Half Wylde | Book 1

Fourteen: The Autumn Palace

I sat at my vanity while Wairen artfully braided my long brown hair. I gave her, him, them, free reign to do what would be appropriate, as long as my ragged ears could remain hidden. Thain leaned against the wall, going over what I was expected to know in the presence of a king. His lifetime of court etiquette shoved into an hour of mind numbing lecture.

"And since you'll be the youngest in almost every situation you find yourself in, you'll want to make sure you bow exactly as low as the person you are introduced to." Thain scratched his chin.

"Unless it's royalty, in which case I make sure to bow lower." I added.

"Very good." Thain grinned. "You're ready."

"As ready as I can be." My calloused right hand twitched. "I don't suppose an axe at my hip is proper court attire?"

"We'll all be right there with you, Wren." Thain cleared his throat. "Besides, Baeleon is easy to please. You'll be the most interesting thing in the room. I promise."

"I wish I wasn't." I sighed and stood, thanking Wairen.

"Would you rather be looked down upon by the humans again?" Thain asked gently.

"No." I mumbled.

"I know it's hard to believe there are people out there who might like you, but I promise there are. I'm one of them. Eb is another. Schula is another. And you're about to meet more." Thain pushed his weight off the wall and offered me his hand as Wairen signaled they were done with my hair. "I promised you a welcome, let's go have it then."

I couldn't help but grin at him. Handsome in his court attire, but no doubt uncomfortable outside his road worn tunics. I took his hand to stand and I glanced in the mirror, impressed at the braid my hair was now spun into.

"Wairen, it's beautiful!" I touched the soft curls over my ears that drew back into the braid further down. My ugly ear tips were hidden beautifully, and it looked to be by design all along.

"I'm glad you like it." They stepped back so I could spin in front of the mirror, admiring the new clothes and hair.

"Thank you, that will be enough for now old friend." Thain dismissed them.

Wairen nodded and retreated out of the room."Well, are we ready to go? Eberon will scold me if you're late."

I smiled and let him lead us outside.

Thain kept a steady pace. I was glad for the Autumn court clothing, if I were in skirts I wouldn't have been able to keep up with him. Fewer eyes lingered now that I didn't look so out of place, but some who scented what I could be still gawked. We crossed several bridges and a wet maple leaf managed to fall right on my forehead while we were walking, but otherwise we had a silent walk to the grotto.

"Looks like we're the last to show up." Thain nodded towards a bench where Schula sat and Eberon paced in front of her. When the golden fae spotted us he stopped in his tracks, then stomped towards Thain.

"About time you showed up! You can't just waltz in to the King's own parlor whenever you feel like it." Eberon ran both hands through his fiery locks, messing up someone's hard work of putting them in order. "Do you know how hard it was to quell his impatience? To get him to wait until today? The court is in an uproar in there right now, waiting to see her!"

"You are going to calm down right now, before you scare Wren and I have to silence you." Thain said quietly. Eberon's mouth snapped shut and a fierce blast of warmth hit me, then extinguished like a candle.

"You're right." He resumed pacing and fidgeting with the obsidian ring on his thumb. "I'm sorry. Wren, I'm sorry."

"We aren't even late." Schula snorted. "If it would make you feel better Eb, we can go inside and wait where the staff can fret over us."