Deception (14 page)

He had relaxed a little by now.   We took turns outlining what would happen one night from now, the night of my eighteenth birthday.  I pieced together what I knew from Danella and his mother with Ian filling in the blanks with what he knew.  Many of the details were new to both of us and we succumbed to asking the historians in the library.  Fey keep their records rather well, it seems. Better than humans, Danella said.  We finished with repeating the events one more time before letting the subject drop.  His manly Ian voice returned in different company and that made me love him all the more because I was singled out enough to be treated with care.

“You are in danger.”

I gave him the “go on with it” look.  This was protector Ian talking again.  My father did this often. I am learning quickly that men in general need to feel in charge of their woman so to speak.  Worthy.  They want to feel important to us women folk.  So he needed me to react accordingly and admit I needed his help.

“You’ll be protected.  The Nyms, a group of outcasted people, are threatening the two courts into a war.  They know about the prophecy and want you stopped.  They also know you made it safely here.  There are some who think you will change your mind, make it worse for our kind.  There are two humans helping to guard the court.  You saw them by the main entrance.” 

The
tall
brutes
.  Human? 
Tossing my head in that direction as if to see but it was a no go, I found Ian’s face dreamy like at the return.  He seemed engrossed in some kind of euphoric fantasy daze.

“You okay?” I asked confused by his glazed look.

“You were absolutely more amazing than words last night.  I apologize for being so forward with you, but I am finding it very hard to stay away from you now that I don’t have to.”  He must have felt like he’d said too much and was shutting down with a slow like molasses attempt to move away because stood up and paced. I knew his pacing meant frustration but not what caused it now.

“Don’t stop.  I love hearing you talk.  I have never been able to say that before or hear it from you.   I want to hear everything.  All the things I have missed.  All the things I never said because I was chicken or because you couldn’t.  I want it all, my prince,” I bowed my head feeling silly.  It sounded cheesy and stupid, but I’d wanted to do something like that my whole life.   It got the effect I wanted.

“Okay, princess Grace,” he said with one amused eyebrow raised.  My Ian was back. 

We were both smiling now.  Silly, but smiling.  Gooey eyed!  The kind of scene that makes your friends say, “Oh brother!”

“Once, when we were at school, just days before all this…I pulled you into the lockers to rescue you.  Do you remember?”

I nodded, shivering when he shoulder bumped me.  Of course I remembered being that close to him.  It was a terrible excitement, but remembered also why I needed saving.  Or who from at least.   Kin, evil Kin.

“I almost lost control that day.  I knew inside I was three days away from telling you everything and tried to rationalize telling you and you believing me then.  Or just giving in and…but I didn’t.  I want every new moment between us to be right as it should.  Do you understand? I am not trying to sound all
sappy
, but I have to make sure you know that you are very important to me.”

“You
were
listening. And I love the sometimes sappy, sometimes manly man Ian.  All of it.”  He pulled my hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently and kept his smoldering eyes on mine the entire time.  It's the eyes with Ian.  What’s a girl to do? Why, oh why, do we girls fall for this so easily…

The moment passed and we repositioned on the bench for what I knew to be a back to business approach.  Pish!

He gave me a reproachful look, “On a down note, there can only be one queen.”  He let that one set in a second. 

“To become queen, Queen Lazyra has to die?” 

What? 
“That’s crazy.  Die?  Then who would want me here?  Who would welcome little ole Grace to just watch the queen die.  Who says I have to be queen now
anyway
?  Has everyone gone
mad
?”  I nervously began twisting my hands together, dithering with my sleeve, and letting the air seethe out through my clinched teeth.

“The prophecy.”

“THE PROPHECY! 
Who cares
?  And who knows if they interpreted it correctly?” I choked. 

“We think the prophecy means to change what has become of the realm.  To cleanse it, so to speak.  The court seers have agreed for years.  We don’t know exactly what will happen, but it all starts now.  With you.”   

I didn’t realize he had accepted this long ago. And with his mind made up about the subject, I could either join up or but out.  At least, that’s how I think he sees it. “Will you detail what will happen at these ceremonies?”

“It is more of a ritual than anything.  Every queen has gone through most of it.  It is different for you because of the prophecy, you have human instincts, and there are three ceremonies being performed in one night.  Preparations are already being made to ready the events.”  He stopped, but I could tell there was more.

“And also…” he kept pausing.  I just waited.  He seemed to be trying to draw up courage. 

“Because you are betrothed, and to a prince of the current queen, there is more required and you and I in particular,” his brow furrowed.

I loved hearing the “you and I” part.  A birthday gift to remember!

  “Remember that some of this will be very nonhuman to you.  You will have to treat it with respect and be completely serious despite your reservations.”

