of Faedom in the Twilight Realm. This is where our University resides; we’re passing through the Scuola Antiquaria right now, where young Fae lords and ladies come to learn our oldest arts and history. The Scuola Arcanum is to your left, where those with aptitude study advanced magic like medicine, architecture, and botany. And the Scuola Vibrato is ahead to our right, where Fae learn sigildry, our most delicate and hyper-advanced magical study.”
Gazing around, Ariana saw few people dressed in anything less than the finest silks and gems as they studied in the extensive park and its surrounding buildings, many of them practicing magic. “Are they all from High and Royal Houses?”
“Yes.” Lucca spoke as he led her down a gravel walk away from the university area now. “Fae of the Lower Houses are not permitted to study at the Scuoli. There are tradescraft schools elsewhere in Florence, where they go if they have enough magic.”
“Do any Fae of the Lower Houses have magic enough to attend the Scuoli?” Ariana asked as they came into a well-tended area of forest, leaving the university complex behind as the way opened up into more ornately sculpted grounds. All around, bright green moss shone in the summer’s day, trees grown into fanciful shapes with luminous white flowers sprouting up from the forest floor.
“Many of the Lower Houses have strong enough magic to attend the Scuoli, yes.” Lucca glanced at her with a glint in his eyes now as they passed through the trees. “But because of their lesser birth, my father’s laws only permit them to go into coarse schools of magic, even if they test high enough to attend the Scuola Vibrato.”
As Ariana cocked her head, digesting that unfairness in the King’s edicts, they came into an area of the palace complex where towering rotundas were connected by extensive promenades and vaulted outdoor walkways. Like the Foro Romano, it was sprawling and immense, with shining flagstone piazzas surrounding ornate fountain-works. Everything inlaid with gold and silver, it seemed like an extension of the palace as Fae came and went dressed in vastly more ornate fashion than the younger folk in the university area.
These were the crème de la crème of the Summer Fae, Ariana knew; mingling around fountains and benches, everyone gave her an extremely alert eyeball as she walked through with Lucca. After they nodded to their Prince, groups instantly turned, beginning to gossip as they snuck glances at Ariana. The nobility of the High and Royal Houses, Ariana could almost feel the Fae rumor mill churn as idle lords and ladies discreetly followed them now. Drifting after Ariana and Lucca like they didn’t care, the Summer Fae were basically trailing in their wake. Straightening her spine, Ariana walked tall, ignoring it though their stares and whispers prickled an animal sense inside her, making her magic churn in a tight cascade around her now.
But as Lucca caressed her hand, a wicked smile beaming from him that she had so easily caught the noblefae’s attention, Ariana spied a rotunda with ornately-fashioned statues of heroes riding stately antelopes and stags flanking the walk. As they came closer, she saw the rotunda was straight out of ancient Rome with its stalwart beauty and detailed colonnade.
Within, dragonfly-gossamer buttresses raised to the sky around a central space with a dirt floor. Grooms led two beasts out, an antelope and a stag already saddled and bridled as they made a beeline for their Prince. With a blink, Ariana realized the rotunda was a stable and that their outfits were actually for riding today as Lucca nodded to the grooms. As the two absolutely beautiful creatures were led forward, Ariana smiled as she understood they were going to do one of her favorite pastimes.
Though not in a way she had ever done it before.
“Quinn said you can ride, shall we venture into the city?” Lucca asked as they both received riding crops and he stroked the nose of the tall grey ten-point stag, patting its neck like they were old friends. Lucca’s beast wore a sky-blue and silver bridle and harness with a matching Fae-style saddle, while Ariana’s was a lovely white female antelope with elegant corkscrewing horns and black and gold trappings.
As Ariana nodded with a grin, Lucca held her antelope and she mounted up. Stroking the creature’s withers, she let the beast get used to her as Lucca mounted his powerful grey stag. As he wheeled it around, raising his eyebrows, Ariana found her antelope already prancing with her ears perked forward.
“Miritain likes you.” Lucca smiled as he guided his stag to Ariana’s side, then nodded the grooms off. “We weren’t sure how she’d take to a Dark Fae, but she’s generally pleasant and spirited, so it seemed a good match.”
“What’s your stag called?” Ariana asked as they rode down the marble promenade at a brisk walk, noblefae bowing and curtseying to their Prince as Lucca nodded back. But she saw how all eyes flicked up to watch the Dark Fae, as more whispers were exchanged behind fluttering silk fans. As they rode out of the coliseum area between a pair of wrought-iron gates and guards saluted Lucca with their pikes, the marble promenade transitioned to gravel. Following a quiet walk between the trees in a deeper part of the parkland, they left the palace complex as they rode towards the city of Florence.
“My stag’s named Soot.” Lucca glanced over, grinning at Ariana as he patted the stag’s withers and it tossed its head. “You’d think it’s because he’s grey, but it’s actually because he loved rolling in ashes when he was a baby. He’d jump out of his stall, go anyplace there had been a summer bonfire recently, and roll in it for hours until we tracked him down. Strange little thing. But very reliable during war games. Your antelope… not so much.”
“So I get the prissy afternoon palfrey while you get the warhorse – warbeast?” Ariana joked lightly as she grinned at Lucca and he grinned back. But she wasn’t about to be classed as a poor rider; kicking her antelope’s withers and giving a flick of her riding crop, Ariana made the little beast perk – then bound out along the gravel way at a breakneck speed. The creature’s bounding was fast and Ariana had to hold on tight at the unfamiliar motion; but she heard Lucca’s astonished laugh, then the thunder of hooves behind her as she raced along the gravel way.
Ariana’s spirits were blithe as they pulled neck-to-neck on the straightaway, leaping hard to win the race. Not wanting to founder her antelope, Ariana reigned in at a pair of gilded lampposts where the palace way transitioned to a cobbled city avenue. But she had won, and Lucca saluted her as he pulled his big stag alongside, shaking his head.
“Well, I guess you know your way around a horse – beast.” Grinning like a brigand, Lucca’s energy soared in a cascade of rainbows all around.
“I guess so.” Ariana grinned back, as she nodded at the cobbled avenue. “Lead on, my Prince. Wherever we’re headed.”
“It’s Lucca to you. Always.” He spoke with a deviant delight now, heated after their race.
Laughing, Ariana kept pace as they crossed a bridge over the Arno River; all around, the city of Florence sparkled with activity as they entered it. Chestnut and truffle oak grew along the cobbled avenues with wild beds of flowers, fountains of Fae and gargoyles watering it all. Ornate Italian Renaissance buildings carved with frescoes had red tile roofs blending into butterfly-wing atriums and vaulted structures of moss and vines, crystal and stained glass. As they walked their mounts on, other noblefae out for a ride nodded to their liege, folk along the avenues bowing. Manticore carriages passed at a respectable distance around their Prince and the Dark Fae.
