indigo court 05.5 - night shivers (3 page)

I let out a soft sigh as Druise positioned my crown. The circlet was silver, vines that entwined around one another. In the center, they met to wrap around a cabochon of black onyx and a teardrop of diamond below that.

“My cousin will be here for dinner. Attend to her lady’s maid and make certain she has a good meal, please.”

It still seemed odd to have a servant who took care of me so intimately, but I had managed to adjust. At first, I had balked. I didn’t like assuming authority over others, but I had come to understand that—for Druise—her job meant everything. It meant her family had standing in the community, it meant that she could afford to help them out. It meant that she had a reason and purpose in life beyond being some scullery maid. It gave her a dignity that I hadn’t understood until she explained it to me.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” She curtseyed and stood back, motioning for me to stand.

I did, careful not to muss myself. As I turned, she bobbed her head, smiling.

“Do I look all right?”

Though it didn’t matter much to me, it did to Druise. My care would reflect on her handiwork, and that—too—was another lesson I had learned. Given my druthers, I would have spent every day in jeans and a tank top. But if I did, my people wouldn’t show me the same respect. Here, formality mattered. While I had managed to get them used to seeing me in jeans around the Barrow, more and more, I found myself dressing the part of the queen. It made a difference to them, even though it seemed still felt awkward to me.

“You look ever so lovely, Your Majesty. If you don’t mind a suggestion?”

I squinted at myself in the mirror, making sure my makeup wasn’t messed. “Of course not. What is it?”

“Your sapphire necklace would look ever so lovely with the dress.”

“Let’s have it, then.” I let her fasten the large, shimmering teardrop around my neck. The pendant hung on a silver chain, and had been an anniversary present from Grieve. We were just past midwinter—which meant we had been married for a year, and Rhiannon and I had been queens for an entire year.

“You were right, it’s gorgeous. Is Gri…
His Majesty
ready yet?” Again, I stumbled over the words. But at least this time, I managed to catch myself.

“His Lordship is most certainly ready.”

At the sound of Grieve’s voice, I whirled around.

There he was, in full Winter regalia. Wearing trousers and tails as black as night, with silver trim, he cut a gorgeous figure. His features were full Cambyra Fae—exotic against the platinum blond of his hair that skimmed his shoulders. Just looking at him made me hungry for his touch. I wanted to draw him to bed, to make love to him, to taste the salt of his sweat, to slide my hands along his skin. With a sigh, I pushed those thoughts away. We didn’t have time—not right now.

“You look good enough to eat.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

He laughed, his voice sultry and low. “I’ll hold you to that promise later.” He held out his arms and I slid into his embrace. “Druise, I’m going to kiss my wife now. Why don’t you make certain…well…find something to occupy you for a moment.”

Giggling, she curtseyed. “Yes, Your Lordship.”

As Druise left the room, Grieve kissed me, slow and languorous. His tongue played over mine and my knees went weak as I pressed against him, wanting more. He gently rubbed his cheek against mine, then kissed me again, grazing my lips with his needle-sharp teeth. My breasts were firm against his chest, my nipples chafing as they stiffened against the lace of my bra. Grieve smelled of apples and cinnamon, of the harvest bonfire smoke. Of that hint of snow on the horizon that set one’s senses to crackling. I inhaled deeply, wanting to stay in his embrace forever, to feel his lips against mine.

“I love you.”

“Cicely, you will always and forever be the only one who owns my heart.”

But then, he eased me back as he stared longingly at me. “Unfortunately, we have a full evening. After dinner, we must meet with Strict and the other advisors to figure out what we’re going to tell our people about
The Wave Catcher
. Perhaps by then, our men will know more.” He paused. “I brought you a present.”

“You don’t have to buy me gifts.” Grieve was generous, and he often went into New Forest to get things he knew I loved. I appreciated everything he gave me, but I didn’t want him to feel like I regretted giving up my old life, even though there was a tiny bit of truth to the thought. There were things I missed that didn’t translate to life in the Barrow.

“It’s not something I bought.” He motioned for me to wait while he went back into the chamber that housed our bed. My dressing room was separate, given the amount of work it took to dress for meals and Court.

