Moon Shimmers(47)
The glimmer of eye catchers shimmered along the path, ethereal globes of pink, yellow, blue, and green lights. They were akin to will-o’-the-wisps, but without sentience. They were from Otherworld, a piece of my homeworld brought over Earthside. I wondered how long before the Fae from home and the Fae over here either got over the past and made up, or would be at each other’s throats again. We weren’t a gentle people, dancing around trees and kissing the earth. No matter how much we loved nature and the planet, we were also a warrior race, and not all Fae were nice by nature. Some were downright mean.
“Where are we meeting Aeval?” Morio asked.
“At the Barrow. My Barrow.” It felt so strange claiming a palace for my own. I had been spending a lot of time out here, decorating the chambers that would be our private suite. At that moment, we curved around a large stand of fir and the Court of the Three Queens came into view. Contained within three giant barrow mounds, the palaces weren’t castles in the sense of, say, Windsor Castle or Neuschwanstein, but they were palaces nonetheless, and while the barrow mounds gave some sense of size, the reality was that the courts and palaces within took up much more room. The world of Fae was like that.
Grass spread thickly over the top of the three mounds, and atop Titania’s mound, a giant oak was growing, with rose gardens beneath it. Atop Aeval’s mound, a huge elder tree blossomed and a garden of lilies spread out around the tree. Atop the barrow mound that contained the Court of Dusk and Twilight, a yew tree spread out in a tangle, as yew trees do, with a wide swath of bluebells beneath it. Fae were bustling around the courtyard, going about their business in the day-to-day running of the courts. I caught my breath at the beauty and symmetry of it all, and yet a wild, feral presence lurked behind the neatly trimmed grass and the carefully tended flowers.
The carriages rattled to a stop in front of what had been Morgaine’s Barrow—now mine. We lightly descended, the footman who approached offering me their hand. The night was almost balmy and the magic of the land electrified the air, especially here.
“Lady Camille, Queen Aeval and Queen Titania await your presence within. I’m here to guide you.” The guard was decked out in the silver and black of the Courts, and he guided us toward the entrance of the barrow. The energy around the Court of Dusk and Twilight seemed a bit muted. When Morgaine had killed herself, some of the light within the palace had died. I was smart enough to realize that it was up to me to bring it back.
We entered the palace and I was struck by just how silent it was. Morgaine may have been conniving, and she may have had ulterior motives, but she had inspired devotion in those who lived under her rule.
The Barrow itself was filled with a labyrinth of passages, all lit by a soft illumination that seemed to glow from within the walls. Our escort led us through a wide, winding corridor, past shops and apartments and what looked like government offices. I wasn’t sure just how the structure of authority played out, but I knew I’d be finding out before long. There had been so little time to learn. I had only known for a few months that I was slated to take the throne, and with the battles we faced on the front with the war and trying to piece together our family and lives after our father had been killed, it felt like it had been nonstop chaos for months.
The decor here was almost ethereal, with the primary colors being in shades of blue and green and purple, black and silver. It was not so dark as Aeval’s Barrow, nor light as Titania’s. I stood between their two worlds, just like I stood between Otherworld and Earthside, between human and Fae. It was finally beginning to click that no, I wasn’t a Windwalker—a nomad with no roots—but I had two homes, two allegiances, two worlds to which I belonged.
The underground street continued on, past another parade of shops and offices before it hit a T-junction, and there we turned to the right. The guard led us toward a set of stately double doors at the end of the corridor. A giant yew tree was etched on the heavy wood, with accents of silver and sparkling gems the size of my fist in the shades of the court. I wondered if they were real gems, or glass, but it made no difference to the beauty of the doors that led into the actual throne room and palace court.
When the guards who stood at either side of the doors saw us coming, they opened them wide, holding them for us as we passed through.
“You rate first-class service,” Delilah whispered to me.
“I don’t know if I will ever get used to this,” I whispered back.
Menolly flashed us both a grin. “You and me both. This is the way it’s going to be when I move to Roman’s, though not quite so much pomp and a lot more sense of ‘Screw up and you’re dead for good.’ Roman doesn’t take mistakes well from his lackeys, although he’s a fair man.”