“I’m not here to linger.” She kept her voice light, Silva of the Daytime courtesy, but pointed.
The fae woman laughed as if she had told a joke. “Of course not, dearest. You’ve been very careful. But that’s what beautiful mornings are for.”
Every step now was agony. Silva bit her lip. Her back felt like it was on fire, the weight of the baby combining with the pressure of this place, leaving her nearly lightheaded. “What-what does it cost to sit?”
“Cost?” The man had come up behind the vendor with the pruning shears, from somewhere deeper inside the stall, slightly hidden from her view until that moment. “Beloved, you’re a guest.”
Silva swallowed hard, remembering the instructions she had received before entering.Ensure your questions receive actual answers. You’ll pay either way. “That’s not an answer.”
The fae woman’s smile didn’t falter, but something sharpened in her eyes, a flicker Silva didn’t miss. “There’s no cost for courtesy here, sweetling. No payment for rest. This isn’t Autumn.” Both of the vendors laughed together. “You should rest while you can. Beautiful mornings were made for leisure.”
Time, again. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they would always want, she suspected. She wasn’t there to linger, butneither did she think she could continue if she didn’t rest for the briefest moment.
Silva practically staggered to the bench, lowering herself to it carefully, cradling the swell of her body as she did so. The relief was instantaneous. Stone shouldn’t have been so comfortable, so welcoming. Dropping her head back, she let it roll slowly, feeling a bit of the tension that gripped her ebb away. The soft, early-morning sunlight was warm on her face. The air was fragrant, the birds were chirping, and all around her, the market thrummed with vibrancy. She understood how easily one could simply slip away here.
“Some refreshment while you rest.”
The man had come around from the stall’s table, setting a clear glass goblet beside her. The liquid within appeared to be water at first glance, but as she looked closer, Silva saw the surface shimmer with iridescence.
“What is it?”
The man waved his hand, as though he were brushing her question aside. “Nothing that will hurt you, sweetling.”
That wasn’t what you asked. She kept one hand at her bump, clutching her dress with the other, not touching the cup. Unlike the full meal she had been fed in winter, that shimmering liquiddidfeel like a threat.
Don’t ever accept gifts. Don’t eat their food. Careful where you wander. She had a feeling Tate would be extremely disappointed in how poorly she’d followed his directions thus far. She needed to leave. Needed to get out of this place while she still could, before it cost her something she would not be able to repay. She knew that was the wisest course . . . But she felt stuck, unable to make herself push up from the bench and march back to that cooler, putting the market behind her.You’re never going to find him at this rate.
“I’m looking for someone,” Silva began carefully. “I know he’s not here, but—”
“Never say never, dearest. Who knows? He might journey back here any moment.”
Her breath caught in her lungs, leaving her wheezing for a moment. “I haven't told you who I’m looking for yet.”
Again, the two fae laughed as if she had told a hilariously funny joke. “Beloved, you didn’t need to. Of course, we know. Why else would you be here? The best thing for you to do is just sit a spell. We have travelers from all the courts passing through all the time. These golden hours are not to be rushed, and the things we lose always have a way of coming back to us here.”
“How do you know I’m looking for someone from the courts?”
The two fae exchanged a look. The fae man blinked at her as if he couldn’t comprehend the question. Like the very first vendor she had encountered, his skin was sun-kissed and his eyes too blue. His hair was a shock of white blonde, a sharp contrast to the delicate-looking woman beside him, her skin pale as ivory. Unlike her companion, the woman’s sloe berry eyes fixed on Silva slyly at her question.
“You smell like the Bonfire Court, beloved.” The fae woman spoke slowly, enunciating her words, as if Silva were exceptionally stupid. “And you’ve been to Winter. We can tell. The cold . . . it lingers. So who else would you be searching for if not your lost lover?” She smiled warmly when Silva remained silent. “You’re safest with us, you know. Look at how beautiful it is here, and you’re just at the beginning! Look at this glorious morning. Night’s Court has nothing to offer but death. Here, though, you would be a welcome guest.”
“You don’t take in Spring?” Silva asked, already suspecting she’d not receive a straight answer.
Again, a trill of bell-like laughter. “Darling, of course not. Wehost. That’s all.”
The distinction seemed like a thin one to her.The Court of Flowers will pick their teeth with your bones. Winter had given her honesty, of that she was certain. Planting her palms against the stone bench, Silva pushed up, willing her feet to hold her. There was no cost for rest, they’d said, no toll to sit.Let’s see if they’re true to their word.
“Leaving so soon?” The man asked, his voice dismayed as she staggered to her feet. “But you were only just getting comfortable!” The woman at his side said nothing, only grinned knowingly.
Silva gave them both the same tight smile, a mask her face was getting quite used to wearing. “I’m only browsing.”
“Of course you are. Best of luck to you on your journey, dearest,” the fae woman said cheerfully. “You’re almost there.”
You can leave whenever you want, she reminded herself. The florist had said so. All she was doing was browsing, no commitments made and she could leave whenever she wanted. Her feet found their way back to that painted spiral, taking a deep breath before following it to its center.
The world tipped, as if she were on a carnival ride at the FallFestival at Saddlethorne Farm, the market spinning wildly around her until she was disoriented and staggering. Silva shrieked, feeling both her feet leave the ground. It took her several thudding moments before she realized that she stood upright, was actually perfectly fine, and that the flower market was gone.
In its place stood a forest.
