Folk of the Air One-Shots

Another Graceless Night

"Every night I live and die, 

Feel the party to my bones.

Watch the wasters blow the speakers, 

Spill my guts beneath the outdoor lights. 

It's just another graceless night."

It had been only a few weeks since Jude's scheme to crown Cardan had played out, but the time passed painfully slow. Almost every night, Cardan dragged her down to the throne room or the gardens to stand silently while every faerie in the area came to get wasted. Though her thoughts were occasionally occupied by people coming for advice and requests, Jude spent the majority of her nights standing on sore feet behind the drunk High King. As the afternoon progressed into evening and Jude began to get dressed, she found herself dreading another night of royal babysitting and damage control.

A knock sounded at Jude's door as she placed jewelry around her ears, trying to mimic the pointed shape she often envied. Before she could welcome the knocker in, the door swung open and she saw Cardan approach from the corner of her eye.

"Pretending to be fae, I see," he commented, taking in her appearance as he sat on the unmade bed. Jude felt judged under his gaze and shifted slightly away from him, pretending to be too occupied with getting this earring perfect to respond to his comment.

"What do you want, High King?" she responded instead, adding a bite to the words.

"Some company, seneschal." Jude was sure she heard the sneer in his voice, but didn't turn around to check. "Are you coming tonight?" Cardan continued.

"I didn't know I had the choice. Who else will keep you from vomiting all over yourself or dancing on tables?" Jude began to brush her hair and looked for Cardan's reaction in the mirror, expecting to see ambivalence or anger. Instead, his pale cheeks flushed as if he was embarrassed.

"Of course you have a choice. But your presence is...appreciated, regardless." Cardan flopped on to her bed and looked around. "We can send a servant in here to clean for you, if you'd like." It was now Jude's turn to blush. She had nearly forgotten what her messy room must have looked like to an outsider.

"It's no matter," she said. Spinning around on the stool to face Cardan. "But really, what did you come here for? Other than my 'company'?"

"I'm trying to avoid the Living Council," he said, sitting back up and running a hand through his hair. It was still slightly damp from bathing earlier, and even from her distance Jude could smell the clean scent coming off of him. "They keep wanting me to meet with them and discuss things, and seem very much oblivious to my requests that they leave me to plan the things I'm best at—parties."

Jude snorted and stood. "How dare they reach out to the King to do King things," she sarcastically agreed, though it seemed to go over his head.

"I know!"

Jude rolled her eyes. "We're about to have to leave anyways, people will be arriving soon," she told him. Cardan grabbed her shoulder to steady himself as he stood up from her bed, his long legs straightening.

"Duty awaits." He grabbed her arm and practically dragged her out of the room and down the halls, and she felt much like a hesitant child avoiding attending lessons for the day.

...

The night was as uneventful as them all, though the scenery outside was a welcome change. As Jude swayed slightly on her feet to the music, she could clear her mind and focus instead on atmosphere surrounding her. The fae lights illuminating the trees, the breeze blowing through her loose hair, the otherworldly music that people danced to for hours. She watched Cardan flirt and twirl with women across the floor, pausing only in his advances to find another drink or switch to another girl. Having supposedly found his companion for the night, he took a pixie by the hand and lead her up to the throne, where she perched on his lap. Jude pretended not to see the way he whispered playfully in her ear, or the way she occasionally moved her hips against his.