A Dance with the Fae Prince by Elise Kova

Chapter 14

The large gatheringspace the stairs deposited me into is connected by two massive doors to a waiting hall that leads to Vena’s audience chambers. She sits on a golden throne, surrounded by thorny roses and hummingbirds. Her rich, dark skin is offset against the sea-foam blue gown she wears and the bright green, bat-like wings that extend from her back. Her dark hair is piled high on the top of her head, pinned in place with gold-dipped flowers.

She’s speaking with three individuals when we enter. But as soon as her gaze lands on Davien and I, she shoos them with a wave of her hand.

“Davien.” The way she says his name is with deep reverence. “Our king has finally returned.” Vena stands, holding out both of her arms as she approaches. “I apologize I was not here to greet you properly on your arrival.”

“You were strengthening our western front. There is no slight.” Davien clasps forearms with her, hands nearly back at the elbows. They lean forward and when I think they are about to kiss, they tilt their heads in opposite directions, giving a peck on each cheek.

“You are gracious.” She gives a small curtsy and a bow of her head before releasing Davien. Then she turns to me. I can feel her demeanor cool some as she makes her assessment. “This is the one.” It’s not a question, so neither Davien nor I answer. Vena narrows her golden eyes as she approaches me. She grabs my cheeks with her hands, tilting my face right and left. “I can see the power in you…a mighty force that your human body struggles to contain.”

“A power that is rightfully mine.” Davien steps toward Vena as she releases me. Even though he acts like he is a king to most, he seems more of a follower in Vena’s court. “How do I free the magic of kings from her?”

Vena purses her lips, continuing to stare at me. “The power has imprinted on her. I see it coursing through her every vein. It trails her every movement.”

“Really?” I lift my arm, watching for magical sparks of light like when Davien flew, or when Giles performed his camp-making ritual. There’s nothing, and I find I’m mildly disappointed. If I’m going to be hunted for having magic, I want to reap the benefits of having magic. I want to feel as powerful as these people regard me. Not…myself. Same old Katria as I’ve always been.

“It’s not beyond freeing, is it?” Davien asks.

“Let’s hope not.” Vena’s lips tug into a frown. “This will require research and study before we decide on the best course.”

“We don’t have time—”

“Our borders are secure,” she interrupts Davien with a smile, resting a hand on his shoulder. “I know you have spent your life worrying about decaying barriers and ancient rituals fading with the passage of time. But this is not your ancestral home in the Natural World. We are strong here in Midscape. We are your warriors, future king of the fae. You can entrust us to keep you safe while we deal with the final stage of reclaiming your power. We have all waited this long, we can wait a bit more.”

“Even if the borders are safe…won’t I die just from being in Midscape?” I ask. Davien’s friends made it a point to tell me just how certain my demise was for hours when I first arrived.

Vena looks me up and down once more. “Do you feel like you’re dying?”

“Well, no…” I trail off.

“You certainly don’t look as other humans have by now. You’re not withering away.” She approaches me and places her fingertips under my chin, tilting my head left and right. “In fact, you’re luminescent. Have you had our food yet?”

“Yes, in the woods.”

“And how did it taste?”

“Normal,” I say. Emphasizing how delicious it was seems unnecessary.

“Normal?” Davien repeats. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

I shrug. “I was starving. I thought I might have been hallucinating.” The lie tastes like licking freshly polished cutlery. He suspects the lie, too. His eyes narrow skeptically.

“Eat again,” Vena instructs. “And inform Davien or myself immediately should anything change in flavor or nourishment. Though I suspect it won’t.”

“Why? There has never been a human—other than the Human Queen—who could live in our world. Not since the Fade was erected.” Davien folds his arms over his chest.

“I suspect it’s because of the magic within her. It’s healing her wounds, is it not? Perhaps it is also turning our food into sustenance for her, despite her being human. Or maybe it’s because the magic is a part of this world that exists within her. There’s no real precedent for what has occurred, so any explanation is viable.” Vena shrugs. “She’s alive, so that’s really all that matters, yes?”

