Seanan McGuire - One Salt Sea

I put everything on and turned to give myself another long look in the mirror, trying to swallow past the lump in my throat. Taken all together, the outfit worked some strange illusion that had nothing to do with magic, playing down my mortal features, playing up my resemblance to my mother, and making me look like what the Queen’s Court wanted me to be. I didn’t look like the girl who worked for Devin, earned her knighthood almost by accident, and once tried to ditch Faerie. I looked noble. I looked like I belonged.

I looked like the Countess of Goldengreen.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. I could do this. I could go out there and face the Queen’s Court and play the part the Luidaeg and Goldengreen needed me to play. I owed it to the people who’d somehow become my subjects.

“Toby? May said to see if you were—” Connor stepped into the room, freezing in mid-step when he saw me. I guess I presented a startling picture, especially considering my customary cotton-and-denim chic.

“Yeah?” I asked, forcing a twist of a smile.

“You look . . .”

I had to forcibly restrain the urge to rake my hands through my hair. “I know. Sucks, don’t it?”

“You look amazing.” He gave me a besotted smile. “I mean it.” He’d changed while he was out, replacing his white cotton shirt and denim jeans with a tailored blue vest, white silk shirt, and dark blue trousers a few shades lighter than his Victorian-style walking jacket. His hair was damp again, the artless tangle of his gray-and-brown curls somehow making the picture perfect. His smile widened when he saw me studying him. “You approve?”

“I do.” I smoothed my skirt with the heels of my hands, ducking my head to hide the blush, and shouted, “May? How am I supposed to go armed in this getup?”

“You’re not,” she said, stepping into the room with Stacy behind her.

I crossed my arms. “That’s not an option.”

Stacy grinned. “You look great.”

“I still need weapons,” I said firmly.

Stacy blinked, looking briefly concerned. “You’re going to the Queen’s Court armed? She already doesn’t like you. Are you sure that’s wise?”

“No, but I’m going to do it anyway. I’m way too good at getting myself into trouble. I refuse to go without protection.”

“I told Luna you’d be difficult,” said May, handing me a thigh sheath. “This, of course, is courtesy of Sylvester.”

“Of course,” I agreed, and strapped it on. My belt sheath was on the floor with my jeans. I picked it up and transferred my knife to the thigh sheath, checking twice to be sure the handle was in a convenient position in case it needed to be drawn. I used to carry two knives, one silver, one iron. That’s another thing that changed when Amandine changed my blood. Iron burns my skin now, and I can’t stand to touch it unless I’m wearing special gloves. I’ll replace it soon. But not just yet.

Digging the Luidaeg’s shell out of my jeans, I tucked it between the thigh sheath and my leg. The leather pressed the edges of the shell against me, spreading an oddly soothing chill across my skin.

Stacy smiled at me as I straightened up. “You look amazing,” she said earnestly. “May? Walk me to the car?”

“Sure,” said May. She lingered long enough to say, “You look awesome. Break a leg tonight.” Then she was gone, following Stacy out of the room. Connor and I exchanged a look.

“You really do look great,” he said.

“So do you. You ready?”

“No.”

“Good—me neither.” I sighed. “Come on. Let’s go see the Queen.”

Connor laughed as he we walked out into the hall. That was good. I was pretty sure we wouldn’t be doing much laughing after we got to the Queen’s knowe.

CARS I VAGUELY RECOGNIZED filled about half the spots in the parking lot closest to the Queen’s knowe. Other spots were apparently empty, but radiated an aura of “You don’t want to park here” that betrayed the presence of vehicles hidden by don’t-look-here charms that I still wasn’t strong enough to see through.

Connor glanced my way, doubtless reading the tension in the set of my mouth and the way I was practically strangling the steering wheel. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

“I pretty much have to be.” I parked the car between two that I couldn’t see, taking a weird sort of pleasure in leaving it visible. “Maeve’s tits, I hate this place.”

“You, too? I always feel like I’m being measured for the killing jar.” Connor undid his seat belt and got out of the car.

“At least the Queen doesn’t hate you,” I offered, following him. My shoes provided a surprising amount of traction on both the sandy pavement of the parking lot and the loose sand of the beach beyond. Let’s hear it for high-quality heels.

“Hey, think big—she probably hates me by now. I’m dating you, and she’s already condemned you to death once.”

“Sad for her that I’m hard to kill.” I eyed the rocks between us and the cave leading to the Queen’s knowe. “I’m going to fall in.”

“That’s not going to be a problem.” Connor smiled as he took my hand. The scent of kelp rose around us, briefly overwhelming the smell of the sea. He tugged me forward. “Come on, it’ll be fine.”

I eyed him dubiously, but let him lead me around the rocks I would normally have walked across, down the last strip of sand, and into the shallow water. At least, it looked like he was leading me into the water. I could see it lapping around my calves, but I couldn’t feel a thing.

“Nice trick,” I said.

His smile became a grin. “There are side benefits to dating a Selkie.”

“You mean I’m getting something out of this besides the sex? Awesome.”

Connor laughed.

Intangible waves eddied around us as we waded through them to the shallow, stagnant water that pooled on the floor of the cave. For possibly the first time ever, I was going to be visiting the Queen’s knowe completely dry.

It was a lot lighter in the cave than I was used to, but that was due to the changes in me, not due to any change in the Queen’s décor. My night vision has improved with the rest of me. I gave Connor one last sidelong glance, wishing we could skip out and go to a movie or something instead, and pulled him through the cave’s rear wall.

The stone faded into cool mist, turning the world gray and sending electric tingles through my skin. We kept walking. The mist thinned and finally disappeared completely, leaving us standing in the Queen’s knowe . . . but not the part of it I was expecting. Connor dropped my hand.

“Whoa,” he said.

I silently shared the sentiment.

Normally, the beachside entrance to the Queen’s knowe leads to a vast, cavernous ballroom that seems to extend for the better part of forever. Not this time. Instead, we were standing in a large antechamber, clearly intended to control the flow of arrivals. It might have seemed imposing if I hadn’t been expecting the ballroom. Since I was, it just seemed ostentatious, like it was trying way too hard.

The walls were blue-white marble and pink coral, and the floor was pink-veined white marble. It was like we were standing inside a giant wedding cake. The room ended in set of ornately carved oak doors at least fifteen feet tall, flanked by a pair of Daoine Sidhe wearing the Queen’s colors. One had dark blue hair; the other’s hair was almost exactly the color of cotton candy.

“Can you even dye my eyes to match my gown? Jolly old town,” I muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing. Ignore me.” I released my human disguise, leaving the smell of copper and fresh-cut grass hanging in the air. “So are you ready now?”