Page 97 of A Court of Sugar and Spice
There’s a sultry heat in his eyes, a wicked promise in his words. I thrill with excitement and pull him in for a hard kiss.
When we separate, Clara is watching us, smiling. “So you two have settled things?”
“I’m staying,” I tell her exuberantly. “Please say you are, too!”
“Fuck yes,” she says, and then flushes scarlet, her face shining with soft joy. “Wherever Fin goes, I go.”
“I’d say it’s the other way around, dearest.” Fin saunters out of the lair, carrying a glowing pink whip. “After all, I’m the one who followed you here.”
Clara leaps forward, collecting the whip eagerly. “Oh, you found it!”
“I can track items I’ve conjured,” he says with a wink. “Thought you might care to have it back.”
“Conjured,” she says, her face falling. “Does that mean it won’t last?”
“I think we can find a way to make it permanent.”
“Oh good.” She looks at me, lifting the whip. “My new weapon!”
“You’ll have to tell me everything,” I begin, but at that moment Drosselmeyer’s portal appears on the turf, looking exactly as it did the day we first stepped through it. He must have decided to move it from the smelly underground tunnel to the open air. A good choice.
Drosselmeyer exits the lair himself a moment later.
“It will take me a little time to set them all free,” he says. “I’ll return shortly.”
“If you don’t, I know where to find you,” Lir replies darkly. “There are other paths between our two worlds.”
With a nod, Drosselmeyer steps through the portal.
He’s gone for a long time. But at last an impossibly tall Fae woman with doe ears and white curly hair steps through the portal, bending over so she doesn’t strike her head on the arch. She moves with the graceful caution of a warrior, and she grips an ax with a head carved of icy crystal.
“Andil,” exclaims Lir, and he strides forward to embrace her.
This is the dear friend he mentioned weeks ago, when we stood in Drosselmeyer’s weapon room.
“My wife,” says Andil. “Is she all right?”
The sliver of jealousy that was beginning to work its way into my heart melts away, and I feel guilty for yielding to it. This beautiful creature has a wife. Someone she loves, whom she hasn’t seen in months.
“Our realm has endured great upheaval, and much death,” says Lir. “But we will find your wife.”
Andil nods. “Thank you, my King. It is King now, yes?”
“As soon as our people are returned, the ceremony will take place.”
“That will be a glad day.” With a smooth bow, she glides past him, taking up a position nearby.
One after another, more Fae come through the portal—Seelie and Unseelie alike. They appear vaguely confused, and though they all have some recollection of their existence in Drosselmeyer’s house, some are more shocked than others to find out how much time has passed since they were cursed.
Finally the stream of Fae ends and Drosselmeyer himself steps through the portal. He’s carrying some of mine and Clara’s luggage. After depositing it on the grass, he goes back through, only to return with our trunk. Clara must be glad to see that—some of her favorite paintings are still wedged in the bottom, wrapped carefully for travel.
Lir speaks to me under his breath. “Say your farewells, you and Clara, before I banish him from Faerie forever.”
I don’t chide him for the dramatic words. The pain he and his people have been through because of Drosselmeyer is incalculable. There’s nothing I can say to make light of it or cheer his heart. Drosselmeyer not only stole years from the cursed; he incited the Rat King’s war by kidnapping the Seelie Prince. All the ravages, the loss of life, the hideous torment and the ruinous dark magic—it all began when Drosselmeyer saw his chance to capture the Prince, and took it.
Lir stalks away without another word, and I let him go. But Fin stays, watching as Clara and I hug Drosselmeyer, a little awkwardly. We barely know the man, but it seems right to acknowledge how drastically our short acquaintance with him has changed our lives.
I exchange glances with Clara, and somehow I know she’s thinking the same thing I am.
