Page 131 of Beyond the Faerie Gate

“Keeping them?”

“Your mother began her tenure by firing every servant in the palace,” she says, grimly. “It was her way of ensuring that people she could trust were the only ones around her. After that she interviewed every applicant before I could hire them. I’ve not taken on anyone else since she passed—Danu rest her soul—but if you believe their allegiances have changed…”

“I’m not going to fire them,” I whisper, aghast. “How would they find work again? What if they have families?”

Back in Nopchurch, I saw what became of those without a trade who lost their jobs and watched their entire lives fall to ruin.

It was always their families—the people who depended on them—who suffered most.

I’d never wish that fate on anyone.

“They’ll be glad to hear of it, my lady.” She sets her teacup down. “I’ll be keeping a close eye on all of them, making sure there are no hints of espionage from the other courts. Of course, only those I trust implicitly will be allowed to interact with you. Your three maids are my nieces, and our family has been loyal for generations.”

I nod, because I’m not sure what to do with the information that my servants could be spies. I’d never even considered such a thing.

Every time. Every single time I think I’m getting the hang of all this, something else comes and knocks me off guard. I’m getting sick of it.

“Give yourself more grace,” Mab says, taking a position behind me. “You’ve been aware of your true nature for less than two weeks. No one expects you to know everything.”

But I do. This is my new life. I chose to come back to live it when Danu gave me the choice. Now all of these fae expect me to be their Nicnevin, despite me doing nothing to earn the position and not being remotely qualified to rule.

I’m still frustrated that after three days of exercises with Florian, I still find it impossible to lift my wings all the way. He said it could take weeks before I can manage it. Then he said it would be months before I can fly.

But I will. I’m determined to.

“Only a few members of the old staff have left or died in the time you’ve been gone,” the head housekeeper continues. “Your mother preferred the servants be seen and not heard, because of the strain her visions took on her. The migraines she sometimes developed after a vision were awful, so most of them are used to moving silently and keeping out of the way.”

“I don’t mind if they want to speak to me,” I interject.

No wonder the maids aren’t very talkative. They’re probably used to my mother’s rules. I’m learning more about my mother from this woman than I have from any of my males.

“I’d rather they did. I don’t…” I don’t want to feel like an outsider. “I’d like to get to know them better, to be honest.”

If she finds my awkward honesty weird or unbecoming, she doesn't say it.

“I’ll let them know.” She puts down her cup, pulls out a small slip of paper from her pocket and checks it quickly before giving me her attention once more. “I almost forgot. Aerla, the palace cook, is going beside herself because no one has told her your favourite meals yet. So she’d like me to relay any favourites or what to avoid…”

Sucking my lower lip between my teeth as I think about it. “I don’t really know,” I whisper. “I’ve loved everything I’ve eaten so far, but obviously, I was raised in the mortal realm. I only know what I don’t like from there.”

“If you don’t like anything, let one of the servants know at once,” she insists. “It won’t be served twice—”

Her words trail off, and her wide eyes fix on a spot in the distance. Her mouth opens, displaying double rows of sharp, pointed teeth.

She screams, and the noise is so high-pitched that I’m forced to cover my ears. The mournful sound echoes from everywhere at once, but somehow I know it’s coming from her. My eyes water at the sheer onslaught of sound. It’s not just my ears that hurt. Somehow, her scream seems to be inside my skull, stabbing at my brain with blades of pure misery.

My guides disappear, as if blasted away by the noise, which is building into what feels like a physical force against my skin. I reach out blindly, trying to find something to hold on to.

Then Bree is there, putting himself bodily between me and the head housekeeper like a shield. His catlike ears are pressed flat against his skull, and his eyes—like mine—are watering from the pain. Those enormous wings of his spread out, surrounding us both in a wall of feathers that don’t touch my skin as he tries to protect me from… whatever it is that’s happening.

I don’t expect it to work, but by some miracle, it does. His body mutes the worst of the ringing that accompanies the scream.

Beneath his wings, I catch sight of the fae female as she slips out of her chair and onto the floor. Her mouth is still stretched obscenely wide as she continues to shriek, and her eyes—which were warm before—are now pure black as inky tears spill from them to stain her cheeks.

As quickly as it began, it stops. Her mouth falls closed and her hand flies to her throat as her eyes cloud over and then return to normal. Now that her shriek has ended, my three maids, who were waiting at the edge of the garden in case I needed anything, recover quickly and swarm us both in a flurry of dark skirts and fluttering hands.

“Nicnevin, are you all right?”

I nod mutely as I wave them toward the motionless housekeeper while searching for Bree.

---