Outside the train's windows, waves lapped against the island's seawall. The Mediterranean stretched out before them, a mix of a turquoise blue and teal. The island was on the other side of the train, but if luck had finally taken pity on her, Mother Nature would be on it, and if Faryn succeeded, she'd ask her for sanctuary and be able to enter Ruhnerium in safety. She'd find her mother, make sure she was okay, and then clear her own name. Then she'd be able to return to Oxford, perhaps even before the Hilary term started. She'd finish her degree and enter the human world, where no one would know who she was.
Clíodhna tugged on a sweater and slipped into her boot. "If Harumi attacks Faryn, do we fight back?"
Reaching for her bag, Faryn tensed.
"She's not going to attack her," Peter said, sounding aggravated. "She'll just have someone else do it for her."
Cassian caught Faryn's eyes, and she quickly looked away, tugging her bag's strap onto her shoulder.
Since the train's tunnel remained underneath the water until right before it pulled into the station, there wasn't an opportunity for the two of them to have left the way they had boarded. They were going to have to risk walking out with the other passengers and really hoped Jack hadn't gotten wind of their plans.
Usually, Acurial train officials didn't care about checking out disembarking passengers, but that was before one of the most beloved Acurials might have been murdered.
Even if she were discovered, Cassian could get the two of them out, and then all she'd need to do was reach Mother Nature.
Faryn pulled up her hood, following Clíodhna and Peter out of the suite and leaving Cassian to do one last check for any stray belongings. Two passengers who were exiting their suite at the other end of the cabin, also wore cloaks, their hoods up. The cold plus the sea's breeze would be brutal for some.
Faryn bowed her head.
Get to Mother Nature. That's all she had to do. If she did that, Spring the Beauty couldn't touch her.
Cassian stepped out of the suite, and the four of them disembarked without any problems.
Her eyes swept over what she could see of Antimonia. Was there a more perfect place for a Court named after one of the most beautiful men from any mythology that existed? Despite the cold, every plant was in its fullest bloom, the trees the lushest of greens as if the skins of limes and guavas had bled onto each leaf. The flowers shimmered with a dewy glow as if an invisible glasshouse covered each plant. Ocean lavender grew in clusters along the shore and creamy dark pink wax flowers, the white of their rings bright, swayed in the breeze.
The air smelled of flowers—how one imagines them to smell and not actually how they do. There was no cloying sickly scent. Rather there was a lushness, a lightness, to the air as if it were perfumed. And it was intoxicating.
The station was situated before a small town made of white stone buildings trimmed in awnings of purples and greens. Beyond the town was a stone road, lined with purple and blue wisteria trees. It led upward, winding its way up a hill. Faryn kept looking upward, letting herself take in Peter's court's domain.
The Court overlooked the island beginning with rings that were made of the same stone as the town and had been built in layers that led upward. In each ring were gardens as if a rainforest had been planted in every nook and corner. These gardens were the most magnificent on Earth—a reborn Hanging Gardens of Babylon. If it weren't for the danger she faced, she'd have happily allowed herself to get lost in them for hours. Even from down on the shore, she was awed by their beauty.
The palace itself was within the uppermost ring, its towers reaching up into the sky and overflowing with vines. It was in the palace where Mother Nature should be. From the station, it seemed impossibly far away.
There were many who wore cloaks in the town, but none were the dark brown like the ones she and Cassian had fastened around themselves. These other cloaks were a mixture of ivory or light blues.
Peter led them through the town and across the pure white sanded beach, past where any tourists were lying out in the sun while still bundled up. It wasn't the most comfortable feeling, trudging through the sand in boots, but Faryn wasn't about to try to fight off the attack dogs of a vengeful Fairy while wearing flipflops.
Eventually, the town behind them was no longer visible nor did they continue to pass any more Acurials.
"And you're sure you know where you're going?" Clídohna asked, pushing back the stray hairs that had fallen from her braid.
"This is my Court." Peter sounded offended and not a minute later he stopped in front of a tall fern. "We're here."
Faryn expected Clíodhna to make some sort of joke, questioning him, but she remained silent.
He pushed back the branches to reveal a stone doorway embedded with pink gems, daphne and euphorbia flowers growing around it like a frame. The Spring Prince placed his hand on one of the gems, and it glowed, the door swinging back to reveal a brightly lit tunnel as a gust of warm air hit them.