When he returned, he had something in his arms. It was the snow lynx kit and she was wearing a beautiful collar. “I had a closer look at her. She strikes me as…gifted. Druise said she’s already agreed to watch her. I think, though, instead of staying in Druise’s room at night, we will keep her here.”

I took the wild cat. She was a handful. Although a kitten, she was the size of a full-grown Maine Coon. We had a number of cats running around the Barrow. I liked them, and the Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest breeds seemed to thrive in the cooler atmosphere.

“So, Grieve and I are your new parents, are we? You came across the great ocean, you know. What happened out there? How did you survive?” I held the kit up, staring into her pale eyes. She stared back at me, and I had the uncanny feeling she understood every word I said. “She’s a beauty, that’s for sure.” And then, the lynx reached out and drew one paw softly across my face, letting out a loud purr, then mewed at me—like a cat, only much louder. It was as if she was saying,
“Of course I’m beautiful.”

“She likes you. Seriously, when we brought her to the Barrow, Check came to find me saying that the moment you left to come to our chambers, she started to cry and she kept it up until just now. The moment we walked into the bedroom, she stopped. It was as if she could sense you were here. What do you want to name her?”

I sat down carefully on the vanity bench and put the purring lynx beside me. She gazed up and, as I looked into her eyes, I realized that she was fixated on me. She reached up and bumped my hand with her head.

“What’s your name, pretty one?” As I stared at the lynx, she sneezed, then began licking her paw. “You are so sweet.” With a glance at Grieve, I said, “I’m naming her Sweet Pea.” I loved the flowers, and something about this little girl made me think of them.

“I have a feeling she’s going to grow into something quite unexpected. As to why she survived when no one else on
The Wave Catcher
did, that’s anybody’s guess.” Grieve rubbed her chin. “Sweet Pea it is.”

I can tell you something about her, Cicely.
Ulean’s voice whispered through the slipstream. My Wind Elemental, she was bound to me on a soul level, and had been with me since I was six years old.
She is protected—there is a natural boundary around her that keeps her from being seen or noticed when she’s in danger. She has a destiny to play, though what it is, I know not. It is not yet manifest.

Then perhaps the people aboard
The Wave Catcher
were targeted, but she alone remained unseen.

That could be—I cannot say for sure.

I told Grieve what Ulean had said. “So, she was born with strong safeguards.” Leaning over, I kissed the lynx’s head. “Very well, pretty one. You will live with us. But we have to go to dinner. Make yourself comfortable till we get back.” I called for Druise and—as she entered the room—held up the kit. “Sweet Pea will be staying here with us. We’ll need someone to watch her while we’re at dinner. Meanwhile, His Lordship and I will be going down to dinner. Join the staff at the servants’ table. Remember what I said about my cousin’s maid.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” And, with that, Druise took the kit and was off. Grieve offered me his arm and I placed my hand on it. As we headed through our bedroom, then into the hall where Check was waiting to escort us, I wondered where this would all lead.

Chapter 2

The banquet hall was decked out in holly and fir boughs. The floor was white marble, and the heavy dark wood of the table and chairs juxtaposed beautifully against it. At one end of the hall, a huge fireplace lit the room with a fire. Even though it burned fiercely, it barely touched the chill of the air. As we entered, I saw that my cousin and her husband were waiting for us. Another Cambyra Fae, Chatter was Grieve’s best friend and had stood by him during our battle against Myst. Unlike Grieve, Chatter had not been turned when Myst overran the Marburry Barrow.

Rhiannon had changed over the past year. Not just her eye color, but her stance. A heart-wrenching mistake during her early teens had weighed her down for years, but now the worry of it seemed to have vanished. We were not the women we were and we’d never return to the lives we once led.

When she saw me, her face crinkled into a smile, and she let out a squeak. “Cicely!”

“Rhia!” Ignoring tradition and decorum, I rushed forward and caught her around the waist. We hugged, under the glaring eyes of our advisors. Strict and Edge—brother and sister who were all too much alike—were charged with turning us into proper queens, but they had their hands full.

