Bat Out of Hell (Promised to the Demons #2) - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,3

decide my punishment."

"That girl couldn't punish a flea," Uram said. I had finally allowed him to talk again.

"My guard is certainly not lowered," I said. "Something is afoot. Still, we're out of that accursed realm, and my magic is flowing better here." When we landed in the fae realm, we found ourselves in the middle of a wetland, still far too sunny for my taste, but it was a vast improvement from Etherium. I was even able to hunt and eat fish and game again. After days of travel, we stumbled upon the faery palace. Bevan, I supposed, had traveled straight to the heart of the realm without any troubles. The landscape would not have resisted him as it did me.

A young woman in a starched white apron came up to us outside. "There you are. Shall I show you to your quarters? The queen welcomes you to the palace. Once Jenny is in stable condition, you will be able to take a shift tending to her, so we request you wait in your chambers for a summons. Your rooms are well appointed with books, instruments and games so you will not just be left to pace with worry!" She smiled.

What the hell is going on, exactly? I wondered. The last thing I expected was a warm reception.

The girl led the way to rooms that were just as nice as described. Uram immediately picked up a lute and started picking out a love song.

"Well, this is what I'm talking about,” Jameson said, looking out the window at a view of a small garden, one of many on the grounds, and each with different types of flowers. A few attractive fae maidens were walking by the window and looked up at him, giggling. When I came up behind him they hurried off.

"There are so many beds!" Gillian exclaimed from the next room. "There's a big bed for the master, and a bed for each of us, and even a whole extra bed just in case one bed gets spoiled!"

"I can think of no reason you should expect a bed to be 'spoiled', whatever that means," I muttered. "But...the quarters are very generous. Please do thank Queen Morgana for me,” I told the maid. Of course, I was still very suspicious, but I could at least be polite, as a Lord to a Queen.

"Yes, sir. I will tell her right away and I'm sure she'll be pleased to hear it,” the young faery maiden said, bobbing her head to me. "Will you be needing anything else?"

"No, thank you..."

I already saw a basket of fruit and hard cheese to carry us until dinner after our long days of travel, and I dared not ask for clean clothes yet.

The rooms were not to my style, of course. Potted plants and wooden furniture, mostly left natural but with trims of bright, cheerful paint in the forms of knots and greenery, made every room seem light and insubstantial. While the faeries enjoyed gold and gems as much as anyone, generally they eschewed displays of wealth and power. It seemed a little shabby to me, just a step up from a roadside inn. But it did welcome one, and the servants were springing on the beds and eating the fruit.

"Please comport yourselves like adults," I said. "I need the faeries to understand that I am a dangerous man. I really shall whip all three of you if anyone heard you laughing. Any one of you."

"I really haven't been whipped in a while," Jameson said languidly. “But you don’t have a whip. You might have to put us over your knees and give us a good smacking.”

Jameson could ruin anything. ”Just...quiet. This is important. I don't trust anything that's going on here."

"But it's so nice," Gillian said. "The apples are the tastiest I've ever tasted."

The more idyllic everything seemed, the more nervous I grew. I was sure I was being tricked and I vowed not to eat any of the food left in the room.

I knew the legends. I was no fool. I would help my toad bride to recover, and learn what I could of her people, to please her. Then I would whisk her away from here.

Chapter Three

Lord Variel

After a little while, a handsome faery man came to the door. At least, I thought he was very handsome for a faery, maybe because he shared my dark hair and grayish pallor. ”Lord Variel. I'm Lord Cyrus, one of the queen's healers. Bevan watched the girl’s beside