I scowled.
Did he really know anything helpful? If I could’ve ditched him right then, I’d have considered it. But I also would’ve bet actual money on him taking us in circles. I was hopelessly lost.
When we literally backtracked, returning to a crossing I recognized, I stopped, giving Soren a suspicious glare.
“I’m trying to avoid running into anyone,” he said quietly, waving me around a short corner. This time, I caught him pausing briefly, tilting his head toward the different tunnels. “For example, that way”—he pointed to the right—“would be the shortest path to court. But there are at least two fae traveling through that shaft, while the one straight ahead is currently unoccupied. So, we go straight.”
“Oh...” Sothatwas why we hadn’t seen any other fae. “How good is your hearing?”
That question earned me a side-eye and a long-suffering sigh. “I was under the impression you didn’t need to know anything about the fae. Something about ‘I won’t be here that long,’ I believe? Could you make up your mind one way or the other, for my sake?”
I held back a smile. “Okay, okay. Tell me all the random stuff you were trying to tell me earlier. I’m listening.”
Another sigh. “None of it was random,” he declared. “Do you think I speak merely to hear the sound of my own voice?”
Part of me wanted to laugh, while the other part recoiled at the feeling, not wanting to enjoy his company when it felt like betraying my family. I settled for a shrug.
“I wonder if your opinion of me could be lower,” he muttered.
I tucked my lips into my mouth and tried not to smile. He was so unintentionally funny. Or maybe he wasn’t as serious as he let on.
“What I was saying earlier,” he continued in that same exasperated tone, “was to avoid bargains at all costs.”
“I already know that one.” Though, to be fair, I was in a potentially bad bargain right now, so I supposed it was appropriate to warn me.
“When you interact with any royal members of the court,” he continued, ignoring my interruption, “it’s usually best to agree with them whenever possible, to avoid any accidental offense.”
“You said that earlier, but how am I supposed to know who’s royal?”
He leveled me with a look.
“Sorry. Continue.”
“Your permission is noted,” he drawled.
I thought I heard a teasing note to his tone, but I didn’t cut in again, trying to absorb his strange instructions.
“Don’t drink the wine, but other drinks are fine,” he said next. “Indulge in typical nourishments, but nothing with a shine.”
“Why is shiny food bad?” And on the heels of that thought came another one. I scrunched my nose. “Wait, what food would have a shine?”
“Anything with a shine is most likely unnatural, a magical residue, which could mean any number of things. Better not to find out.”
Ahead, a dull roar grew louder, like an underground waterfall. The tunnel floor had also gradually gotten steeper. Maybe we were going to the surface. I tried to picture the world above and whether we had any waterfalls near Selmo. But even the Minnehaha Falls froze nearly solid in the winter. The sound didn’t add up.
“That’s all we have time for, I’m afraid,” Soren said as we turned the corner. “We’re here.”
The mouth of the tunnel yawned wide, opening up on a cavernous room. We must’ve gone deeper underground than I’d guessed because the ceiling in this massive space stretched so high it was lost in darkness. Some kind of magic made it look just like the night sky, with soft twinkling lights that shone like actual stars, though it obviously wasn’t real, since the air remained warm.
The walls rose at least two stories high, with dozens of windows and multiple balconies suspended above us as we passed by.
We walked on what I assumed was fake grass. Artificial trees throughout the space created an indoor-forest vibe. Some stretched nearly as high as the ceiling. Actually, maybe they weren’t fake. This was the fae, after all. Warm lantern lights hung on the walls and dangled from tree branches.
The dull roar that I’d mistaken for a waterfall was actually the chatter of a crowd. Close up, voices grew more distinct, some high, some low. Arguments mixed with laughter. A distant scream stiffened my spine, but no one else reacted.
My stomach bottomed out at the sheer number.
I’d known there were fae, plural, but I hadn’t really allowed myself to dwell on how many. Definitely hadn’t imagined them in large groups, much less thehundredsgathered here. Some looked nearly human, like Soren, with only those pointed ears to give them away, while others reminded me of animals, or in some cases, horror movies... My eyes slid past those creatures, unwilling to linger.
