“Definitely.”
He gave a rather predatory smile. “Good.”
I couldn’t help it, I blurted out the question. “Did you really like living there?” I asked.
“Of course I did. I was the pampered son of a powerful queen. I was exotic. I got laid a lot. Of course, what I realized too late is that I wasn’t really her son. I was a toy that she played with until she became tired of me.”
I couldn’t help but ask another question. “What’s it like? Do you have modern conveniences? I know you have cars. I saw them when John and I…” Now it was my turn to clear the obstruction in my throat. “Well, I saw them.”
“There wouldn’t be a tree left in the world if we were still living like it was the Middle Ages. We’ve been stealing power off the human grid for decades. Electricity and gas heaters beat the hell out of fireplaces. The translation to Fey does seem to play all holy hell with computers and cell phones, so that hasn’t happened.”
“Were you educated?” I asked.
“Not in a way you’d recognize. I have a courtier’s skills.” He glanced up at me from beneath his lashes and this time the smile was bitter.
“I don’t know what that means,” I said.
“I can dance, hunt, dress well, make conversation. I also found that I liked studying their history and magical arts. They let me because I had something they lacked—focus.”
“John said something like that. I think that’s why he didn’t like it after growing up here. So what are you going to do now that you’re in this world?” I blurted because my internal editor had gone on strike.
“I have no idea. My … father.” The hesitation didn’t escape me. “Says I have to get my GED. Or perhaps I’ll just ask if you want special sauce on that burger. Or deliver pizzas. I hear there’s good money in delivering pizzas.” He gave me a smile. “Of course, I’ll have to learn to drive. Wonder if I could use a horse? Riding was one of my great joys.” Again the smile, both brave and ironic.
“I love horses too,” I said.
“I miss mine. He was spectacular.” The brave front trembled a little, but Parlan recovered.
“She’s just awful,” I said.
“I can’t disagree. All she had to do was wait another thirty or so years and the problem of the human changeling would have been resolved. Now I have to live what remains of my life in a world I don’t know and don’t understand.”
The sadness touched me. I reached out and laid my hand lightly over his. “You’ll be okay. You have good people around you. A family that can help you.”
“But they don’t love me.”
“And she didn’t love you either,” I shot back. “If she did she wouldn’t have treated you this way. Or John. You’re both just objects to her. Things to possess until she gets tired of you.”
His hand was jerked from beneath mine, and he held it up like a shield. “Don’t! I can’t bear to…” He broke off and coughed again.
“Would you like a drink?”
“Sure, but nothing alcoholic. I’m jet-lagged and booze would put me to sleep, and I have to get up to New York tonight.”
“Come on,” Parlan said, and gestured toward the door. I followed him down the hall and into the kitchen. It was another homey space redolent with the scent of recently baked cookies. “Hot chocolate?” Parlan asked.
“That sounds great,” I replied. I settled down at the kitchen table and watched as he prepared a pan, milk, sugar, and cocoa. “I didn’t think cooking was a princely skill,” I said, and smiled to indicate it was a joke. He took it in the spirit it was offered and smiled back.
“We are permitted eccentric hobbies,” he answered dryly.
A stunning idea struck me. “You should open a restaurant. Serve Álfar dishes. You really are the prince from a foreign land. You’d make a fortune.”
He stood frowning at me, the wooden spoon hanging between his fingers. Then the lines in his forehead smoothed, and he slowly nodded and used a word I’d never heard. “Hilial, you may be right.”
“What does that mean, hilial?”
He pursed his lips considering as he stirred the hot chocolate. For a long moment the only sound in the room was the hiss from the gas burner and the slow scrape of the spoon on the bottom of the pan. “None of these are exactly right, but morph, transfigure, transmute.”
“So you follow the Álfar religion.”
“Of course. It’s how I was raised.”
“How’s that going over with Big Red?”
“As you can imagine, not great.” He poured cocoa into a mug and handed it to me.
The ceramic sides were warm against the palms of my hands. I blew across the surface, and streamers of steam bowed and danced. Risking a sip, I managed not to burn my mouth, and I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t too sweet.
A few more sips of chocolate gave me the courage I needed. “May I ask you something else?”
“Of course.”
“It’s about John, so it might be awkward, painful.”
“I don’t blame him. He’s as much a victim as I am. I know he didn’t want to stay in Fey,” Parlan said.
“How do you know that?”
“I lived there forty-three years. I had friends, even among my mother’s guards, and they’re still my friends. Some of them slip over to visit me, and they told me the devil’s bargain she offered.”
Outside, snow had begun to swirl. I was jumpy enough that I kept expecting something to coalesce out of the whirling flakes. I drew in a breath. “I saw John, and he was so changed. And she blinded him in one eye. Why would she do that?”
“Control. Also part of Álfar magic. A sliver of ice that blunts all emotion toward anyone but herself.”
“Well, he had contempt down pretty well,” I said, trying to mask the hurt and pretty sure I hadn’t succeeded.
“That’s actually a good sign. It means he’s fighting back.”
“So she rejects the son who does love her and has to use magic to make the other one love her. Wow, that is really fucked up.”
“Yes.” Parlan dropped his head and stared down at his hands. “And you’re right. I do love her, still.”
His expression was so lost and despairing that I couldn’t help it. I once again reached out, and this time I clasped his hand in mine. “It will get better.”
There was again that smile that flickered like summer lightning. “You promise?”
My lawyer caution warred with a human reaction. I was proud to see that human won. “Yeah, I promise.”
“So what happens now?”
“I tell my boss you can help us,” I said.
19
The next morning I walked back into the main office at Ishmael, McGillary and Gold. The snow that had blanketed Philadelphia had also hit New York City. Central Park looked beautiful under a layer of white. Dogs and children romped in the snow, while a few parents and owners, and mostly nannies and dog walkers, looked on. Now I was glad I had lugged my heavy coat to Los Angeles. Otherwise, I would have been in New York without a coat. Though the thought of taking it back to LA was daunting.
The Legal Eagles Pop Brigade was on hand to greet me. It was what we young female associates in the firm had dubbed ourselves after we’d all issued an epic smackdown on a vampire partner who had been using and harassing female associates. Caroline, looking elegant as always, was in the lead and gave me a fierce hug.
“You don’t have a tan,” she accused.
“It’s been raining in LA and cold. Well, cold for them.”
“So no picking up hunky blond surfers on the beach and fucking their brains out, huh?” Cecelia asked, living up to her reputation as the bawdy broad.