Ten
Calypso
Soren appeared, accompanied by a host of servants. They flooded up the stairs carrying dishes, trays, pitchers, and glasses. In a great show of fussiness, the secretary tweaked and arranged the items as they were placed on a table. Then, the moment everything had been nudged to his satisfaction, he shooed the servants out the door again.
During the whole operation, the servants—all male—kept stealing glances my way. Azulin and Ghost both moved to stand beside me.
“Furintag?” Azulin motioned to one of the older servants, signaling that he should approach. Furintag’s dark hair appeared similar to moss and grew out of the top of his head in a wild crown of patchy brown and green. He bowed deeply to the king, revealing the tips of wings tucked close to his back. “My guest and I will require hot baths this evening.”
Furintag eyed me and then the king. “One or two tubs, sire?”
Azulin narrowed his eyes at the—whatever Furintag was. “Two. One in my dressing room and one in here.”
“Of course, sire.” Furintag bowed again. “No offense intended, sire.”
Azulin motioned impatiently for him to leave, his expression cold and displeased.
“A practical question, sire,” Soren commented as he motioned for the servants to depart.
Azulin ignored him. Instead, he waited until only Soren remained behind with Ghost and the pair of us. Moving close to my side, he said, “You will sleep in the bed. I will sleep on the floor in the other room.”
So weary I could barely stand, I glared up at him. “You are the king. I am only a peasant. Why should I sleep in the bed while you sleep on the floor?” I turned away to eye the fragrant offerings on the table across the room.
I tried to guess the extent of the range I could move away from Azulin. The table was well outside it. I turned back to ask if we could eat only to catch Soren’s displeased expression.
“Sire, that would hardly be appropriate,” the secretary protested.
Ignoring him, the fae king kept his icy gaze on me. “You are my guest.”
I set my jaw. “I won’t sleep in your bed.” My head was swimming and my senses hummed with awareness. He stood far too close. I had to tilt my head back so I could meet his gaze, but I refused to step backward.
Strangely, on some level, I wanted to lean into him, to seek out his warmth. I stiffened, counting for myself the myriad of reasons I needed to stay strong. I slept on the floor at home. And the king having the bed wouldn’t be appropriate, as Soren pointed out.
“I am the king and get to decide.” Azulin’s lean body tightened as he straightened to his full, impressive height and peered down his nose at me.
“Not my king.”
Soren hissed his disapproval. “Sire, I must protest.”
Ghost cleared his throat and all of us turned toward him. “We could have a couch brought up and placed in the dressing room.” He nodded toward the wall opposite the bed. “It will satisfy Soren’s sensibilities, and no one has to sleep on the floor.”
Soren began nodding enthusiastically. “Indeed, sire, all can be arranged. You cannot sleep in the same room as—”
Azulin shifted his intense stare from me to Soren. The secretary swallowed the rest of what he’d intended to say.
The king resumed studying me. “Very true. She will be in my dressing room. Have them bring the sleeping couch from my office. See that she has adequate bedding.” His gaze narrowed. “Also, she needs clothing, appropriate garb for court life.”
“Court life?” Soren frowned. “Surely she isn’t going to be spending much time with the court.”
“Where I go, she goes. See that she has properattire.” His tone left no more room for argument. “But first, have them bring the couch.”
Soren bowed and exited the room hastily.
Ghost rolled his eyes and turned away.
“We have not finished our conversation,” Azulin began, but I was already heading toward the table across the room.
“Could I eat while you lecture me?” I asked.
He silently followed me, pulling out one of the ornate chairs from beneath the table. “I forgot how food dependent humans are.” He indicated I should sit in the chair he had moved. “We do have much to discuss, though.”
I slipped into the seat he offered and surveyed the bounty before me. It all looked so delicious. “Should I be concerned about any charms or spells or poisons?” “That is my task, my lady.” Ghost moved to the opposite side of the table. Picking up a small plate, he selected samples from each dish and poured himself a small glass from the pitcher of pale-pink liquid. He began eating the selection without a moment of hesitation.
“But—” I protested, but Azulin brushed my shoulder.
“Let him concentrate. If something is poisoned, charmed, or otherwise impaired, he will need all of his focus to disarm the spell. In the meantime, we need to address your vulnerability.” He pulled out the chair next to mine and seated himself with a weary sigh. “As you probably noticed, I have enemies.”
I snorted softly. “You were stuck in a labyrinth of monsters. I would be shocked if you didn’t believe you had enemies.”
“All clear,” Ghost pronounced and moved away.
