Page 74 of The Poison of the Earth
THERE’S A KNOCK ATthe door at the bottom of the stairs. I hear, “It’s us, princess. Can we enter?”
I smile. So cute that they’d make sure I was ready for them to see me. “Yes!” I call, finishing up my hair. I wrapped it up with the hair sticks into a bun on the upper part of either side of my head as requested.
I hear them come up and I tap a little of my crushed berry powder on my cheeks and lips. I’ve already lined my eyes with a charcoal stick. I turn and my mouth drops open.
Kai is obviously dressed as Fall. His velvet vest is the same rich red as his hair. Underneath is a burnt orange dress shirt, sleeves billowy. His slacks are a brown so lush they blend into his calf-high boots. His mask is red as well, and covered in tiny red leaves.
Lonan is Spring. His shirt, cut the same as Kai’s, is a baby blue, covered by a doublet in apple green. His breeches are a tawny brown and he wears black boots. His mask is that same dreamy green, covered in tiny buds and unfurling leaves.
I step forward, one hand going to each of their faces. “Wow. Look at you two,” I grin.
“No, look at you, baby,” Kai rumbles, his hand gently grazing down my side.
“Put your mask on,” Lonan urges.
I smile and turn back to the mirror, carefully putting it over my hair, then adjusting my hair to cover the strap. I look at myself for a moment and the world seems to tip. I grab the sink and close my eyes. Their hands are on my back immediately.
“I’m fine,” I say quickly, standing upright.Just fate. Just the shift in the veil of time, no big deal.
I let my mates lead me down and out of the keep and towards the town square. Booths are set up with food and drink.It’s all self-serve, as no one is expected to work tonight. Even the musicians have back-ups and switch out often, leaving the musical style rather eclectic.
“What did you want to check out first, Summer Queen?” Lonan leans to whisper in my ear. I shiver and Kai’s hand curls around my waist. I suppose this means we’re ‘out’ with our relationship. I smile. It’s one of the things I wanted before I accepted the bonds.
“The cakes I made with Cook! They were pumpkin with cinnamon frosting. And some apple pie.”
“Does our mate have a sweet tooth?” Kai asks playfully.
“Absolutely,” I grin up at him. Lonan leads us to the tables and finds an apple pie out of the plethora of food. He quickly cuts a slice and plates it while Kai I look for the cakes.
“Oh! There!” I point to the several small layer cakes. “She piped little pumpkins and vines up the side in colored frosting!” I say excitedly. “I’m sorry I missed that!”
Kai rubs a hand over my back reassuringly. “Next year, princess.”
I toss him a glance. “Will we instill this event at the Castle?”
Lonan has returned. “Hmm. You really want the seat to be atthatplace?”
I blink, “I supposed I hadn’t considered it could be elsewhere.”
“Of course,” Lo says flippantly, “Why not? Surely that place holds bad memories? And we could design a better town, lay it out intentionally.”
My chest tightens at the suggestion of said memories. “Mayhaps,” I say, and shove a large bite of cake into my mouth. “Mmm,” I mumble, “Try this!” I offer Lo a forkful. I catch Kai beaming at us.
“Mmm,” Lonan says, mouth full and I turn to feed Kai a bite. I smirk at the adorable look he throws me as he opens his mouth.
“Ollie!”
I turn and see Lu, wearing a stylized fox mask, her actual fox tail emerging from her short, fluffy red-brown skirts. She tugs over one of the guards I recognize from the keep. Jonah, as she said. He’s wearing all white and has a mask with fur on it. A wolf, I think.
“Hey Lu! You look great!” I smile. She’s adorable, and all light and sparkles all the time. I’ve always liked women like that. For friends. I’m not usually attracted to that personality in a partner. It gets exhausting if you’re around it all the time, in my opinion.Maybe I’m just too much of a storm cloud,I think. But at that moment, I see Kai giving the guard the death stare and chuckle.Nope, he’s my storm cloud.
Lu’s eyes flick between the three of us. “Uhh, are you...?”
I grin. “Yes,” I say, slipping my free hand in the crook of Kai’s arm as I also turn my chest towards Lonan, making it clear it’s all of us.
“Oh. Well. That’s... unexpected. Lovely! I meant lovely.” She gives me a loaded look. I’m gonna hear about this later. “We should go,” she says, eyes taking in Kai’s thunderous look. “Save me a dance,” she chirps as she turns the guard.
Kai leans in, his face almost touching my mask. “Why did you become so defeated at the mention of RedWater Castle?”
