I can’t say I disagree with them. He’s the bane of my existence, the reason why I have to get married, and why I couldn’t turn down being queen and miss this entire mess. What a jerk.
We were in what Skye referred to as my personal study, but what I thought of as a library.
The room was rectangular shaped—it was very deep with one massive window—but it was two stories tall with a staircase and walkway that led to the upstairs bookshelves.
The ceiling had a painting of the night sky—Skye told me it was enchanted so supposedly the painting changed with the seasons—and almost every inch of wall space was covered with massive bookshelves.
The center of the room had several dangerously comfortable couches, a big desk for me, some filing cabinets, and extra tables and chairs.
I peered at the kids’ textbook and tapped a painting of the original king. “What happened to his artifact? I didn’t see it in the treasury room, and it’s pretty unusual.”
If the pictures were accurate, the original king used a massive staff topped with a crescent moon that was bigger than my head. Stars clustered around the top of the moon, and there was a gem of some kind at the base.
“The original king’s primary and secondary artifacts, weapons, and armor are all preserved for public viewing, and are not held in the treasury,” Skye said.
“They’re on display in the Night Realm castle.” Lord Linus plopped down on a couch. He set his head on the arm rest, and scooted so he could look at me upside down. “Hey, we should check them out sometime—it’d be a great bonding experience!”
“Not interested.” I frowned at him. “What are you evendoinghere?”
“I’m your advisor. I’m here to advise.” He lifted a hand into the air and gestured without wobbling in his precarious situation.
“I invited him,” Skye said. “Your…interaction with Lord Rigel made me realize that although I have taught you the names of the fae nobility, I haven’t taught you much on their common alliances and interactions. Lord Linus will know much better, given his lengthy experience.”
“Yes! I’m the fae expert!” He gave me a thumbs up. “Granted, I’ve spent the last two decades traveling a lot, but I kept up to date on all the gossip!”
“If you have time, Queen Leila, I do recommend you see the original king’s weapons,” Skye said. “They’re very inspiring to see.”
“I’d like to, but it will have to wait.” I stretched my arms out in front of me and groaned. “I’ve got a phone call with my realtor—he found a buyer for the Chicago condo—and then I’m going to run some numbers with the accountants. I also need to talk to Dusk and Dawn about the stables this afternoon, and whether or not we need to try to care for the shades and glooms, and tonight I need to practice magic.”
“Yes, you have been very diligent with that.” Skye put another book away. “Are you afraid your security is not enough? We could tell Chase to increase hiring.”
“Nah, it’s fine,” I said. “I’m actually not practicing for my safety. Well, not much. I’m practicing some, but I’ve switched over.”
“Oh? What, then, are you so diligently working on?” Lord Linus sat upright for the occasion—despicably, his hair fell perfectly into place, and there wasn’t even a wrinkle on his shirt.
“I’m practicing barriers and wards,” I said. “Next time the Night Realm starts to shrink, I can bolster our wards.”
“Ahhhh,” Lord Linus nodded. “Yes—that’s very smart.”
Skye slowly picked her tablet up, her eyebrows knitting together.
“Is something wrong, Skye?” I asked.
“No, Queen Leila. It’s just…” She hesitated, then met my gaze. “I’m reluctant to bring it up because I’m aware you are learning more, managing more, and doing more than any monarch of the Night Court has in the past two generations, but there is your marriage to think about.”
“Ah, right.” I leaned back in my chair. “I haven’t thought about it very much.”
“You have until the end of summer—which is when youneedto be crowned,” Skye rushed to add. “Before then we have the Magiford Midsummer Derby at the end of July—which is fast approaching.”
“I need to look into that too, but I’m more concerned about my marriage. It’s not really a decision I want to make last minute.” I stared at the tea set displayed on one of my bookshelves. My library was a room in a fae household; obviously ithadto have something tea related on display, but I actually really liked looking at this set. The teapot was silver and was a lot taller than other teapots I’d seen, and the cups were beautifully shaped glasses with gold flourishes and swirls painted on them.
The swirls on the cups were particularly soothing to stare at, so I kept my eyes fixed on them as I continued. “I don’t need to be quizzed on the members of my Court anymore—I think I even have the leaders of the common fae down. Let’s scratch the quizzes and use the time scheduled for it to start looking over possible candidates.”
“It will be my time to shine!” Lord Linus declared.
I glared at him. “Youare the last person I would consult on a good marriage partner.”
He blinked innocently at me. “Why?”