Azulin began filling a plate. “Many of my enemies are within my court. While among the fae, one must always be vigilant. We are known tricksters and bargainers, always looking for a binding that we can exploit, which is why I told you not to speak for a time. It was the easiest way to keep you safe until I could set a protection spell over you.”
He extended the laden plate to me. I accepted it without thought, but he tugged it back out of my fingers. “Never accept gifts from anyone unless you are willing to trust them with your life.”
I eyed the food hungrily. “So, no one. Can I eat now?”
He nodded and handed me the plate once more before turning to fill another. “After we eat, I will set a spell on you so no one can harm you. Even with it on, though, you must be careful. No promises. No offering thanks. No giving the impression of commitment with your words. Nothing that might bind you to someone else, indenture you to someone, or give them hold over you.”
I chewed carefully. “You live by these rules?”
“To some extent. Unlike you, I am at the top of the pecking order and there are some things no one would try to force me into should I make a mistake.”
Watching him, I asked, “And if someone attempted it?”
“They can’t afford the consequences.” Azulin cut a slab of meat on his plate and speared the bite with a touch of savagery. “However, you cannot retaliate since you have no magic beyond the ability to transform into a cat.”
I watched him for a few moments. “If that is what they believe, they are wrong.” I turned back to my own meal.
“Oh?” He paused eating for a moment to eye me. “And how are they wrong?”
“I am bound to the Seelie king,” I replied slyly.
Azulin blinked and then let out a laugh. “That you are.”
I lifted my head to find him grinning over his food as Soren entered the room again and bowed to Azulin. “The couch and baths have arrived, sire.”
Behind him servants flooded through the door carrying accouterments, including a couch. I closed my mouth and fixed my attention on my food.
∞∞∞
Azulin
The servants appeared again and fussed over preparing the baths, especially hers. Furintag presented Calypso with a selection of oils, soaps, and lotions in a wide variety of scents. Without a word, Calypso selected a soap and then excused herself from her meal.
She moved off toward the dressing room that would serve as her chamber. Two young males turned to follow her.
Ghost growled. “What do you think you’re doing?”
The pair—a sprite and a brownie—both blanched.
“Assisting?” The brownie shuffled his feet.
“Carrying the towels?” the sprite offered with a note of hopefulness.
“Let Furintag deal with it,” Ghost ordered. “Go prepare the king’s bath.”
The pair bowed and dashed away to where another servant was setting up a tub for me.
“Your guest has caused quite a disturbance below stairs,” Soren informed me gravely from behind my chair. “It is only a matter of time before the nobles get wind of it.”
“She is none of their concern.” I put a bite of food into my mouth with a fake casual air. Inwardly, I was cringing. I should’ve realized what a hassle having her with me would be. She was the triple novelty: a human, a shapeshifter, and—the most fascinating of all—a female.
Most of the servants hadn’t seen a woman of any kind since they left their homes and entered service. The elder servants had more training and decorum, but even they would be curious.
I sighed at the thought of moon-eyed swains hanging on her every word or scheming about how to steal her away. Then there would be those who would hate her appearance in the palace because it signaled the end of an era, the end of a male-only court.
“Is everything to your taste, sire?” Soren asked from near my elbow.
“It is. I’m merely weary.” I pushed my chair back from the table. “Dismiss the servants and let yourself out after them. I need rest.”
“Of course, sire.” But instead of moving away, he continued to hover.
“What is it, Soren?”
“When should I expect you in the office tomorrow?”
I grimaced. “I will send for you when I am ready to work.” Waving him away, I leaned back in my seat once more and rested my eyes. The pressure of the curse had eased to a slight, occasional twinge now that the moon had set. The stronger sensation of the mate binding coiled around my arm, rippling and warming periodically.
Once Soren set his mind to it, he could get things done quickly. Within a few moments, the room had cleared. Ghost rejoined me after he closed the door behind Soren and the last servant.
“She’s going to be trouble,” Ghost observed as he sat down next to me.
“Not through any fault of her own.” I eyed my room. “We’ll need to rearrange some furniture.”
He nodded. “Your bed is too far from hers.”
“And I can’t reach anything. Apologies for not asking some servants to stay.”
He regarded me with amusement. “Those weaklings?” He snorted and the scent of smoke teased my nose. “I prefer working alone.”
“I can help some,” I said, moving to stand.
“No. Don’t risk drowning her.”
I acknowledged his point with a grim nod. If I moved out of range, Calypso would likely lose consciousness again and do just that.
So he set to work, and I watched, taking great care to stay in range. By the time Calypso emerged from the dressing room, my bed had been dragged across the room so the head stood against the wall shared with the dressing room. My worktable had been moved to stand next to one of the southern windows, and the dining table and chairs had been banished to the far side of the room.
