Aftertarrying too long, her pregnancy had progressed rapidly since her sojourn to Winter, as if it had taken a sharp order from the Queen to do the trick. Each week, she seemed a bit bigger than the week before, as if her little wing were making up for lost time, growing as quickly as she could. The human doctors couldn’t explain it, nor did they seem particularly interested in trying, and the Elvish fertility specialists at the club pronounced her baby strong with a good heartbeat, all they cared about.
“I think your daddy would approve of your menu choices. Maybe while we’re here for a visit, I’ll take you to his restaurant.” It was the first time she’d even considered setting foot back into Greenbridge Glen, but once the words were out, Silva thought it was the right decision.After. After we accomplish something today.
* * *
Accomplishing something was the aim as she stood on the opposite side of the street, a short while later, watching the café as she popped an antacid into her mouth.
Sunlight glinted off the polished metal and glass of the sidewalk seating area, the early afternoon brightness sharp enough to make her squint. The tables were already full, the sidewalks crowded, reminding Silva that she’d never actually cared for Bridgeton. Too crowded and rife with impatient humans, pushing, rushing, acting like they owned the pavement.
She spotted her immediately.
The fae woman sat at a table near the sidewalk railing, her face concealed behind oversized sunglasses, hair pulled back in a neat twist. The sidewalk café was bustling and busy, not the sort of place one would meet to discuss clandestine affairs, likely why it had been chosen in the first place.Hidden in plain view.
“Okay, now or never. I don’t want you picking up any of her bad habits, okay?”
The other woman didn’t look up as Silva approached the table. “You’re late.” Her voice was just as bell-like and airy as she remembered.
“I’m not,” Silva corrected, keeping her own voice just as high and easy. “I’m actually five minutes early.”
“For you,” the woman countered, raising her head at last. Silva could tell that she had been immediately recognized, the glasses pulled down over the other woman’s nose, taking her in. “Why, sweet girl! Why on earth didn’t you tell me it was an old friend reaching out!”
Silva kept her smile bright as the woman stood, embracing her with all the false courtesies of the club, an air kiss to both cheeks. She could playthisgame. She had been playingthisgame from the womb.
Silva laughed silkily. “I just didn’t think you would remember me! It’s been so long. Evony, right?”
The fae woman’s eyes dropped, taking in her bump, raising back to meet Silva’s slightly widened. “I suppose it has been a year or two, now that you mention it. How time flies, am I right? Silvia, wasn’t it?”
Her smile had a bit more teeth as she carefully lowered herself to the seat on the other side of the table. “Silva.”
“Of course! I want to hearallabout you, dearest. You’ve clearly been busy!”
Silva smiled through the endless niceties, trading hollow pronouncements back and forth with the woman, superficial pleasantries she could come up with in her sleep, knowing it was impossible to avoid. Courtesy was like armor, and it hadn’t failed her yet.
At long length, Evony pushed her coffee cup aside, bringing the leather portfolio to the center.Finally.
“Well, dear, let’s get to it! Please tell me what I can do for you. I brought our portfolio, as well as a sample contract. There’s no sense in dillydallying with these sorts of things, you know.”
Silva smiled, counting her breaths.Breathe. Calm. You can do this. “I’m interested in your arrangement with the Court of Flowers.”
Across the table, the other woman’s eyes widened slightly, her smile freezing into a grimace for a single heartbeat. “I-I’m not sure what you mean—”
“The last time I saw you,” Silva reminded her pointedly, still smiling, “you mentioned your contact with the court. You even offered to broker my bride price, if I remember correctly?”
“Dearest, these aren’t the sorts of things we discuss in a place like—”
“You chose it.”
At that, Evony paused, her golden fae eyes sharp and narrowed. The false warmth she’d displayed evaporated, replaced by something colder and far more calculated.
“You’re being very careless, you know, dearest. Curiosity killed the cat.”
“And satisfaction brought it back,” Silva finished, uncowed. “Are you the wisp?”
She was being too blunt, too forward, and should have handled this with a bit more care and aplomb, but the woman had been a snake oil salesman from the start.
Across the table, Evony’s pert face screwed up in a scowl. “What do you think this is, honey? Do you really think you’re just gonna waltz in here in your little princess shoes and edge me out of my own contact? If you want to go through the wisp, you go through me first. The end.”
She was just a proxy. Silva laughed aloud, her shoulders dropping, shaking her head at the audacity. Inside, a little pummel of kicks, as ifshe’dbeen listening, too.