“I definitely prefer being alive,” I chime in with the obvious. “But does that mean once the magic is out of me I’ll begin…withering?” I can’t muster the strength to say “die.”

“If my speculations are correct, then yes.” Vena nods. “So we will make certain that when we do remove the magic from you, we are also able to return you to your world in short order.”

“Could the magic be used up in keeping her alive? She’s not of this world. Her connection to it can’t strengthen the power.” Worry streaks across Davien’s face. Worry not for me, but for the magic in me. I press my lips into a bitter smile.

“I doubt the king’s magic will be used up by a human so quickly.” Vena’s words are careful. She doesn’t explicitly say no. She says she doubts, not a firm yes or no. I have to be mindful about the language of the fae. They can’t lie…but that doesn’t mean they’re always sworn to the truth, either. I think of all the times my father emphasized the tricks of negotiation—those skills will serve me well here.

“You might be right.” Davien purses his lips. He no doubt hears the same thing I do. But nothing more can be done. We’re all trapped in this unconventional circumstance. “What can I do to assist you?”

“I will let you know as soon as I’ve discovered something worth sharing. Researching shall be my sole focus. But, in the meantime, restore your bond with this land. Strengthen your own innate magic before you inherit the power of kings.” Vena smiles in a fond and almost maternal way. “Relish in our safety and comfort before you go and reclaim your throne with battle and bloodshed.”

Davien sighs heavily. For a second, I think he’s going to put up a fight. I can see by his expression he wants to. But, to my surprise, he doesn’t.

“Very well. I leave this matter, for now, in your care, Vena.”

Vena looks to me. “And you, enjoy all Dreamsong has to offer. Places like this of peace and safety are rare in the fae wilds. Seeing it as a human is even rarer. Relish in it to your heart’s content.”

“I will, thank you.” I give a small curtsy to Vena as we leave. She has a twinkle in her eye and nods in reply. I don’t know if I should be showing her respect. But it feels right to do so.

With a few quick steps, I catch up with Davien. He glances at me from the corner of his eye. The silence between us is heavy and more awkward than it’s ever been.

I clear my throat to break the quiet and say, “For what it’s worth, I don’t mind a short reprieve here. I haven’t really had a chance to catch my breath over the past few days. It’ll be nice to feel safe.”

“You can feel safe among the fae?” he asks.

We come to a stop in the short antechamber between Vena’s audience hall and the gathering room. I bite my lip and run a hand through my hair.

“To be fair, I’ve always felt safe around you,” I admit. Even when I haven’t wanted to.

“Until you knew I was a fae.” He moves to leave.

I catch his hand. It’s as warm and soft as it was that night in the manor—the first time I wore a blindfold. “Even after…I never thought you would hurt me.”

“Yet you tried to run the first chance you got, regardless of what I vowed to you.” He hasn’t pulled away, not physically at least. Yet I can see I’ve wounded him. The deep hurt resonates dully within me, echoing from his palm to mine.

“I could trust you but not the others,” I point out. “They did spend the first day talking about how I was going to die.”

“Didn’t I betray you, though?” He steps forward, wings twitching with his agitation. “Didn’t you say that how I concealed the truth from you turned into a wound? Can you trust someone who betrayed you?”

“I…”

Davien comes to a stop a hair’s breadth away. I can feel every inch of his tall, lean form. He stares down at me with an intensity that no one has ever given me before. He waits for my answer, our hands still locked.

“You can’t have it every way, Katria. You tell me one thing. You do another. You trust me, until you don’t. You’re interested in understanding my predicament but do little once you know it. What is it that you really feel?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper, admitting to both myself and him. That’s likely the root of all our problems. “I don’t know what I feel about you. I don’t know how to reconcile the man standing before me now with the Lord Fenwood I knew back at the manor. Because that man… That man…” I was beginning to develop real feelings for. The confession is a quiet, begrudging whisper across my mind. And the second it’s heard, every barrier I’ve ever built is strengthened once more.

I will never let myself fall in love.

To love is pain. Even just the start of it has me aching. Confused. Torn apart at the seams by conflicting interests. Was this how my father felt? Did he know Joyce was terrible for him and yet something…something refused to allow him to leave? Even when he knew she was wicked, he called her his light.

