“Oh, stop it,” Thea replied, as she pulled on the sleeve of her cloak. “None of that matters. Not to me, anyway. Besides, we have more important things to discuss right now.”
Thea had offered to take me to the human quarter today so I could meet their healer. It also gave Everett the chance to have a rare day off from babysitting me so he could enjoy the ball tonight, so it was a win-win situation for all involved. It had struck me as odd that we were travelling on foot to reach the human quarter, but now it made more sense. Thea had something she wanted to discuss with me that she didn’t want royal ears privy to.
“What do you know about glamours?” Thea asked as she placed her hands into her cloak pockets.
“Glamours? I’ve never heard of those,” I replied.
Thea pulled a small chain with a crescent-moon pendant from her cloak pocket. I immediately noticed how it resembled the moon-phase medallion Magda had given me. She placed the delicate necklace around her neck, and within seconds, her appearance changed. Her once pointed ears were now rounded; her sharp, angular features had all softened, and her hair had become a drab shade of medium brown. She looked so ordinary now, so human.
“Glamours are used for many things, but mostly just blending in and hiding in plain sight. Some fae have been known to use them to hide out among the humans as a means of protection.”
I turned my nose up at the idea of a fae reducing themselves to the lowly level they held humans at. “Who would be so desperate that they would want to hide out among humans?” The question came off more rudely than I’d meant.
“There are lots of things about this realm that you have yet to learn. Plenty of reasons for fae to want to run away and hide. For our purposes today, it’s to help me blend in. The humans here are quite wary of the fae, and for good reason. So I will change my appearance so as not to frighten them or make anyone uncomfortable.”
I looked at Thea’s necklace and wondered if the one Magda had given me held such an ability. I touched my chest, where the moon-phase pendant lay beneath my layers of clothing. I thought back tothe night when Sterling and I had entered this realm. My eyes had changed colour for no reason that was explainable to me at the time, or even now. Perhaps it was some glamour protection, but why just my eye colour? What would the purpose be?
“Is that the only way to put a glamour on? By wearing something?” I asked.
“No. There are many ways, which makes it all the more difficult to know if someone has a glamour on them. Objects can be imbued with spells, much like my necklace. Other methods involve runes or markings on the skin, which are far more difficult to detect than you’d think. The rarest involves the use of cosmic arcana, although I doubt you or I will ever come across anything like that in our journeys in this realm, as it is another form of forbidden arcana.” A slight smirk spread across Thea’s face.
I thought back to what I had read about the arcana of the cosmos, and it would make sense, as the arcana of the cosmos was dark. I immediately wondered what had happened that led to the banning of all glamour derived from cosmic arcana. It was obvious that the Obsidian Court had had a hand in it, but what was it specifically?
We approached the gate that separated the human quarter from the fae quarter, and to my surprise, there were still no guardians posted to it.
“Do you find it odd that they don’t place guardians here?” I asked Thea.
“In a different era, they would have, but they have broken the will of these people so much that no one so much as comes near these gates,” she replied sadly.
Thea’s words hit me like a gut punch. I had thought it was left unguarded because why would any fae want to enter the human quarter? I didn’t even think people might try to cross over to the fae quarter. Of course they wouldn’t. Why would anyone want to get closer to the reason they believed was behind their women and girls going missing?
We crossed through the wicket gate, and the familiar smell of the human quarter hit me in the face with the same force as it had the first time I had come here. While the fae quarter may be cleaner, it was a quiet, desolate place compared to the bustling streets full of chattering people.
We had clearly come on a market day, as several streets were lined with tents and makeshift storefronts. The smells of baked goods, soaps, and florals did their best to mask the dirt and filth as we walked closer to the central square.
“This is so much livelier than the last time I was here,” I observed as we turned down one of the market streets.
Thea looked at me curiously. “And when would that have been?” she asked.
“It was a few days ago. I took off from the palace and came here on my own.”
Thea stopped suddenly in the middle of the street, grabbing my arm. “Everett let you come here alone?”
I kicked a stone across the street, unable to make eye contact with Thea. “He didn’t let me. I ran away from him and Prince Sterling. I was upset, and I needed some time to myself.”
“And he didn’t follow you here?” Thea asked, confused.
“Well, no, not right away. He eventually caught up to me and brought me back.”
“You didn’t find it odd at the time that a royal guardian was not able to catch up to you on foot?” Thea raised a questioning eyebrow at me.
“Honestly, Thea, I haven’t given much thought to it. I imagine Everett could tell I was angry and let me have some time alone.” Irritated, I kicked another stone across the dirt path ahead of us.
“Yes, but he’s charged with watching over you. It doesn’t make sense that he would just let you run free into the human quarter.”
I was getting increasingly annoyed with Thea’s questions about that day. “Why does it matter?”
“It doesn’t, I suppose. I just find that rather odd.” Thea shrugged, resuming her stroll down the street.
