The Fox’s Tale

The night of the Twelfth Night Ball was cold and clear, with a full moon. Ellery told me this was an auspicious sign, but I was too paranoid to believe her.

My worry and agitation affected her of course, so by the time Lucas and Darcie arrived to help us dress we were both ready to jump out of our skins.

Darcie twirled into the apartment. “Do you like it, your highness? I was selected to accompany you this evening as a sort of lady in waiting.”

Darcie was dressed in a black satin leotard corset, with a bustle in the back made out of black feathers that didn’t quite reach past mid thigh. She was also wearing cuffs of black feathers and a choker made of the same feathers.

“Aren’t the boots fabulous?” She stuck out her leg for us to admire the high heeled, knee high leather boots. “Lucas had them made just for me!” Her mask sat on top of her head, a half mask of a raven.

She clapped her hands in excitement. “I can’t wait to see your costume!” She grabbed Ellery by the arm and dragged her into the bedroom.

Lucas sighed and shook his head. “Shall we?” he asked in a weary tone, gesturing towards the dressing room. He was dressed in his usual uniform of jeans and a tee shirt.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked as I led the way.

“Alas, you do not.” Lucas began pulling the garments out of their boxes in a fit of pique. He threw the pants at me. “Naked beneath these as before. They aren’t as tight as the first pair since you will be dancing.”

He turned to face the wall while I stripped. I could feel him vibrating with repressed anger.

“What’s eating you?” I asked as I pulled the pants on.

“The absolute absurdity of having this type of ball when the Crown Princess’s safety is tenuous, at best, is ludicrous.”

“See, that’s what I said too! It’s fucking ridiculous.” I fastened the pants and Lucas spun around.

“What the devil is Esmeralda thinking?” he demanded as he handed me the shirt.

“She at least tried to find a compromise, suggesting we only do the one dance and leave after a half an hour. It was that revolting High Cleric who threw a temper tantrum about tradition, and now we’ve got to spend two hours there and dance with all of the High Council and their Others,” I complained as I pulled on the shirt.

Lucas stood with one boot in his hand. “Ellery is being forced to dance with Alastair?”

“Oh no, she flat out refused in that tone she uses when she’s pushing her will onto a situation.” I finished buttoning the shirt.

He grinned, baring his fangs. “Clever girl.” He picked up the other boot. “Clever, clever girl. Her mother would be proud,” he crooned as he knelt down to deal with the boots. They looked like something you would see in a movie about swashbuckling pirates. I sat and stuck out one foot.

“Someone should have cut off Alastair’s tackle, as you called it, years ago.” He succeeded in shoving the boot on and moved to the other. “He has said unrepeatable things about both the Crown Princess and her mother over the years.”

He shoved the other boot on and then helped me up. “I dislike the idea of him having his hands on her in any situation, but especially tonight given how she’ll be dressed.”

“Is Darcie’s costume any indication of what Ellery's costume will look like?"

“Yes, unfortunately.” He caught my questioning look. “The more skin she has exposed the easier it will be for someone to mark her against her will, and without her knowledge, like they did to her mother.”

He brought over the shirt clips Ellery had given me for Yule and pinned them on with care. I moved away and put in the platinum earring and cuff she had given me myself and slipped on the signet ring for good measure.

“This marking that the Fae use; shouldn’t there be some type of safeguard so it can’t happen accidentally like with Queen Esmeralda?” I asked as he helped me into the red brocade short coat. Lucas froze with the coat halfway on.

“Queen Esmeralda was marked deliberately,” he said as he yanked the coat up, his knuckles smacking the back of my head.

“Ow! Fuck man; that hurt.” I rubbed the back of my head.

“My apologies, sir.” He began to straighten the fit of the coat.

“I didn’t mean anything by it. That’s just what Ellery told me.”

