**DAPHNE**
“Daphne, Diana, sit down!” Isabel said when the three of us had collected enough berries to picnic on the rocks.
“I want to hear the one about the palace guard and the mermaid,” Diana gushed.
“Not that one again,” I groaned. “I want to hear about the human girl! The soldier of Fae!”
Isabel grinned from ear to ear, her dark blue eyes alight with joy. “Those are your favorite, yes?”
I nodded. I loved the tales she would tell me about the child entrusted with secrets of a Faerie Queen.
“You want me to tell you a tale of faeries and queens? Of monsters and of men? Pixies that travel the river to train mortal girls against future deaths and witches that warn of tragedies past?”
Again, I nod, and Diana rolls her eyes. “Oh please, Isabel. Do you think I don’t know that you fancy yourself this soldier?”
“Quiet Diana. Comb your hair.”
“Once upon a time a queen would come to the forest of Whispering Leaves. She made her home there, away from Faery. Away from her husband, the Fae King. She was so beautiful, with eyes like emeralds and hair the color of sun-battered oak-”
“She looked like me?!” I squawked and Isabel nodded.
“Oh please, Daphne. Your eyes are not emeralds. They are simply green.” Diana giggled.
“Emeralds are green,” Isabel corrected. “And yes, she looked much like Daphne, but not nearly as pretty...”
“Lady Daphne,” Klyesque’s voice interrupts my thoughts. “Are you ready?”
I nod absently, my mouth set in a grim line. “I am,” I whisper. The spring green gown I am wearing swirls about my legs as I walk. It is much too happy a dress for my mood. Following the selkie toward the main hall of the castle, where the Midnight Banquet awaits, I shake my nerves away.
After a long shower in Ash’s chambers under the heated waterfall of his rooms, I was left there to dress myself in this glorious gossamer gown. Isabel would have loved it so. Scandalous as it was, with a parting slit up the middle toward the waist, stopping just above my knees. The skirt made from hundreds of strips of green fabric, danced about as a flower might, bobbing in the wind.
I know without knowing that it is Isabel who is gone. And it’s not just the bone comb that tells me this. It is the fact that Ash mentioned one of the Fae warriors was felled by one of my kin. As my father has always been a coward, I know he died begging. But my sister Isabel would have moved mountains to keep Diana and me safe.
All tears were gone. From the moment I realized one of my sisters was still alive, they dissipated. For now, I had but one task. I would retrieve her from the northern lands Ash spoke of. If she were still alive, I would take her from the Queen of Winter Fae.
Ash and I have hardly spoken a word to one another since he told me of my family’s fate. Not because I was angry, no, I was not. True, he had kept this from me - but being angry wouldn’t change a thing. Yet I understood why he allowed me to shower alone. He expected me to grieve in his beautifully dark chamber while I bathed. But I did not. I would wait until my remaining sister and I were together. Diana and I would mourn Isabel once reunited and until that time, I would not weaken.
I had yet to approach the subject of rescue, and Ash promised we would further discuss the issue once I’d had time to absorb the news. Something was telling me I might have to go it alone, and if I had to, I would.
Stepping out into the great hall behind Klyesque, I am stilled by the sight before me. Faeries are everywhere. Laughing, dancing, floating about. Many of them humanlike, many of them winged. A girl with skin that glows golden with light seats herself at the far table, her hand being kissed by a man who appears more shadow than skin. The soldiers from the gate are also present and still in uniform, but they don’t look my way.
The layout is much like that of Hadimere’s dining hall, the exception being, the guests. There are six walls in this space, three that host exits and three that do not. The high table is set upon a glowing stone dais at the crown of the room, directly across from the largest of archways. There are four long tables not including the high table upon the stone dais. Two on each wall set a generous distance apart. A giant chandelier spins slowly overhead, casting the room in a dance of shimmering light.
I am greeted right away by a fresh and devilishly handsome Dionie. His armor has been shed in favor of a glittering silver suit - much like Klyesque wears - skin tight and soft to the touch. Offering his arm to me, we head up the glowing stone scaffold toward the long silver table adorned with platters of roasted meats, pastries, and fruit in colors I have never imagined. Blue pears, glittering pink apples, white berries of nearly translucent skin. Cakes and cookies sprinkled with what appears to be gold dust. Thirteen ornately carved stone seats lay empty behind the bountiful food, with thirteen silver plates and goblets set in each place.
Other than Klyesque and Dionie, no one else seems to notice me. “Where’s Ash?” I ask as Dionie guides me to the seat to the right of the center chair.
Klyesque sighs, “He should be joining us any moment now.”
“He went to see his mother,” Dionie answers at the same time.
Klyesque shoots him a death glare. “Really?”
Dionie shrugs, taking the seat to my right and to Klyesque’s left.
“His mother?” I question. I had heard nothing of a mother from him, but why not? In fact - I was realizing - there was a great deal I did not yet know about the man that I claim to love. “Will she be joining us?”
Klyesque shakes her head no, warning Dionie with her eyes to say nothing more.
*How curious.*