“I had to send you with her. The fae have healing magic I don’t possess. Zev and Cassiel hated it, naturally. They were beside themselves to get here.”
Again, Dyna’s gaze fleetingly met his, then Zev’s. Her expression tightened. “The fjord …”
Lucenna nodded, shooting a warning glance at Keena. “We will speak of it later. How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
“I trust they treated you well, my lady,” Rawn said.
Dyna smiled at the small fairy playing with the locks of her red hair. “Yes, Princess Keena has been most gracious.”
“Of course, I have,” she beamed. “Come, we must present ourselves.”
They followed her and her royal guards along a carpet made of the softest grass spotted with white flowers.
Dyna grabbed Lucenna’s arm and held her back, letting the fairies move ahead. She looked at the others, and they instinctively gathered around her.
“It wasn’t all for nothing,” Dyna whispered. Between them, she held open her palm where a single blue scale gleamed.
Lucenna’s mouth fell open. “You got one. How?”
“By some strange luck.” Dyna frowned. “It’s strange, really. I found the scale in my boot.”
It was an odd coincidence, Cassiel agreed, but those creatures had swarmed them. They must have gotten close enough for a scale to catch on her somehow.
Dyna seemed to deliberate something, then said, “We should share it. A question for each of us.”
“I only need to ask the Druid one thing,” Lucenna said, nodding to them. “One of you should take the third question.”
Rawn motioned at Cassiel and Zev. “I am of no concern. Choose among you two.”
Cassiel worked his jaw, frowning at the scale. He had questions, but if Zev was going to ask on the matter he suspected, then that took precedence.
“There you are.” Keena flew back to them, fluttering around Dyna excitedly. “Come along. The King is most excited to meet you.”
Dyna passed Rawn the scale, and he slipped it within his pocket. They continued until they reached a dais where well-armed sentries in iridescent black armor stood guard. The stairs of the dais were interwoven tree roots braided together, rising to a platform carved within an enormous tree. Upon twin thrones of bark and moss sat two of the most striking beings Cassiel had seen.
King Dagden, he assumed, looked at them with deep-set, garnet eyes. Not quite red, not quite amber, but with the warmth of autumn leaves. He had a long flowing mane of light gold locks touching on silver. On his head rested a crown of gilded antlers, flanked by a pair of pointed ears. Pale complexion, firm mouth set on a face that drew the awe of his court. A decorative plate of gold armor circled his shoulders and collar, leaving his muscular chest and torso bare. Gold bangles adorned his upper arms, offset by the scarlet robe circling his waist. His skin shimmered with a faint layer of gold dust under the firelights.
While he was a depiction of the earth, his bride could only be of water. Queen Calixta’s hair was the aquamarine of the sea, flowing around her like waves. Her eyes were the green of seaweed, with a dress in all the shades of the ocean. Her ears were long and webbed, same as her bare feet and delicate fingers. On her head sat a crown of coral and pearls. She had a dreadful beauty, cold like the ocean—deep and merciless.
The hobgoblin herald standing at the foot of the dais announced, “Presenting Princess Keenali Eveleigh of the Morphos Court and accompanying guests!”
Cassiel and the others took their bows with her.
“Royal Majesties of the Phantasmic Moors, it’s an honor.” Keena rose from her deep bow. “May the gods and the fates bless this union for as long as you reign. I hope the gifts I bring will please you.”
Her tiny guards carried large crates and placed them at the foot of the stairs where other gifts had been piled. Mounds of gold, pearls the size of Cassiel’s fists, gleaming jewels in every color, shimmering silks, and instruments gilded with gold.
“Oh, bring it here,” Calixta said, wiggling her fingers in a come-hither motion. The guards opened the lid from a crate and brought her a small, frothy white vial with pink liquid inside. She popped off the glass cork and breathed in the contents with a satisfied smile. “The best perfume in all the land.”
King Dagden tilted his head. “You honor us, Princess Keenali, to have come so far. Give your father my thanks for these gifts.”
His garnet eyes moved to Dyna, then the others, with an impartial expression that wasn’t the least excited. Swirling markings etched on the left side of his neck along his shoulder and covered his chest. A geas, Cassiel realized. The fae like to seal their deals with such things. More swirly symbols marked King Dagden’s fingers on his right hand. Queen Calixta’s bore the same on hers.
“Be this the company that sought refuge in my court?” he asked. “Introduce me to your rather curious companions.”
“Ah, well, we recently met outside of the Wild Wood,” Keena said. “I have not all of their names yet.”
