Page 14 of The Shattered Kingdom
“My apologies,” he starts. “I wasn’t looking where I was walking. Are you—”
“Back away from the human.”
Mason is between me and the faerie a heartbeat later, his back to me as he glares down at the faerie I almost steamrolled into. It’s overly aggressive, and I scrunch my nose in disgust as I shift my gaze toward Lill. I want her to see this, want her to see how unnecessarily aggressive the shifter is. She’s already looking. Good.
The faerie male steps away from Mason, his gaze darting between me and the shifter. “My apologies. It was an accident.” He scurries away, not looking back.
I wait until he’s out of sight before speaking. “That was uncalled for.”
Mason spins, and it takes all my strength not to flinch as his anger directs itself toward me. “He wasn’t wearing gloves, and he was fully intending to touch your arm. You humans may go around touching everything and everybody, but it’s considered impolite here. He was taking advantage of your ignorance.”
Mason retreats a second later, returning to Lill.
I glare at his back, grudgingly following behind. I’m not ignorant.
We make another sharp right, emerging in a giant field. It stretches as far as I can see, and it’s carefully maintained. Walking paths are worn into the ground, and there are thankfully no trellises to be seen. I appreciate the unobstructed view of the clear sky.
There’s a hill directly on the left and what looks to be tall hedges beyond it. Far off on the right are trees, and I spot a fewbuildings scattered about. Most of the land is clear, though.
The nearest building is dome-shaped. Shallow steps lead to a large, stone patio that appears to wrap around the side of the building, but it’s the floor-to-ceiling windows that draw the most attention. It’s stunning.
“This land makes up most of the property,” Mason says. “You’ll find the gardens, ballrooms, pretty much everything here.”
I point to the building closest to us. “What’s that?”
“The school.”
I snort. “You have your own private school? How fitting.”
Mason ignores me. “You’ll find this area to be the busiest. Faeries love to stroll about. Socializing. I try to avoid it.”
I move forward, brushing past Mason and Lill until I’m close enough to the school building to peer inside. It’s empty, with only a few covered tables and chairs scattered about. The domed ceiling is a kaleidoscope of gold and red, and the crisp, white flooring is unnervingly clean.
“How many kids—”
“I’m leaving.”
I turn, anger flushing my cheeks as Mason walks back underneath the trellis walkway, leaving me behind. He’s not giving me enough time to take everything in. Lill frowns, also looking annoyed and left behind, before rushing after him.
I hesitate before doing the same. The faerie I ran into earlier seemed friendly, but most of the others haven’t. I doubt they’ll be much help if I get lost, and I’m admittedly petrified of running intoHer Majestywithout Kie or Mason present. They’re the only thing standing between me and the frightening queen’s wrath.
Mason weaves effortlessly through the covered walkways and open courtyards, and I almost immediately lose my sense of direction. I’m most definitely going to need a map.
“Kitchens and private dining halls are this way,” Mason says,pointing down a walkway. “Stay out of the kitchens. The workers don’t want your interruption, but you can usually find something to eat in one of the dining halls should you find yourself hungry.”
I perk up at that. “We’re allowed out of the house?”
“You can roam the grounds, although it’s not encouraged.”
“Not encouraged by whom?” By the faeries, or by Kie and Mason? Those are two very different things.
Mason turns, walking back the way we came. His refusal to answer my question is all the answer I need. It’s not encouraged by him and Kie, but I don’t care about their feelings.
He walks back into the open field. The hill that was on our left earlier is now on the right, and tall hedges block my view.
“The gardens,” he says. He pauses, giving Lill and me just enough time to catch up before continuing. “This is the same park as before, just a different entrance.” His green eyes meet mine. “In case you’ve lost your sense of direction.”
Lill offers a laugh, but it’s forced. “This place is different from the last time I was here.”
