A Little Night Muse(60)

                “Arise all and bow to our steel-born                         Queen!”

                “Quick,” EveStar hissed. “This way.”

                Hand in hand, they scuttled away from the throne as the Queen’s                     goblin chamberlain stepped past the place they had just been.

                Adelyn grimaced. With everyone facing the throne, there was no                     way she and EveStar could sneak out. They would draw too much attention. They                     could only bow their heads as ordered. No need to arise, of course, since there                     were no other seats in the room besides the steel throne.

                The Queen swept into the room in a wave of black tatted lace.                     The diaphanous darkness floated around her, supported on the will-o’-the-wisps                     caught in the net. Their wistful little lights twinkled mournfully and cast                     stark shadows across her white cheeks, leaving her eyes in pools of unrelieved                     black.

                Adelyn’s fingers curled into fists and she felt EveStar’s nails                     dig into her hand in matching, silent outrage. If the wisps were confined too                     long, they would fade to nothing.

                The Queen mounted the three steps to the throne and turned to                     sit. From the base of the steel throne, the black occlusions in the white marble                     spidered outward. The wisp-lace drifted too outward, trying to escape.

                She was beautiful beyond all phae.                     The voracious power of her illusions made her both: beautiful and queen. No                     other phae could stand up to her in either                     category.

                They could only run away as the wisps clearly longed to do.

                But the Queen wouldn’t even allow that. Adelyn wondered why she                     had ever wanted to come back to this place. Had she been that blinded? No, she                     had just been that small. Less than the faintest of wisps.

                No longer. Josh had opened her eyes and made her see what she                     could do, really do. And she would never be merely someone else’s inspiration                     again. She would make her own way, be her own phae.                     Be her own woman.

                She would be Josh’s woman.

                She smiled to herself as warmth slid through her, chasing away                     the chill of the phaedrealii. But when EveStar’s                     grip on her hand tightened another notch, she refocused.