A Lovely Glamour
DAPHNE
Racing toward the balcony’s edge I stare over yon, past the hill toward the Golden Oak. The ground below me is a flurry of activity, the sounding of the horns causing an infinite ruckus across the crowded pathways and loans of trestle tables below.
A maid races toward the palace, a winged fae that flies through the air, her eyes locked on me. She flutters upward, rising up and up until she is at my eyelevel.
“Visitors, majesty. A foreigner rides with Hidden Fae. They have passed through the gate. They are on horses and are of completely different flesh.”
“A foreigner?” I mimic, my heart clenching. “With Hidden Fae?”
“One be a prince, he is,” another maid, a tinier faerie no bigger than my hand, buzzes in my ear, her teeth barred. “If he seeks yer throne, I’ll fill me mouth with his arse!”
A prince?
I spin around and meet Klyesque’s eyes. “Could it be? Could he have rescued Diana already?”
Klyesque’s face twists into one of extreme doubt, but she says nothing.
Turning back toward the maids, I ask, “Was there a girl with them? A mortal?”
Both faeries shake their heads, looking sad. For I spoke to them of my sisters during my bath and they know already what troubles my soul.
“Nay,” the smaller of the two, Dahlia, says sadly. “But they be headed this way, majesty and it is afraid I am that they seek to take you from us! We only just got ye home! Y’ave not even slept in yer bed yet!”
“They’re not taking me anywhere, Dahlia. Never fear,” I coo, attempting to soothe her, even as a loud knock sounds upon the bedroom door.”
“Your majesty!” The proclaimed captain of the guard - a handsome blue-eyed fae with a long main of golden hair - shouts from beyond the door. “More of our people have returned, they bring with them a lost prince.”
“A lost prince?” I quip, meeting Klyesque’s suspicious gaze.
She narrows her eyes. “We shall see about all this,” she snaps and a quiver of magic falls over her before both maids at my back practically faint in shock.
“What a lovely glamour,” Dahlia coos, with hearts in her eyes. “Wish I could work magic like that.”
“Glamour?” I question, eyeing Klyesque oddly, because just as before, I see right through it. “What is she glamoured as?”
The larger maid, Andress, smiles wide and joyful. “And a fantastic ploy, Lady Kly! You look perfect!”
“Was I not perfect before?” Klyesque taunts.
“Who is she?” I ask with a childlike stomp of my foot. “You know quite well that I cannot see glamours! Not anymore, anyway.”
“Och, majesty,” Dahlia chortles. “She is ye.”
ASH
We are led into a large receiving room built into the giant tree that serves as the palace. The space is open, archways that lead to the outdoors unshuttered and unguarded. Already my skin prickles with worry for my peasant.
How can they expect to keep her safe this way?
“There should be around the clock guards,” Bregda growls on my left. “Why are the soldiers milling about the kingdom like courtesans?"
“As if I would know,” I snarl back. “This is your army that fails to protect your queen, not mine.”
Bregda huffs, “I have news for you, Prince, these soldiers are none of mine. All that was the Hidden Army split across the realms when news of Clayeira’s demise reached our ears. It was said that her child died with her. There was no hope left for us and as her most faithful and most loyal subjects… many grew too depressed. Having left their homes to escort our queen, many thought never to see their families again. None were left behind during her absence. We waited beyond the gates for her in case she needed our swords upon her return. None remained here, for the gate was locked without her presence. And it remained locked until now.”
“Well then someone appointed a guard in your absence,” I snicker. “Perhaps you shall have to fight for your post.”
Bregda flashes a disturbingly sadistic grin. “Gladly. My years in the wilds have only honed my abilities for the better. I’ll make quick work of the fool. Just you wait.”
The fool in question arrives right then and a spike of anger stabs through me. Jealousy as fierce or worse than it was in the Mortal Realm, climbing from my gut into my throat with spiked feet. My eyebrows draw together when he speaks, removing his helmet to further my anger as I see just how… pretty the fool is.
“The queen will join us shortly, she bade me have you seated and fed for her appearance.”
Seated and fed? What the fuck are we, children?
Tension ripples through me as I can practically sense her near. Practically taste her lips on my tongue already and I refuse to believe she would have me wait like a common suitor.
“Since when do they hire maidens for guard duty?” Bregda growls circling the man as he eyes his long golden tresses. “How lovely you are captain, perhaps a dance later?”
The man stiffens, his eyes lighting with recognition. “Captain Bregda?” he questions, his face falling open and hopeful. “Is it you?”