Page 129 of Fae Reckoning

Zafi peeked out from behind a fairy with midnight-blue hair and eyes. Her smile was equally sheepish. “Hi, Elowyn. Pru.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Zafi opened her mouth but then deferred to Midnight Blue.

“We were telling Zafi that our new king saved many of us housed at the palace from certain death.”

My brows arched. “Today?” I hadn’t exactly beenable to observe Rush’s every move, but we had been beside each other more often than not.

“No. During the Nuptialis Probatio.” Midnight Blue’s lips pursed in a hard, diminutive, blue line. “We wereentertainment.”

“Yeah,” another piped up. “The old, ugly queen had pins put through our wings so we could be viewed as acuriosity.” She spat out the word while Pru and I gasped.

Saffron stirred. Automatically I ran a calming hand along his spine. Midnight Blue followed the movement.

“That’s…” I shook my head. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry!”

“Well…” Midnight Blue frowned. “The new king saved us.”

A teeny green-haired head nodded. “Set us free when most of us just wanted to die.”

“And when the old, ugly queen would have killed him for it too,” chimed one with hair of vibrant red.

“Wow,” I said. “Well, I’m so grateful he was there to free you from that”—I shuddered—“torment. If I could revive Talisa to kill her again just for what she did to you, I would.”

“We’d kill her with you,” said Midnight Blue.

“Saw off her fingers and her toes,” added Fire Orange.

“But first yank off her fingernails,” said Red.

“And every lock of hair on her head,” said Green. “Until we came off with her scalp.”

My mouth twisted in grim appreciation, I nodded.

“AndZafi here…” Midnight Blue said. “She stabbed the old, ugly queen in the eyeball.”

Tinny, squealing cheers went up around the parvnits, several of whom threw up their arms. One lost his balance as he did, his wings zipping behind him to right himself back on the slim ledge.

His hair was a yellow-orange as shocking as the sun, and his stare intent as it settled on Zafi. “We’d been looking everywhere for her.”

“Everywhere but at the palace with the old, ugly queen,” said another.

Zafi’s blush spread until it seemed like it would reach her acorn hat. “It turns out that … they didn’t think I was too plain after all. They’ve wanted me back all this time.”

I stiffened. “Wait. I thought they kicked you out ‘cause you were ‘too plain’ for their snooty asses.”

Midnight Blue pointed her tiny nose into the air in affront. “We did no such thing. Zafi’s one of us.” She crossed her arms over her chest and a frilly matching blue sleeveless shirt. “And we parvnits arenotsnooty.”

“Elowyn calls us MISOs,” Zafi said somewhat hesitantly.

Midnight Blue, Fire Orange, and Green whipped accusation my way.

“And what, exactly, doesMISOmean?” Midnight Blue asked in a dangerous hiss.

“Hey,” Pru started, but Zafi piped up.

“Mini in size only.”

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