Page 14 of The Court the Fae Forgot
Normally, I wouldn’t dare disagree. Today, however, I needed answers more than I needed the breath still struggling to fully return to my tired lungs.
“Mama,” I said, as carefully I could, trying to keep the desperation I felt from seeping into my voice. I stepped forward, mimicking her posture as my hands clasped together before me, almost as if in prayer. “Thefae …”
I whispered the word, and even as I did her head snapped back to look at me as if I’d slapped Ada instead.As she had earlier.The memory of it once again twisted something deep inside me, carrying with it the same wave of nausea I’d been trying to keep down all day. Still, I pressed onward.
“Why is he here? Is it for me?”
My mother’s lips curled up then, in a cruel mock of a smile. “For you?” she asked, a throaty, single-syllable guffaw clawing its way up her throat. It was a dirty, scathing sound that made shame burn in my cheeks. “Why would a fae like that be here foryou?”
The door slammed in my face before I had a chance to respond.
Not that I would have. I knew there was no chance of getting an answer out of her. Not tonight, and if she had her way … I was sure, not ever.
I should have just been grateful. After all, why would she lie?
If the faewashere for me, there was no way it would be a good thing. After my two earlier encounters, that much was certain.
But it seemed too much of a coincidence for the fae downstairs, athirdfae in one day, to be here for any other reason. Unless all of our kingdom was suddenly being flooded with the creatures … which was a thought so overwhelming on its own that I immediately shoved it to the side.
If that was the case, then there was far more at stake here than I realized.
I waited until my mother’s footsteps had retreated before I carefully slipped to the door to listen after her, my feet moving slowly to avoid creaking over the boards that would give me away. I could barely make out the sound of low words spoken down below, however, let alone anything that could actually be understood.
“Aurra, over here.”
Ada’s voice, barely a whisper, drew my gaze back to where she kneeled on the floor. Her eyes were alight with mischief as she pointed down at the small slivers of light peeking up through the floorboards from the room below.
I moved with the same care to kneel beside her, pulling my dress tight under my knees.
Placing my ear against the floorboards, I held my breath as the muffled voices—a little more discernable here—carried up from below. I still couldn’t make out their exact words, but I could tell who was speaking, and at least something of the meaning behind it.
My father was saying something to the fae, and unless the floorboards were distorting the sound of it, it almost sounded like he was … excited.
Excited? What could a fae have to offer him that would actuallyexcitehim?
I’d never heard him speak of the fae with anything other than the greatest contempt. He hated the fae. In fact, they were the only thing I thought he might hate more than me.
After a moment, the fae broke into the conversation, silencing my father with a single word. There was an almost musical quality to his voice that I could make out, even from here. I strained against the wood, wishing that it was not so thick as I tried to make out even a single one of his words. I was so concentrated on this endeavor that I missed the sounds warning me that my mother was already returning.
“Aurra!” The rage in my mother’s voice wasn’t so hard to make out, at least. She made a tutting sound with her teeth. “Can’t leave you idle for a second, can I?”
I jumped to my feet, automatically going to wipe the dust from my skirts only to remember how useless that was. She watched me with something close to disgust on her face before thrusting a broom into my hands.
“You only have yourself to blame for this, you know,” she snarled at me. She glanced once at Ada, who had of course leapt into her bed a second before our mother appeared at the door. She sat with her hands folded serenely across her lap, her face a pleasant mask of obedience that fooled no one—but worked all the same.
At least some of the malice had seeped from Mama’s tone when she turned her back to me. “This room better be spotless when I get back. I’ll be listening.” She tapped her ear before leaving and pulling the door closed behind her.
Only then did the mask slip from my sister’s face, just a little. There was an apology in her eyes when she glanced at me, one hand lifting up to touch the side of her face. There was no mark there from where she was struck, but I knew the haunted look in her eyes all too well. It was a look I’d seen in the mirror all too often.
She scooted forward to the edge of the bed slightly, one leg dangling over the side as she held out her hands for the broom.
“It’s my turn tonight.”
I looked down at the wooden handle, but only gripped it tighter. I shook my head.
“Better to keep busy. We can’t hear them, anyway.”
Still, she returned to trying to peek through the boards as I started to sweep, the rhythmic scraping sound drowning out the curious rumbles of conversation below.
