**DAPHNE**
I gasp, taking a seat on my hind legs. “Wh-what?” Aquini said to keep it a secret. She said not to let anyone know. “Y-you are mistaken, majesty.”
She chuckles, then lifts a hand toward Klyesque. “Leave us, river moth.”
I can see Klyesque grimace before I hear her growl and for the first time I can tell she’s been riled. “I am a selkie. Not a moth,” she hisses, standing at full height. “Do not call me that.”
The queen laughs, shaking her head at my friend. “A princess that abandons her people is no longer a creature worthy of respect. Get out.”
*A princess? Klyesque?! What?*
Klyesque’s skin darkens to a deep sapphire hue as she lifts her chin defiantly. “Only if my Lady Daphne wishes it.”
The queen smirks, crossing her long lithe legs dramatically. “It looks like you fight for something after all.”
Klyesque pulls her sword from the ground. “Of course I do. Just not for *her,”* she spits, and I know she must be speaking of someone I have yet to meet. Someone, who I may never.
“Release her from our presence,” the queen urges me. “For the words I speak next are for your ears alone.”
“Ash will not like this,” Klyesque protests.
The queen smiles. “Then you will tell him that I have decided to pardon the three of you and grant you safe passage through Cinder to Rekyr. Provided he agrees to sleep the night here so that he and I may renegotiate the rite of passage through his lands to the north.”
Klyesque chuckles. “He will not want her in here with you, alone. He may lose his temper.”
“Then he may lose his head as well,” the queen snaps. Then, with a roll of her eyes she says, “I mean the girl no harm. I’m in more danger of her than she is of me, trust in that.”
I tense from my place on the ground, my eyes going wide for a second as I contemplate her words. She’s sadly mistaken. For if what she says is true the river sprites may soon rule the realms.
“Go Klyesque,” I say quietly. “I wish to hear what her majesty claims to know about me.”
The queen nods, smiling at Klyesque’s scowling face. “You heard her. You are relieved little moth. For the time being.”
“Fine,” Klyesque gripes. “I will be just outside.”
Watching her depart brings a tremble to my chest as does the quick outburst I hear from over her shoulder. Ash is displeased and thunder roars above us in time with his protests.
I turn back to the queen. “Majesty,” I say, lowering my head.
“Girl, did I not tell you? There’s no need to for you to remain on the floor.” I glance up at her as she swirls a finger and all outside noise seems to wither away. “They need not hear even a breath that comes from this space.”
I stand, my head still lowered. “Yes, majesty.”
She laughs throatily, hey eyes glowing bright as she sits forward in her seat. “My name is Celeste. I am Queen of the Cinder Fae and one of your mother’s oldest friends.”
I nearly swallow my tongue. My chest begins to burn with the recognition in her eyes. “Which mother?” I whisper.
“You’ve only one mother girl.” Again, she chuckles. “And there’s no need to whisper child. They cannot hear you. I have closed this space to all sound coming in or out. A tricky little magic that was gifted to me by Clayeira herself.”
“Clayeira?” I inquire. “I know nothing of that name.”
“A pity child. For that was your mother’s name.” Her eyes darken. “She was Clayeira, Queen of the Hidden Fae. And you, are Daphne. Her one true heir. So again, I say, there’s no need for you to bow when you are among queens.” She stands, walking toward me with a glint of flame in her eye. “Especially when you are one of them.”
I startle, thinking of Aquini yet again. Could this be a test? Or a clever little trick? Some way for Celeste to get me to admit what I was told to keep secret? I don’t know, so I remain silent.
She clucks her tongue, stepping around me in a circle. She is tall, and has more than a few inches on me, but I do not feel threatened. However, I don’t entirely feel comfortable being surveyed like cattle either. “You look much like her,” she says. “Except for the freckles. Her face was as clear as warm milk.” She shrugs, coming back around me. “But, I assume you were granted such flesh by your father.”
I gasp, my ears heating. I’m dying to ask her about him. It is the one thing that was not made clear to me at the fountain. Who is my father? All I know is who he isn’t.
She smiles knowingly. “I see you are still ignorant to most things.” She taps a finger over her lip and my eyes widen at the sight of her long-sharpened nails that gleam in the light like talons of copper. “You have the fire in your back, yes?”
Still, I say nothing, but her grin says she knows my answer just the same.
She reaches out. Her fingers slicing through my hair gently. “I can help you, but you must trust me.” I shake my head, no. I just can’t. She leans forward, placing her lips to my ear and try as I might, I cannot stop the trembling in my bones. “What do you desire, Daphne? Tell me. Speak to me of what it will take to earn your trust.” I shiver as she comes away, her soft plush lips twisting upward in a smile. “Perhaps it is a rescue in the north that you seek. Yes?”
I stiffen and it is on the tip of my tongue to shout yes! My sister. I want to tell her. Want to admit it, but I need to be smart. I need to know more about her first.
“The queen in the north, she has someone of yours. Someone you love dearly. Isn’t that correct? If I am wrong, forgive me, but I do not believe that I am.”
Could she possibly know about her?
My question must be clear in my eyes because she nods, stepping back to seat herself upon her throne once again. Damn my safety and damn my secrets. My sister means much more to me than anything else in this world or the next.
Finally, I speak, “Yes. She has my sister.”
She grins, lifting a goblet to her lips and taking a deep drink. “I know.” She sighs, “But the girl is mortal, and you are Fae.”
“How?” I snap. My body flinching as I latch on to Aquini’s warning. “I’m not certain I understand what you are trying to say.”
She scoffs, “I am a queen of centuries, pet. Not a young and brazen child prince like the two that squabble outside. I know the Fae when I see them.” She tosses her braids carelessly, quirking one eyebrow toward the sky. “One thing you will learn about Faery, Daphne - is that here - a witch’s gossip travels faster than the wind.”
“How am I to believe you?” I gush, emotion riding on my voice with the thought of rescuing my sister. I am about to fall to my knees again when there is a swirl of wind, so soft that I almost don’t notice the leaves that dance within it.
Celeste gestures behind me. “Perhaps you will believe her instead.”
A voice sounds at my back. Soft and terribly familiar, “Hello my child. It has been too long.”