the color scheme of vivid earth tones approximated those of the other quarters.
But I was in no mood to appreciate the splendor of the decor. Or to reminisce about the time I’d been trounced by a thief, in the test I’d prepared for my whole life.
Agnë and Meira had returned from cleaning up, and were now at the breakfast nook, hunched over a gilded table, gorging themselves on an assortment of bakeries and fruits.
I almost shouted for them to stop. Eating fairy food came at unpredictable prices.
But they’d already eaten it. And they must have been starving.
Sighing, I floated towards them, Alan’s words, or Keenan’s, as I now thought of him, niggling me.
I did care for them. I might not have actively thought about it before, but I did. I never had friends at court—my mother made sure I didn’t get close to any Arborean noblewomen. Unlike my sister Esme, who was provided confidantes in the offspring of her Cahramani ladies-in-waiting, I had no one to be myself around, except for Meira and Agnë.
They weren’t replaceable to me. I would have missed them sorely if they’d ever left, and would be heartbroken if I ever lost them, like I’d almost lost Agnë today.
As for them turning out to be witches—it certainly raised many questions. But whatever their answers were, I was discovering it wouldn’t change the way I feel about them.
I stopped beside Agnë, wondering if she’d supplemented soap and water with magic to get rid of all that ghoul blood. “How are you feeling?”
Agnë waved off my concern, trying to grin up at me with a mouth full of crumbly, purple biscuit.
“We should be asking you that!” Meira tossed a slice of a ruby fruit I didn’t recognize down in her plate, flinging a hand at my form. “We still can’t figure out how this happened.”
“It’s not your job to.”
Meira slammed her fist on the table, rattling everything, reminding me of Leander’s temper when he’d been turning into a beast. “Yes, it is! It’s our job to watch out for you! We should have known the Spring Queen wouldn’t just let you sleep.”
“Everything is the Spring Queen’s fault,” I insisted. “And if there is anyone else to blame, it’s the fairy godmother who added the ‘sleep’ amendment of the curse without thinking it through!”
Agnë choked, spraying soggy bits of biscuit that had turned green, while she turned an alarming crimson. I instinctively reached to thump her on the back, but to my unending frustration, my hand went straight through her.
I exhaled. “Are you all right?”
Meira shoved a glass of water in her face, hers even more pinched than usual. “She just eats like a pig. And this place is making us anxious. We should leave as soon as possible, to see about removing that curse.”
“But we’re here to do that. I thought you figured out that I will attempt to get a declaration from the Summer King?”
“Oh. Right. We did.” Meira laughed nervously. “Our fates are all in the hands of the fairy monarchs now.”
“They control everything, you know?” Agnë rushed to add.
They were both behaving more strangely than usual. But they had almost gotten eaten by ghouls, when they had no business following me into Faerie to begin with. And they’d exposed themselves as witches in the thick of battle.
I sighed. “So, are we going to mention the camel in the room?”
They both fidgeted and looked anywhere but at me.
“Can you just tell me what two witches were thinking, getting jobs taking care of the princess of a royal house with strict anti-magic rules? Who eventually went to war with other kingdoms over magic and its wielders?”
Agnë choked again, even with an empty mouth.
Meira only blurted out, “We’re not witches!” At my knowing look, she gulped. “We just know a few magic tricks, and…”
I raised a hand, stopping her agitated explanations. “There was a time when I would have been horrified, would have not wanted to lay eyes on you again. But now, you’re only my closest companions, and the ones who cared enough to come for me, to be with me when I’m no longer myself. You’re yourselves to me, and I don’t care what else you are.”
Agnë’s eyes filled with tears, and Meira’s breath caught in what suspiciously sounded like a sob. Then they both surged up, attempting to hug me. They ended up bumping into each other through my phantom form.
Pushing away from each other, their indignant exclamations were so ridiculous, I just had to