Page 63 of Compass Points
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Are we on track?” Luc asked as he carried his plate of food to one of the standing tables dispersed throughout the room. The ballroom of Norden house was grand, specifically for these types of occasions. Everyone at Compass Lake was invited to the ball before the Summer Solstice Ceremony. It was one of the only times all fae courts were welcomed into the Norden house.
Before Rose could respond, Juliette sauntered over to their table.
“Are you going to tell us what is going on, Luc?” She said Luc’s name, but her gaze was locked on Rose.
“What are you asking, Juliette?” Luc’s words were clipped and formal. “You’ve never seen fit to question Aiden before.”
Juliette pushed her long hair back off her shoulder. “Don’t act childish, Luc. We all had different ways of dealing with Aiden as the Norden Point. Your way was simply more confrontational than mine.”
“More confrontational?”
Rose could see Luc’s anger rising in the narrowing of his eyes, moments away from red-rimmed irises.
“You let him walk all over you in those meetings. You ignored me whenever I tried to discuss the poor decisions he was leading us to make.”
“I think,” Rose said, placing her hand gently on Luc’s arm, “that Juliette is listening now, and maybe that is more important than what has happened in the past.”
Juliette’s eyes lit up with amusement at Rose’s intercession.
“I have a question for you.” Rose considered her words as she asked Juliette, “Do you…” She fumbled, unsure how to ask. “Do the Osten still worship the Lost God?”
Luc’s attention moved quickly from Juliette to Rose. She had shared her suspicions with him about Zrak being related to the mist, but they’d never discussed approaching Juliette about her patron god. No matter Luc’s distrust, Rose believed Juliette had the same goals they did.
Juliette tilted her head as she appraised Rose. “Of course we honor Zrak and his sacrifice. Just as any fae court worships their patron.”
Rose thought briefly before formulating her next question. “The other fae courts’ patrons aren’t lost. How do you commune with Zrak if he sacrificed himself?”
Juliette chuckled at that. “What an interesting line of questioning. I’d say you don’t know any better than to ask a fae about their magic, but I’ve heard multiple accounts of a great deal of magic used to defend the village. We all know that the Suden Point is powerful, but I’m willing to bet some of that magic was yours, and you do know better.”
This didn’t faze Rose. She didn’t regret using her magic to save the village. She’d pick revealing her magic ten times out of ten to stop others from suffering Tara’s fate.
Juliette smoothed out her dress as she continued. “Did you make the magical weapons, Rose? Are you part fae?”
Evidently Juliette couldn’t help but search for the most straightforward answer, as Luc had. Rose was thankful once again that she was easy to underestimate.
“Well, that’s quite a rude question, too, isn’t it,” Rose replied.
Appraising each other, Rose and Juliette remained locked in a staring contest. Luc couldn’t seem to decide how to help. Before anyone could press further, Rose heard the trampling of little feet running across the dance floor.
Luc’s nephews sprinted through the ballroom, David in the lead. They had been heading toward the food when they saw Uncle Luc and made a beeline for him instead. Aaron and Andrew walked more casually around the dance floor behind them. Though coming from behind in the sprint, Thomas threw himself at his uncle, feet lifting off the floor. He had so much blind trust. There seemed to be no doubt in his mind that his uncle would catch him. Luc didn’t disappoint as he plucked Thomas out of the air, the other two boys’ hands outstretched towards him.
“Was it a race to see who could get to me first?” Luc asked as Juliette and Rose’s standoff was well and truly interrupted.
“Enjoy your evening.” Juliette waved away the tension of their stare as she walked away.
“Hi, Rose, welcome back. Glad to see you’re up and about.” Andrew greeted them as they arrived behind the boys. Luc nodded at Andrew and Aaron. He’d said they had come to check on her when she was still passed out.
The boys jumped and tugged on Luc, demanding his attention, while Aaron and Andrew turned to Rose and spoke more quietly.
“We can’t thank you enough for what you did,” Aaron said, looking a little sheepish. He’d continued to be a little standoffish to her after the incident in the library.
“You protected us, the boys, and all of the residents at the lake,” Andrew continued.
“Luc was really worried about you when we stopped by. We haven’t seen him like that in a long time,” Aaron noted.
“I was just trying to help,” Rose said, deciding to respond to their first point instead of the commentary on Luc’s affections. She knew Luc cared for her, that she cared for him more than was good for either of them. Yet it wasn’t her place to explain the situation to Andrew and Aaron.
