Crown of Moonlight (Court of Midnight and Deception Book 2) Page 12

  The seelie and unseelie Courts are different from the bigger Courts—like my Night Court or freakin’ Fell’s Autumn Court.

  Their territories are a lot smaller—usually just one city—and there’s a lot of infighting and wars because you can sometimes get multiple seelie and unseelie Courts competing for the same city.

  The real seal to their power, though, is that they don’t have land in the fae realms like the rest of us titled monarchs, and in general, they just have to live with whatever rules the more powerful Courts decide on.

  Since they’re easy to push around because they can’t really say no—even to the less powerful monarchs like me—none of the seelie/unseelie rulers could refuse Fell after he told them to come. It was just a way for him to remind them they were subservient to him—the jerk.

  I’ll give him what he deserves—it might not be until I’m an old granny, but I will persevere!

  Weirdly, a few of the unseelie and seelie monarchs saw me looking at them. Their complexions turned ashen, and they bowed deeply to me.

  Huh. I wonder what that’s about?

  “After the ceremony, there is a celebration feast. You can leave after that,” Skye said. “I’m confident you can last that long.”

  I glanced one last time at the still-bowing unseelie and seelie monarchs, then straightened in my chair. “Easy for you to say that—you’re wearing slacks and a suitcoat,” I grumbled. “I’m doing historically-inaccurate-punk-Greek.”

  For the ceremony, Indigo had piled my hair on top of my head in messy ringlets and used pins and a headband to keep it there. She’d then stuffed me into a gown Fell had sent—which was a deep, purply-black, and fit kind of like a toga, except it was more fitted through the waist and gathered at my neck like a halter top, completely baring my shoulders.

  Apparently, this was the dress code for Fell’s ego trip, because Queen Verdant and Queen Rime were dressed similarly—although Rime wore a white gown and Verdant wore green.

  Solis—the lucky duck—got to wear a comfortable golden robe that didn’t look too different from his regular stuff.

  The fae used clothing as a sort of manipulation—they put them on for whatever “role” they wanted to portray for the day, which was probably why I hadn’t seen many fae wear jeans and t-shirts. I didn’t know what “role” Fell was going for with this getup. Historically Inaccurate Ancient Greece, maybe?

  “You look beautiful,” Skye said.

  “Just wait until you see what you have to wear when the season passes from spring to summer,” Indigo cackled.

  I twisted around in my throne and looked back at them. “You mean there’s a required outfit for each ceremony?”

  Skye felt in the pocket of her jacket. “For the passing of the seasons? Yes.”

  “We have to do this ceremony four times a year? Even though no one is around to watch it, and it’s just for personal gratification?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Skye said. “Although it is not entirely without reason. It’s generally accepted that whatever the current season is in, that Court is viewed with extra respect.”

  “Huh, now I think this ceremony is even stupider,” I said. “And if Fell tries to throw his weight around because it’s fall now, I’m going to wait until nightfall and then jump him and say it’s my right since it’s night.”

  There was a rattle as Skye opened her mint tin and retrieved an antacid.

  “You know,” Indigo said. “I don’t think anyone’s actually thought of it that way before.”

  “Do not encourage her,” Skye hissed to my companion.

  “You don’t say, Indigo? Hmm, that’s it.” I whipped around in my throne and peered at King Solis—who sat closest to me since Fell had put me on the far end of the lineup.

  I was pretty sure he meant for it to be an insult, but I was deliriously happy, because I could chat with Indigo and Skye without getting snotty looks from Queen Verdant.

  “Solis, we have to attend this shindig four times a year?” I called to the Day King.

  “Yes,” he confirmed.

  “If that’s the case we should have a nightly and daily ceremony—since everyone seems sooo eager to mark the transition of power!”

  King Solis chuckled. “We do have our own, shared ceremony on the first day of the new year—I set on the old year and you bring forth the new year.”

  “For real? Well, this year we’re going to make ours more fun. None of this sitting around and staring.” A corn leaf detached from my throne and drifted past, stirring up my allergies enough to make me sneeze.

