“They like it. I know.” I didn’t want to think about the effect I had on Bastian nor him on me.
“There you go. And, of course, the rumour mill started churning the moment Bastian came galloping into the city with a half-dead woman in his arms and demanded the best healer save her life.”
I swallowed down a reaction. Galloped. Demanded. I rubbed my chest where my heart dipped.
All of this is real.
Rose went on, pointing out various buildings along the way. Art galleries that were open for anyone to visit. Indoor and outdoor theatres. A school of art, where, through a window, I caught the glimpse of a naked model posing with a pair of weighing scales in her hand and a snake draped over her shoulders.
Music drifted from open windows, a song dropping off as we passed from one street only to be picked up as we entered another. Sometimes the next tune was faster or slower, happy where the last one had been sad, but somehow they all felt akin to one another, like garments cut from the same cloth.
I’d heard in stories that fae loved art and beauty, but this…
It drowned me so exquisitely, I didn’t know where to look next, even as I tried to keep an eye on the surrounding faces. Was that woman following us? Was I just being paranoid?
“I probably should’ve shown you around the palace first, but I figure you’ve been cooped up too long.”
Agreed. Outside and doing something at long last. Speaking of which…
“I have a request, actually.” I kept my tone casual, even though a little thrill ran through me. “This necklace—I think it came from the city, and I’d love to get something to match it. Do you think we could find the jeweller it came from?”
She glanced from the pearlwort necklace to a tower topped with a massive orrery. “We have time to visit a few before your appointment, and getting to know the city though jewellery shops is as good a way as any. Though I warn you, there are a lot of jewellers in the city. It might take us a while to find the right one.”
“I’ve got nothing but time.” I had to find out more about unCavendish, and this was my only lead.
So Rose led the way. My head spun a little with her endless chatter about different people and places in the city. It was comforting, even if I didn’t fully understand all the references she made, but that comfort was at odds with the looks following us.
I started to build a picture of who was from Dawn and who came from Dusk. As well as blond, brown, and leafy green, Dawn hair colours tended towards the soft tones of a dreamy sunrise, while Dusk favoured deeper colours like the bright ones of a spectacular sunset or the deep dark of midnight. Though a few had starlight hair in pale shades of blue, purple, and silver.
Skin tone varied across both, including the palest and darkest shades seen in humans as well as tinges of green or blue.
Everyone had pointed ears and that same impossible beauty that felt as dangerous as their sharp teeth.
In truth, it was.
Especially in the Dawn fae. As far as I knew, any one of them could be behind unCavendish. True, it was likely to be someone with power and influence, but I didn’t know the players yet, nor did I understand how to pick out the powerful fae from the average pawn.
This was a new game.
Still deadly, but with new pieces and new rules, none of which I knew beyond Bastian’s warnings.
“Bastian asked me to help train you,” Rose said as we turned onto a wide road full of shops with large, curved windows that seemed impossible to make from something as fragile as glass.
I eyed the paired long knives at her side. “To fight?”
She glanced around, then ducked closer. “To use your magic.”
Use it? There didn’t seem much point, since I didn’t intend to have it for long. Elthea had said she was confident she’d find a cure. Fingers crossed, that was why she’d arranged this appointment.
Still, it was a good excuse to pry a little about Rose’s “mostly” human status. I tugged the cuffs of my gloves. “You have… something similar?”
“No, but I was a human without magic, and now I have it and have learned to control it. He thought that might mean I could help you.”
I raised my eyebrows in question when she met my gaze.
“Oh, you want to know what I am?” She chuckled, then shrugged. “Faolán’s a shapechanger—a fae who can shift into another form.”
A man passing wrinkled his nose like she’d just said Faolán ate shit.
“And he was able to turn me.” She showed me her forearm where an arc of teeth marks showed pale against her freckles. “I’m a werewolf.”
I stared at the scar. “You mean… werewolves are real?”
“Oh, yes. Very real.” She flipped her arm over, revealing another set of marks, as if that proved it.
Another fae stiffened and hurried across the road.
“Don’t worry,” Rose called after them, “you’re safe. It isn’t a full moon. Or—wait—is it? Oh no!” Her back arched and she clawed the air.
I stopped mid-step. Was I meant to get help? I glanced up the hill—I could find my way back to the palace and fetch Faolán.
But… no. Her eyes weren’t wide in fear.
“I can feel myself losing control, I’m going to—”
She howled.
Fae scattered.
I was torn between concern about the attention she’d drawn and relief that it kept people at a distance, so I didn’t need to worry so much about poisoning them.
Pulling her sleeve down, she rolled her eyes. “Fucking hypocrites.”
I raised my eyebrows at her performance. “So… fae don’t like werewolves?”
“Or shapechangers. Even though,” she added in a voice that filled the street, “the first Day King was one. In case you’d all forgotten that side of your beloved hero.”
The few remaining fae bowed their heads and hurried past. One clicked their tongue and muttered, “Exactly what I’d expect from such animals.”
Rose huffed a long breath out. “I’m sorry, it just really…” She gritted her teeth and shook her head. “Most shapechangers try to keep what they are secret so they don’t upset other fae. But I say screw them.”
“So I see.”
She frowned ahead. “Some think it’s just name-calling and being the last served at a bar, but in some villages they’ll attack you the moment they get a whiff of something animalistic.”
“You don’t need to apologise to me.” I went to touch her arm, but the sight of my gloves reminded me why that could be risky. I clasped my hands together. “I can get behind a bit of anger.”
Truth be told, I envied her. From the way Faolán had kissed her cheek and called her “little flower” so casually to the way she didn’t hide her feelings—I envied her.
“Thanks.” She shot me a smile softer than her others, like this one came from somewhere deeper. “Much as I love Tenebris, fae can be so ridiculous sometimes.”
“No arguments here,” I muttered.
From the corner of her eye, she gave me a look that felt more knowing than I expected, but when she stopped outside a shop and opened her mouth, it wasn’t for a probing question. “Here’s our first jeweller.”
12
Kat