Goblin Ball (17 page)

“You must dance with Cissa in your true form, but you’re not allowed to tell her your name. If she declares her love for you—and she does love you, Max. I know she does. If she declares it before she sees the morning star, the curse will be revoked forever.”

It was suddenly hard to breathe. He wanted to believe Cissa loved him. He wanted it so much that he wouldn’t allow himself to think it possible. The pain would be too great if it was all just a mistake.

“And if she doesn’t… declare her love?”

“Then it won’t stick.” Lexi grimaced and made her eyes big. “Every goblin will revert to ugly again as soon as they see the morning star.”

Max nodded, but he felt sick to his stomach.

“Bring your friends to the ball,” Lexi said. “Drang, in particular.”

“Is that part of Brother Sun and Sister Moon’s conditions?”

“No, just my invitation,” she said. “I would especially like to see him at my ball. I think Morander and Boadicea should be there also.”

Great gods, could it be true?
A huge lump rose in Max’s throat. He looked up at
Mistcutter
, gleaming in the sun, and the dragon design he’d once been so proud of etched near the guard. After all these years… To have the curse lifted, and Cissa’s love too—could he bear so much happiness?

“And Max, here’s the thing,” Lexi said. “Cissa has to declare her love freely, without expectation of any gain, so no one can tell her about it.”

“Of course,” Max said drily.

“The gods won’t accept a declaration made out of pity. No offense.”

“None taken.” Max grunted.

The last thing he wanted was Cissa’s pity love.

« Chapter 15 »
Goblin Ball

The Blue Vale

I.
Max

“Sun and moon,
Boadicea. Just do what I say!”

Max had never been so frustrated in his life. Sturm and Drang, and even Morander, had no problem with the prospect of attending a ball at Faeview. They were fully on board, dressed to the nines in new suits and shoes.

Shoes, not boots. Max had made his own—loafers, Horace called them—to ensure a perfect fit. The leprechaun had assured him the style was infinitely better suited to the refined nature of an indoor human ball, but he hated the feel of them. He missed the security of buckled and grommeted, knee-high, low-heeled leather.

His sister, on the other hand, was not on board, fully or otherwise. “Boadicea, you’re acting like the most stubborn, obstinate, bullheaded gob I’ve ever dealt with.”

“Don’t bully me!” she said.

“I don’t think you realize how important this is.” He tried diplomacy. “Lady Lexi is heir to the Moonstick Throne,
and
she’s the future countess of Dumnos. She wants you there for her special night.”

“She doesn’t even know me,” Boadicea said.

“The JimmyRoos are playing,” Drang said.

“The band from the Glimmer Cottage Pub?” Morander said. “Awesome.”

“You go to Glimmer Cottage Pub?” Max said. “In the human realm?”

“Why not?” Sturm said.

“It’s on the border, at the edge of the faewood,” Drang said. “The back door is practically in fae.”

“Yeah,” Sturm said. “Jimmy doesn’t know it, but his rhythm section and two backup singers are faelings.”

“No wonder they kick,” Morander said.

“You know something?” Drang said, “this could be the start of a new phase in human-fae relations. Maybe we could get the ’Roos to come play in the Vale one week.”

“There now, Boadicea,” Max said. “Doesn’t that sound like a grand evening? The JimmyRoos.”
Ack.
He should never, ever try to sound cool.

“And there’s that fabulous gown Horace made for you,” Morander said. “Those gorgeous satin dancing slippers. Don’t you want to wear your new fine clothes?”

“You can’t bribe me; I’m no fairy.” Boadicea grunted a grunt worthy of Max’s most curmudgeonly utterance. “And besides, the finest gown in the history of gowns won’t change the fact that I’m ugly as sin. I’m not going, and you can’t make me.”

With that she stomped out of the room and down the hall. Her bedroom door slammed.

“My friend, I believe it’s time.” Drang slapped a hand on Morander’s shoulder. “Time to break out the secret weapon.”