  “I am always open to suggestions for our ceremony,” King Solis said. “I never liked it much—the Curia Cloisters throws a New Year’s party I’ve always wanted to attend, but have never been able to.”

  “That solves it,” I said. “We’ll do something big this year.”

  “If you are done leading the Day King down the path of corruption, it is time to observe the ceremony, Queen Leila,” Skye gently reminded me.

  Music—consisting mostly of drums and some trumpets—started up, cutting off any other warnings Skye might have given.

  King Birch—with his wife, Consort Flora, trailing about five feet behind him—walked down the carpet.

  Both Fell and Birch were wearing the terribly-inaccurate male versions of our togas—which fastened over one shoulder, though they each had these little sash things emblazoned with their royal colors and Court crest.

  I boredly watched Birch hold the harvest bouquet out to Fell.

  Fell stared him down, and the music kept playing as the two rulers stared at each other.

  What is going on? Why aren’t they moving?

  Finally, Birch ever so slightly inclined his head, and Fell snatched the bouquet from his hands.

  That’s what we were waiting for? For Birch to nod to Fell?

  “Did they seriously just have a little power tiff in the middle of this all-important ceremony?” I turned to Rigel since he was sitting on my other side and was probably the only one able to hear me above the pounding drums.

  Rigel—who was not wearing one of the little togas but was still dressed in all black; everyone was probably too afraid to try to make him wear the required outfit, including King Fell—shrugged. “In order to preserve their power—or try to raise it—a monarch will take every opportunity possible to make their stake.”

  “Unbelievable.” I shook my head as I looked back at the ceremony. “These people need to get hobbies.”

  King Fell triumphantly carried the harvest bouquet over his head as he walked through the field and stopped at a burning torch.

  He thrust the bouquet in the torch. The plants caught on fire, and he held it aloft again, like he was a torch bearer in the Olympics for Ego Maniacs.

  “Autumn reigns!” he shouted.

  “Autumn reigns,” the seelie and unseelie Courts said back to him with zero enthusiasm.

  The whole thing felt like an elementary school play, to be honest.

  I glanced at the other monarchs, wondering how they were able to keep from laughing at the sheer ridiculousness. Verdant and Solis were watching, but Queen Rime was playing a game on her cellphone—I didn’t know if that was her throwing her power around showing she didn’t have to pay attention, or if she was just that bored.

  With Rime, it was hard to know for sure.

  “Pst, Rigel.” I leaned closer to him again. “What do you say we skip out on the banquet and go get donuts?”

  Rigel stared at me. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

  I wrinkled my forehead. “Dude, we’re married. Also, if I take you with me, Skye won’t complain—she’ll be too scared to.”

  Rigel shifted his gaze back to the Olympics for Ego Maniacs. “It was a joke.”

  “That’s a no to the donuts, then?”

  “You should be scoping out your competition,” Rigel said.

  “For what, who can best wear this getup?” I slumped back in my chair, and a corn cob poked my
spine. “No thank you!”

  “Your competition for the hunt,” Rigel clarified.

  “Hunt?”

  King Fell made a little circuit with his burning bouquet, and he finished just as I asked Rigel to clarify.

  The seelie and unseelie fae clapped, interrupting our conversation.

  I halfheartedly clapped, too—it seemed rude not to, especially since Queen Verdant and King Solis were.

  King Fell glanced in our direction and seemed satisfied, though I was pretty sure I saw a vein in his neck when he noticed Queen Rime was still playing her cellphone game.

  It must bother him endlessly that she’s more powerful. I hope he gnashes his teeth and is up late at night, bitter that she’s the fae representative on the Regional Committee of Magic.

  I studied Rime as she kept tapping away on her cellphone, playing her game.

  Having her as the fae representative is probably the only bit of luck I’ve had since being crowned. Fell would be unbearable as the representative—and he’d probably get us all killed in record time with his awful personality annoying all the other supernaturals on the committee.

