Page 84 of Beyond the Faerie Gate

“Should I say something?” I ask, still trying not to move my lips.

“No need. They’re happy enough just to see you,” she says.

Perhaps it’s different farther into the city, but right now, the houses are in small clusters along the road, almost like tiny villages inside the city walls. We pass the first, and I naïvely think that the crowd will grow thinner until we get to the next. It doesn’t.

If anything, the number of fae steadily increases, until they’re lining the road and spilling out into the fields beyond. They aren’t empty-handed either. As we pass, they throw flowers in front of us, creating a rainbow of brightly coloured petals for the horses to ride over.

“Can you see the palace in the distance?” Titania asks, as we pass the next cluster of houses. “They call it the palace of floating gardens.”

I follow the direction of her outstretched finger, only to frown at the odd silhouette of the building at the top of the hill. A twisted tower weaves drunkenly into the sky, surrounded by hundreds of oval-shaped platforms, which float in a cloud around it. They’re all connected and supported by thin, arching bridges that branch between them and the main tower.

From this distance, the palace gives the impression of a great tree.

It’s a miracle of architecture that seems to defy everything I know about gravity and balance just by existing. I hate to think about how many stairs there are.

“Why is it shaped like that?”

“It was built for people with wings.” Titania grins. “There are lower floors which are more conventional, but most of the Nicnevin’s private rooms are on the platforms around the main tower. Yours is at the very top, and the palace will have rearranged itself to place the correct number of rooms for your Guards beneath you.” She pauses, thoughtfully. “Though really, they’re more like gardens than actual ‘rooms.’”

My heart sinks.

I still can’t fly.

A glance around Drystan’s back at Florian shows he has wings which are almost identical to mine, only the iridescent tinge of his is blue-brown instead of my pinkish-violet. Is wing colour related to eye colour?

Titania follows the direction of my gaze and sighs. “You’ll learn to fly with time, dear heart. Once you’re in the air, you’ll pick it up just as quickly as you have everything else.”

Her words are kind, but they aren’t helping. By the time the inner wall looms over us, my smile is slipping.

I’m a fraud.

They think I’m someone special. Someone who can help them. All of these people are cheering, shouting blessings, and throwing flowers for someone who can’t even read.

“What will they say when they learn I can’t fly? Will they still cheer when they figure out I don’t even know what my magic is?”

I don’t even realise I’ve spoken aloud until Titania gasps.

“Why ever would you think…? Huntsman, I know you can hear me. Tell her she’s already a fine Nicnevin.”

For all that she addressed him directly, I’m so used to no one else being able to see my guides that I’m taken aback when Drystan turns back to face the two of us. His blank mask gives nothing away as he examines her. When he finally turns to me, amber eyes blazing with power, I have to force myself to remember how to breathe.

But the reassurance Titania asked him for doesn’t come. Instead, his tone is ice cold. “You’ll be relieved to hear, one of your powers is no longer a mystery.”

“Don’t tell her,” Titania barks. “She’s not ready.”

Why doesn’t she want me to know? How bad is it? “Ready for what?”

“We should wait until we’re somewhere private to discuss it with the rest of your Guard.” Drystan’s gaze returns to Titania. “But we will be discussing it.”

I’m not sure whether to be nervous or elated. I’ve never met another person—fae or human—who can see my guides. What makes Drystan different?

Is it because he’s a huntsman? Whatever that is?

“Rose.” Titania shifts tactics as she draws my attention back to her. “Try to put it from your mind for now. There will be plenty of time for you to come to grips with your gifts and your wings. Look, most of your Guard can’t fly either. Just try to focus on enjoying your new home.”

I try. I really do.

My smile has completely vanished, but the crowd doesn’t seem to have noticed. They’re packed in between buildings as the fields recede and are replaced with more houses. The architecture here is different to the places I’ve visited so far. While trees aren’t used to create buildings, like they were in the Autumn Court, they seem to be incorporated into them and built around them. As if the original designers couldn’t bear to cut a tree down, so they just allowed them to grow through the buildings instead.

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