“For the greater good?” Morander said.

“The greater good,” Sturm said.

“What are you talking about?” Max said. “What secret weapon?”

“Have you got some wine hereabouts?” Morander withdrew a small crystal bottle from his jacket pocket.

“Love potion, are you kidding?” Max said. “I hate that stuff.”

“The greater good,” Drang said. “Either that, or Boadicea stays home.”

“No, she has to go,” Max said. He brought goblets from the hutch and poured out red wine for them all. He had to comply with everything Lexi had requested for tonight. He couldn’t know which detail, if missed, might ruin the chance to break the curse.

Morander tipped a few drops of the potion into a goblet and swirled the liquids together. “Here goes nothing.” He took the cup to Boadicea’s room, only to return a few minutes later, red-faced.

“She’ll be out in a minute.

“Morander! I’m coming!” Boadicea came back to the lounge, dressed in her finery. Smiling in a very weird way, she linked her arm with Morander’s.

“Shall we go then?” Morander said.

“Anything you say, sweetheart.” Her eyes were as big as the moon and overflowing with love.

It was creepy.

“The greater good,” the four male gobs said simultaneously.

They rode together in Mavis’s wagon, and when they reached the grounds behind Faeview, Max stopped and unhitched his pony to let her graze under the stars.

“We walk from here,” he told his friends, missing his boots.

It was almost midnight. If what Lexi had told him proved correct, in the next few moments they should all be released from their ugly forms.

“There’s something I need to tell you before we go in.”

The Faewood

II.
Cissa

Cissa was just
putting on her emerald necklace when Morning Glory popped in to her bower.

“Hello, hello!” Glory said. “Everybody’s ready. Goldy and Violet and Fen are waiting for us in the throne room, and the leprechauns and brownies are going together. The pixies are so mad!”

“Too bad. It’s their own fault.” Cissa examined herself in the full-length mirror. The emeralds enhanced the glitter of her green eyes and looked fantastic with her red hair and curve-hugging dress of sparkling claret-colored sequins that matched her wings. “I told them if they kept stealing the leprechauns’ hats they couldn’t go to the ball, and what did they do?”

“They kept stealing the leprechauns’ hats,” Glory said.

“I am a hard queen, but a just one.”

Morning Glory burst out laughing. “Let’s go!” She popped out.

Cissa nearly followed but stopped. She turned back to her puzzle box and opened the top drawer. This was the most important night of her life. She was going to see her prince! The abbess had said that he loved her… didn’t she?

But Max would be there too. Maybe it was silly, but a nagging feeling told her he wasn’t going to like watching her dance with the man she loved. Max had no claim on her, of course, and they were just friends.

Good friends.

She slipped the diamond bracelet into her hidey pouch—with no clear idea why; maybe as a good-luck charm—and popped out to join the others.

Faeview

II.
Lily

Lilith Evergreen Bausiney.
Countess of Dumnos. Lady Dumnos. Lily.
Igraine.

Who am I?
Lilith thought, watching Cade dance with their daughter. Her heart was full to bursting with love. Love for Cade, for Lexi. Even for her mother, silly Morning Glory, who was dancing with Goldy, both making a halfhearted attempt to keep their feet on the ground.

The love in Lilith’s heart was bittersweet. Lexi hadn’t been alive on the planet a year, and yet she had the appearance and intellect of a woman nearly full grown. It felt like Lilith and Cade had been cheated—and they had. But they’d also been given an amazing gift. Lexi was unique.

And more than anyone, Lilith knew that life was just weird. A person did well to accept what wonders came her way.

Speaking of wonders, look at Dandelion and Beverly dancing to the band’s cover of Joan Armatrading’s
Love and Affection.
Fae and human, they symbolized the unity Lilith and Cade hoped to foster among the citizens of Dumnos, in both realms.

It seemed to be working. A cacophony of humans, fae, and faelings filled the ballroom, drinking, dancing, laughing. Having fun. Enjoying each other’s company.