“So if I mess up, do I have to be queen or do I get sent away,” I said humorously rolling my eyes.  He didn’t even smile. He stared at me, stunned. That was unexpected
. Yikes!

“Well, yeah.  Kind of.”

Crap...Double crap!

He raised his eyebrows.

Sorry!
              I wasn’t expecting that answer and wasn’t sure if he was serious or not.  “Quit reading my thoughts if they bother you!”  I added.

He stayed quiet watching me think.  I wouldn’t reject his people if it meant he would be disappointed—I didn’t know them.

“Guess most before me didn’t have a sense of humor.”  Wide-eyed and afraid I said the wrong thing, “You better go over it all again.”

“It will be fine.  Just treat it with respect.  Let’s start from the beginning.”

After I’d heard every detail to the point I felt comfortable, it was time for what they called evening meal and was hurried to be ready.  I hated leaving him for even the thirty or so minutes it took me to change.  Fey were moving in every direction excitement flowing through the air.  What looked like sparkly water droplets were spraying towards the center of a giant drink fountain.  It looked like a party bowl of punch to me, but this couldn’t come close to a regular punch bowl with the little live flowers the bowl had growing out of it.  I was still wearing my gown from the day, but several were already dressed in elaborate “costume” like garbs for the night’s dinner.  In honor of me, stinking me!  It was incredibly crazy.

Ian frowned at my thoughts, I could tell.  Serves him right! 

He bowed before I could sit down at the table so I whispered to him as I peered across the room for onlookers, “Are you going to do that every time I sit down.” 

He smiled and whispered back, “Yes Princess, the court would have me flogged if I show any disrespect to the queen, or future queen, regardless of who I am.”  Then he moved in closer to my ear.  I could feel him breathing on my neck, “And because I love seeing your cheeks blush when I do it.”

I wanted to fall apart at the seams beaming from my head to my pale pink painted toes.  My dress wrinkled beneath me and I had to straighten it but snaked a glance at his new pants and boots.  They were still rugged, just different.

“Because even the different nations across the world dress differently than you.  Do you think everyone wears tie-dye and jeans everywhere they go?”

“Stop listening to my brain!” I said through gritted teeth.  I’d forgotten to guard.                Can I hire a brutish human dude to guard my thoughts?

He didn’t say anything else.  Just a loud enough chuckle for me to hear.                           

I’d have to ponder what else he might have done in the past that led to all this.  He’s been giving hints for years
.
  Princess!  My queen!   All this time he was hinting at everything. 

The next day dwindled on with little reminders of what was to come from Danella and Tren until finally Danella summoned me to the bath.  I had not seen Ian at all,
all
day!  I was polished and prodded all over again like the day before and wearily unsure I could handle this on a daily basis.  I’d have to change that if I could for I really wanted my jeans back.  Danella bustled in with all manner of garments and lotions and things for me.  She was talking to herself and pointing with orders of what to do next.

“It’s kind of like a birthday present, Miss Grace.  And the party is all about you!”

“Thanks, but no thanks!” I muttered ruffled but not showing it.

“What do you mean, Miss Grace?”  Danella’s face was upset.

“It is a lot of up-do for just me,  a bit too much for one person.”

“This isn’t a party just about you, Miss Grace.  I’m sorry.  This is for all of us in the Seelie court.  You see, we have waited for this day for eighteen years.  Please don’t think that we are just doing it for you, but for every Seelie Fey who has waited for your arrival.”

That was reassuring though it hit home with a tall slice of hurt on my ego.  “That’s upsetting but exciting news.  Thank you, Danella.  I probably needed that.”

Danella was confused, but said “your welcome” and returned to her business looking up at me every so often in a kind of bewildered grin.

I examined the gown very carefully smoothing my hand over the bodice not believing I will wear such a flashy get up.  The Fey must not believe in eating since there is no way to eat while wearing it!  Stomach poof would ruin the look.

It shimmered and curved in all the appropriate places.  It was modestly made, but very clingy in my very modest eyes.   The gown this time was a slippery silvery color covered with tiny emeralds I hoped were not real, but most likely were.  I knew I’d “twinkle” like a disco ball every time I shifted my weight.  The elaborate leaves that decorated it made the fabric seem like it would fall apart if I sat down to fast or walked with too large a stride. 
Split! 
I could see it plain as day. 

Maple leaves were weaved throughout my hair and painted intricately on my neck with a kind of golden paint that painfully felt more like a tattoo than body paint.  The pattern wound around my arms and ended at my palms in delicate little petal-like leaves.  I felt like a painting and wondered if I could get away with striking a pose to mess Tren up on her design efforts.  Nah!  Probably not with her easy abilities to multitask. After hours of painful pampering, I was ready.  Tren was smug with pride admiring her masterpiece.

