Chapter 14
Cillian
Imarched through the castle hallways, Meera on my heels.
“What kind of date is this?” she asked. “Where is the fish?”
“Right. The fish. Of course. How could I forget that?” I asked. “We’ll get your fish, okay?” Never a sentence I thought I’d utter on a date. “I just have a quick errand to run.”
One that involved finding Fargus and getting as far away from Fairwitch and this churning in my chest as I could.
“You’re jumpy tonight. Is it because one of your contestants disappeared?”
No. Yes. It was everything. It was all the events swirling in me like a fucking storm.
“Liadan is fine,” I said. “We’ll figure out where she went.” Tomorrow. After I got my tonic.
The ceiling above us whooshed and swirled like the sea, fish darting across it, coral bright with eyes peeking out.
Sometimes I’d wander through the castle and take all the magic of it in.
Even if I didn’t particularly like Castle, I could still appreciate its power and beauty.
Except tonight when I was too stressed to appreciate anything.
“Hi!” a voice chirped.
I nearly jumped a foot in the air while Meera yowled and leapt onto my shoulder.
We faced a painting of the sea, finding Margaret standing on the sandy shore with her beige dress blowing in the breeze.
“Meera is right. You have been jumpy lately,” she said, unaware that she’d just scared the life out of us.
“I’ve been watching you, and for the last few days, you’ve been off. ”
After tonight, I would be back to my normal self. If I could only find my fucking adviser.
Margaret beamed, her angular eyes crinkling in delight. “You two make a cute match.”
I glanced at my shoulder, then back to Margaret. “Me and the cat? Really?”
Meera licked her paw. “You could do a whole lot worse. I’m a grand time, you know.”
“I was just delivering messages to your council members,” Margaret said. “I told them emergency meeting first thing in the morning like you instructed.”
We’d have to meet and discuss what the fuck had happened to Liadan and what we were going to do about it. Margaret was able to move from painting to painting in the castle, and she was good at finding people.
I stared at the painting, an idea forming. “Margaret, can you track down Fargus for me? Tell him I have an important task for him.” If anyone could find the faerie, it would be her.
She clapped. “Ooh, another job! I’ll be right back!” That was the thing I liked about Margaret: she was always excited about the tasks I assigned her.
She dashed out of the painting, then appeared in the next one hanging on the wall, disappearing again, jumping from image to image until she was out of the hallway.
Meera tilted her head. “That was an interesting trick.”
“You’ve never met Margaret?”
“Like many of the faeries, I stay away from this castle and its magic as much as possible.”
Meera glared at a painting of Fairwitch that Margaret had jumped through.
Fairwitch’s ebony skin and golden eyes had a glow about them that the artist had managed to capture.
They wore silk trousers while flowing silks and sheer fabric covered the upper half of their body, slits revealing a toned stomach and muscled arms. I didn’t even know what to call what they wore.
A blouse, maybe? Ceri would know. Their outfit reminded me of something she would create: something bold, beautiful, ethereal.
I glanced at Meera, who was still glaring at the painting. “Right. I know the faeries have a complicated history with Fairwitch.”
“Fairwitch created us to be their slaves. The history books might tell some whimsical tale of Fairwitch using their magic to make the Fair Folk, who were just so happy to be created that we bowed at their feet.”
That was actually the story we’d been told in school.
Though most thought the Fair Folk were a myth.
It wasn’t until they’d appeared and saved us from the Brotherhood of Magic over two years ago that we’d discovered they were actually real.
That the truth was far darker than anyone had imagined and that Fairwitch had cursed the Fair Folk, rendering them invisible.
After all these years, the Fair Folk could finally interact with humans, even if it was only those of us who lived in Fairwitch Isle.
“What was it like being invisible for all these years?” I asked Meera.
The cat hissed at the painting. “What do you think it was like? We’re unable to procreate with each other, and although the Fair Folk live long lives, we were dying out and couldn’t do a bloody thing about it.
We lost so many.” She swallowed, and for the first time I thought about how truly awful that must’ve been.
Since we’d arrived here, I’d been tirelessly working to bring our communities together, hosting dinners and dances and offering to give the Fair Folk positions of power, but I’d never actually asked them how they were doing, how they felt.
I was so used to feeling numb that I expected everyone else to feel that way too.
“Well, we are changing that.”
“I’ve yet to see any younglings born,” Meera said.
That was true, but we’d only been here two years. More relationships between the faeries and humans would emerge, and we’d repopulate the Fair Folk and Fairwitch Isle. We’d all benefit.
At least that was the hope. Part of me worried that everything about what was happening to Fairwitch Isle was my fault, that somehow something about me as high prince weakened all of us.
But then, why wouldn’t Castle just remove me and choose someone else?
I shook my head. It was pointless asking questions I’d never get answers to.
“You’re looking jumpy again.” Meera’s tail flicked the back of my neck. “Like you’re about to sprint down the hallway and disappear.”
“I’m fine,” I said, but for the first time in a long time, I tasted the lie. I didn’t feel fine at all, but that would change as soon as I got more of my tonic.
“Bad news.” Margaret reappeared in the painting of the sea.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What?”
“Fargus is nowhere to be found.”
I groaned. “No, no, no.”
I couldn’t handle another day feeling like this. My skin crawled, my heart raced. My appetite was gone, and I could feel it all ballooning inside me. I’d get worse until I actually did explode or lose my mind.
“You have to find him.” I knew this was selfish and unfair, but it didn’t stop the words from coming out of my mouth. “Don’t stop searching until you do.”
Her head dipped. “Yes, Your Majesty.” She disappeared yet again.
“You don’t look well,” Meera said.
“Yes, so you’ve told me. Several times.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, not sure what to do. I certainly couldn’t take Meera on a date. I wouldn’t survive it.
“Is it time for my fish yet?” She peered at me with her big green eyes.
“If we could find Fargus, I’d be able to get you all the fish you wanted.” I thought of the little seaside town I’d wanted to go to tonight, where I could get my tonic from a local apothecary.
“Well, if you can’t get my fish for me, I’ll get it myself. I have to say, this is one of the worst dates I’ve ever been on.”
“You know what, Meera? I’m not having a great time either . . .” I trailed off, the cat’s words hitting me. She could get the fish for herself. We didn’t have fish on this mountaintop, which meant she had to portal somewhere to get it.
Fargus wasn’t the only one who could get me out of here. “Meera, I have an idea, and if you help me, I promise you’ll get the best fish of your life.”