7. Aldrin
I sit uneasily at the long trestle table, constantly checking over my shoulder, but the assassins pay me little attention. I am surrounded by fae I have fought against, who have tried to kill me, sharing from the same platters of food and jugs of wine.
What if this is another test? To see how trusting I am or how far I let my guard down? How fast I can react to an unexpected attack?
My soul lights up the moment Keira rouses from the light sleep she fell into while her litter-bearers carried her toward the next town.
She is shivering in the cool morning air.
Her stomach is growling and cramping because they refuse to feed her anything that hasn’t been thrown at her.
Our secret supporters can only smuggle her so much.
Her lips are cracked and her throat is parched.
Worst is the sickly dread coiling through her at the anticipation of the abuse she will endure in the next town and the next.
It fuels a burning rage through me.
No amount of violence seems to quell it.
Those are my people attacking my mate. Their own rightful queen. It breaks my fucking heart that she is exposed to the darkest side of the mob, feeling their misplaced hatred. All because of Titania’s lies and my failures.
It should be me facing their ire, not her.
I have to trust that Cyprien and Drake are doing all they can for her while I am stuck here. They promised to infiltrate the palace using the old tunnels and watch over Keira when she arrives, but she needs to endure this test first.
Her soul strokes against mine.It is as soothing as a gentle hand caressing my cheek.
Can I stay with you a little while? Can I live through your eyes and escape my reality? She almost begs it of me.
Always. You never need to ask.
I try to ignore the shudder that tears through me as the road before her leads into another settlement with waiting crowds.
I grind my teeth and bend the knife in my hand in half.
Keira blocks the view from me. It is as though she takes my face in her hands and turns it away, pointing our joint attention toward my surroundings.
I need the distraction, Aldrin.
Dante is speaking while he piles a plate full of food, but I hardly register his words.
He takes meatballs covered in red sauce with green herbs and places them on top of long noodles already on the plate.
Then he adds a few slices of a loaf where thin meat has been rolled around a center of cheese and baked in more of that sauce.
Beside it are a spongy focaccia is with roasted bulbs pressed deep into its surface, as well as marinated clams and fish.
He takes a slice of a dish that is simply layers of meat sauce, sheets of pastry and cheese, then surprises me by dumping the plate in front of me.
I look at the spread with confusion, poking it with my fork. It is all the same colors: red, yellow and brown. There are no vegetables. It is mostly meat.
Gods, I would kill for just a bite of steaming hot food right now, Keira moans.
Guilt churns through me. Sorry, I ? —
Take a bite, Aldrin. I want to know if I can taste it through you.
I move the food around on the plate, not recognizing a single thing on there, then glance up at Dante.
“What kind of meat is this?” For all I know, the fae of the Starlight Court could be cannibals.
They definitely have a reputation dark enough to have earned the title of the Shadow Court, which they claim to be an offensive slur.
Rude, Aldrin, Keira chides. She is practically salivating.
Dante sits slowly, his own plate in hand. “Are you concerned that when you chopped off Nico’s hand, we sent it to the cooks to be included in the dinner? We don’t like to be wasteful, Aldrin.” His eyes sparkle with devious light.
My eyebrows rise and my mouth falls upon, but I have nothing to say. Keira’s laughter fills my mind, but I’m not so sure it is a joke.
Dante grabs a jug of wine and fills my cup. “Don’t worry. Nico consumed his own hand to regain the organic matter.”
My stomach revolts. “He did what?”
A half-smile tugs up Dante’s lips. “We Nightmares do not dine on our own flesh, Aldrin, so you can take that look off your face.” He slaps me across the shoulder, hard.
“It turns into a mist of particles and flows back into us, just like breathing. And your food—” He taps at my plate with a fork.
“The meat is all cattle. Dark hounds, longhorn bovine and sometimes abyss fowls, though getting them here without them turning to ash in the dusk light is a logistical nightmare. No high fae or nymphs in there. Not even a stray human. I have heard you are fond of them.” He laughs again.
I like him, Keira murmurs.
He will probably try to kill me. You know that, right?
I wait for her witty quip or laughter, but none comes. Then I see the sneers of the crowds pointed at her. Hear the derogatory insults they throw her way and flinch when fruit is tossed at her, even though it hits her subtle air shield and slides away without hurting her.
