Chapter 34 Damsel in De-Stress
Damsel in De-Stress
“Hold,” called out a smooth voice.
As if obeying the command despite gravity and all those related laws of physics, Cha’s body froze in midair, suspended over the acid pit.
Nice that she still had both middle fingers upraised in her final act of defiance.
Not so great that she was arched in a grotesque twist with arms and legs splayed.
“Prince Azulejah,” a Sugarplum said, sounding both surprised and deferential. “Your Highness. We are honored by your visit.”
“Are you?” The bored and haughty tone was excruciatingly familiar, but Cha didn’t trust her hearing.
It couldn’t possibly be Azul, here and now—and somehow halting her imminent execution by slowly dissolving in agony.
But then the blue glitter in the air did look like his.
And, despite the proximity of the stomach-turning, eye-watering acid bath that produced steam that burned her skin even from a distance, the pussy sparkle leaping to life felt like his, too.
She really wanted to be able to turn her head to see, but that freezing enchantment currently saving her life wouldn’t allow it.
“But of course, Your Highness Prince Azulejah,” a Sugarplum babbled like a frantic birdling. “You elevate our humble dwelling by your very presence. How may we be of service to such an august personage such as yourself?”
Cha longed to roll her eyes at the obsequious words. Apparently she couldn’t do that either, though they watered freely enough. Probably that was good since she could also still breathe, which was important for her continued not dying.
“You can return my human to me,” he answered, managing to sound both certain of their capitulation and as if he couldn’t care less whether they complied.
“Your Highness’s human?” The Sugarplum’s anxiety came through clearly. “But, forgive me Prince Azulejah, this human is a criminal, found guilty of breaking multiple laws of the Moonstone Realm and—”
“Do my laws not supersede yours?” he returned with such chill condescension that even Cha shivered, though he was ostensibly rescuing her.
The concept finally penetrated her clearly overtaxed brain: Azul was somehow, however improbably, here and was actually saving her life.
So much relief and joy wrung through her that she briefly lost track of the conversation, but next she knew, she was floating through the air and deposited in an ungainly heap at Azul’s feet as the enchantment released her on safe ground.
To be honest, she wasn’t even embarrassed and had to restrain the impulse to kiss his shiny boots.
That impulse died a quick death as he nudged her with a toe of one shiny boot, none too gently, gazing down at her with an arrogant expression, one brow disdainfully arched. “Do get up, human,” he said, prodding her again. “Such a pitiful lack of decorum.”
Cha was delighted to discover she retained enough contrariness to glare at him. He might have saved her life, but she didn’t have to take anyone’s shit. Especially not someone so clearly fae.
For his current appearance removed all doubt, if she’d really still had any.
Azul looked even taller—though that could be her perspective, piled at his feet as she was—and radiantly beautiful in fabulous garb in shades of blue.
His curly, indigo hair waved back from his moon-pale face in perfect ringlets, pierced by high, delicately curved, and elegantly pointed ears.
He wore a crown again, though not the gaudy one he’d had when she picked him up a day before and forever ago.
This was a simple diadem of some unearthly glowing metal set with an amethyst of remarkable clarity.
And then there were the wings.
They lay mostly folded against his back, not feathered but composed of a thin membrane of such a deep violet they looked almost black.
Like a bat would have, claw-tipped thumbs crowned the points of the wings where they towered above his head, framing him with regal lethality.
Also like a bat, the lower part of his wings were tipped with clawed fingers that flexed restlessly, the only indication of restiveness in his otherwise statuesque poise.
He glanced down at her when she didn’t immediately obey, blue gaze coolly distant. “I gave you an order, pet.”
Deciding that particular moment wasn’t ideal for demonstrating that she was no one’s “pet,” let alone some fae prince’s, Cha took the hint and pushed to her feet.
Unfortunately, her body had apparently had enough of, well, everything and dizziness swamped her as she staggered up.
Azul clamped a hand to her upper arm, dragging her to her feet with a hiss of impatience.
