Page 75 of Sugar & Sorcery
I scrunched my nose. “I don’t have a look.”
“It’s not as if anyone could talk her out of it, sir.”
My mouth fell open at this sudden betrayal. Arawn burst into laughter. “You’re right, Yeun.”
He pivoted toward me, his smile stretching slowly. Too slowly. A smile that never reached his eyes but curled just enough to hint at something unhinged. Every time he smiled like that, I imagined him burning a village to ash.
“Do whatever you want with my kingdom—burn it, paint it pink, declare a dictatorship, I don’t care. In fact, it will give me something to occupy myself with when I return.”
I frowned. “But… there’s a ‘but,’ isn’t there?”
Arawn tilted his head, and his smile darkened into a shadow of threat. He stepped closer, closing the space between us. His fingers found my chin. He lifted my face slightly, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“But… for pity’s sake, if you’re so intent on risking your life, wait until I come back to do it, alright? I have no desire to feel that horror you humans call worry.”
“Worry?”
Yeun and I shouted at once, but Arawn was already gone, soaring into the sky in his draconic stag form.
I leaned against the counter, my cheeks aflame, my heart pounding. I was no better than Guimauve, who was now stalking Yeun again. She and I had more in common than I ever would have guessed.
Aignan scrambled onto the window ledge, his paws caked with dirt, flanked by his two crime-partners, Éclair and Chouquette.
“I thought that chatty sorcerer wouldneverleave,” he groused, annoyed. “Anyway, the cook’s gone! Vanished! The Spirits are losing their minds and swearing he never even existed! And then, there was this butterfly. Never mind, that’s not the point! You—spending all your time with that blasted sorcerer, while I?—”
I grabbed him suddenly and hugged him tight. “If you didn’t like him even a little, you wouldn’t disappear every time to leave us alone, huh? You can be much more unbearable than that when you want to.”
Aignan wriggled free with a hiss, his fur bristling. “I refuse to witness…that! That look between you makes me sick.”
I bent down, a conspiratorial smile on my lips. “What if I told you we were going on a secret mission? One Arawn doesn’t need to know about.”
I signaled Chouquette and Éclair to distract Yeun, who was still suffering Guimauve’s excessive grooming, then seized my broom.
Aignan’s ears twitched, a carnivorous grin curling his muzzle. “Now we’re talking.”
“You really found something useful here?”
Aignan leaped up to twist the golden handle of Arawn’s chamber door. “No. I lied.” With a swipe of his paw, he pushed it open, tail flicking with excitement. “I wanted to do something fun first, like adding green dye to his shampoo or?—”
“Aignan, no!” I hissed, rushing in after him as he strode into the room like he owned it. “I just needed to confirm what I saw in the lake!”
Inside, heavy midnight-blue curtains framed a majestic canopy bed, the fabric soft as clouds. The black walls seemed to swallow the light, while the ceiling glittered with enchanted constellations. I held my breath, my eyes drifting to the far corner where a celestial bath waited.
Tiles glowed like galaxies, purples and indigos swirling in a cosmic dance. A great oval tub sat beneath a vaulted wall. Ancient copper pipes twisted all around like metallic veins, exhaling warm mint-scented steam in places. And at last, a sink carved from a column of black wood veined with violet. Water pooled inside, still and dark, like the Spirit Lake.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Not what you expected, huh?” Aignan flopped onto the tapestry far too casually. “I was surprised too.”
He rolled onto his back, staring at the glowing stars above. I couldn’t help but smile. I understood now why Aignan camehere. Annoying Arawn was just an excuse. In truth, he came to watch the stars. He came for Nyla.
He stretched lazily, then licked a paw. “Well… back to the claws at hand. You think the tree that cursed him is buried beneath the Spirit Lake?”
I nodded, my mind already racing. “Yes. I think it’s the very first confectioner’s tree, the one from the legends Nyla told us.” I ticked points off on my fingers. “If I can confirm it, I’ll know for sure his link to the Crèvecoeur family. Why do the Spirits pour from the lake… and maybe… Maybe I’ll know how to help him.”
“Tracing back to the origins,” he grumbled, shooting me a sidelong glance. “Still poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“And so are you!” I shot back, arms crossed. “So are you going to be useful or not?”
