wanted.
I glanced around. The Summer King was back at his table, surrounded by no less than four adoring women. The Summer Queen and her prim entourage were nowhere to be seen. I had the distinct impression that the court was divided between those courtiers devoted to the king and those devoted to the queen. Likely she had her own celebration somewhere else in the court with far less general debauchery and many more rules. How those two had held a court together astounded me. Of course, the king had said he was older than any of the other seasonal rulers and that he’d made oaths that bound his queen to him when he’d still been young and foolish, so perhaps once they had held more common ground.
I spotted Dugan standing with a cluster of Sleagh Maith. They all looked riveted on whatever he was saying, and for his part, he was smiling. I hadn’t seen him often, and I had to admit, he had a nice smile, though I wasn’t convinced this particular smile was real. Something about it was off, fake. He saw me looking his way and met my gaze. He tilted his head back slightly, in an upward nod, and then focused on the small crowd around him again. I could tell by his body language that he was wrapping up the conversation and making his good-byes, and the fae around him were disappointed he was leaving. Being a Faerie prince clearly opened some doors that Falin and I just couldn’t walk through.
“Tell me you learned something,” I said as he joined us.
Dugan’s smile spread. “I did. Not exactly what we were looking for, but something.”
I waited, and the moment stretched. Falin grumbled something under his breath, and the prince frowned at him.
“Are you planning to make us bargain for it, or are you planning to share?” I asked.
Dugan looked slightly startled, and then his brows furrowed. “I am . . . unaccustomed to freely sharing information. It does not come naturally to me.”
Gee, who would have guessed that of the Prince of Shadows and Secrets, but his tone made it clear that this was an unspoken apology. Falin crossed his arms over his chest, but I tried to keep my body language open and encouraging.
“Lunabella left only a fortnight ago, though no one I spoke to knew where it is she went, or perhaps they were unwilling to share. She did visit a friend in the court last week, and at that time she seemed well so it does not seem she fell victim to foul play.”
“Who did she visit?” Falin asked. “Do they not know where she went?”
“One of the queen’s handmaidens.”
“Who would not be in attendance here,” I said, and Dugan nodded.
“There appears to be a rather deep schism in this court,” he said.
And wasn’t that the truth.
“So you didn’t actually learn anything useful. I hope you didn’t trade anything important,” Falin said, making Dugan’s frown deepen.
“I have more.” He pulled something from under his cloak and held it out toward me, clasped in his hand.
I hesitated. I couldn’t see what it was as his fingers covered it completely, but I could feel magic. It wasn’t witch magic, so I couldn’t tell what it did and with the day I was having, I was leery of accepting anything. I already had a curse on me for my time in this court. I didn’t want to accept an enchanted object. Dugan lifted his eyebrow, and I couldn’t tell if he was questioning why I hadn’t accepted whatever it was, or if he was daring me to accept it. Falin reached out, but Dugan shook his head.
“I did trade for this. Alexis?”
Damn it. I opened my palm and Dugan dropped into it what appeared to be a golden locket on a chain. Narrowing my senses on it I could feel a warm magic worked deep into the metal, but I still couldn’t guess what it did.
“Uh . . . ?” Was this a gift? What was this?
“Open it.”
I was skeptical, but I released the clasp and the locket popped open. A woman, no larger than my thumb, appeared in the air above the locket. She had long brown hair and soft dark eyes and she laughed, waving someone unseen away playfully. Then she paused and smiled, clearly posing, before blowing a kiss. Her image blurred, and then she laughed again, the image looping back to what we’d seen when I first opened the locket. I stared.