Page 115 of A Court of Hearts and Hunger
Alice stares at her plate, poking a chunk of sausage.
“We’ll see you off,” says Fin, “and then we’ll be heading home ourselves.” He pauses, touching Alice’s shoulder. When she looks up at him, he says gently, “Would you like to come with us to the Seelie kingdom? I can’t promise that it’s perfectly safe, but it’s certainly safer than here.”
She shakes her head. “I need to go where I’m needed, and wanted. And since that isn’t here—I think I’d better go home.”
We walk her to the study, where she stands motionless in a blue dress we dug out of a trunk in the Rabbit’s attic. She insisted on wearing one of the aprons we found, too. “I might as well start getting used to a maid’s uniform again,” she says. “If Master Drosselmeyer will give my job back to me.”
“If he doesn’t, I’ll come turn his balls into sugarplums,” Fin says.
“Perhaps this will convince him to employ you again,” says Riordan. From his pocket he takes a tiny leather-bound book. “I yield ownership to you, so that you may yield it to him.”
Alice stares. When she looks up at the Rabbit, angry tears stand in her eyes.
“But it’s yours.” Her voice shakes “You wanted it so badly. I gave it to you.”
“With the Queen gone, my need for such grim spellcraft is diminished,” he says gruffly. “Take it. Drosselmeyer is not Fae, and cannot use it to its full extent. If he has truly changed his ways, as you mentioned, it will do little harm in his hands.” He glances at Fin. “Satisfied, Sugarplum?”
Finias shrugs. “I don’t suppose you’d allow me to take it back to Beannú?”
“Certainly not.”
“Then this will do just fine.” He bows slightly to Alice. “Fare well, my lady.”
She gives him a little bow, then looks at me. “Thank you for coming to save me, Clara. It was noble of you. I wish we could have been better friends.”
“I wish that, too,” I tell her. “I think you would have liked my sister.”
A shadow of uncertainty crosses her face, and for a moment I think she might change her mind and come with us to Beannú. But she squares her shoulders and turns to face Riordan again.
He towers over her, white-clad, masked, and immobile.
Alice’s eyes spark with anger. “Take that mask off and look at me, Riordan.”
Quickly I take Fin’s arm and lead him out of the room.
“Really, dearest? It was just getting interesting,” he complains.
“Hush. They need a moment. And I think we need a moment, too.”
“Again?” He lifts an eyebrow. “Not that I’m complaining, but we already—”
“This isn’t about fucking.” I pause, collecting his hand and rubbing my thumb over his knuckles. “Are you alright? We haven’t really talked about the night the Queen died. When you froze.”
“Ah, that.” He winces. “I hate that it happened, sugar. I hate that you saw it.”
“I want to see every part of you. Even the difficult, frightening bits. It’s you and me, Fin.”
“I know.” He rubs his hands along my upper arms. “I’m alright. Better than ever, I think. The memories will always be there, but their power over me is diminished now. I have purged myself of that darkness.”
“I’m glad.” I slide my arms around his body, pressing my cheek to his chest.
“I love you,” he murmurs into my hair. “And sweetness, there’s something I should tell you—I’ve been waiting for the right moment, I suppose. It’s about you, dearest, and how you saw thecomhartha diaon the Queen’s chest.”
I was right—he was waiting until everything settled down before he told me. He wasn’t scared of the truth, or trying to hide it. He was protecting me. Misguided, perhaps, but sweet.
“I already know,” I murmur. “I was born from a god-touched. Ygraine told me.”
“She did?”