It was nearly midnight when they shuffled me to the same entrance from the other night but disappointment washed over me when there was no Ian at my door.   A peek around the corner revealed the same twinkling lights as the previous night two days ago, but I could tell something was glowing differently than before. Meeting everyone had been exhausting but interesting.  There were too many names in one night to remember.

I couldn’t get cold feet if I wanted too. I was too excited to see Ian, the man I was getting
engaged
to.  The two guards were there, waiting for me to enter that marked a long line of more guards sandwiched along the walls. 

The entire garden was obviously completely full.  The guard’s arms dropped like swords announcing my entrance making me feel way out of my league.  The room bowed and there was a quiet “ahhh” rolling across the room as I stepped right inside the flowery canopy.  I made it to the first stop and bowed to the first family clan.  And the second.  Ian told me more information about the family clans and how the record keepers could give a better idea of how many bows were in order.  I spent the night before with Ian and two of them teaching everything they could in a crash course.  Even if I couldn’t remember how many, they were recognizable by the silver and golden maple leaves atop their heads.  And they would stand at the front of their clan.  Ian had called them “egos”.  By the looks they were giving me, he’d been right about the ego part.

I’d made it through at least half of them.  Ten in all and now finally found myself standing at the end of the “runway” facing Ian.  He was in the same place as before, but staring straight ahead, not at me.  His body was turned slightly away so I couldn’t be sure he’d even seen the get up I was in. 

I faced the queen, the hardest part!   I had to recite the ancient prayer of sealing the Fey age expectancy warranted to be done by every queen and king to be.  It was presumed I’d not live as long because I was from the human world, but everything was speculation.  A tiny, pretty fairy dressed in leaves head to toe handed me a small pouched bundle tied with a green ribbon.  It had the distinct aroma of rosemary and something else I couldn’t identify.  The gathered herbs would stay in my hands and then be placed around my neck until after the ceremony was complete.  They said it was good luck and more.

No one else would talk tonight.  I’d be the only one.  That in itself was frightening.  After reciting it over twenty times in the bath and dressing area, I was as ready as I could be. 

I bowed to the queen, then carefully picked up the maple leafed crown centered on a velvet green pillow from the short silver pedestal and handed it to Lyzara.  The queen raised it above my head as I looked to it to keep it from falling. I spoke softly, but some kind of magic I wasn’t controlling made my voice boom out the words I’d rehearsed.

“
To all those behind and beyond

To all those to come

I give my life to the Fey

I relinquish my own

The union I will bond

Each season to the next

I’m bound to you
.”

The crown, still above, was placed atop my head.  A small infant-like fairy flew to me with a goblet full of a clear liquid that was sweeter than water.  I drank it without caution.  I knew I should not show any emotion on the outside and they could all read me on the inside.  I was trying and ending up successful, at not thinking at all.  I was keeping my mind blank. 
Blank!  Blank!  Blank!

As such, I would have a way longer life than any human but getting past how old some of these guys were made my head ache.  When the queen passed the crown to the next queen, power was relinquished.  A Fey already had a long life, as well as magic, but the queen had their life elongated for the endurance of the court but caught up at the passing.  Some kind of magic in the binding ceremony process completed all this.  The information from the morning was once again, overwhelming in its amount of heaviness on the brain.  The magic part alone was still hard to ease into, but the thrill of being about to use it more outweighed the fear!
 

My emotions were peaking and plummeting back and forth.  I thought of my parents feeling like a traitor for not including them in such a big event in my life.  The hardest part would be that they would only be allowed minimal physical contact with me again.  Ian had explained that to protect my parents, I would need to be very discreet about how often I saw them.  But apparently, my sneaky devil of a mom knew that and still allowed everything to happen that had so far.  Earlier,  my thoughts also lingered on the future getting little from Danella.  Queen Rules, what others rules are there, and what perks am I still unaware of.
 

The crown was on my head now.  I felt Queen Lazyra’s icy fingers press against my temples sending the distinct feeling that I should see a beam of light shoot up or something.  But, nothing!  The queen returned to the throne and left me standing alone.  I would have taken a place on the throne, but I the part-human, getting-engaged, yesterday-common-today-far-from-normal-girl wasn’t done yet.  I was reminded time and time again that I would be the first to ever be called to perform three ceremonies in one night.

All of this symbolized the passing of the queen.  At this point, the rest was new to everyone.  No one knew what would happen except the queen, the prince, and the new queen.  And the record keepers.   I was sure everyone around me had pretty good guesses though due to the fact that I learned most of the room was, for the most part, over hundreds of years old and good at gossiping. The day had been full of it.  And they all knew about the prophecy.

I hoped everyone couldn’t see my trembling hands as I turned from the throne and hoped looked more confident than I felt.
 