Finally, I stood back, looking her up and down. We were wearing similar gowns, only hers was as green as mine was blue. She looked fit. Better than fit—there was something about her that shone through. I cocked my head, suspicious, but I didn’t want to shout out my thoughts in front of everybody.

I cleared my throat. “Queen Rhiannon, Lord Chatter, welcome to the Eldburry Barrow. We bend our knee to the brilliance of Summer and promise you peace and safety in our realm while you walk under the Winter moon.” I stood back and gave a low curtsey as Grieve bowed, courtly and solemn, though I could tell he was suppressing a smile.

Chatter—in as refined a getup as Grieve—caught his eye and the two of them snickered.

Rhiannon curtseyed and Chatter bowed in return.

“The Lord of Summer and I pledge honor to Queen Cicely of the Court of Snow and Ice, and Lord Grieve, her most honored consort and King of the realm. We thank you for the invitation and promise peace from Summer while we are here.”

And then, formalities aside, we were in our chairs. I wanted to grab Rhia and go off in a corner. We hadn’t seen each other in months now, and I wanted to know if she had heard from Peyton, or Luna, or any of the others—or if there was news of Kaylin, but all that would be talk reserved for private chambers. For now, we would stick to official topics. Which brought us to the ship.

“We have some bad news, I fear.” I motioned for the waiters to serve. We were apparently having roast beef and potatoes, and some form of berry compote.

Grieve let out a sigh. “
The Wave Catcher
pulled into port today—or should I say, crashed into the ice floes as it came into the harbor. She took on water and sank.”

Chatter set down his fork. “What? How many lost?”

“There’s the puzzle. The ship was empty.”

“Empty?”

“Yes, the galleon was completely empty save for a young snow lynx. Oh, there had been people aboard, all right—probably the number we were expecting. There were goods and food, but not one person or body to be found except the cat.” I pushed my food around on my plate. “We have no clue what happened to them. We must contact the Golden Isle to see if they know what might have happened. We made certain no one went down in the ship, but…”

Rhia’s voice was faint as she said, “You don’t think…”

I knew what she was about to say because I had been thinking it myself. But it couldn’t be. “Myst? No, she’s dead. We saw her die. This has to be something else.” I frowned. “Remember the stories about the Bermuda Triangle? Do you think it could be something like that?”

Rhia shrugged. “There are enough places in the world where realities intersect. The journal my mother was keeping? The one about the ley lines? I’ve been studying that, actually. New Forest resides on a huge complex series of ley lines. Think of the town as the epicenter of a Cascadia Fault line of magical energies. I was going to contact Ysandra. The Consortium should know about this.”

That was news to me. While the realm of Snow and Ice, and the realm of Rivers and Rushes, existed in different dimensions than New Forest, they both intersected in the Golden Wood. And doorways to other realities were found within the woods. And still others within the two Fae realms. We had managed to find our way to the Court of Dreams, and from there, to the home of the Bat People. All in all, the town of New Forest resided smack-dab in the center of a labyrinthine maze of intersecting dimensions.

“I wonder what her research was for. What do you think she was doing?”

It had been a little over a year and it was still hard for me to talk about Aunt Heather. I knew it had to be even harder for Rhiannon. Together, we had been forced to kill Heather after she was turned by Queen Myst. The sight of my aunt, spread out bloody on the snow beneath us, had been almost more than we could bear. But bear it we did, because if Myst had won New Forest, she would have won the world.

Rhia glanced into my eyes. She let out a long sigh. “I think she was mapping the intersection of dimensions found in the Golden Wood and New Forest. There’s no clear statement of that, but looking at her charts, that’s the closest thing I can figure out. I’ll get you a copy of it. If we both work on it, we’ll have twice as much knowledge.”

Once again, the fact that we were changing the face of the Fae Courts slammed us in the face. Never before had the Queens of Summer and Winter worked together like this. And Rhia and I were determined that division would not destroy our realms again.

“Good. For now, though, let’s just leave it all alone. Our men are examining what they can of the shipwreck. Until their return, let’s enjoy the rest of dinner in peace.” Grieve shot me a look and I realized that he wanted to keep speculation off the table among the servants.