Page 53 of Raven's Dawn

She was several stories off the ground, making it difficult to ascertain her features. All I could see was icy white hair atop a floor length, sky-blue gown. Even from here, though, she looked tiny. The man beside her was around her same height, but her limbs were thin. Like a ballet dancer.

Iliantha pushed past us to the front of the crowd. Folding her hands, she held them just before her hips. “About a year and a half, your Majesty.” There was an edge to Iliantha’s voice when she spoke the honorific, though her tone was still less disgusted than Caeda’s. “We are sorry to have awoken you.”

“No matter.” Opening her arms out at her sides, an invisible force took hold of her. Again, I had to equate her to a ballet dancer. Her movement was incredibly graceful as she floated to the ground. Nothing like the chaos I was used to with air travel, where currents of wild wind carried you off through the atmosphere. She was being lowered as if by strings, not a hair out of place.

When she finally touched the ground, I was able to make out her face. Her features were sharp, thin body no different. The smile that tilted the edge of her pale pink lips, however, was almost maniacal. Like a mischievous child.

“And who might all of you be?” She flicked around the group, each movement a bit jarring. “Mutts, apparently.” Her gaze turned to Warren and Ezra. “And leeches.” Forehead scrunched, she turned back to Iliantha. “You brought mutts and leeches to my gate. Surely they aren’t my gift.”

“They’re friends. One of those leeches is a very valuable tool in our fight against the air an tagadh. The other is a doctor from Earth. A lot of your healers could learn from him.” Iliantha walked ahead of us all, then motioned over her shoulders to the elders in our group. Luci, Connor, Naomi, Laila, and Jeremy. “These are your gifts.”

My face screwed up. Laila’s didn’t, though, so I retained my composure.

“I like that one.” She pointed at Luci, but it was more of a tap of the air in his direction. “Do I get to keep them?”

“You do not,” Luci said firmly.

“Aww, but we could have so much fun.” The smirk she gave him was somewhere between maniacal and seductive. “I’ve always wanted to play with an Angel. It’s fun, isn’t it? To teeter around death?”

“Their knowledge, that’s your gift,” Iliantha said. “In exchange for your help, of course.”

“Mmm, that’s not a gift.” Caeda wagged her finger from side to side, shaking her head. “Gifts are given freely without anything expected in return. This sounds more like a trade.”

“Are you open to a trade?” Laila asked. “Knowledge for knowledge?”

“Perhaps.” Looking her over, Caeda smiled wider. She pointed at Luci again. “But only if he sits beside me while we talk.”

20

GRAHAM

Caeda was exactly who I expected she would be. Some called her the mad queen. It wasn’t because she had burned a village or caused any real harm. It was because she was odd.

With the knowledge I had now, after spending my teenage years with Camila, I recognized that Caeda probably did have some mental health problems we would label on Earth. Maybe a personality disorder, maybe some type of mania. I wasn’t a doctor, so I was in no place to diagnose her, but there was certainly something going on there.

But I didn’t dislike her. In fact, I found her entertaining.

After she allowed us in her gates, she ushered us onto a shimmering platform. The soldiers had to walk, but those of us working directly with Laila and Jeremy got to ride the magic carpet. It lifted off the ground and floated us to her castle. I couldn’t tell if the thing was all magic or if it was some type of metal decorated with a unique spell purely for the sake of aesthetics.

Aesthetics were important here, we learned, as Caeda showed us the beauty of her city. Which I was not used to. Most Fae weren’t. We adorned ourselves beautifully, but more often than not, we were relatively conservative with material objects.

Not Caeda. She treated the city as if it were her personal art project.

Gems sparkled on cobblestone streets, while other roads were checkered with black and white stone. No matter the material, every road was dotted with streetlights. Not the ugly wooden posts I was used to on Earth, nor the gas-lamp sort of style I had seen on my one trip to Hell. The ones in Hell were comparable, maybe, but nothing so ornate.

These stood a story and a half tall, each one solid gold. Gems and crystals speckled every inch.

The shops and homes weren’t much different. Where I came from, our roofs were thatched and our walls were made with dried mud. Here, they were all solid gold. Or silver. Elvan ore. Regardless, they were caked with jewels.

It sickened me. It was the only reason so far that I had a hard time respecting Caeda.

So much of this land was in peril. But here she stood. Guiding us through a city of riches. Flaunting those stars damned lamp posts, not thinking of the families she could feed with all those jewels.

“Have you eaten?” she asked as we flew. “You must eat, truly. What about sleep? Are you tired? How long have you been on the road? You didn’t come all the way here from the capital in one stop, did you? Oh, I know you couldn’t have. Iliantha must stop every hour at least. Drove me mad when we traveled together.”

All that in a single breath.

“We were hoping to rest here for the night, if you’d allow it,” Luci said. He sat beside her, allowing her to hold his hand. His posture was strong, however, jaw set. Apparently, he accepted his place as our speaker. “If not, we’ll set up camp again.”

---