Calypso regarded all the changes with wide eyes. She appeared tiny and delicate standing within the frame of the fae-sized door. Perhaps it was the lack of dirt and grime, or maybe her clean clothing, but she somehow appeared more vulnerable than I remembered.
“How are you going to bathe?” Her large silvery-gray eyes fixed on the bathing tub across the room, far out of range of the sitting room.
“We have a folding screen and a chaperone. I am certain we shall manage.”
“In the meantime, you can rest on His Majesty’s bed.” Ghost had his back to us, setting up the screen to hide the bathing area, and missed Calypso’s glare at him.
“I am not sleeping in his bed.”
“Pardon, my lady, but I merely suggested you rest. Both of you survived an ordeal. Rest is required while you wait.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “You could always stand while the king cleanses himself.”
I rolled my eyes at Ghost’s word choice.
Calypso laughed. “Very well. I will rest on the edge of his bed.” She crossed to the end of the bed and plopped down on the edge.
“Good. Now Ghost can entertain you.”
“What?” Ghost asked.
“Can I ask him questions?”
Ghost regarded me grimly. The intensity of his scowl was such that I suspected pepper would be added to one of my favorite dishes as revenge should I agree.
“Sounds like a good use of the time to me.” I flashed Ghost the barest of smirks before disappearing behind the screen.
On the other side, Calypso didn’t give Ghost a chance to protest. “What is the difference between a wyvern and a dragon?”
“One is wild and untamed, while the other is civilized. Mostly.” Ghost’s gravelly voice betrayed none of his annoyance. Although he enjoyed being a dragon, he rarely talked about his people.
“How did the king manage to tame you?”
Ghost coughed. “I could ask the same of you. Humans are feral.”
She laughed. The soft sound caused the vine around my arm to warm and ripple with what I could only guess was pleasure. Apparently, it responded to her emotion.
“I suppose we are, especially shapeshifters.” Her voice grew closer. “Where do you come from?”
“None of your business,” Ghost observed in an irritated rumble. “So that is why you stink of cat. It is your other form.”
“Stink?” Her footfalls paced the floor, measuring out the distance between the screen and the bed. “Cats don’t stink. They are some of the cleanest animals I know.”
“Oh? Are you speaking of common cats or your unusual variety?” Ghost’s voice had grown raspy with sharp amusement. I could almost envision him gritting his teeth in anticipation of scoring a point. For all of his terseness, my chief bodyguard was skilled with more than just weapons.
“Both.” Calypso moved around the room with the soft swish of cloth rubbing cloth. As I washed quickly, my ears strained for the sounds of her passing.
“Shift,” Ghost commanded in a tone few refused to obey.
“Why? So you can attack me?”
Ghost snorted and the slight scent of smoke threaded through the air and around the edge of the folding screen. “I could attack you in this form and you wouldn’t be able to stop me.”
“True. But you won’t.”
“Why not?” When Ghost growled, most everyone gave him space. Not my Calypso. She laughed again.
“Because you value your king, and we are bound. If you harm me, I suspect something bad would happen to him too.” My vine throbbed in assent. It was almost as though the binding itself was sentient. Pausing in the middle of rinsing my hair, I stared at the vine curling around my arm. The leaves let off a golden sheen.
“Shift,” Ghost ordered again.
“Why?”
“So that I know your form and can make sure no one kills you or drives you off for trespassing.”
Calypso paused in her pacing. “The guards would do that?”
“Dare you risk it?” Ghost’s voice lowered. “The moment you are carried outside of range, you will become insensible.”
“Fine.”
The vine tightened around my arm and the sensation of her magic washed through me. On the opposite side of the screen, the soft thud of a small body landing on the wood floor marked Calypso’s transformation.
“Merow?”
“Ah, I will inform the household that the king has acquired a gray female cat.”
The sensation of magic changed, tingling with a mischievous anticipation that made my hair stand on end. Dropping the cloth in my hand, I bolted out of the water, reaching for the towels on the nearby chair.
“Ghost, visitor incoming,” I announced. “Cal—Lady Anon—”
A loud screeching sound grew in volume until it cut off with an abrupt pop and a heavy thump.
“Too late,” Ghost commented.
Someone hissed. Another made a pst , pst sound. I dragged my clean shirt over my head just as a minor uproar began behind the screen. By the time I had pulled up my leggings, a tense stillness had fallen.
“Now see here, Herman.” I came around the screen to the surprising sight of Calypso on her hands and knees in the center of my bed. Her hair tumbled about her shoulders in a disarming cascade, but her attention was fixed warily on the black form of my sithcat. “Leave her alone.”