A Veil of Truth and Trickery by Analeigh Ford
Chapter Eleven
But first therewas the pesky deal that’d brought me to the Woodland Court in the first place.
The same one that had a black-skinned fae with eyes like golden coins rapping on my doorway before the sky at the end of my first full day in Avarath had begun to turn pink at the edges. Those same eyes glowed at the sight of me, widening as his lips edged upward in a mischievous smile that made me want to knock some sense into him.
Or would, if he wasn’t easily twice my size. Not to mention immortal in every way that mattered.
“Where’s Caldamir?”
The question made that smile falter on his face, just a little bit. It was worth it.
“What, don’t trust me to get you to the feast in time?” he asked, eyebrows crinkling in the middle of his forehead. His lip buckled out in a pout, but his mock disappointment didn’t reach his eyes. Those eyes still sparkled in that same, impish way.
“I don’t trust you for anything.”
I shouldered past him, my footsteps barely carrying me halfway down the stairs before he suddenly reappeared at the bottom. He’d dropped down from the leafy stair rail as naturally as breathing, one arm grasping the rail to swing his surprisingly agile body forward to block my path.
“And here I was thinking we’d be friends,” he said.
I glared up at him. “Not a chance.”
I tried to duck under one of his outstretched arms, but he stopped me.
“Where are you headed?”
Behind Tethys, the fae that had been missing earlier had started to filter through the treetops and wind along the pathways below. Their footsteps carried them in wine-drunk, curving patterns, but it was clear enough to see where they were headed.
I didn’t need a smirking guide to lead me in the same direction all the fae were headed, and I told him as much.
“And here I was thinking you might try to run.”
I stopped for a moment and glared at him a second time. “And have Caldamir go right back to Alderia and enslave my village? I think not.”
The slightest look of surprise rooted Tethys to the spot just long enough for me to duck under his arm and start trudging forward on my own.
Without the fae to follow, I’d still have known where to go. From somewhere in the heart of the court, where all the paths and bridges ultimately headed, music had begun to rise. It was an enchanting sound, winding around each branch and vine like tendrils of a warm breeze.
It wound its way into the mind, muddling the brain and causing its own kind of drunkenness. The colors around me grew more vivid, the grass softer, the light brighter. The edges of my vision grew soft and unfocused, and I probably would’ve slipped entirely into the enchantment and been lost if it weren’t for Tethys’ voice, broken by years of sea air, that cut through it.
“So, you’re really determined not to trust me, then. Even after I saved your life?”
“After you …” It took me a moment to shake the drunk feeling, and another to understand what he’s just said. “My life wouldn’t need saving if you stupid fae didn’t build pools of indiscretion.”
“Indecision.”
“Same thing. It’s the stupidest thing I ever heard of.”
Tethys dipped his head and flinched, but this time I couldn’t tell if he was jesting or not. “Careful now, they might be listening.”
All around us, the fae had started to move together, converging toward one elaborately designed building in the center of the maze of trees and living houses. It rose up like a cathedral of narrow branches, great open windows in the place of glass panes.
At the very least, it was the closest thing to a cathedral that I’d seen with my own eyes. But that wasn’t what stopped me in my tracks.
“Who’s they?” I asked, tilting my head up to meet Tethys’ eyes when he realized I’d fallen a step behind. “The … the Starlight Fae? Armene mentioned them before.”
Something flashed across Tethys’ vision. “What did he say about them?”
I just stared on, tight lipped for a moment. “These are the same fae that I look like, right? The ones that made me what the humans call fae-marked?”
Tethys’ eyes wandered the pathway behind us for a moment, thinking, before grabbing me by my exposed arm and pulling me out of the pathway before three beautiful fae females could trample me in their path. They barely noticed me, which was hardly surprising.
Compared to them, I was insignificant, less worthy of attention than the gnats that had just about started a fae war this morning.
Still, I wasn’t willing to be distracted.
“These fae, the Starlight Fae, are they responsible for whatever’s going wrong with the magic?”
This time, there was no hiding the panic that flickered across his face. “Put that out of your mind. None of that might matter by the end of the night, anyway.”
I straightened up, peeling my eyes away from him to glance once more at the wooded cathedral for only a second before setting my gaze on his again. “What exactly is happening tonight? What’s this got to do with the deal that brought me here?”
“Finally, an easy answer,” Tethys said, with a slight sigh. He took my arm, dragged me back toward the door, and didn’t answer until we stood at the threshold of a long, crowded meeting hall. “They’re going to make a sacrifice of you.”