Page 27 of A Court of Sugar and Spice
“I foundher.Saved her from a monster. The Rat King is saturating these lands with his foul creatures.”
“You two know each other?” Clara disengages herself from our hug and moves toward the two men, frowning.
“This is my cousin, the one we came here to seek,” says the Prince.
Clara’s eyebrows rise. “You’re the great warrior?”
“Can you doubt it?” The new faerie grins, spreading his arms wide.
“You’re so colorful and sparkly,” I add. “I think Clara and I were expecting someone grimmer and more majestic.”
The new faerie claps the Prince on the shoulder. “This one has enough ‘grim and majestic’ for both of us. Runs in the family. Did he mention his father banished me from court?”
“You were consorting with Unseelie Fae,” says the Prince.
“And because I choose to have friends and lovers of all kinds, that makes me untrustworthy?”
“You know I never agreed with the way he punished you.”
“Ah, but you said nothing on the topic, except to me, in whispers.” The new faerie is still smiling, but his voice has gone hard. “You did not come to my defense then, and now you expect me to come to yours?”
“Not for my sake,” says the Prince. “For the sake of the kingdom. For the sake of all the gentle Fae who will suffer torture, rape, and death at the hands of the Rat King and his ilk. You know what they are—fiends thirsty for pain, lustful beasts who like to hear their victims scream before they grant the mercy of death. Is that what you want? For this kingdom to be ravaged and corrupted like the Dread Court?”
The new faerie isn’t smiling now. “Of course not.”
“You have always ridiculed customs, defied laws, and flirted with wickedness,” begins the Prince.
“Not just flirted. I’ve outright fucked with wickedness,” interjects the winged faerie. “Go on.”
The Prince shoots him a rebuking look that reminds me of Clara’s expression whenever she’s displeased with me.
“And yet, I believe you have a good heart,” continues the Prince. “You’re the only one I know of in this sector who might be willing to help us. We need an escort to the Unending Pool so I can dispel this curse fully.”
“Yes, on the way over Clara said something about your cursed form and how blood can temporarily restore you. She said you weredrinkingblood from her sister? How very Unseelie of you.”
“Desperate times require desperate acts,” mutters the Prince.
I snort loudly, and Clara looks over at me, then at the Prince. She pulls a little frown as if she’s trying to figure out the fresh vitriol between me and the Nutcracker.
“Once I reach the pool, dispel the curse, and reclaim my powers, it will be an easy matter to remove the Rat King from these lands,” the Prince says. “If you want to continue living as you wish, with the freedom to engage in any darkness or debauchery you like, and without the constant threat of Unseelie beasts, you should help us.”
“You’ll need more fighters than just me if you’re to reach the pool,” says the pink-haired faerie. “I may know a few. But first, you’ll return home with me. The sun has set, darkness will fall soon, and you don’t want to be caught out in this part of the forest at night. Besides the monsters and rat-soldiers, the nights are terribly cold. Seasons change quickly in Faerie,” he explains aside to Clara and me. “The turning of the year is nearly upon us. Winter will fall any day now, and frigid nights are the first sign of its coming.”
“We’ll stay the night with you,” says the Prince reluctantly. “But first thing in the morning—”
“Ugh, how I hate those words,” says his cousin, with a roll of his golden eyes. “Tomorrow I’ll gather a few allies, while little Clara here fulfills her bargain with me.”
The Prince turns to my sister, alarmed. “You made a bargain with him?”
“Nothing salacious,” says the pink-haired faerie. “She’s going to paint something for me.”
“Paint what?”
“That’s yet to be determined.” The faerie bounces into the air, his wings humming to life again. “The sun has set, my loves. Let us depart.”
9
As we follow the two Fae males through the darkening forest, Louisa leans toward me, nodding in the direction of the pink-haired faerie. “He’s a bit extravagant, isn’t he? I like it.”
