Page 97 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
It was too much. He couldn’t. He didn’t even know how he’d start that conversation.
He sighed, drifting over to a corner of the room separated by a large screen. Behind it, cut into the floor, was a rectangular bath. Two taps hung over the side.
Caer frowned. The dwarves had a similar contraption in their cottage that pumped up water from the nearby stream. He didn’t know quite how it worked so efficiently, but he’d been meaning to ask. He couldn’t work out why this one hadtwo,though. Perhaps it was just to aid in filling it up faster?
He had no way of heating the water, but that hardly mattered. A cold bath might be just what he needed.
He turned on both taps, full blast.
He gasped. One was hot.
Hot water from a tap!What would these dwarves think of next?
He turned his attention to a basket beside the bath, which held a selection of vials and bottles, all holding shimmering, creamy liquid. He sniffed one of them gingerly—it smelt of honey and apples and cider and spice.
He added some to the water, his eyes widening as it conjured up bubbles. How was this possible without magic?
He didn’t question it, stripping off immediately and sinking beneath the soft, foamy waters. It was like bathing in liquid silk.
Maybe Avalinth wasn’t so bad after all.
After a thorough and very long soak, Caer emerged from the bath. He found a robe hanging on the back of his door and crawled into it. It was the softest, finest thing he had ever touched, although it only came down to his knees. A small tray of refreshments had been laid out for him; salted meat, a dense, nutty cheese, hot rolls and a few slices of crystalised fruit together with a tankard of honey-mead. The flavours were sharper and sweeter than his usual fare, but simple enough to be familiar. The dwarves were excellent hosts.
He lay down on the plush bed and tried to sleep. It evaded him, of course. The effects of the bath trickled away the longer he tossed and turned. Niggling fears and doubts crept in instead.
He shook his head. He had to see her.
His clothes had been ferreted away, which was somewhat irritating, as all he could find in their place was a nightshirt that must have been long on a dwarf, but didn’t cover nearly enough of him. It would be unthinkable to visit a lady’s chambers in such attire back home.
It was unthinkable to visit her chambers at all.
He forced down his fears; faeries were seldom bothered by such things.
He stepped out into the corridor and went past two doors before he realised a flaw in his plan—he had no idea which door was hers.
He sighed, running his hands through his hair, and paced down the corridor, dimly hoping the right one would jump out at him. Nothing did. This was stupid, foolish—
“May I be of some assistance, young prince?”
Caer jumped, spinning round to find Aeron beside him, his impossibly smooth black hair now draped over his shoulder in a loose braid. He’d changed his robes, ready for bed, but he still looked far too elegant and poised. Aislinn and Beau both held a similar kind of beauty, like the glint of dawn over beads of dew, but it didn’t seem as otherworldly or astidyas Aeron’s beauty. He was living marble.
“I, um…” Caer stuttered on his words, wondering if he wanted help from this stranger, or if he could bear to let anyone know he was searching for Aislinn. “I’m all right.”
“Lost your way to your chamber?”
“Yes,” Caer said, glad for the lie.
Aeron moved towards his door, gliding as silently as wind across the surface of a pond. He held out an impossibly smooth hand. “Here you are.”
“I thank you.”
“If you require anything else during your stay here, just ring the bell in your room,” Aeron insisted. “My Queen’s servants shall attend you.”
He turned away, but Caer called after him. “How is she your queen?” he asked. “When you’re—well, um…”
“I have sworn allegiance to no king or queen of Faerie,” he replied, his careful, measured words oddly familiar, though Caer knew they’d never met before. He would never forget a face like his. “Thus anyone can be my queen, or my king, if I so desire.”
Who are you?Caer wondered.What are you doing here?There was much he wanted to ask, but Aeron’s gaze pierced through him, and his courage shrivelled up a second later.
