Bride of Fae (Tethers) (7 page)

The soft fabric beneath his coverlet felt cold to the touch, not like something worn against a goblin’s hot skin. It shimmered as brilliantly as Cissa’s cloak.

“Glimmermist!” Dandelion said.
Everything was clear now. “That’s why you’re after my sister. Her cloak is made of your glimmermist.”

Max turned around. “You ask too many questions. But yes, I need to find the princess.”

“You won’t,” Dandelion said. “You won’t see Cissa again until I let you.”

“Dream on, Prince.”
Max clutched his shirt collar and grinned. “You can’t spell me when I’m wearing this.”

Cissa and Morning Glory shrieked with laughter
as two sprites played catch with a leprechaun’s hat.

“Apparently I can,” Dandelion said. “At this moment, Cissa isn’t ten feet away.”

“She never.” Max’s eyes widened. He took a step back and searched the area.

“She is.” Dandelion said. “I spelled you on line when you were making so much noise.”

“That should be…impossible.” The goblin scowled.

“Tell me. What scheme has Idris got you up to?”

“I can’t say.” The gnarly voice dropped to a whisper. “But Elyse’s Bower isn’t what you think.”

“You
can
say, Max. What has Idris got going in there?”

Max hesitated
, glancing over his shoulder at Idris. Then he heaved a sigh and motioned Dandelion to bend down. Nose-to-nose, he said, “The regent’s amassed a stockpile of cold iron.”

Dandelion’s head jerked up
in shock. Idris was with Cissa and Morning Glory, laughing at the hatless leprechaun as if all was well with the world. Max grabbed his neck and pulled him back down. “He’s storing it in the bower.”

Great gods.
“I knew his so-called grief was a show.”

Only
Dumnos iron was benign to fairies. All other iron was toxic. The Dumnos fae called non-Dumnos iron cold iron and the steel made from it cold steel. Coming close to cold iron caused excruciating headaches. Prolonged exposure nullified fairy magic. In rare cases it was lethal, as Dandelion well knew.

“And the goblins are involved in this scheme?”
He didn’t try to hide his loathing.

“Don’t press me,” Max said. “He’s coming.”

“I
DRIS. AUBREY." DANDELION ACKNOWLEDGED
the two fairies. It was impossible to know if they’d overheard his and Max’s conversation.

“
My favorite goblin.” Idris slapped a hand on Max’s shoulder. “Not before time the gobs sent someone to troop night. I was on the verge of hurt feelings.”

Max shrugged Idris’s hand off, his grumble nearly a growl.
He was obviously miserable. Dandelion believed the gob was a reluctant participant in the iron scheme, but what hold could Idris have on Max?

Idris smiled indulgently and snapped his fingers. With a pop and a flash, a serving pixie appeared with a tray of four glasses of sparkling pink liquid.

Max sniffed at the wine and wrinkled his nose, which offended the pixie. “Cretin!” She disappeared in a huff. Dandelion felt sorry for the gob and lifted the spell as he drank. Max instantly spotted Cissa, his eyes widening eagerly above the glass.

Idris followed Max’s gaze to
the princess and back. “There is nothing more pathetic than a fae in love,” Idris said. “It’s why I forbid Aubrey to visit his wretched faeling. It’s for his own good. She reminds him of his lost love, and I can’t bear to see him so unhappy. Now it seems poor Max is smitten.”

Max shifted his weight from foot to foot.

“What is your problem, gob? Can’t take a little joke?” Idris feigned a pout. “I’ve had to suffer your guttural grumbles since we left the throne room. You’re spoiling my mood.”

“I do have a problem, my liege. A grievance.” Max raised his voice and waved his empty glass at Cissa. “A grievance against Princess Narcissus!”

Cissa and Morning Glory and everyone else nearby turned toward the noise.

“Oh!” Cissa turned bright red.

Giggles rippled through the fae. None doubted their princess was guilty—of whatever Max would claim she’d done. The interesting question was what would Idris do about it?

More
fae gathered to watch. Cissa glared at Max, but she didn’t deny her crime. She stamped her foot. “It’s not my fault!” She twirled around and the glimmermist cloak shimmered gloriously. “I couldn’t resist. It’s too beautiful.”

No one could blame her. If there is one thing a fairy can never resist, it’s a sparkly object. That cloak was the sparkliest object Dandelion had seen in a very long time.

“A confession! The princess has confessed!” Max practically salivated. It wasn’t pretty. “I demand satisfaction.”

“Indeed, she has confessed.” Idris glanced from Max to Cissa and back to Max. “Satisfaction, you say. You
demand
it.”

“
Not demand. I spoke in haste.” The goblin dropped his accusing finger and made an effort to control his emotions. “I beg satisfaction. Humbly.”

Idris
narrowed his eyes at Max. The regent’s orange-red hair flared beneath the moonstick crown.

“My liege.” Max added.

“Satisfaction, then.” Idris’s eyes glittered. “Yes, you shall have it. I think a kiss should do.” The fae murmured their approval, and Idris addressed Cissa. “A good one, mind you, full on the lips.”

