Page 19 of Crown of Wings and Whispers

It was lateby the time Griffon and Archer were back and time to get changed. He took clothes from his closet and disappeared. Bridie called up from the second floor to say someone would be coming up to do my hair shortly.

I took a quick shower and slipped into the glittering dress. I got the zipper up just as there was a knock on the door. Bridie strolled in with Farrig, the little sea-blue fairy in tow. Today, she had strands of little blue seashells decorating her sleeves and draped around her waist. Two small ones hung from her ears.

“Hello,” I said, resisting the urge to ask where my clothes were.

Bridie shook her head. “She likely won’t speak to ye. This is Farrig. She’s here to do yer hair, so she is.” She ordered me to sit on the floor so the little maid could reach me, then she walked over to the dresser and collected the jewelry.

Farrig pulled a small stool from the closet and placed it behind me, then she climbed onto it. It was she who placed the necklace around my neck followed by the matching bracelet. Each stone was the size of my thumbnail. I hardly dared breathe.

Bridie handed me the earrings. “Earrings last,” she said. “That’s how you’ll know she’s finished.” She headed for the door. “Leaving ye in capable hands,” she sang. “See ye downstairs in a bit, yeah?”

I tried to catch Farrig’s eye in the mirror, but my hair took all her concentration. The dramatic cut didn’t seem to bother her as she wove thick strands in impossible ways and got them to stay where she wanted them, thanks to tools and pins she pulled from her pockets. She left my bottom layer in the back alone, letting it hang straight, while the rest of my hair became a nest of curls and twisted ropes.

Each time I tried to talk to her, she pressed a finger to her lips. I finally gave up trying.

When she finally pulled her hands away and studied my reflection, she looked a little skeptical. I bit my lips together and waited to see if she intended to start over again. After a minute, she nodded and held her hand just above my hair. Something came out of her palm, and I froze, terrified, while tiny green vines snaked all around my head, weaving in and out of my updo and sprouting little iridescent leaves that dangled like jewels themselves.

By the time she was finished, my head weighed a ton. “My neck won’t last long,” I said, “but it is lovely,” I added.

Farrig glared at the complex bird’s nest that was now my hair, then nodded again. A wave of her hand turned all those vines into tiny green strands of twisted, glistening wire. The change removed all the excess weight. The dazzling leaves shrunk a little but remained.

She looked at my reflection, saw how relieved I was, and grinned. Then she pointed to the hand holding the earrings. She gestured for me to put them on myself, then waited patiently while my shaking hands finally got the posts through the holes.

She hopped off the foot stool and dragged it around in front of me, then started on my makeup. Her no-nonsense demeanor warned me not to question her choices. After all, she knew better than I what was the current style for Fae. The black eye liner was thick and dramatic and looked like cat-eye glasses when she was done, but I had to admit, it was kind of fun and a little bit freeing.

When she finally took her stool away, I got to my feet. She stood beside me as we admired the reflection in the mirror of some important Fae woman with millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds dripping off her.

The tall collar stood straight off her shoulders and made her look like some diva from a Disney movie. The winding green stripes of the dress brought out the green woven in her hair. The shiny black borders between the colors reinforced the dark contours of her hair. The only thing familiar about her was the smirk on her face and something in her eyes…

Maybe this is what a DeNoy looks like…

I had no intention of going downstairs to be mocked by Archer until I had to, so I fished the green shoes from the closet and swished my beaded skirts over to the bed to sit down. I hoped to draw a promise from Farrig to speak to Griffon and me later that night. But I was suddenly alone in the room.

And still, no jeans in sight.

* * *

Sadly,it was Archer who came to fetch me. He was dressed all in black with a collarless shirt, so no tie. He wore an open vest with a glistening crisscross texture that proved he wasn’t too cool to wear sparkles like any other Fae. He wore a purple poppy—a brilliantly colored one—over his heart.

He didn’t tease me, for which I was grateful.

“Relax,” he told me, offering his arm. “That rigout was never Daphne’s style. Never wore it. But it looks like it was meant for ye.”

“Thank you,” I said, remembering that Everly taught me to accept compliments promptly and simply. “You look rather dapper yourself.”

One last glance in the mirror was a mistake. I looked like a float made for a Mardi Gras parade.

We descended the first stairway slowly while I got used to the shoes. The short train of my gown skimmed the edge of the water but never got wet. We paused at the top of the final set of steps and surveyed the crowd below. Griffon was cornered by three females who sparkled and shined like I did, but with much more black to their outfits, though there was nothing somber about them. One wore a tiny hat with eighteen-inch feathers that shot off to the side and threatened to poke her friends’ eyes out if she moved wrong.

Griffon watched us descend, paying particular attention to my hand wrapped tightly around Archer’s arm, but I was worried I might trip in my borrowed shoes and wasn’t about to let go.

The three women realized they’d lost Griffon’s attention and turned to follow his gaze. Two of them looked hungrily at Archer before narrowing their eyes at me. The one with the feathers watched every breath I took. Her smile was pleasant. Behind her eyes, she was seething.

I looked over her head at Griffon and lifted an eyebrow. He smiled, then murmured something to the women which made them move out of his way. Their mouths fell open when he hurried to the bottom of the stairs and reached out, eager to take me from his brother.

He waited until I was on flat ground before he lifted my hand and kissed the back of it. “You look lovely.” Then he kissed my cheek and whispered, “And miserable. Just remember, this won’t last forever.”

The fancy wolves started toward us and I spoke through a forced smile. “I’ll survive if you don’t leave my side.”

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