“Jonquil?” I peered into the darkness. “What are you doing here? And where are you? I can’t see a thing.”
“You can if you want to. It’s—”
“Oh, just give her some light,” Gnoflwhogir interrupted. “By the time you explain, she’ll be awake.”
I heard her hands clap together, and the space was immediately illuminated.
“The space” was the best way to describe it. What the light revealed wasn’t a chamber of the castle; it was a featureless black void. My feet rested on nothing, and nothing lay overhead. There were no walls for as far as I could see, only more nothingness, extending into infinity for all I knew. I found it somewhat puzzling that I could see the featureless black void better now that it was well lit.
Joining me in the nothingness, standing at odd angles—slantwise, perpendicular, or even upside down—were my sisters and their spouses.
The obvious explanation occurred to me. “I told you to knock first.”
“I tried,” Jonquil said, “but there was nothing to knock on.”
“Which makes it a very boring dream,” Gnoflwhogir complained. “No décor whatever. Are you always this single-minded when you—”
“Darling,” Jonquil said. “Stop.”
Jonquil looked almost as discomfited as I felt. At least I was wearing clothes this time; things hadn’t yet progressed to the point that I’d removed any. Gnoflwhogir seemed impatient, and Calla had both her hands over her mouth, her brown cheeks dimpling as she futilely tried to hide a smile. As for Liam, his attention was focused on something over my shoulder.
“That…” he said. “That isn’t me, is it?”
“What?” I turned to look. The figure I’d been kissing was waiting there motionless. “Of course that’s not you!”
“It’s all right with me if it is,” Calla said. “I don’t mind. No one can help what they dream.”
“It isn’t!” I insisted. Did my sister think so little of me? Didshe assume I was jealous of everything she had, no matter what it was? “I mean, just look at it. That looks nothing like Liam.”
I could, in all honesty, see where the confusion came from. My dream lover had bright red hair—a bit more flame red than Liam’s, but my family had no idea I’d met a dozen other redheads recently. But while it had Sam’s hair, it also had Angelique’s proud nose. Beyond that, its body was somewhat amorphous, mostly broad hands, full lips, and…other parts both masculine and feminine, with the rest of it fading into foggy obscurity.
It reached out to stroke my cheek, but I was no longer in the mood. “Please go now,” I said. Its plush mouth pouted, but it dutifully slunk off into the darkness. I felt bad about that, which was silly, considering it was a figment of my overheated imagination.
“Was it Gervase, then?” Calla asked. “Because that wasn’t what I expected the king of Tailliz to look like.”
“I’m not going to discuss it,” I replied. “Didn’t you say you were here for something important?”
“Yes.” Jonquil looked relieved that the topic of discussion had changed. “Gnoflwhogir came down with a bout of prophecy. It might be about you.”
“She did? What was it?” Fairy prophecies are never to be taken lightly. They can provide a timely warning of grave danger. They are also, however, highly annoying.
Fairy prophecies tend to come in the form of the most appalling possible doggerel, with some repetitive meter that makes them stick in your head for hours. More aggravating still, they’re rife with ambiguities and double meanings. The very worst kind fulfill themselves at your expense when you try to avoid them—if you get a prediction that your son will kill you, and you throw your baby out the window to prevent it, then you’ve all but guaranteed that in twenty years’ time, a “stranger” will murder you on the road. Even the less obnoxious ones are easy tomisinterpret. Cross that river to wage war, and I’ll destroy a vast empire, you say? Great! Oh, you meant I’d destroymy ownempire. Whoopsie.
But while fairy prophecies have their perils, ignoring them is catastrophically foolish. One way or another, they always come true.
Gnoflwhogir closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “The king will ride—”
“Er,” I said, “would you mind turning right side up before you continue? It’s just, it’s distracting this way.”
She popped one eye back open. “I am not upside down. You are the one who is upside down.”
“Darling,” said Jonquil in a tone that implied there would be an argument later if Gnoflwhogir persisted.
The fairy sighed and rotated herself until she was only at about a ten-degree tilt from my perspective. Good enough, I supposed. I gestured for her to continue.
She began again:
The king will ride.