Max’s outrage evaporated. His scowl faded and a humorous gleam lit his eye. The lusty gob was going to enjoy this, and Dandelion didn’t begrudge him one bit. His sister could be exasperating.

Cissa caught Dandelion’s eye, mortified. She shook her head, so slightly only he noticed.
No, Cissa.
He stared back at her and willed her to obey Idris’s command, no matter how distasteful.
He can’t know we’re not bound to him.

“One kiss,” Idris said. “How
hard can that be, Princess Narcissus?”

“Judging by the goblin’s trousers, it can be
very
hard!” Morning Glory said. Cissa flashed her eyes in fury, and all the fae burst out laughing.

Beneath the laughter
was another sound, not so joyous. The human woman moaned in pain. The musicians had stopped playing, and she’d fallen to the ground in a lump. None moved to help or offer a word of kindness. The fae had moved on to the next new shiny object: the drama of beauty and beast. Would the goblin get his kiss?

Dandelion sighed. He almost sympathized with Idris. Ruling this self-centered lot would make anybody cynical. He
strode over to the woman and pulled a handful of dust from the small pouch tied to his belt.

He
sprinkled fairy dust over the human’s feet. She looked at him with gratitude and relief, but the light in her eyes had dimmed. Something tugged at his heart. Sympathy? Surely not. He squatted beside her.

“Tell me you forgive me,” he said softly. “Say it three times.”

Confusion clouded her expression. She raised a feeble hand and touched his cheek then his lips. “You’re so beautiful,” she said.

“Say it.”

She passed out. Dandelion felt for her pulse, still there but very faint.

“This is my judgment.” Idris’s voice rang out. Dandelion stood up to watch.

Always the master showman, Idris waited a few beats to build anticipation. The moonstick crown glittered, and the jewels of his ornate tether sparkled over his sinuous bare chest. He was a living, breathing work of art, and he knew it. He loved being looked at. Perhaps Idris was the very king the Dumnos fae deserved.

“Princess Narcissus owes Goblin Max: One. Long. Juicy. Kiss!”

The fae whistled and clapped. Some spun in the air, and some tossed dust. The musicians played a fanfare.

Cissa grimaced. Of course she loathed the prospect of kissing a goblin. Dandelion held her gaze and prayed to the high gods she
would understand what was at stake.
Don’t refuse, sister. Don’t let anyone know.

The Dumnos fae were bound to obey the regent by the high gods’ decree, just as t
hey would be bound to Dandelion when—if—he became king. But unbeknownst to the world, Dandelion and Cissa had never been bound to Idris.

They didn’t know why Brother Sun and Sister Moon spared them.
It was said that human royalty were immune to wyrds; perhaps fae royalty weren’t subject to the fae binding spell. Dandelion and Cissa had no parents to consult for that information. They only had Idris.

At all events, Dandelion and Cissa never trusted Idris, so for their own safety they pretended to be under his control. If Cissa refused his command now, they’d be exposed. This might even be his way of testing her. Ever so slightly, she nodded understanding to Dandelion.

Cissa towered over Max. If they were to dance together, his head would fit nicely just below her bosom. She ran her fingernail down his rough cheek and lifted his chin. The goblin trembled. It was quite sweet, actually.

“If I kiss you,” she said, “will you forgive me utterly?”

“Utterly,” Max said. The gleam in his eye burned bright. There was something else there, something more than lust. Could Max truly care for Cissa?

“And completely?”

“And completely.”

Cissa put her hands on Max’s shoulders and fluffed herself out, radiating beauty and sexual power. She bent forward, and the fairies and brownies drew closer. A few sprites flitted above, tossing sparklies over the couple. Cissa placed her lovely lips on Max’s hungry fat ones and mashed her perfect smooth skin against his rough face. It seemed all of the faewood was dead quiet.

There was no mistaking Cissa’s small involuntary groan of pleasure. There was no missing that she melted, if only slightly, into Max’s embrace. When the princess stepped away from the goblin, she swayed and shook her head as if shaking off a trance. The wild applause revived her, and she grinned broadly. “Good.”

Max glared at the laughing fae and retreated to his tree stump.

“Remember your promise!” Cissa called after him. Catching Dandelion’s eye, she wiggled her eyebrows. Her triumphant grin gave him a sinking feeling, and he groaned inside.

What next?

She whirled around to face the crowd and let her cloak slide to the ground. Dandelion was right. She wore a skin tight body suit of the same magical glimmermist. She appeared nude until she moved and the fabric shimmered. A roar of approval went up all around.

Then silence. Utter, absolute, unequivocal, eerie silence.

Idris’s face went white.

“She didn’t,” Aubrey said under his breath with rare admiration.

Dandelion staggered backwards against the tree, gobsmacked. Not by Cissa’s appearance, but what she held above her head, its jewels gleaming in the firelight.

The fairy cup.

C
ISSA ROTATED IN A CIRCLE
with her prize held aloft. The cup caught and reflected light off its fairy-blown glass body and embedded emeralds, rubies, and sapphires. Every fae face glowed with desire for the fabulous object.

Dandelion tingled with anticipation. He could feel the cup between his hands. He wanted to fly up and rip the thing away from Cissa. The goblin kiss drama was nothing to this.