“Well, if you can manage two conversations at once, I was hoping that we could all go for a walk on the grounds before the feast starts,” Alex suggested.
My hand squeezed his. “I’d love that.”
We spent three hours walking the castle grounds. Although I’d wanted to get out of Faerie before, I had to admit that downtime was necessary.
Diana stopped by for a bit and asked to speak with Tabitha. As I had to act as the conduit, it was awkward, but that was okay. The headmistress’ daughter needed closure, and now that we were friends, I was happy to be the one to give it to her. Plus, it was nice being around friends who loved each other, and witnessing that love.
I wanted to soak in the pleasantness of the day. The moments of stillness, of laughter between my friends and me, had become far too rare. And as we sat on the grass and talked about everything we’d seen the last few days, everything we’d learned, everything we wanted to do, it refilled my well with hope.
While I would treasure forever those few hours that we bonded and laughed on the castle lawn in Faerie, I was also a little relieved when the feast began. The act of moving on, of driving toward our goal, was something I’d become familiar with. Sometimes, I even craved it.
Finally, after tonight, we would leave this realm to return to our world.
With that in mind, I entered Wild Rapids Hall with open eyes, trying to take it all in. Alex’s arm looped through mine, and already, though the feast had just started, people were dancing.
“Is this normal?” I gestured to the dance floor.
Alex shrugged. “I thought it was just a meal, but clearly, I was wrong.”
Sana swept up beside us, her arm wrapped through Volwin’s, her guard.
And now possibly more,I eyed the closeness of the pair.
“A feast is neverjusta feast in the Riverlands,” her hand twirled through the air. “Don’t think either of you are getting out of here tonight without stepping on the dance floor. The queen will insist.”
“We can do that.” I turned my attention to Volwin. “It’s good to see you again. When did you return?”
He bowed, to which I returned a poor curtsy that made Sana break out in giggles.
“Today,” Volwin replied. “We returned to the academy this morning with Headmistress Cristala. She’s been conferring with the queen ever since.”
He gestured to the opposite side of the room, where the queen and the fae headmistress hovered over something at the queen’s table, their heads close together.
“Did you gather a lot of fae?” I asked, because I couldn’t help myself.
“Not as many as we wished,” Volwin’s smile turned to a frown. “It seems that many of the most powerful fae in the human realm believe that, because they have Faerie to retreat to, they are safe. It’s cowardly, but also difficult to blame them. They know that their monarchs would not refuse them refuge. Nor could the kings or queens really demand that they fight. That being said, unless they attended one of the fae-specific academies, many have never trained to fight anyway.”
“A lot of fae and demi-fae use their talents to be models and singers and such,” Sana agreed, placing a soft hand on Volwin’s bicep, probably to call him down.
“We’ll figure it out,” I said, though the hope inside me had deflated a little at his admission. “Have fun, you two. For now, I’d like to sit.”
The pair waved as they returned to the dance floor.
Alex wove us through an ocean of mingling fae. When I spotted the table at which Hunter and Eva sat with a waving Ayla and her less excitable guard Luvon, I pointed it out.
“Is there space at this table?” Alex asked as we approached the group.
“Duh,” Ayla said. “I’ve been trying to catch your attention for five minutes! Do you know how many people we had to turn away?”
“Uh . . . no?” Alex answered seriously, making me twist away to hide my smile.
“Well let me tell you! There were more people than wanted to sit at the royal table!” Ayla exclaimed as if she could barely believe it. “And that’swithPrince Halad released from the infirmary.”
I glanced up and saw that she was right. The prince was just settling in at the head table. His mother had stopped chatting with the headmistress, and turned her attention to the prince, obviously checking up on him.
When he caught my eye, he waved, beckoning me over.
“Speaking of His Highness,” I gestured to him. “I think he wants to talk to us.”