The tunnel was lined with moss, and a tiny stream flowed along the sides as far back as she could see. A narrow walkway was where they'd have to stand.
Peter looked over his shoulder at Clíodhna. "You were saying?"
The Leprechaun shrugged.
They followed Peter inside, Faryn right after him, then Clíodhna, and Cassian took up the rear. The break from the wind and the warmth felt incredible, and she could only imagine what it was like for Cassian. It was surprising she didn't hear him growling in pleasure behind her.
"Why don't you spend more time here?" she asked Peter after the door had closed behind Cassian.
He titled his head to the side. "Being the Easter Bunny is a full-time job."
"Yes, because being around all those gorgeous women is very laborious work." Clíodhna sounded as if she must be rolling her eyes.
Peter's shoulders tightened. "If it weren't for them, what I do each year wouldn't be possible."
"But you still have time to sleep with them?"
He came to a stop. "I shouldn't even have to answer this. I don't sleep with them. They're my employees. If I want to get laid, there are other places I can go." He started walking again.
Faryn scratched at her arm, not able to help thinking that he was partly referring to her when she had thought about kissing him. A man that handsome and who could usually be charming on command probably never had an issue finding someone.
At the end of the tunnel was a staircase. From the ground, it was impossible to tell how many stairs there were. But Peter started climbing them, and she followed.
It must have been at least ten minutes later that they finally came to a door. Faryn was out of breath, which was not a state she wanted to be in until after she saw Mother Nature and was protected by her sanctuary.
Peter pushed the door open, and it led into a throne room swathed in pink hues from the crystal ceiling that was shot through with golden veins as if the whole ceiling was one giant work of kintsukuroi. Thrones, none of which looked the same, were arranged around the outer parts of the room to form a circle. There were more thrones than there were current members of the Narcissus Court; though, the throne that reminded her of spun sugar and had five Fabergé eggs set into the back must be Peter's.
Two grand doors across the room were opened without any fanfare, and a woman in a white dress that matched her curly hair entered. Her head was tilted forward, focused on the red rose in her hand. Her skin was pale, close to the shade of the horn that protruded from the top of her forehead. A circlet of silver jewels and pearls wrapped around the horn.
Peter stepped forward. "Cassiopeia."
The woman stopped, her rose falling to the floor as she looked up. "Peter?" Her eyes flicked past him to Faryn and her companions and widened. "You shouldn't have brought them here."
Peter curled a hand into a fist, placed it near his chest, and leaned forward. "We need to see Ziva."
Cassiopeia, Queen of the Unicorn Thorine, bent to the ground and retrieved her rose. "She's on her way with Isoke and Harumi."
Faryn tensed, feeling herself inch back toward the door from which they'd come. She wasn't only about to face one Fairy but two.
Cassian's face betrayed nothing of what he might be feeling. Harumi may be one of Cassian's kind, but he was also a suspect in Nick's disappearance, and Harumi would not let that slide.
The two grand doors opened again. The first to walk through was a tall woman with black skin and curly hair. Pieridae butterfly wings protruded from her back. Faryn had made a point to learn a little of every leader of the Fae world. Queen Isoke was the ruler of the Aziza. Faryn had never met one as most lived in southern Benin, nowhere near her school in Oxford.
As the Aziza's eyes landed on who exactly Peter Ton had brought into the Narcissus Court, she halted steps from the doorway.
"Isoke, what's wrong?" A woman stepped around the Aziza queen. It was as if a glow emanated from her. Brown highlights swirled through her black hair that curled around her shoulders. Her quartz pink and rosewater tinged gown-style anarkali suit embroidered with flowers swayed as she turned to place a hand on Isoke's shoulder.
Faryn trembled. She was wholly inadequate to be in the presence of someone so powerful and so revered by not only her kind but humans as well.
Mother Nature.
She needed to speak. Ask for sanctuary. She had less than a few seconds before Harumi would appear.
But the words caught in her throat.
Cassian looked at her. The urgency in his eyes was clear.
Ziva looked away from Isoke, and her eyes locked with Faryn's, and the weight of those eyes had Faryn dropping to her knees and bowing her head. "I ask for sanctuary."
Almost forgot to post this! Today's been a bit hectic because I was just at an agent/editor event that Simon & Schuster hosted!