Page 9 of Flame and Starlight

“Hmm, seems like a waste of time. A High Lord spending his time and effort looking into a measly human girl?” I scooped a heaping amount of potatoes into my mouth. He watched me swallow. “Why would I be worth looking into? And, before I forget, what’s this stuff on my neck?” I swiped a hand over my neck and shoulder where I knew that dusting of silver sat unmoving. “Is it going to spread all over until my skin looks like yours?” I thought he had maybe flinched at my harsh tone, but he recovered so quickly I barely saw.

“Ah, that. When I stepped into your path in the coffee shop, I planted a bit of my dust on you. It helps me track you. View it as an extension of me.” I felt my mouth fall open and that nagging kernel of rage start to slither its way up my spine. He gave a little snort of laughter at the expression on my face.

“You can track me with this? Like your own little Faery GPS?” I was clenching the knife and fork so hard in my hands I thought for a moment I could bend that pretty silver just out of spite. “Take it back,” I said through clenched teeth.

He tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips in mock contemplation.

“I don’t think I will,” he said after a painful amount of silence. I met his stare straight on, trying to spew as much hate into my look as I could. He gave a little shiver. “Why would I ever give up being able to taste all those very human emotions you have?” My mouth fell open again. “So much anger. You’re a violent little thing, aren’t you?”

I felt my entire body flush with embarrassment, and then, remembering he could probably feel that, too, I pushed it deep into my belly. I stood, and the chair scraped loudly against the tile floor.

“I would like to go back to my room.” My fingertips stayed splayed on the table, and I focused all my thoughts on them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him take a small sip of champagne.

“Sit down, Alyssandra,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I haven’t answered your other question yet.”

I took a steadying breath and forced my legs to bend and my body to sit back down. My appetite was suddenly very much gone. I grabbed the glass of champagne from in front of me and threw it back. It burned all the way down, and bubbles threatened at my nose, but I gave him the blankest stare I could manage.

“Go on, then,” I said with a wave, imitating him. He smiled and leaned back in his chair at an angle, his fingers making circles on the table.

“There is a lot at stake here, Alyssandra. I won’t go into full detail as I can’t trust you or your weak mind to betray me.” I kept my eyes on him. “But, supposedly, you are important. And there are a lot of Fae out there who would kill to have you or just kill you. So I made it my mission to track you down and take you before they could get their greedy little paws on you.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I’m half telling you this to scare you and half telling you just because I don’t think it’s fair to let you go on in life without realizing you’re in constant danger.” He paused. “Not from my court, though. Not a single soul in my Court of Night will touch you, speak of touching you, or even think of touching you.”

I swallowed. “That clearly doesn’t include you.” His jaw twitched, and I patted myself on the back for that small victory. I sighed and leaned forward. “That still doesn’t answer what you want with me.”

“For now, little duck, I would like you to learn how to fight. I need you to be able to take care of yourself when I’m not around. And when I am around, for that matter. I can’t be constantly worrying about you staying alive.”

“You expect me to become strong enough to stand against Fae?” I thought back to how easily he had thrown me over his shoulder, how he had been able to lift my entire weight with one hand under my arm. I knew my mother had mentioned something about their endless strength, and I wondered how my puny human muscles would be able to keep up.

“You’re stronger than you think. That Fae blood that runs in your veins, albeit a smaller amount than your likely foes, will begin to take over now that you’re in this realm. I think it will, anyway.”

It took a second for my brain to catch up with his words. Fae blood in my veins? All the warnings, all the stories, all the moving every year suddenly made sense. My mouth went dry as sandpaper. If I was part Fae, and I was for some reason important, no wonder my mom had us moving once, if not twice, a year. No wonder she had filled my head with her stories of the Fae. Not stories— memories? He was studying my face and I was sure all the emotions I was feeling.

“You had to have had some inkling. My sources told me your mother told you stories of us almost every day. She moved you from place to place every year to keep you safe.”

“Yes, stories!” I shouted back at him. “I thought they were stories!” My nails were gripping painfully into the wooden arms of my chair. “You’re telling me that I am Fae.”

“Half Fae, yes.” A crazed laugh bubbled up through my throat at that answer. Like being half Fae made it any less shocking. One of his eyebrows shot up and under his blanket of hair. “That’s a strange response.”

I glared at him. “You said my Fae blood will start to take over.” He nodded. “Does that mean I’ll end up with my own Faery dust all over my skin?” And then I reached up, frantically gripping my ears, still rounded. “Will my ears become pointed like yours?”

“Only time will tell what you’ll get from your father’s bloodline. I can tell you that you will not get ‘Faery dust.’” His nose wrinkled at the term.” What you see on my skin is only seen in the High Fae of the Night Court. Your father is most definitely not of my court. As for the ears, I’m not sure. I would assume so, but I can’t say for certain. I’m sure other gifts from your father’s blood will begin to awaken, but what they’ll be, I don’t know.” He finished off his glass of champagne. I thought mine might come back up. I swallowed, and swallowed again at the dryness in my throat.

“You mentioned something about me learning how to fight. I have never fought a day in my life. Who is going to teach me? You?”

It was his turn to bark out a laugh. I refused to let my cheeks redden. “No. I have other things to worry about.” More important things than a measly halfling, I thought to myself. “Emric will oversee your training and will report back to me with your progress. I may also pop in from time to time to see you for myself—see if any other little gifts make an appearance.”

“Any other gifts?” I asked, frowning. “Implying one has already made itself known?” I couldn’t remember doing anything remarkable since I had been here other than sleep.

That smirk made another appearance. “Your mouth and how you have the alarming ability to not shut it.”

Now was as fine a time as any, I figured. I crouched closer and reared my hand back, fully intending to make good on the promise I had made to myself to slap that smirk off his face. With annoyingly catlike reflexes, he caught and held my wrist in his hand before I even made it within a foot of his face. He pulled me closer, and I could see his shadows pulsing around him, threatening to come closer.

“That,” he said, gripping my wrist just a little tighter, “would be very, very foolish of you.” I met his steely grey eyes with malice. I was holding my breath, dreading the thought of inhaling his shadows, if that was even possible. He tossed my arm back, and I landed in my seat with a thud. “I wouldn’t try that again until you’ve gotten a bit stronger, and maybe a bit faster as well.”

I let go of the breath I had been holding. I stood up, careful not to let the chair scrape this time.

“I would like to go back to my room, Your Highness.” I swept back from my chair and bent over as deeply as I could without falling to the floor. I heard him laugh softly, and then he snapped his fingers. I stood back up and brushed off the nonexistent dirt from the front of my dress. I didn’t know what to do with my arms as he stared me down, so I crossed them like a petulant child.

“Well, then, go on. Emric will walk you back.” The door opened behind me, and Asher stood up and walked over to the giant panes of glass looking over the mountains. I rolled my eyes at the back of his head and walked back over to the door, grabbing my cloak off the wall. “Your training starts tomorrow,” I heard him say, and Emric softly clicked the door shut behind us.

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