Fragile Destiny (The Aether Chronicles) (6 page)

“Am not. And what do you mean
if she is who you think she is.
” If this wasn’t Ciarán …

The look Ciarán gave him could make a lesser man spontaneously combust. “My spies keep track of many things, including the comings and goings of some young earth court princes, who are often in the company of a girl fitting Magnolia’s description. In fact, she was just in the Otherworld. With them.”

She was? His hands fisted. But that whelp had broken it off with her. Magnolia was safe with her brother in the mortal realm. “No, he can’t have her.”

“Obviously I need to keep you occupied.” Ciarán looked unamused. “Let’s not start any wars. Please. There will be time for rebellion later.”

“Do you have something else for me to do?” Maybe he could find her, bring her here, where she’d be safe.

“Yes. Teach your nephew to hunt, spend some time with him. Help me keep the little princess happy and safe. The rebellion is starting sooner than intended.” Ciarán shot him another look.

“It is?” That took him aback. “Elise is too young to rule, and we don’t have all the pieces.”

“I think that between Brogan and I, we may. Everything will come in time, but if we wait too long, there will be nothing of our beloved realm left,” Ciarán said.

“What did Tiana do now?” That woman had no idea how to rule—not that anyone dared tell her. It would mean their death.

Ciarán looked at him with utter despair in his amber eyes. “The queen recently changed the definition of
sword
to include long knives. She’s been rounding up and executing people left and right, including … ” His face contorted. “Several dark court boys. She’s ordered her guards to execute them on sight; by the time I found out, it was too late.”

“Long knives are
not
swords.” Outrage rose inside him. Those not from the great houses couldn’t carry swords; most peasants depended on long knives for protection and their everyday livelihood. “What’s next, bows so no one can hunt for food?”

Slowly, Ciarán nodded. “That’s what I’ve heard, but it’s not official yet. It was one thing when her laws were just silly, but now they’re harming people.
My people.
I won’t stand for it.”

Kevighn put a hand on his shoulder. “Neither will I.”

“You’re with me?” Ciarán asked.

He raised his glass. The queen couldn’t be allowed to destroy their home, their people. “To death and beyond.”

Five

The Faery Queen’s Jewel

The sun fell on Noli’s face and her eyes flickered open. V slept beside her in her bedroom. She must have fallen asleep in his arms. There were footsteps and a click.

“Get out of my sister’s room, Darrow.” Jeff stood in the doorway, pistol aimed at them.

V sat straight up, eyes widening as he caught sight of the pistol. “We’re fully clothed. We must have fallen asleep while researching.” He gestured to the still-burning candle lamp and the book on the floor, then hopped out of her bed with lightning quickness.

“Jeff, will you stop? I’m not going to be amused if you and Vix aim pistols at us every time we’re together,” Noli snapped, sitting up and scowling at her brother. She didn’t need these sorts of shenanigans. There was enough to deal with.

“I … I’m going to my house to get some clean clothes,” V stammered, then fled the room.

Noli’s eyes narrowed at Jeff, displeased at his little game. “Happy?”

“He looks like a dandy in all that velvet. James can pull it off, but Steven can’t.” Jeff sat down, not even asking permission to enter, then helped himself to one of the cookies in the sack on her desk.

“It’s the fashion in the Otherworld, and you know we came straight from there. It’s a long story.” She threw her legs over the side of the bed, smoothing her wrinkled Otherworld gown. “Can you teach me how to steal a jewel by tomorrow night? Please?”

Jeff blinked once, then twice. “Why?”

“Because tomorrow night at the museum ball, V and I will take a look at a gem purported to have been owned by a faery queen. If it’s what I’m looking for, I’m going to steal it. It would be helpful if you’d give me some pointers.” After all, that’s what he and his crew did. They stole. She set the book on the desk. Going to the wardrobe, she pulled out the half-finished ball gown. Could she finish it by tomorrow?

“
Why?
”

V had asked her the same thing.

“I must keep the artifact out of the wrong hands and I think the gem is part of it. I’ve never stolen
anything
, and since it’s a faery gem, the last thing I want is to be caught.” Noli laid the gown on the bed and examined it.

“But
why
? I don’t understand why this is so important to you—other than you’re in love with Darrow, who doesn’t deserve you,” he grumped.

Noli spun on her stocking feet and faced her brother. “I love V, and he loves me. Get used to it. As for the artifact … it’s a staff, a magical one of great power. We discovered that much in our research. Nevertheless, I need to protect it because … ” If V didn’t believe the Bright Lady had spoken to her, Jeff certainly wouldn’t. “It’s difficult to explain. But if it makes you feel better, V doesn’t understand either. He wants to research the thing to death first, but we should be stealing back the pieces Brogan already has, then locating the rest of them.”