Now I’m falling into the same trap. This man began to spark feelings in me I never wanted and I have to stop them now, otherwise I might follow him to my demise in this world that threatens to kill me at every turn. I must, at all costs, ignore the emotions brewing in the depths of my heart.

“I am that man,” he says.

“Lord Fenwood was a lie.”

“I am fae, I can’t lie, no matter how much I might want to. Everything I told you—everything I was then—is who I am now. You cannot pick the parts of me you enjoy and abandon the rest.” He releases me. “I am both the Lord Fenwood who enjoys mead as a nightcap with a brilliant conversationalist, and Davien Aviness—fae and rightful ruler of the Kingdom of Aviness, which I have every intention of restoring. You trust me as I am, want me as I am, or don’t.”

I watch as he leaves, struggling for words. It doesn’t matter anyway, does it? He’ll get his magic out of me and then we’ll be done. I’ll go back to my world and live alone in that manor he bequeathed me, far from where anyone could ever harm me. He’ll stay here and be king of all the fae and forget I ever existed.

He doesn’t look back once.

I hover in the antechamber, not ready to reemerge back in the main hall. I can hear them talking in hushed tones. I wonder what’s being said but think better of trying to listen. I don’t want to hear it…not really. They’re talking about me. No, they’re talking about Davien’s magic within me and how they’ll get it back. I’m just an unwanted vessel. An extra step everyone loathes. A burden, yet again.

Hanging my head, I bite back a bitter laugh.

A door opening across the hall startles me. I see a young boy step through. Two tiny horns are perched just above his temples. A small, wiry tail twitches behind him as he heads toward Vena’s audience hall, a plump messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

“Excuse me?” I say softly. He jumps, clutching his bag protectively. His chest heaves with the panic of surprise. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” I point to the door. “Where does that go?”

“What’ll you pay me to know?”

“I have to pay you for an answer to a simple question?”

He puffs his chest and wipes his nose with his thumb. He no doubt looks very tough in his mind’s eye. “Nothing is free.”

“I’ll just walk over and find out myself, then.” I push away from the wall.

“Oh, you’re no fun, miss.” He groans. “Fine, it’s just a side access to town. Are you needing something? I can fetch it for you.”

“For a price, right?”

“You learn fast, I see.” The boy has a snaggletooth grin and soft purple eyes. “I’m little, so I can sneak anywhere and—wait…you’re her. The human. Aren’tcha?”

I wonder how he knew. I couldn’t tell Oren was fae for weeks, until I saw his wings. Without the inhuman features visible, it’s impossible to tell the fae are any different from me.

“I have no interest in working with you.” I bristle at being discovered.

“Hey, hey, no need for the long face, miss. I’m not gonna hurt you.” He laughs. “I’ve just never met a living, breathing human before.”

I fold my arms over my chest protectively, rethinking my course of action. He doesn’t look older than ten. But maybe his appearance is a glamour. Maybe he’s another monster in disguise.

“Sorry, I have to go.”

“Wait, didn’t you need something?” He dashes in front of me. “I can help you get it. Really. I won’t even ask much.”

I glance back to the door, biting my lip. “I want to go somewhere with music and song. What will that cost me?”

He thinks about it for a second, puffing out his cheeks while he does. “I’ll do you one better. I’ll get you a cloak so no one notices how funny you look without claws or tails or horns or wings”—Oh, I’m the funny looking one?—“and then I’ll take you somewhere with music. And all it’ll cost you is…”

I brace myself.

“A dance.”

“A single dance? That’s it?”

“A single dance is my price for everything I just said.”

Fae can’t lie. Which means he can’t go back on his bargain. It seems harmless enough… “Sure.”

“Really?” He blinks and then his smile widens. He bounces from foot to foot with restless excitement. “Excellent. You just bought yourself the best guide in Dreamsong. There’s nowhere Raph the Light-Footed doesn’t know how to get to.”

His enthusiasm is infectious and I can’t stop a smile from cracking my lips. One that widens as the door opens and sunlight hits my face.