Page 78 of The Deer and the Dragon
“Marlow,” he said with quiet urgency, “I know Faunateases you, so please hear my worry that you might not be taking her seriously. Listen to me when I tell you that you are not to give anyone, not even the King, your name. Don’t make any deals. Don’t make any promises. Don’t even saythank you. Semantics are incredibly important. Even if you reigned Hell as our princess, you’d be bound to your name and your agreements in a way I’m not sure you understand.”
“Az—” I stammered.
His stormy eyes burned with intensity. He squeezed my hand for emphasis as he said, “Clearly you’re special enough that our Prince has risked lifetimes to be with you. Fauna loves you. I don’t need more convincing than that. You have my loyalty, Mar. But you have to promise me.”
“But, I—”
“Tell me you understand.” The anchor of his voice weighed me to the bottom of the sea. I wanted to look away but couldn’t.
“I understand” was all I could say.
“Promise.”
I swallowed. “I…” I looked between him and Fauna, equal parts surprised and perplexed to see the matching mask of hope and worry on her face. I looked back at Azrames before asking, “Is this the first test? I’m not meant to promise?”
The side of his mouth twitched slightly. He squeezed my hand again before getting to his feet. He dusted his gem-blue suit, brushed a kiss to Fauna, and disappeared into the void without another word.
“What the fuck,” I mouthed, throat constricting around the words, rendering me unable to vocalize my shock.
My intestines climbed into my chest cavity, wrapping around my heart, making me nauseous and dizzy at the same time. My pulse thundered in my ears. I couldn’t believe I’d been so swept up in the fashion, the glamor, the beauty, that I’d forgotten I was in another realm. I’d been utterly naïve to let my guard down as I’d confidently trotted to meet the King as if I were stepping into a five-star restaurant for a hired evening with a politician.
I’d been wrong to try to summon Maribelle. This was not her territory.
“Am I going to be okay?” I asked, feeling ever the part of the child as I looked desperately at Fauna.
She offered me the ghost of a reassuring smile as she said, “You have no other choice.”
Without waiting for any signal of readiness, she wrapped her arm around me once more and urged us into the glittering, celestial galaxy of diamonds and darkness. I flinched, holding my breath as if plunging underwater. I regretted it one second later when we stepped into an upscale room stitched of the same dazzling, obsidian marble that had sparkled in the vortex. The high, palatial ceilings were vaulted by perfectly smooth onyx pillars.
I wasn’t lost in space. I was somewhere so, so much worse.
From behind a glass desk, a new assistant smiled.
I looked into the unfamiliar face and dug my fingernails into Fauna’s bicep.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled as I stared in unblinking alertness at the receptionist. The new woman had white-blond locks that tumbled far below the lip of the desk. Her pink mouth, blue eyes, and porcelain skin hummed with an eerie, doll-like beauty. Everything about her, from her perfect white teeth to the slow tilt of her head screamed of death. I couldn’t explain the dread that swarmed within me as I finally saw something worthy of the terrors I’d spent my life affiliating with Hell.
This creature was the nightmare that lurked in the closet.
The first receptionist—the polite, horned man from the atrium—introduced us. Ianna dropped her brusque demeanor as she was announced. She offered a slow, closed-eye nod to the receptionist. Azrames did the same when the receptionist gestured to him, announcing him to the doll-like woman. When the pair of receptionists focused their attention on me and Fauna, I nearly clawed my way back into the rectangle of the space-time continuum. I was confident I’d be better offrisking my chances on the streets of Hell than locking eyes with evil personified.
Fauna seemed to sense my need to bolt. Her grip tightened, anchoring me in place.
The young man introduced Fauna of the Nordes, then hesitated at me. He frowned, turning to Ianna for an explanation.
“This is a very important human to the royal family,” Ianna supplied. “One in possession of Nordic fae blood, thus the mandated escort from her realm.”
Ianna turned to me and met my doe-wide eyes. Her cold gaze turned to something else entirely. Her face tightened in a way I hadn’t seen. For a single moment, I understood the look of true fear on her face as she asked, “Would you care to introduce yourself?”
I held Ianna’s controlled terror for a fraction of a second before looking into the porcelain woman’s uncanny face, the chilling tilt of her head, the curious widening of her too-large eyes as I grasped at straws.
“Maribelle,” I breathed, Fauna’s fingers flexing against me reflexively. “You can call me Maribelle, and I am…” I struggled with the right words. I didn’t know how to say what I needed to say in order to convey my worthiness, my right to stand before the most threatening being I’d ever seen. “I’m the Prince’s human,” I said finally.
Fauna’s squeeze was one of unmistakable approval.
The room relaxed with the barest signs of relief, save for the doll.
“Can I get you anything, Maribelle?” the woman asked, voice airy and beautiful. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
