“Are you kidding?” Mavlyn said, and there was no missing the excitement in her voice. Her green eyes sparkled, and a rosy glow lit her nut-brown skin from within as she grinned at me. “Having your fortune told by the Oracle is an honor usually only reserved for air fae. I’m not saying that she’s going to tell me mine, but even getting to meet her is going to be a huge feather in my cap when I get back home.”
Home.A pang hit my chest as I thought of Fenwood, of the cozy little cabin my mother and I had lived in for the last eighteen years. What I wouldn’t give to be back there now, chopping ingredients and listening to her chatter about the properties of bloodroot and wyrmwood. No, our life hadn’t been perfect, but we’d been safe and comfortable, and we’d had each other. I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been to take that for granted and risk it for the sake of a little adventure.
If—no, when—I got my mother back, we were going straight back to Fenwood, and we would never leave again.
Turning away from Mavlyn, I leaned over the balcony railing and scanned the crowd, looking for anyone who might be the Oracle. Mavlyn and I had spent over an hour down there before we’d moved our search upstairs, to no avail. My gaze snagged on Einar—it looked like he was finally getting his audience with Madame Gale. A group of fae had swarmed her before she’d made it more than ten steps into the hall, and Einar had been forced to hang back while she socialized.
I couldn’t blame him for taking his time approaching her—it wouldn’t be a good idea for Leap to try and steal the fan while Madame Gale had so many eyes on her. The two of them were standing off to the side, a glass of wine clutched between Madame Gale’s meaty fingers as Einar flirted with her. She threw her head back and laughed at something he said, and as Einar ducked his head to whisper something in her ear, a streak of red-hot jealousy ricocheted through me. I gripped the railing hard, seized by the sudden desire to rip that fan off her wrist and beat her with it.
“Hey.” Mavlyn’s hand landed on my arm, bringing me back to reality. “Are you okay, Adara?”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m fine. I just…really want to get this whole Oracle thing over with.”
“Well, she should come out soon to make her yearly predictions,” Mavlyn said. She nodded to the dance floor, which had been cleared of guests. Monks in gauzy, flowing white costumes that streamed out from their limbs like ribbons whirled and leaped across the floor. Their movements were mesmerizing—it looked like they were floating on the wind as they performed their acrobatic moves, and considering that they were air fae, they probably were. “Apparently, this is the traditional yearly dance the monks perform to honor the twelve winds. I’m a little surprised the Oracle isn’t already here.”
I listened to Mavlyn with half an ear, my attention on what was happening below. While Einar whispered in Madame Gale’s ear, I watched Leap sidle out from behind a pillar. In one smooth motion, he slipped the fan off the air fae’s wrist, then tucked it away into a pocket and kept walking, blending seamlessly into the crowd. It had been the perfect snatch—with Einar keeping Madame Gale occupied, and the crowd’s attention captured by the dancers, no one had noticed the theft.
“That was pretty impressive, wasn’t it?” a bright voice said in my ear, and I jumped. Heart thundering in my chest, I spun around to see a female with a riotous mane of hair. Her curls were the color of fresh milk, and blue-grey eyes twinkled with mischief behind an iridescent teal butterfly mask. “How long do you think it’ll take for Madame Gale to notice her fan is missing?”
“Y-you!” I stuttered, taking an involuntary step back. With a little space between us, I was able to take the fae in fully—she was at least four inches taller than me, her slender body clad in a flowing, empire-waist gown with butterflies sewn into her skirt that matched her mask. Just below that mask, on the edge of her cheekbone, I spotted a birthmark in the unmistakable shape of a star. “You’re the Oracle!”
“The Oracle?” The fae placed a hand against her chest as if wounded. “How dare you! I’m dressed as Oirtha, can’t you tell?”
She twirled, and the butterflies on her skirt fluttered with the movement. Dimly, I recalled one of the statues outside had depicted a female with several large butterflies perched on her shoulder, her forearm, and one outstretched finger.
“You mean the wind spirit?” I asked dumbly.
“Oooh, so you do know something of our customs after all!” The Oracle tapped me on the nose. “That’s impressive, considering that you’ve spent your entire life sheltered in that tiny backwoods earth village.”
I scowled. “I can’t imagine you’ve lived a worldly life yourself, shut up in this temple your whole life,” I said, unable to keep the defensive tone from my voice.
Quye laughed, a light, tinkling sound that seemed to swirl through the air. “Oh, trust me, while I have left the sanctity of the temple more times than my caretakers would like to admit, I don’t need to. The winds bring everything important that happens in the world to me. How do you think I know who you are, Adara, or that I’d find you here?”
A chill ran up my spine, but before I could come up with an answer to that, Mavlyn tapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t look now, but I think Einar and Leap are being arrested.”
Whirling, I leaned over the balcony to see Leap and Einar being subdued by two pairs of guards. A small circle had formed around them as the crowd watched the commotion, and I saw Madame Gale standing just a few feet away, looking as though she were about to faint. A third guard was at her elbow, trying to reassure her and keep her calm.
“Giant’s teeth,” I swore, gripping the railing. “We have to help them!”
“Help them how?” Mavlyn asked as the guards pulled Einar’s wrists behind his back and secured them with heavy cuffs. His face contorted with fury, and he looked like he was seconds away from torching the entire ballroom. I strongly suspected the knowledge that his cover would be blown to smithereens was the only reason he hadn’t done so yet.
“Oh, I think I can help with that,” Quye said. We turned around to see her smiling brightly at us. “Why don’t you two come downstairs with me, so we can get in on the action?”
28
Einar
“So how long will you be visiting from the earth kingdom, Mr. Fahar?” Madame Gale purred as she plucked a third glass of wine off a passing server’s tray.
I fought the urge to grit my teeth as she slid her free hand up my shoulder, her meaty fingers squeezing the way a farmer might squeeze the flesh of a stallion he was hoping to buy. I’d love nothing more than to rip that hand from her body and beat her over her overly done up head with it.
Instead, I gave her an enigmatic smile and took a sip of my own drink. “Just for a few days,” I said as the alcohol burned down my throat. “I’ve got a few meetings, and then I’ll be heading back home to Talamh and my business.”
Drinking on the job wasn’t the smartest thing, but after ten minutes of dealing with this insufferable hag, I’d decided the only way I would make it through this was by switching out my glass of water for something stronger. If I was being completely honest, though, the wine was hitting me a little harder than it should have.
When was the last time I’ve had a drink?I wondered dimly to myself. At Daryan and Olette’s wedding feast? That had been over twenty years ago. The memories from that horrible day threatened to surface, and I shoved them back firmly. This was no time to get caught up in the ghosts of the past.
“Well, it’s very brave of you to travel all this way just to buy starsilk,” Madame Gale said. “I’ve heard reports that the number of shadow creature attacks in Domhain is rising. It’s a dangerous time to be traveling.”