The prophecy.  I took two steps, approached a similar Fey to the others before, and released the clasp containing the prophecy written on it.  I held it up above my head and recited it word for word with my voice booming again.

We’ll come seek you on one hallowed eve

When grace upon you is in full bloom

A queen emerges among us all

To take us into a peaceful rule

A prince will name her to his own

Guard her well from friend or foe

Come seek us at the pass

Otherwise, you shall not last.

I felt Ian walk up behind and stop at the last word.  He explained the order of the ceremonies several times.   First, the coming of age, then the prophecy, and the last was the betrothing ceremony.  And I was deathly afraid of the last one going wrong.   Why not worry more about becoming queen of something?  It’s not like he would reject me now.  In a make-believe world everything is supposed to go perfect, right?

I knew he stood behind to show the fulfillment of the guardianship part of the prophecy for which we were both were connected to.    He had to show allegiance to continue to protect me even after my coming of age ceremony to become the queen for which I termed the birthday party. Somehow, none of this figured into the picture I planned for birthday wishes coming true…except the Ian part.  Some divine plot that no one knew who could have possibly made and yet everyone was sure it was right to happen either way.  

Every bead of perspiration was coming through the thin fabric they’d put me in.  I calmed a bit when he moved closer and could see his eyes.   My mind shut out the negative thoughts about evil moms and Nyms with his reassuring smile.

He pulled a sword from its sheath, which was obviously not from any human hands.

It was hand carved and looked like a piece of art that should be hanging in one of the museums Ian and I had seen on the field trip in the tenth grade.

He bowed towards me and kneeled with the sword pointed to the ground.  I placed a hand on each of his shoulders one at a time symbolizing the acceptance of his guardianship.  He then stood, returned his sword, and knelt down again which symbolized the acceptance of choosing to be betrothed to
me
, the supposed new queen.  A single courageous tear rolled down my cheek finding its way to the floor showing my fear. Fear of messing the whole thing up.  I saw him follow it to the ground and slid back slowly to my eyes as he seemingly examined every curve of my body.  His emerald eyes had always seemed not quite human, but I never questioned it. 

I nodded to him accepting the betrothal. He rotated back to a small bowl filled with the same strange liquid from the goblet.  He dipped his hands in the bowl, lifted them, and returned to me.  His hands were placed in mine where either the liquid tingled my arms, or his touch did.  Beside me he took the hand closest to him to connect to his liquidy one and raised our hands to the air. We circled the bowl holding our hands up standing the opposite direction of Queen Lazyra.  A man’s hands couldn’t fit in this bowl, yet we were to put both our hands in again or the deal was final.  We looked at each other, dipped our hands together, wrists touching, found our fingers tangled just slightly, and emerged with our hands and wrists entwined.   He jerked slightly, but no one but me could have noticed as I peeked out from under my lashes to gauge the reason for it.  I must have scratched him with my ridiculously sharp fingernails.  I blamed it on Tren who filed them.

The entire garden cheered.  We held our hands high and smiled as if already seated on golden thrones.   Feeling like I didn’t belong in the real world, I knew now I belong here. Sure, I still wanted my jeans, but I could adjust. 

Electricity seemed to be going through our hands.  He explained earlier that the binding was magical, permanent. I wondered if this is what that meant.  I could see in his eyes that he felt it too.   He turned my wrist over and looked at the inside of it showing disappointment.  I looked, but saw nothing but the ornamental drawings of Tren and gooey liquid dripping everywhere.  He didn’t speak though.  He wasn’t supposed to.

A head nod in the direction of Queen Lazyra resembled a “no”, but she didn’t flinch. 

The next part included sealing me to a prince and him to a queen.  I was required to ask permission to marry the prince and he was required to ask permission of the queen to marry. 

To end the ceremony I, the future queen of the Seelie court, Grace Starmen had to bathe my betrothed’s hands.  Yes, honest to goodness. 

I left Ian and walked to the throne, bowed and asked the queen, “I G— Firebearer, one Grace, seek to unite with Ian, son of King Ikan, son of Queen Lazyra.”  I was to wait for the crowd to acknowledge the current queen’s nod of approval for which I was to keep my head bowed and unable to see.  He was definitely right about the ritual part of the night.  If the queen disapproved, the betrothed mate would be banished out of the court.  Talk about harsh!  I couldn’t see that happening.  Not with what I heard from the conversation yesterday.  Ian assured me the prophecy weighed a lot of the decision making by me, myself, and I.   After he followed with some of the same, the crowd cheered and we were official.  I didn’t think I could control the excitement welling up inside of me, but I forced it down for fear of the seemingly unorthodox Queen Lazyra.  Of course, I was saying this while standing in what I thought was once a fairy tale event in my beloved books.