Though, at the moment, she had no idea how they’d possibly find Monat in this boundaryless place.Oh well, not like she had anything better to do.
~31~
Deception of the Sugarplum Fairy
Ahead of her,Big Betty slowed to a halt, though the blizzard of prismatic white dust didn’t abate in the least.It swirled and eddied like real snow falling from the sky would, and Cha experienced a jolt of dislocation, for a moment unsure of where she was.
“Get a grip,” she instructed herself.No wonder all the tales of humans visiting the fae realms carried a common thread of people becoming confused to the point of forgetting themselves entirely.Because she’d never had (much) of a problem in Obsidian—except for that time she drank too much black stout in that little tavern and ended up dancing the soles off her boots—she’d underestimated the impact of Moonstone.Just as Azul had cautioned, the jerk.
She waited for Dy to exit Big Betty, knowing the sorceress would know where to step.Dy held the door for Warg to lumber out, holding her free hand high in a thumbs up.Well then.Cha climbed out, too, eyeing the shrouded footing uneasily.But it felt solid enough.And the soles of her boots hadn’t fried into pixie dust oblivion, so things were looking reasonably optimistic.Just to be sure, though, she holstered the magic wand along with her sword, one on each hip.If Dy was bringing Warg, then the sorceress anticipated she might need magic.Tucking her thumbs loosely in her belt loops, ready for a quick draw of either weapon, Cha swaggered up to stand beside Dy.
Warg gave her a happy howl and a slobbering kiss on her hand, oblivious to her disgusted glare.“This is the Ice Lily Garden?”Cha demanded of no one in particular, gazing around at the somewhat industrial-looking flat area—as industrial-looking as the fae got, anyway—and seeing nothing resembling lilies or gardens, though she supposed the pervasive and scintillating white dust handled the “ice” part.
“According to my notes, yes,” Dy answered tersely.
“Now what?”Cha asked, staring into the swirling white as if she saw anything but that.
“Shh,” Dy answered very quietly.“Sugarplum is coming.”
Cha strained her eyes, still seeing nothing.Dy was tense, her golden hair curling tightly as if in a mist, though the air felt quite dry.
A silhouette formed in the foggy swirl, a darker shape of white on white, impossibly tall, at least twice Cha’s height.Multiple alabaster white antlers forking in an impressive array of lethally sharp tines, glistening like diamonds, added to the impression of looming height.A long, delicate muzzle dipped toward them, making a triangle topped by doe-like, liquid brown eyes, fringed with heavy lashes.The rest of the Moonstone fae was draped in a voluminous robe of dappled ivory, blending into the background pixie dust.It occurred to Cha that this was its version of wearing a dark cloak in the shadows of a back alley for this clandestine transfer.She choked back an irreverent snicker.
“Have you lost your way, humans?”the Moonstone fae inquired in a fluting voice, so lovely Cha wanted to curl up at the creature’s feet and purr.Another manifestation of the enchantment lure, like sirens in the ocean or a grass-gnome waggling a pretty bell.The Departments of Fae Studies at the various academies theorized that fae and humans had actually co-evolved, with the fae races developing niche predatory skills entirely to prey on humans.Otherwise these entrance-you-into-stupidity abilities wouldn’t work only on humans.Cha didn’t quite get why—Dy was the brainy one—but she could see the point.
“We’re looking for the sugarplum factory,” Dy answered, giving the code phrase Otto had provided.
The creature didn’t exactly smile—its pointed face didn’t seem to be constructed for that—but it dipped its statuesque head in the facsimile of a nod.“You are very nearly late,” it said.
Its voice no longer held that musical note that fogged Cha’s brain and she scowled at the creature.Not very polite to poke them with a metaphorical sword first before verifying their identity.“Very nearly late isn’t ‘are late,’” Cha pointed out caustically.The Moonstone fae didn’t acknowledge her with even so much as a flicker of one of the pointed ears crowning its triangular head.
“Bring the transport inside,” it told Dy.Lifting one, scarily long limb, it gestured with a multiply cloven hoof-hand—enough segments to seem vaguely like fingers and disturbingly unlike them—that looked like it was made of pearl.
Cha had an increasingly bad feeling about this.“Inside where?”she demanded.
Dy cast her a cautionary glance.“I can see where.”
“You can?”Sometimes Cha really hated having just enough magic to get herself into trouble and not enough to get herself out again.“I’ll follow you then.”
The Moonstone fae finally deigned to acknowledge her existence.“You will remain here, human.Or leave.We do not care, but you shall not enter.”
Oh, so Cha was “human,” but Dy got the princess treatment?Nope.“Where she goes, I go.”
“Incorrect.You will remain here, human.Or leave.We do not care, but you shall not enter.”
“Practiced those instructions, did you?”Cha muttered, and Dy frowned.
“It’s fine, Bandit,” she said.“They want us to get this cargo back as much as we do.There’s no purpose in getting me inside for any other reason.”
“Unless it’s to fatten you up and roast you in the oven,” Cha pointed out, glaring at the Moonstone fae, more than tempted to pull her sword.Or the magic wand.Bet a little Ruby infusion could fry your ice lily white ass.
Dy raised a golden brow at her, moonstone pixie dust sparkling in her curls, making her look more angelic than ever.“Nowyouare the one balking?”she hissed.“We made it all the way here, with you haranguing me the whole trip, and now you have cold feet?”
“It’s all this snow,” Cha retorted.She was shivering, though it wasn’t actually chilly.
“It’s pixie dust.”
“I know that.”It had been a stupid argument, start to finish.“Go on then.But keep your antennae uncurled.I’ll be waiting right here,” she declared in a louder voice, glaring at Sugarplum.