“I see. Well, it wasn’t like that. It was deliberate, and it makes Her Majesty sound like a naïve featherhead to say otherwise.” He tugged at the coat. “And she is anything but. Esmeralda is a cunning woman with a ruthless streak.”

“I don’t know; she seems to be taken in by Alastair.”

Lucas put the claw on my left hand. “Perhaps she has, but perhaps not. She keeps her cards close to her chest, that one. But the death of her daughter hurt her deeply, and she has grown distrustful of the different realms. Alastair encourages her paranoia.”

“Well, if it were up to me he’d be dead already, his entrails festooned over the palace gates like garlands.”

Lucas grinned at me. “I like you!” He coughed and then continued. “That is, I like the way you think.”

“Have you ever met that jerk? His smell alone makes me want to puke.”

“I have not been formally introduced, but I have had the displeasure of learning about him from Quinn and Ellery. He spends his time holed up in the palace or in the Unseelie Temples, neither of which I am welcome in. What do you mean by his smell?”

“Come on, you know, his body odor. He doesn’t smell like the rest of the Council or like Ellery or the Queen. It was even more apparent when he was by himself when he showed up on Yule and made himself a nuisance.”

“Alastair came here? To your home?” Lucas’s eyes widened with what could only be fear. When a vampire is afraid you know it can’t be good.

“Yeah, he did, but Ellery kicked him out and then we burned a boatload of sage trying to rid the living room of his stench.”

Lucas darted out of the dressing room, and began sniffing around the living room. I’d have laughed if I wasn’t so afraid. He spun to look at me.

“Did he touch anything while he was here?”

“No, except for the door, which I swear we had left locked. I used bleach on it, but maybe you can still pick up a trace.”

Lucas opened the front door and sniffed the entire thing. He paused at the locking mechanism and sniffed deeper. “Rot, but not like the rot of trees, or even of the freshly deceased. This smells like catacombs or another tightly closed place with decades old decay. I wonder.”

He licked the lock. “Have this lock replaced. Nitric acid has a distinctive flavor to Incorruptibles. You managed to wash most of it away, but traces remain. The metal has been weakened.”

“Right. Okay. First thing in the morning.” The clock chimed and I was brought back to the issue at hand; the blasted masquerade ball. “Are you getting changed or are you going like that?”

Lucas was still studying the door. “I? No. Darcie’s attendance is an allowance granted by the Queen. The Crown Princess will need an attendant and Darcie was determined to be the most suitable choice due to their familiarity and the fact that Darcie will have no need to eat, drink, or see to any other basic needs.”

I wrinkled my nose as I thought about those implications. “You mean?”

Lucas slammed the door. “Do you really wish to have a lesson in the biology of the Incorruptibles at this moment?”

“Nope, I’m good. Won’t I need an attendant though? You, Darcie, and Rhiannon are the only friends I have in the Unseelie realm besides Ellery, and I highly doubt Rhiannon will be attending.”

“No, no she wouldn’t, even if she’d been invited and of course, you’ve yet to meet Quinn.” He sighed. “It was determined by those with the power to do so that Sir Aconite will be acting in that capacity tonight.”

I groaned. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”

“I take it he did not make a good impression upon you?”

“No he did not. He’s a smug, insufferable dick, with a superiority complex. Plus he’s a filthy liar.”

Lucas had nodded along in agreement over every pejorative I used but stopped when I called him a liar. “But the Fae cannot lie.”

“Well this son of bitch can. Said he wasn’t attracted to women, but then kept finding excuses to touch Ellery.”

“Ah.” Lucas nodded his head again. “Listen carefully. The Fae cannot lie, but that does not mean they are honest. The Unseelie in particular are known for their duplicity and verbal sleight of hand. Listen to what they say, but also what they don’t say. Women or woman is used exclusively for human females by the Fae.”

“Gentlemen.” Darcie’s voice captured our attention. “May I present the Duchess of Thorns?”

She moved out of the doorway and Ellery stepped into the room.