Jeff shook his head. “I don’t understand all of this. But we can help if stealing this stone is really that important to you. Thad
is
a master thief.”

The whole crew was in town? Brilliant.

“I can do it by myself if someone simply tells me what to do. I don’t want to get you involved.” The last thing she wanted was for them to get in trouble because of her. Noli examined the unsewn seams, the missing trim. “Besides, what would Vix say?”

“Vix wants you to figure out a way for us to elope without making Mother angry.” Jeff smiled lopsidedly. “She said she’d rather be shot down by MoBatts over Deseret territory than sit through another wedding planning session disguised as brunch with Mother, Grandmamma, and the aunties.”

Noli laughed, picturing such a fiasco in her head. “That does sound dreadful. See why I didn’t want to go to Boston?” A sigh escaped her lips. “I’m not sure if I can finish this dress, even if I use the steam-powered sewing machine I built.” She felt the slightest bit put out that her mother had left it behind. “I’m not as good a seamstress as Mama. What will happen to Mama’s dress shop? When I went out to do the shopping, I went by and noticed that it was still there, but closed up.”

“Grandfather’s trying to find a buyer. What do you need a dress for? You have plenty of dresses.” Jeff made a face.

“It’s for the ball, silly.” She rolled her eyes, not expecting him to understand. “Now get out so I can dress and make everyone breakfast.”

“No, no, no.” Noli looked through the finished and half-
finished dresses on the racks in her mother’s little dress shop. No. None of these would be suitable for her to wear to the ball. What she ought to do was contact those with finished dresses and dresses in progress and deliver them to their rightful owners, since her mother only made dresses to order. There probably wasn’t money to give back people’s deposits. Some dresses were naught but a basket of fabric and trims.

Noli.

Noli stopped and turned. She was completely alone in the shop. “Who are you? Why are you talking to me?”

You’re so silly. There’s no one here but us,
the sprite told her.

It’s not the shinies talking?
she replied.

The sprite paused.
There are no shinies here.

No, there weren’t. For a moment she buried her face in her hands. Yes, she’d gone around the bend. That was the only explanation. Even the sprite thought so.

You think too much. Let’s go shopping,
the sprite suggested.

She pushed the sprite away, along with thoughts of strange voices and madness, and opened the parcels that had never been opened. Still, something wasn’t right.

Also, the feeling that she needed to steal the gem drove her like someone might drive an auto. Jeff was now saying that she
couldn’t
steal the gem, having made a quick stop earlier at the museum. It only made her more determined to be successful.

With a sigh, she opened another parcel. “Oooh.” Lengths of imported silk brocade slipped through her fingertips. “Who did Mama order this for?”

We should make a dress from that,
the sprite told her.
We’ll be so pretty.

I can’t sew a dress in two days, especially out of that.
But it was lovely.
Besides, burgundy isn’t my color.

We look pretty in any color,
the sprite retorted.
Is silk a plant?

Blinking, she opened another parcel, this filled with gold lace from France.
No, silk comes from worms.

Oh. I’m not sure we’re good with animals, but we could be. We could try making a dress with magic. Let’s see what else there is. I have an idea.

Noli thought for a moment.
Make a dress with magic?

Please? Can we try? If we fail, we’ll just fix something else. We can use the burgundy brocade and see what other things we can find, perhaps some rosettes … and more lace. Lots of lace. And ruffles. We need a corset to go over the dress …

We can’t wear a corset over our clothes here. Remember what Missy said yesterday?
Noli replied.

And that is why we should. We’re going to make her so mad. We’ll be so pretty.

It had been a while since she’d seen the sprite this happy. The idea of making Missy jealous sounded … fun.
All right, we’ll try for a little while.

Noli went through all the various materials Mama had in the shop, assembling whatever the sprite wanted into a big pile, which included the brocade and lace.

May I have the body, please?
the sprite pleaded.
I’ll give it back. I … I don’t know if I can do it with you in the body, I think it would be faster to just do it myself.

Certainly, as long as you give it back.
Noli relinquished control of the sprite and watched, so she could figure out what the sprite was doing and replicate it.

The sprite shaped fabric around one of the dress forms, molding it the way a sculptor might work with clay, literally merging the material together.

Is it pretty?
The sprite preened at her handiwork.

It is.
It wasn’t actually something she’d
want
to wear, but not because it was ugly. The underskirt was cream silk and trimmed in gold lace, topped with the burgundy brocade, swathes of the gold lace from France, and brocade rosettes. It was … a lot. The giant skirt could easily hide several small children. The dress also had a train. Her eyes focused on the daring décolletage, trimmed in gold lace, which was most definitely … French.