  Distracted by the thought, it wasn’t until after the ceremony finished and we were walking to the banquet that I was able to ask Rigel, Skye, and Indigo, “What hunt are you talking about?”

  “The annual Fall Hunt,” Skye supplied. “It happens every year.”

  “Is this just a Midwest thing, or does every region have an annual hunt?” I asked.

  “It’s Midwest only—to my knowledge,” Skye said.

  “I heard one of the other regions has a fishing tournament.” Indigo didn’t have to wear one of the toga-dresses, so she stomped at my side in a cute black skirt with a red cable knit sweater—I’d bet a lot of money she was wearing a superhero t-shirt on underneath her sweater, those seemed to be her favorites. “That sounds like more fun.”

  “It does! Maybe we should start one of those,” I said.

  “The hunt is for the seasonal Courts—and the Day and Night Court—only,” Skye said. “Each Court is allowed a handful of riders, mounts, and hounds the Courts personally train.”

  “I take it I’m supposed to use the shades?” I guessed.

  “You can,” Skye acknowledged.

  “And then we just go for a jolly hunt?” I asked.

  “Not quite,” Skye said grimly.

  But it seemed like an evening for interruptions, because before she could further explain, King Birch decided to approach me.

  “Queen Leila—I am glad to see you dressed appropriately,” he said. “But I thought you might need a model of decorum due to the savagery of your pedigree, so might I extend introductions to my wife, Consort Flora?”

  I glared at King Birch, but shifted my gaze to Consort Flora, who wasn’t at all what I expected.

  Her hair was a beautiful shade of coffee brown, and with her delicate and willowy build she had fae stamped all over her…except for her eyes. They were too raw for a fae. Looking at her light green eyes, I could tell she was nervous, but relieved the ceremony was over.

  How has she survived this long among the jackals when she’s genuine in her expression?

  She was a beauty—that was obvious. But in addition to her expressive eyes, compared to the other monarchs she was quiet and soft.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Consort Flora,” I said.

  She curtsied—her movements had more of a sweet gracefulness to them than Queen Rime’s stateliness or Queen Verdant’s coy playfulness.

  “Good afternoon, Queen Leila. I hope you enjoyed the ceremony,” she said without any ounce of snark.

  Yeah, I have no idea how she hasn’t been eaten alive. I mean, I’m glad—but I didn’t think it was possible for fae to be like her and survive.

  “It was interesting. Are you okay?” I abruptly asked.

  Consort Flora’s eyes widened fractionally. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Are you okay? You seem…sad?”

  “Queen Leila, you overstep your boundaries,” King Birch snarled.

  I shrugged. “Sorry, but my human bluntness prevails. And it’s really bothering me that she hasn’t said if she’s okay or not.” I studied Birch, then flicked my gaze to Flora.

  Surprisingly, she edged closer to him, her shoulder disappearing behind his. “Thank you for your concern, Queen Leila, but I am in fine health.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” I let a servant steer me over to a seat—once again I was not at all sad to be sandwiched between Rigel and King Solis.

  As I sat down in my chair—no corn stalks this time, yay—King Fell plopped down in his seat at the head of the table—which of course was bigger and taller than all of ours.

  “It honors me that you have come to witness today’s ceremony and passing of power.” He allowed himself a handsome smile. “May we feast in the presence of autumn!”

  Apparently that was the cue to start eating, because after he raised his cup, Queen Rime and King Birch started picking at the food servants had doled out.

  “May we feast in the presence of autumn?” I repeated with a scoff. “He sounds like a high school student trying to sound sophisticated while summarizing a book they didn’t actually read. Ow!”

  Even though she stood behind my chair, Skye was somehow able to reach my ankle and kick it. “Not here, Queen Leila,” she said in a voice that was all rainbows and sunshine but really held a death threat in it.

  I meekly sat in my chair and stared longingly at the food.

  Fell had gone all out with the autumn theme.

