“Of course,” I said. “We don’t abandon our pets just because they’re getting old.”
When Dawn exhaled, she seemed to settle—like a relaxing horse. “Very good, Queen Leila.”
Fax was so cute, I couldn’t help myself, and I very daringly kissed his nose.
Fax responded with a pleased nicker.
“Yes, you’re just the sweetest thing. I think you’ll do well with the night mares. Are there any other older sun stallions?”
“No. Fax is the oldest—he was purchased by the previous king. Queen Nyte and her consort bought all the rest more recently,” Dawn said. “But, are you sure you do not wish to retain one or two of the best sun stallions? They are great boons during Court hunts and races.”
Hunts and races? What the heck are these fae monarchs doing all day long?
Slightly disgruntled that the other Courts apparently had plenty of time for relaxing while I was stuck cleaning up the trash heap that was the Night Court, I made a negative noise at the back of my throat. “I’ll just ride the night mares for any official event.”
“Thenight mares?” Dawn gasped—I had a feeling I’d blown her mind this morning more than she’d encountered in the last year based on all the gasping and gaping she did. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
“Yep. They’re sweeties. Is your brother around? I’d like to meet him—”
“Queen Leila!” A guy with the legs of a goat and the upper body of a man—a faun—scrambled into the stable, his goat hooves tapping across the meticulously cleared cobblestone floor. “My apologies, the kitchen staff were unaware you had risen early. Your breakfast will be ready immediately.”
“No thanks,” I said, “I don’t need it.”
The faun—who was wearing a crisp white shirt, a black vest, and a dark, purplish-blue-ish bowtie bowed. “Then we will prepare your morning tea.”
“Thank you, but no. I don’t want that, either,” I said.
When the faun’s doe-brown eyes almost popped out of his head, I added compulsively, “But I appreciate the thought.”
“But, but you’ll need your morning tea. The candidates for your steward, companion, and director of security are being gathered,” the faun said.
“Great! I’ll come meet them.”
“After breakfast?” the faun asked.
“No. I don’t want anything to eat or drink,” I said firmly. “Why don’t you lead me to wherever these interviewees are?” I was halfway up the stable aisle before I remembered myself. “Sorry, Dawn—I’ll come back later to meet Dusk! Thank you for the help—and for handling the sun stallions!”
Dawn had been resting her hand on Fax’s neck, but when I looked back at her she folded over in a bow.
Ugh, I’ll have to do something eventually to stop all this bowing.I shivered a little as I left the stable and popped out on a walking path that led back to the mansion.
The faun hurried after me, his legs going twice as fast to keep up with me, since I was over a head taller than him. “But, surely you need to eatsomething, Queen Leila. You refused to eat last night as well!”
Yep, and I was intending to do that for a long time.
That old story that you shouldn’t eat or drink anything a fae gives you? Totally true. Fae had an easy time bespelling food and beverages. I was pretty sure that food made in the fae realm also had a magic quality about it which could be potentially dangerous, but since it seemed like the Night Court operated almost entirely in the human world, I wouldn’t have to worry about that just yet.
Regardless, it was safe to say I wasn’t eating anything here. It’s why I had packed bags of fruit and snacks.
“I had some food packed from home,” I said vaguely. “So, where are we going? I want to meet my potential employees.”
A half-strangled wail escaped from the faun’s mouth before he caught it and reeled it back in. “This way, Queen Leila.”
The faun led me across the irritatingly perfect lawn and inside the mansion.
It seemed like he led me through a dizzying maze of rooms—I hadn’t explored the place much the previous night since the Paragon’s bad news had just about “funned” me out—before we reached what appeared to be an over-the-top, lavish meeting room.
An egg-shaped table made of carved wood and topped with granite squatted in the center of the room. The wood paneling on the walls seemed to depict the phases of the moon and a wolf-like creature chasing after it, and the floor to ceiling window at the far end of the room was half covered by a stiff and heavy curtain made of dark blue fabric.
