Page 100 of Fated or Knot

I leaned in, fascinated. I had no idea he had those too. Where’d he been hiding them? He made a playful grab for my face, and I ducked back, giggling. “Can you show me how you tuck those in?” I asked. The webbing between my fingers still lifted up and down with little control, depending on how I curled my fingers.

He straightened his hand, folding in the webbing without trouble. “Of course. But I have a cat to find, so…” He tilted his head, indicating that I head back inside.

It occurred to me that this was a well-meaning trick, as Marius probably wanted me safe in my nest for the rest of the week, until I wasn’t stuck in a cast. I just hoped he didn’t hand me a cat that was spitting mad at being grabbed from its job by the scruff of its neck.

Within the hour, Jani and Lon came in to start their day and squeaked in dismay when they found me reading in my new study, already clean and dressed. I reassured them when they started apologizing. I really didn’t need around-the-clock care.

They let in Tormund next, who came with breakfast. “Good morning, li’l bird! We’re going to make your rooms into a home today,” he announced.

“What do you mean?” I asked. He brought me a plate already loaded up with the kind of food he’d seen me enjoy. It wasn’t too much, either, something I think he was trying to work on.

He gestured with both arms to encompass my study. “No art or decorations, other than books. Chairs and rugs you didn’t pick. And your nest…it needs to be full of things you love. We’re going to start today.”

“Ohhhh,” I said in sudden realization. There was the real catch. If I’d set out earlier this morning, I wouldn’t be here withTormund, decorating my rooms. This would take all day, if not longer.

We were discussing color schemes when Marius returned, leading a lean cat into my study by wafting a bit of fish on a napkin. She had a short, dense black coat and a friendly purr once I fed her the fish. Instead of being annoyed that he’d tricked me, I just thanked the kelpie and coaxed the cat to cuddle in my lap for a while. Tormund left to get me swatches of fabrics to pick from, then we’d go from there for moving furniture in and out of the suite.

When he was gone, Marius picked up one of my hands and turned it over. “She needs a nixie’s manicure,” he said to Lon.

“Yes, Prince. Right away!” she exclaimed.

“I was thinking of having them rounded,” I said.

He made a low rumble, sounding disapproving. “Next thing you’re going to say is you want to illusion over your gills.”

Well, yes, I had considered doing that. Even though they were mostly hidden under the curtain of my hair, I was quite self-conscious of my new gills and the small pair of fangs I’d grown once I no longer had anolcanushiding them. The only changes in myself that I loved so far were the stars flecking the whites of my eyes and the purple sheen that flicked across my irises where light hit them.

“I just?—”

“It’s all right. Just know that this”—he stroked his thumb over my palm just right to unfurl the webbing between my fingers—“and your gills aren’t monstrous. I rather like them, p’nixie. And these”—he curled my fingers in so my needle-sharp claws were extended—“mean that you have some natural weapons to defend yourself. You cannot put your claws through an attacker’s eye if you have them rounded.”

My mind stopped somewhere around him liking my webbing and gills, a little dumbfounded. He looked at me with a hint ofaffection as my wings fluttered, giving away my reaction. Stars, I couldn’t cover up my Unseelie changes now. He, as a water fae, didn’t find them strange. It was our “co-evolution.”

“Then I won’t hide them,” I said.

“Good.” That being addressed, he kept rubbing his thumb back and forth along my palm until I felt the extra muscle I’d gained that controlled my hand’s webbing. I retracted it all for the first time since waking up in the infirmary and then let my handmaidens cut and scrub my claws from there, reducing them to the standard triangle shape and shortened size most nixies liked.

By the time they were done, Tormund had returned with the fabric swatches, and my inner omega went a little nuts for the squares of fabric secured on a wooden loop, each a different texture, pattern, and color. Someone who understood omegas had designed this, as I quickly fell in love with three different swatches even though I didn’t know what the fabrics actually were.

Tormund had acquired an assistant, a young naga, who he sent slithering away to see what the palace had on hand that matched the samples I’d picked. As Marius began to give me Unseelie fae facts, he heartily joined in, and I caught the wince the kelpie initially had from his brother’s loud voice.

I learned that Jani and Lon were mothkin. The two of them giggled, and Jani said, “You didn’t know? Oh, sorry! Most everyone calls us house moths.”

“They’re the favorites of two of our kings. Beta mothkins make excellent house fae,” Marius said. The two mothkins posed proudly behind him. “And alpha mothkins defend the skies over the palace. With their thick fur, they can stay outside and alert even in the worst winter storms, and they can see in the dark.”

“They’re also much bigger than the li’l house moths,” Tormund added, patting both my handmaidens gently on their heads. Their antennae pointed askew, maybe in displeasure.

We were talking about the size of grimalkin shifters when Jani went to answer a knock at the door. Fal came in a minute later, holding a clipboard. His shoulders and arm were tangled up in a measuring tape.

“Morning,mo stór,” he said, bowing with his usual cheeky smile. “I have detailed instructions from the Threadmistress to get your measurements.”

“Even with the cast?” I asked.

“Aye. She’s rather eager to find you a personal tailor. If she wasn’t an honored elder, she might even audition as well,” he said, passing the tape and clipboard on to Lon. He helped me up after I shooed the cat off my lap, holding my hips so I could keep the cast off the ground. Quickly, he stole a kiss. “Designs you wear will become fashion, so the competition is going to be fierce.”

“Do you all have a different tailor?” I asked. I’d noticed the quality and style in his and Marius’s clothes, especially.

“That’s right. We have new wardrobes made every year or so, and the tailors make off with a fortune. It’s a win-win.”

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