And who would have believed Duncan Edan and Cammy French—together, so obviously in love. Good for Cammy. But poor Bella. If Bella would just catch a little of Cammy’s fever for the mystic, surely she’d be much happier.

The song ended the set, and the musicians left the stage for a break while guests broke off into groups. Lilith saw Dandelion and Beverly slip outside through the French doors to the veranda. She was glad Beverly had come, for Lexi’s sake, but it wouldn’t surprise her if the two left early, even if Beverly was wearing glimmermist under her gown.

Lexi had two quite opposite grandmothers, that was for sure. There was the elegant, powerful, human, perhaps a bit dangerous, wyrding woman Beverly. Then there was the silly, joyous, impetuous, immortal fae Morning Glory.

“Isn’t Jimmy’s band fabulous?” Lexi said as she and her dad joined Lilith. The girl leaned in and lowered her voice. “I have it on good authority, four of them are faeling.”

“Sun and moon.” Cade’s head whipped around, and he gave the band a once-over. But then he laughed. “What am I thinking? We’re faeling too, after all. When am I going to get it that
faeling
doesn’t mean two-headed circus attraction?”

“It’s working, isn’t it, Daddy?” Lexi said. “The humans and fae of Dumnos here tonight are getting along just fine.”

“After all, it
is
Mischief Night,” Lilith said. “If we hadn’t had the fae in our ballroom, we would have had them on our roof.”

“They keep asking about Bausiney’s Abundance,” Cade said. “A lot of the fae expected to see the cup tonight.”

“Yikes, I didn’t think of that,” Lilith said. On the day Lexi was born, they’d loaned the Dumnos fairy cup to the Victoria & Albert in London for an ongoing exhibit. “Next year, we’ll have to bring it home, if only for the night.”

Duncan and Cammy stopped on their way to the punch bowl. “Lady Dumnos,” Duncan said, “I wanted to thank you for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be at Faeview for… for pleasure.”

“I’m glad you could be here,” Lilith said. “You’re so diligent in protecting the family interests. It’s good to see you enjoy yourself for an evening.”

“You’re talking about the Clad,” Lexi said. “I think I have an idea for that, but this isn’t the time.”

The minute she said
time
the deep gong on the grandfather clock began to chime the hour.

“Ooh!” Lexi bounced on her toes, and Lilith thought she might spin up into the air like her less-elegant grandmother. “It’s midnight!”

IV.
Cissa

Cissa had left
the dancing and gone out onto the veranda. The music had stopped and the band was on a break, but in a far corner Dandelion was still dancing with Beverly, his wings extended around her, their feet not touching the slate surface. Cissa wasn’t disturbing them; though she was close enough to hear their conversation, they were oblivious to everyone and everything but themselves.

“I thought I loved you when I first saw you,” Dandelion said to his mate. “And then I loved you so much more when we married. But even then I didn't know what love was. My feelings now are so much more, a hundredfold more intense and wonderful than I ever thought possible.”

“I love you, Dandelion,” Beverly murmured. “It just keeps getting better.”

Cissa moved away from the couple to the edge of the veranda. For the first time, she found that she didn’t mind their love. She was happy for her brother. And to her surprise, she was happy for Beverly too. How could she deny anyone else happiness when she was about to realize her own?

But where was he? It was midnight—she could hear the final chimes of the hour through the open doors—and he wasn’t yet here.

Why did he not come?
Was this forever to be her plea?

The full moon shone brilliant against the black night and seemed to stare down at her. Moonbeams—invisible vibrating magic coursing through pulsating white light—drenched the world in the mystic, and she heard a faint thrumming that quickened her heartbeats.

It was like the sound of blood rushing in her ears, but it was
out there
. And getting closer. Calling to her. Singing to her heart… to her soul. She stood at the edge of the veranda, her hands on the cool stone of the half wall. Something was coming…
someone was coming
.