Noli took back the body and examined the dress. There were no seams. Not even something allowing her to put the dress
on.
However, that was something she could handle. Perhaps she could find a way to get rid of the rosettes without the sprite getting upset.

Should we see if we can find accessories?
the sprite suggested.

I have plenty of fascinators and gloves. But we can’t make a corset and they’re expensive.
If it were going
over
a dress it would need to be “decorative corsetry”—something meant to be seen.
The few she had wouldn’t coordinate with the dress.

But …
the sprite pouted.

It’s pretty. I do appreciate your hard work. We’ll get accessories later. Promise. Right now we need to find Thad and learn how to steal a gem.

If Jeff wouldn’t help her, she’d find someone who would.

Steven sat in a chair in Quinn’s office, reading up on the Staff of Eris. Noli was off doing … something, and he wasn’t about to go anywhere near the Braddock residence without her. Jeff used to be so kind. Then again, he supposed if someone were courting Elise, he might be inclined to get a little sword-happy.

He flipped the page. Noli had been correct, right down to the Bright Lady herself ripping the staff apart. The only thing he couldn’t find was anything about the stone.

Still, he wasn’t sure he believed that the Bright Lady
spoke
to Noli.

“Darrow, we need to talk. Now.” Jeff strode into the office, pistol very visible on his hip.

“I’m busy, Braddock.” He didn’t look up from his book. Two could play this game.

“Do you know where Noli is?” Jeff stood in front of him.

Steven marked the page with his finger. “At her mother’s dress shop, finding something to wear to that dreadful ball she thinks we’re going to.”

“No. She’s onboard the Vixen’s Revenge, having Thad and Asa teach her how to steal a gem. I checked out the museum this morning, and I realized there’s no way Noli can handle a job like this herself.
Especially
with her crazy scheme to steal it during a ball. I
told
her this.” Jeff pounded his fist against the wall. “She won’t listen. It doesn’t help that the crew is completely enamored of her. Asa and Thad take orders from Vix, but for some reason Noli doesn’t think she needs to listen to her. Or to me.” He made a face.

V couldn’t help but laugh. “Noli doesn’t generally listen to anyone. This is
Noli
, remember? She hoverboards, fixes flying cars, and is a mechanic for air pirates.”

“She listens to
you
,” Jeff replied, not laughing.

“No, she doesn’t.” Otherwise things would have been different. “Your main objection isn’t actually the stealing of the gem, but that she wishes to steal it herself.” Steven rubbed his chin, trying to come up with a solution. Jeff nodded. “Perhaps
I
should take a look. I’d be able to tell if it were magic. If it isn’t magic, then she’d have no reason to steal it.”

Or go to the ball. He still couldn’t believe Noli, of all people,
wanted
to attend a ball.

Jeff snapped his fingers. “That’s brilliant, because I can’t tell if it’s magic or not. It just looks like a purple stone in a glass box to me.”

He prayed to the Bright Lady that it wasn’t magic. “Perfect.
Let me find James. I want to see the museum’s exhibit on Dutch painters anyway.”

“V, this is
so
boring.” James shuffled past the wall of exquisite paintings. It was a traveling exhibition of Dutch Golden Age artists.

“Heathen.” Steven studied a painting of flowers. Noli liked landscapes. He preferred paintings depicting everyday life. Unfortunately, they didn’t have his favorite.

Just to irk his brother, he took his time, savoring the artistry.

Finally, he allowed James to drag him into the room with the “fairy” exhibit. These mortals couldn’t even spell it right.

As soon as he crossed the threshold, magic hit him squarely in the chest. “Flying figs.”

“Language, V,” James teased.

“You don’t feel it?” Steven whispered, rubbing his midsection.

“Other than shame at the really bad art?” James jerked his chin toward a painting of naked faeries cavorting in the moonlight. “No, I’m not you.”

“That’s probably a good thing,” he replied. As Quinn had once put it, Steven was coming into some rather strange gifts. Ones he wasn’t sure his father had ever noticed and ones he prayed his mother never knew about. His sensitivity to the changing tides of magic was one, his ability to sense those with the Spark, another.

Not wishing to draw attention by going straight to the magic, he slowly made his way around the room. Most of the items on display were paintings and sketches. There was a vase rumored to have been given to a family by faeries for luck that he swore his mother
literally
threw out of the big house once, before she was queen and they’d all lived there happily.

“That’s one big stone.” James practically pressed his nose to the glass case on a marble pedestal. Inside, a purple gem the size of a girl’s fist sat on a white and gold pillow.