“And it isn’t helping a thing,” Lorelei adds. “The best thing you can do right now is relax.”
I stare at the amber liquid in my cup. “I’m not in the mood to get drunk.”
“Drink,” Lorelei says, lifting her glass. “Don’t get drunk. If I can manage a clear head and a couple glasses of wine, so can you. Let’s enjoy what might be one of the last nights of our lives.”
At those words, my heart leaps into my throat, and wine just might be the only thing to coax it back down. Besides, she’s right. If everything goes wrong, this could be one of my last calm moments with my friends. One of my last calm momentsever. And what did Aspen teach me about living each day to the fullest? I doubt pacing counts as that.
“Fine,” I say, “but I’m only having one cup.”
* * *
I have three cups.Four.
But the wine is unlike any other I’ve had. The flavor is sweet, warming my stomach in the most comforting way. My mind remains strangely clear while my body is completely and utterly relaxed.
Foxglove, Lorelei, and I lay on our backs in the sand next to the pond, staring up at the stars. I can’t help but miss the view from the telescopes at Lunar, but the sky is still impressive from here.
Foxglove lets out a dreamy sigh. “What do you think Fehr’s doing right now?”
“Breaking down the wall,” I say. I expect a rush of anxiety to wash over me at the mention, but it doesn’t.
Lorelei rolls onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow to face Foxglove. “Has he kissed you yet?”
“Stop, you’re embarrassing me,” he says with a giggle, although I can tell he’s relishing the attention to his love life. “Powerful beings are delicate creatures to seduce, all right? Maybe after all the doom and gloom is over.”
My heart clenches. Of all the things that could upset me right now, the thought of Foxglove and Fehr never seeing their budding relationship through is oddly painful. Yet another reason why we must win this war. “Do you really think we can do this? Steal the bomb back?”
Lorelei sits upright and points a forbidding finger at me. “No, Your Majesty. We are not talking about war right now. We are relaxing.”
“I’m relaxed,” I say, and it’s true. Even though my worries remain in the back of my mind, they don’t send me pacing like they did earlier. “Just humor me. Is our plan crazy?”
She purses her lips with a glare, then finally relents. “No,” she says with a sigh. “It isn’t crazy. We’re going to meet a single warship with the full might of Faerwyvae and its magic. There’s no way they’ll make it past us.”
“We’ll have to hold back, though,” I remind her. “We can’t do anything too reckless in case we jeopardize the bomb.”
A corner of her mouth quirks up. “Is that a warning to me? Will I have to reel in my roots?”
“I’m more worried about the winter fae. Flauvis is bad enough.”
Foxglove sniffs. “I’m glad I’ll be away from the fighting altogether. I’ll be perfectly content keeping things running here at the palace while you bloodthirsty warriors go do your fighting.” He waves a fluttering hand.
I laugh. I can’t even imagine Foxglove in combat. Verbal combat, perhaps. But physically fighting another? No way. It does make me wonder, though…
“Foxglove, what’s your unseelie form?” I ask. “You once told me you’re a flower fae, but I’ve never seen you shift into anything else. Nor have I seen you manipulate the elements in any visual way.”
His expression falters, and Lorelei bites her lip, a warning in her eyes. Blazing iron, did I say something wrong?
I’m about to apologize when he releases a sigh. “I’m not too fond of my unseelie form,” he says, shoulders slumped.
“Why is that?”
“Let’s just say, I was never a very pretty flower. My parents were quite unimpressed with me. That’s why I’m so fond of human things and the ability to maintain a seelie form. This way, I can be anything I want, look however I want. I get to shape my own beauty.”
I can’t help but smile at that. While he may not be tall, and he’s neither slim nor muscular like most other fae males I’ve met, heisbeautiful. Inside and out. “What powers do flower fae have?”
“We create beauty,” he says with a shrug. “Each flower fae expresses that in a different way. Some create the most exquisite glamours. Others build impressive gardens. I haven’t explored my own abilities too much, but I think I may start to one day.”
“You are really good with hair,” I say, recalling how he’d styled Amelie and me when we first came to Bircharbor.