Stay with me, Keira. Leave your body behind. Taste this food.
It is all I can do for her from this distance. That, and keep my mind clear of the anger rising within, of the frantic desperation to save her, so it is a pleasant place for her to reside.
I take a long drink of the rich wine, noticing how Dante poured water for himself, then descend on the food.
The flavors are hearty, rich with herbs and acidity, and the texture is velvety.
I find myself enjoying it despite the company.
Keira moans with satisfaction, directing me on what to try next.
I glance across to the next trestle over, where Nico and Ada talk with their heads bent and glares pointed at me.
Their shapes have transformed to more human features.Nico’s long claws have retracted somewhat, and his face is now smooth flesh with gaunt, high cheeks, thin lips and silver eyes. That distinctive bony skull of his Nightmare form is now smaller and raised upon his head like an ornament.
Ada still wears her black leathery wings, and the barbed tail lashes behind her, but the rest of her looks almost high fae.
She has ebony skin, large, bright yellow eyes with long lashes, and curls of black hair threaded with gold.
Her neck is still long and slender, but it is nothing like the exaggerated, spiked version of her Nightmare form that made her look almost reptilian.
She is pretty, when she is not trying to kill you, Keira says.
Classic example of how looks can be deceiving, I grunt.
Oh, look, Aldrin! They are bringing out desserts! she almost squeals, and it brings me joy that she can use me to leave her own situation so thoroughly. That despite the distance, we are still so deeply connected she can taste my food if she chooses to.
I turn to Dante, who is busy shoveling noodles into his mouth at such a rate, I’m surprised he doesn’t choke.
Like a man who has known true poverty and starvation, and appreciates every meal put before him.
Each time he opens his mouth, massive canines flash.
Paired with the thick, curling horns that erupt from his head and the blue tinge to his skin, he looks truly devilish.
“Those poisons that were gifted in my trial—when…how…what is the plan for them?” I stammer out. By the Soul Ripper itself, I don’t want to purposely poison myself.
Dante tips his head to the side. “I think you already know. We use these poisons on the tips of our blades and infuse them into our magic. Think if you could summon toxic vines that could kill a fae with a touch. Such abilities come with a cost. We must take small doses of the toxins, drugs and hallucinogens regularly to build an immunity. It doesn’t mean our own poisoned blades couldn’t kill us, but it would slow the effects and allow the extremely ineffective anti-toxins to work.
Without doing this, infusing the toxins into our magic would also kill us. ”
I grab my cup of wine, about to drain it, then freeze as the metal hits my lips. “You haven’t spiked this wine, have you? Is that why you aren’t drinking it?”
“I don’t drink anything with alcohol in it,” he says. “And that wine isn’t poisoned.”
I glance over all the food I just consumed. “Are you planning to warn me before drugging or poisoning me?”
He rocks his head from side to side. “As your guide, it is up to me to plan how you take your doses, until you are ready to do it yourself. We could measure it out together and add it to your wine right before you take to your bed, so you can sleep off the effects…or I could drug you at any time, when you least suspect it, to test how you handle being in a dangerous situation and getting yourself to safety while out of your mind. I haven’t made my mind up yet, though I did enjoy watching you battle imaginary beasts in your first trial. ” He throws his head back and laughs.
“Ass,” I mutter, drinking more wine, because I definitely need it.
Aldrin! Keira chides. Don’t antagonize the man!
“It depends on how merciful I am feeling,” Dante adds. “So I suggest you are very, very kind to me.”
I will not grovel, I grumble to Keira.
Huge, clawed hands slam down on the table opposite me, making the wine splash out of my cup and the glass bowls holding desserts filled with creams and custards clang together.
I run my eyes up those thick arms of gnarled flesh and exposed bone, to the spikes jutting out of the elbows, to the gaunt face transforming into an exposed skull.
“What can I do for you, Nico? Did you not get enough of a beating in the tunnels today?” I mock him to hide my vulnerability.
Careful, Aldrin. Keira’s voice shakes and I have to block out the fear radiating from her in waves.
“Ah, he’s a funny man.” Nico turns over his shoulder to where Ada waits, almost taking out a passing high fae with his branching antlers. “Did you know he is a funny man, Ada?”