The grip also steadied her with welcome strength, so she didn’t try to yank away, simply letting him hold her upright, hanging her head in what she hoped looked like submissive obedience.
“This is your human pet, Your Highness?” a Sugarplum inquired in a fluting voice, sounding doubtful and fawning at once.
“Yes.” Azul gave her a little shake. “A disobedient one. I shall remove her and deal appropriately.”
“Ah, Your Highness, if I may…” a different Sugarplum began, and paused respectfully. How messed up had her life become that she could tell Sugarplums apart by voice alone? Answer: seriously messed up.
“What will you know?” Azul replied, an edge of warning in his tone. He didn’t scare Cha—she’d seen him fighting a chartreuse, life-eating, silk cloak after all—but even she wouldn’t want to cross him in that moment.
“I beg your pardon and indulgence, Your Highness,” the Sugarplum answered, “but there is the matter of an, ah, astra.”
If possible, Azul cooled further beside her, emitting a wintry chill. “Excuse me?”
“It was being smuggled into Moonstone by this human,” the Sugarplum replied stiffly, hastily adding, “Your Highness. And my superiors have concerns, as you might imagine, Your Highness.”
“I fail to see what that has to do with me,” Azul replied with such icy disdain that Cha felt a little afraid. “Surely you’re not implying that my realm has anything to do with an astra smuggled into Moonstone?”
“No, Your Highness! Not at all. But we have reason to believe this human may have knowledge of the astra.”
“You have a curious way of extracting knowledge, unless you expected bits of information to bubble up from the human’s dissolved neural tissue.”
“Well, we did attempt interrogation and torture, Your Highness, but…” The one Sugarplum trailed off as it seemed to realize it was admitting to harming the Prince’s property. Several others chimed in, disavowing knowledge and protesting various other things.
Nearly smirking at the Sugarplums’ back-pedaling, Cha was glad to have her head hanging.
“Enough,” Azul declared, his single command sufficient to shut them all up instantly. “I am uninterested in your problems. Now, return my Scepter of Nialis to me and I shall leave you to your… activities.” The final sneer said everything about his opinion of their pursuits.
The Sugarplums squabbled quietly about the location of this scepter, which must be Cha’s magic wand. “My sword, too,” she muttered to Azul.
“I’ll get you a better one,” he muttered back.
“I liked that one.”
“Hush.”
Fine, it wasn’t that great of a sword, but… “And Katu.” She wouldn’t save herself by sacrificing her cat. “Non-negotiable.”
“Handled,” he answered shortly. A putto ran up, presenting the wand to Azul with a deep bow and Cha risked glancing around the room.
All the assembled fae appeared chastened, some bowing deeply, some fully prostrate on the floor.
A better person wouldn’t have enjoyed the sycophantic display, but Cha had never been above pettiness.
“I shall leave you,” Azul informed them as he tucked the wand away. He spread his wings.
Cha gaped, despite herself and despite her resolve to remain totally cynical and unimpressed. With a span three times his height, Azul’s wings shone with eye-blinding beauty. Unfurled, they went nearly transparent, the light shining through them a glorious, pure violet.
Azul pulled her hard against him and Cha reflexively struggled, startled out of her momentary trance.
“Hold on,” he told her, and she had a moment to realize what he planned and wrapped her arms around his lean torso, enveloped in the haunting scent of ripe blueberries. “Close your eyes and press your face against my chest. The sun in Moonstone is too bright for mortal eyes.”
Well, if he insisted. She turned her face into his silk-clad chest, closing her eyes tightly, and inhaled, savoring the moment. Who could blame her?
He flexed, his body gathering and wings whooshing. Her feet left the ground, her breath whistling out in a panicked wheeze. Azul nuzzled her hair. “I’ve got you, Arantxa. I won’t let you fall. You can trust me to keep you safe.”
For the first time in what felt like days, she let go of the horrible dread and tension, trusting him despite herself.
Though she told herself she had no reason for it, she believed him.