Catherine let out a laugh of surprise. “Do you not recognize her? ’Tis Sadie, our youngest sister.”
“Your sister?” The fairy’s gaze skimmed over the group, checking their responses.
Elizabeth sent me a teasing look. “Perhaps you don’t recognize her because Kayla did her hair tonight. Sadie looks presentable for once.”
The fairy smiled genially at the couples. “Very well. Go eat and drink. The music has already started.” He turned to me, and the smile faded. “I’ll take you to meet the queen. She wishes to speak with you.”
“Thank you,” I said, though the ominous tilt of his brows suggested he wasn’t doing me a favor.
Chapter 14
The fairy motioned for me to follow him. Before I did, I curtsied politely. If we were all polite to each other, the queen might not . . . say . . . get mad at me for crashing her ball and turn me into a topiary bush. “May I have the pleasure of your acquaintance?” I tried to sound royal, but the tone sounded false in my ears, like play acting.
His lips quirked up, humoring my attempts. “I am Kailen, Queen Orlaith’s son.”
That made him a prince. Fairy royalty. I curtsied again. “I’m pleased to meet you, Your Highness.”
“Yeah, pleased,” Jason added absently. “Drinks are waiting for us, right?”
Kailen swept his hand toward the pavilion. “This way.”
I followed the others up the trail, listening to the orchestra music. Violins, flutes, cellos, oboes, clarinets, and instruments I couldn’t place. The sound of running rivers and the hush of wind twisted into the music, playing the tune along with the brass and strings. “What are those instruments?” Jason asked. He’d noticed them to. “Cool sound. I like it.”
I adjusted my grip on my dress. “I guess we’ll see.”
He didn’t speak to me after that. The rest of the way to the pavilion, he tapped his hand against his pants to the rhythm and hummed along with the song as though committing the tune to memory.
After a couple of minutes, we reached the pavilion. Although the word pavilion didn’t do the place justice. It wasn’t the sort of structure found in a park. It was more of an open-air cathedral with a high arched roof made of white stone.
Marble columns were etched with silver vines so detailed I nearly expected them to sway in the breeze, to stretch and grow. Each buttress, each roof panel was decorated in patterns of leaves and flowers, making it seem like an overhead garden. The flowering bushes surrounding the pavilion were so laden with blossoms that in places they dripped onto the dance floor in splashes of color.
On one side of the room, two long tables were covered with platters of food and pitchers filled with pastel drinks. A dozen chairs sat nearby, waiting for couples who wanted to rest. I couldn’t tell where the music came from. It was just there—drifting about the dance floor.
My attention was drawn to the back of the pavilion. Two large wooden thrones stood behind a white marble table. A beautiful, dark-haired woman sat in one of the thrones. Queen Orlaith.
Jason saw the refreshment table and made a beeline toward the drinks. Kailen didn’t call him back. Instead he motioned for me to follow him toward the queen. She didn’t look old enough to be Kailen’s mother. No wrinkles lined her face, no signs of age. Still, something about her told me she wasn’t young. A depth of experience in her eyes, a lack of innocence.
She wore a long green dress and a white crown. It wasn’t silver or gold like I’d expected. Instead the crown was made from rows of sharp curving teeth. What sort of animal had those teeth come from? A huge wolf? A bear? I had to tear my eyes away from it, make myself stop staring at it in horror.
I did a quick scan of the table, looking for the goblet. Only a box lay there, wooden with ornate carvings of deer, birds, and flowers. How was I supposed to steal the goblet if I couldn’t find it?
Kailen stopped in front of the table. “Mother, may I present Princess Sadie.” The way he emphasized princess made it clear he knew I wasn’t one.
I curtsied nervously.
“The other princesses believe she’s their sister,” Kailen went on. “Magic must have influenced them.”
Queen Orlaith’s eyes were bright with interest, studying me like I was a dress she might buy. I noticed small green vines grew up the side of her throne. They wrapped around the arm rests and trailed over the back. I gulped, remembering that Queen Orlaith could command plants to capture people. The flowering plants and vines overflowing onto the pavilion suddenly seemed sinister and dangerous.
“Which fairy sent you?” she asked. “For what purpose have you come?”
For what purpose had I come? I swallowed hard, felt nerves stinging my stomach. I’d come to steal her goblet. This was such a bad time to be unable to lie. “Chrysanthemum Everstar is my fairy godmother, Your Majesty. I wished to be a famous dancer so she sent me here.” I swallowed again. “Your pavilion is beautiful. Thank you for letting me come here.”
“Chrysanthemum Everstar?” the queen repeated. “I don’t recollect a fairy of that name.”
Kailen gazed out at the dance floor, bored. Most of the couples had ventured there, and the princesses’ gowns flared out in a kaleidoscope of colors as they twirled. “Chrysanthemum is of the Seelie Court—one of the younger fairies. She’s training to be a godmother.”
Queen Orlaith ran her hand along the end of her armrest, and a vine tendril wrapped around her finger like a pet snake. “What else do you know of her?”
He shrugged. “Like most fairies in the Seelie Court, she’s silly, vain, and pointless. She hasn’t even finished her schooling. She’s as harmless as a trinket.”
Queen Orlaith lifted her hand and the vine tendril retreated. “Then why do you know of her?”
He gave a reluctant smile. “I never said she wasn’t pretty.”
Queen Orlaith didn’t comment on her son’s answer. He went back to watching the dancers, and she turned to me, her expression a mixture of suspicion and disdain. “Was that the only wish your fairy godmother granted you?”
“I also wished for a beautiful voice.”
“And?” she prompted, sensing I was holding back.
I dropped my eyes, staring at my slippers. If I kept my gaze on them, I wouldn’t blush. “Um, I wished Jason Prescott loved me.” I glanced at the refreshment table. He stood by Isolde and Clementia, talking with them while he poured himself another drink. “Jason is from the twenty-first century too.”
A smile bloomed on Queen Orlaith’s lips. “You wished for love?”
I nodded.
She turned to her son. “The girl loves the boy so fervently she used a wish to ensure her feelings were returned. Perhaps that is the sort of love that will feed the trees.”
What was she talking about? “Trees?” I eyed the large diamond trees flanking the thrones. They grew all along the edges of the pavilion, and had thicker foliage than the trees I’d passed in the forest. My mouth went dry. All sorts of horrible visions presented themselves in my mind. “Wait, you’re not going to feed us to them are you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kailen said, sparing me two seconds of his attention. “Trees don’t eat flesh. You would give them indigestion.”
Queen Orlaith leaned back in her chair. “Bring your prince hither so I can meet him.”
I curtsied, relieved that feed wasn’t a literal term. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
When I reached the refreshment table, Jason was standing close to Clementia, a drink in his hand. He was trying to get her to throw grapes in the air and catch them in her mouth. “Come on,” he told her, in that teasing tone guys use when they’re flirting. “I know you can do it. Your tongue has talent.”
“And my tongue?” Isolde asked, tapping her fan against Jason’s arm. “Has it also talent?”
Jason wagged his eyebrows at her. “Maybe I’ll find out sometime.”