Though I didn't care if the human got covered in dust, she was already drenched and soaked with algae slime. Quite a mess.
I placed her on the floor and went to the bed, grabbing the white sheet and yanking it off.
I turned my head as the dust trailed through the room. The large rectangular stained-glass windows created rainbows oflight. It was actually quite beautiful. The spire room held no bathing chamber, which meant she would have to go somewhere else, at least to bathe.
There didn’t seem to be too much dust on the bed. But I was not about to put her there. I walked around the room, pulling the rest of the drapes off, coughing. The room was quaint, with a table set with a mirror, another table next to the bed, and a bookcase with old tomes.
“What is she doing on the floor?” Anna fluttered back in with the handmaiden behind her. A white robe and hood covered the female fae who kept her gaze down, showing me the respect my pixie should have.
Just once it would be nice if my pixies could show some decorum when other fae were around. Sometimes I wondered if they considered me more like their child than their king.
Anna flew over to the human and placed her hand on her forehead. “She feels warmer than before. Why is she on the floor?”
Having the human die from a fever would be a useless act. She showed a lot of tenacity, so surely a cold wouldn’t kill her?
And yet, what would I do if it did?
This day had turned into a reckless disaster that I’d made muddier.
“She's covered in slime,” I finally said, wrinkling my nose, “and I was not about to undress her. That’s…” I flicked a hand at the handmaiden. “Her job.”
The handmaiden nodded. “I brought this from her chambers.”
“These are her chambers, for now. What is your name?”
“Liora, Your Majesty.” She pulled her hood down.
Her light-brown hair had been coiled in a large braid around her pointy ears. Pieces of her hair were an odd magenta color and when she finally lifted her gaze, her eyes matched thepurple hues of her hair. Not odd for a fae. Her skin resembled the palest color of humans.
Though I didn’t remember her name, I’d recognized her before, working in the kitchens. If Anna chose her to be the child of prophecy’s handmaiden, there must be more to this fae than I could see.
But I trusted Anna. Liora would do.
“I can tend to her, Your Majesty,” she said.
“I should at least stay until she wakes up. Make sure she's alive.”
“Of course.”
Turning, I gazed out the window, listening to the handmaiden and Anna whisper about symptoms and tonics needed for the human. The shuffling of clothes became louder, then quieted.
“Is she decent?” I asked, keeping my gaze locked on the beautiful image etched into the window.
“She is.”
Liora picked up the human and placed her in the bed, taking the sheet and placing it over her. “I will stay by her side and make sure she is okay.”
I moved to the bed, staring over at the human.
“What is her name, Your Majesty?”
“Deirdre,” I replied, hovering over the human.
She opened her eyes, her irises expanding, turning her deep-chocolate eyes almost black.
“Ah. Deirdre.” I stared down at her. “You are in for a rude but illustrious awakening.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
