All That Falls

14 A Brother's Keeper

No one seemed all that concerned about the fact that we had begged for refuge just six weeks ago and now were already leaving together to visit one of the most powerful Fae in the realm who, coincidentally, was half of the reason we needed refuge in the first place. In fact, I wasn't certain the Queen of the Court of Light and Life had been informed of the reason for our swift departure at all. Which was why I kept my mouth firmly shut as Cass and I left our room that morning and strode, not toward the common room, but toward the gates.

The males were already awaiting us there, milling about impatiently.

"What took you so long?" Pollux snapped, on edge, when we reached them.

"Semyaza wouldn't stop fussing over her gown," Cass said with a roll of her eyes and a jerk of her head in my direction.

It was true. Semyaza had been particularly irritable this morning, spending over an hour brushing through my hair and selecting my attire for the day. She had finally given into the idea of gray and had brought me a gown of gray chiffon so fluffy that I could barely put my arms down. But I hadn't dared to complain, not when she was finally coming around to the realization that I would not be wearing white while staying within their walls and not while she was muttering under her breath the whole time about all the work it had taken to find a gown that wasn't white, how she had needed to trade for some dye in the market and oh, how she hated going to the market.

"She shouldn't be wearing a gown at all," Lark growled, annoyed.

Cass just raised a manicured brow and he shook his head, frowning.

"Fine. I'll whip something up," she muttered, turning toward me and cocking her head to the side, thoughtful. A moment later, she cast a glance over her shoulder at her brother. "Unless you'd like to strip it off her yourself."

His jaw tensed. His gaze flicked to me once for the briefest of moments in which I thought perhaps he might actually be considering it. But then he loosed a breath in an exaggerated sigh.

"You always get so crude when you're nervous, Cass," he accused.

"I do not get crude," she argued, waving a hand so that my muted gray gown transformed into a glittering cascade of silver, tight tunic and tight pants beneath with shining silver combat boots laced halfway up my calf. "I am always crude."

Pollux snorted but Lark just pointed, exasperated.

"Go," he barked.

Cass rolled her eyes but reached for Rook and the two of them vanished a moment later. When she came back for me, I tried my best to pretend I wasn't gritting my teeth so hard they might shatter. The jaunt confirmed my suspicions that I still wasn't used to this whole shadowstepping business but at least I didn't go reeling off a cliff on the other side this time. Though Rook did grip me firmly by the elbow to keep me from falling as Cass disappeared again.

"It's not getting better," I said through gritted teeth.

"It won't," he said simply, negating everything his brother had told me before.

Finally, I chanced a glance up at the city before me and my lips parted in stunned surprise.

Where the Court of Light and Life had been hidden in the depths of a valley, its shining gold spires not daring to peek over the cliff's edge in perfect, defensible position, the Court of Rivals was in open desert. The sand was not so white here but more of a burnt orange color and grittier, hot to the touch. But it turned to rough stone the closer you got to the city.

The city itself was not red at all, as I had been expecting it to be. And not everyone wore red. Some did, favoring a crimson shade mostly, but some wore grey or beige, more neutral, earthy tones to cool in the warm climate. The buildings were all in the style of a Spanish Villa, clay walls and tile roofs, all neutral, earth-tones as well. The city itself was massive and sprawling so far that I couldn't see the end of it on any side. Lights flashed from the streets, illuminating the sky above, and I could hear raucous sounds of music and laughter even from this far away.