  There was steaming rye bread, pumpkin pastries, roasted chicken, squash soup, oven roasted apples, and heaps and heaps of more platters. Everything was piping hot and smelled amazing…and I couldn’t have any of it.

  I woefully watched a basket of rolls travel from monarch to monarch, but rather than eat, I just moved food around my plate to make it look like I was.

  I need to end these stupid power games, just so I can actually eat fae food. This is torture!

  While the other monarchs seemed to have no concerns about getting poisoned and dug right in to their plates, Rigel only picked at his food—though he drank the mysterious “pumpkin juice” concoction.

  I was tempted to try it, but I’d almost died by eating bespelled food once. I wasn’t going to risk it again—especially when I was so disliked among the monarchs one of them was obviously already trying to kill me!

  “It could be worse,” Rigel told me after I sighed for the third time. “They could be serving coffee, leaving you able to smell it but unable to drink it.”

  “Just rub salt in my wounds, why don’t you?” I abruptly straightened. “But that’s an excellent point. Solis! We need a coffee bar at our New Year’s party!”

  King Solis grinned at me, but before he could say anything Queen Verdant dragged him into a conversation.

  I turned around in my chair and peered at Skye and Indigo still standing there. “Can I ask for chairs for you guys or something? This feels unfair to have you standing behind me.”

  “If you bring any attention to us, I’m going to ask Chase to ban you from all non-official fieldtrips—including your drives to your favorite café.”

  “Ouch—why the threat?”

  “Because she doesn’t want anyone noticing us since we’re not supposed to be here,” Indigo said through gritted teeth.

  I looked up and down the table, and was surprised to see no one else had an attendant or companion standing behind them.

  Ah. Okay.

  Obviously, since Skye and Indigo didn’t trust me not to run my mouth, I did my best to make them proud and kept my mouth shut while I focused on ferrying food around my plate.

  The banquet was only about halfway over when the verbal cat fights began.

  I assumed I was relatively safe—they were talking about that annual hunt Skye and Indigo had mentioned.

  “I have three new hounds for the hunt this year.” King Birch smirked. “I’m
eager to see how they do on the field.”

  “It will be more imperative we make sure Verdant doesn’t cheat this year.” Fell shook a finger at the Spring Queen. “You were naughty last year, Verdant.”

  The Spring Queen’s expression was still merry and bright, but for a split second I thought I saw her grip on the stem of her wine glass tighten. “I’ll win again this year.”

  “You win most years the way it is—it makes one wonder just how long you’ve been cheating,” King Birch said.

  “Ahh, but this year we have a true horsewoman, don’t we?” Queen Verdant cast her eyes in my direction. “Isn’t that true, Queen Leila? You did, after all, win the annual derby.”

  I’d been watching Queen Rime—she’d stopped eating just as the conversation shifted to the hunt and gotten out her cellphone game.

  I was wondering what she was playing, but at the sound of my name I unwillingly jolted back to the conversation. “Saying I won is a bit incorrect. My night mares did all the work—and technically five of them won all on their own since they didn’t have riders.”

  King Fell leaned back in his chair. “Yes, the rapport you have with those brutes is remarkable. I cannot imagine how you can fathom communicating with such dark creatures.”

  I stiffened in my chair. “King Fell, surely you didn’t just insult the night mares? They’re precious members of my Court.”

  The Autumn King laughed. “Indeed, given the state of your Court I don’t find it too surprising they are dear to you.”

  “Ahh, yes.” Queen Verdant smiled radiantly. “The Night Court—is it doing any better? I’d heard you lost a great deal of land in the last shrinkage, and that the castle stands on the brink of collapse.”

  I was fairly sure they were trying to embarrass me. And yes, it was a sore point for me—only because the Night Realm was a very vivid reminder that the previous queen had left my Court in shambles and I had to do something or we were going to crumble even if I managed to scare all the infighting out of my people.

  But she brought up a good point.

  “We did in the last shrinkage—which was a few months ago. How often do you guys experience your barriers faltering?” I looked from monarch to monarch.