Page 12 of Tasteful Anarchy and Tangled Auras
Wilsden is the metropolis of the FEC and has been well designed. The castle sits at the center, fronted by a large townsquare with markets, inns, and taverns. Then come the shops and banks. At the outermost are small but comfortable houses for families that wrap around to the other side of the castle. Lots of trees and greenery, cobbled streets, trash pick-up, running water. It is practically a haven of modernity and progress for the Fae. Or most of them, that is.
I keep walking, looping around the town. I think best outside, and I need to cool down. I cannot return to the castle like this; I’d be making everyone cum in their pants. My mind races. Am I not always saying that the system is unfair? Don’t I rage that Rory and others are stuck in servitude? Doesn’t the “pure-blood” thing aggravate me to no end? Hadn’t I thought that having one person who gets to decide everything gets a bit hairy if they are not mentally stable? Don’t I want to punch every old traditionalist asshat I came across?
My feet slow and I find myself approaching the castle. Perhaps I’m being too rash here, even though the fake attention from Bryn still burns. But I’ve been insulted or overlooked plenty of times. I shouldn’t let that cloud my judgment on these anarchists. They might be right. I slump.
Bryn isn’t going anywhere, given I had tossed his clothes onto the bed in a fit of pique before I stormed out. The puff of smoke had been very satisfying. The words he’d said—“Don’t you want to actually do something good?”—still ring in my ears.
I push open the stainless steel swinging doors of the castle’s main kitchen. It is very much an industrial kitchen, and if I hadn’t grown up with it, I’d have found it jarring inside the stone castle with its statues, carved wooden doors, and hidden alcoves.
“Lassy,” trills Maudey as she wraps her large arms around me. Maudey is definitely not nymph or human, but I’ll be damned if I knew exactly what she was. My best guess was brownie and tylwyth. But everyone knows better than to pry.
She is short and round and has arms like hams. She is the sweetest thing if she likes you. If she doesn’t...well. It’s better if she likes you. When I was a child, I used to daydream that she was really my grandmother and I didn’t have to deal with my awful relatives anymore.
She pulls me through the kitchens as I say hi to the various busy Fae and right to her back room. It’s cozy with an old wooden table, chairs, knick-knacks, and beautiful jewel-toned tapestries hung on the walls.
“Sit, child. You look like you’ve seen The Morrigan herself.” Maudey bustles out, and almost before I can settle into a chair, she is back with a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies and a steaming tea pot. I smile and place my arms on the table, feeling more at home than I have since I’d left Boston. “Now, dearie, what’s wrong?” she chirps as she pours tea and I cram a cookie in my mouth.
“Dick boyfriend,” I murmur around the cookie. She chuckles and I sigh. “Maudey...have you heard of any insurgent groups? Guerilla Pucks or Elf Anarchy or something like that?”
Maudey’s warm brown cheeks pale. Oh, so she has. She looks sideways, casting a protection spell on the door with a twitch of her hand.
“Oh, aye. We all have.”
I’m surprised. How has none of the Court known about this? Some magic? Maudey isn’t even indentured; she had interviewed for this position and was paid. Well paid, I had assumed, but what the fuck do I even know anymore?
“Do you agree with them?” I try to ask it gently, but I’m afraid the accusation is obvious in my voice.
“Some of them, aye. Some are more radical than others. But the more reasonable ones, the ones wanting slower change, I think they are right.” She raises her chin a bit, fearing myresponse. I sigh again and put my hand over hers in the center of the table.
“Who here knows the most about them?”
Bryn
THAT WENT WORSE THANexpected. Adelaide had raged at me, my cock had been painfully erectandon display, and I could hardly reason with her. Damn capricious...nymph. Ugh, females are so frustrating; their thought process is totally different than mine. She threw on some clothing, then, in anabsolutely spectacularmoment of pettiness, tossed my pants and boxers on the bed. I wasn’t even mad. I was impressed. Finally, she stormed out, leaving me here.
I shower and try to get my thoughts in order. A tray of food had appeared, which I devour. I rustle through her drawers, looking for paper and a writing instrument. Finding none, I explore more. There is a wooden door on the far side of the bedroom, and it opens onto a stunning sight.
Adelaide, apparently, has an incredible library. I trace my hand along the bookshelves that line the entire wall. Goddess, I hadn’t expected this. She has a personal library. A well-appointed one. There is a huge fireplace at the far end of the room, surrounded by comfortable-looking chairs, end tables, lamps, and a plush rug. I shake myself to get an image of Adelaide, naked and squirming on that rug, thighs clamped on my ears, out of my head. To one side is an enclosed bookcase, obviously her older, delicate texts. Next to it is a small wet bar. I help myself to a whiskey and peruse.
WHEN ADELAIDE FINALLYreturns, I am sprawled naked on her bed, whiskey on the bedside table, book in hand. “Well,hello, Priestess. How nice of you to join me.” Her gaze roves over my body appreciatively.
Her lips purse. “I see you found my good whiskey.” She tosses something on the bedside table.
“Mmm,” I respond, engrossed in the history book I had found.
“I ran into my Aunt Alys on my way back,” she says. “They held a consort ceremony.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Withouteitherof us?”
“She said they knocked and we didn’t answer, so they didn’t want to interrupt us.”
“Bullshit. No one knocked.”
She looks at me like she is questioning her decisions. “Well, of course not, Bryn. You should start calling me Adi.”
I warm at her words but then she continues. “They’ll know something is up if you insist on calling me Priestess.”
“Well, just tell them I like a little role-play. And when will you be returning to the Temple?”
