I honestly don’t know what magic she used on my hair, but with a few strokes of her brush and the strategic placement of several decorative silver combs, Portia managed to tame my mane more effectively than I ever had in my entire life. Amazing. By the time she finished with me I hardly recognized myself in the mirror. The only things I’d been allowed to keep were my glasses, so I wouldn’t be blind, and my wristwatch, because without it I’d slip out of Earth’s timeline and that would be really, really bad.
“Eat your heart out, Liv Tyler,” I murmured as I twirled around to ensure it was truly me reflected in the looking glass. Though I would have thought it impossible, Portia had transformed me into a fine lady-at least in appearance if not in spirit. As much as I hated to admit it, I felt better. A lot better, by leaps and bounds, and the realization brought tears to my eyes. It had been a long time since I’d given any real thought to the way I looked. I’d forgotten that beneath the messy hair and behind the glasses I was kinda pretty. Maybe even beautiful, but I doubted my self-esteem would ever be healthy enough to buy that.
“Thank you, cousin.” I hugged her, carefully avoiding her wings.
“Let’s go show Lex how beautiful you look,” Portia insisted. If my girly instincts hadn’t been enjoying their big day out by preening in front of the mirror, I might have picked up on the mischievous glint in her eyes, but the majority of my brain was taken up by “ooh, shiny” at that moment. Portia led me outside, though I could easily have found the way by myself. Castle Silverleaf is like a second home to me, and Portia and her clan are the only family I have left. I hold the title of cousin within them-which is a big deal for a human-and I can trace my faerie blood to the Silverleafs a few generations back on my mother’s side.
Family blood ties create most of the contact between humans and faeries. Faeries once lived in our world, but they left to form their own sometime in the distant past. The sheer magnitude of power required to create Faerie left them drained as a people, and inherently changed as well. While they are almost impossible to kill, age incredibly slowly, and are immune to all manners of disease, they are also sterile-at least where each other are involved. A full-blooded faerie child has not been conceived since the split, but they can impregnate and be made pregnant by humans. As a mixed-blood, my ties are to Portia, Tybalt and the Silverleafs. In many ways Castle Silverleaf is the only real home I have.
The pale winter sunlight glinted on Portia’s delicate, silvery wings as we emerged into the courtyard, and normally I would have been jealous, but with my stunning dress and my fabulous hair I felt pretty damn good about myself. The ringing, clattering, swooshing sounds of frantic swordplay could be heard even before we set foot outside, and I spotted the two combatants locked in their battle. From the look of it Tybalt was winning, but really that was to be expected, considering he had a millennia or so more experience than Lex did. To his credit, Lex was holding his own, even managing to press the faerie back toward the stone stairway Portia and I were descending.
“Get ’im, Tybalt!” I shouted in encouragement. Lex glanced up at the sound of my voice and did a double take. Tybalt took advantage of the guardian’s momentary distraction and swept Lex’s feet out from under him. Falling flat on his back, Lex grunted in shock. Triumphant, Tybalt kicked the sword out of Lex’s hand.
“You cheated.” He coughed, staring up at the faerie standing over him.
“Not my fault you let yourself get distracted by a lovely lass,” Tybalt argued, grinning, and then he turned to me. “I see you finally allowed my sister to adjust your wardrobe. You look very elegant.” He gave me a courtly bow, and I did my best attempt at a curtsey.
“Why thank you, cousin.”
“Were you planning on attending a ball, Cinderella?” Lex drawled, a sour note in his voice. I had the distinct impression he wasn’t happy to see me, but I wasn’t about to let him ruin my princess vibe.
“I just might. I think we can rustle up a pumpkin and some mice for my coach and four.” I turned to Portia for confirmation. “I already have my Fairy Godmother here.”
“A ball? Yes! We should have a ball, that’s a splendid idea! To celebrate our cousin’s ascension to Titania,” Portia exclaimed. Her eagerness nearly popped my eardrum, and I resisted the urge to tell her to use her indoor voice. Sadly, faeries don’t have one.
“But I haven’t gotten the position yet.” I was more than a little afraid of the eager gleam in Portia’s dark blue eyes. Portia loves parties. I should’ve been more cautious with my reply. Damn.
“Then this will be a show of support. I’ll handle everything, don’t you worry,” she assured me, and vanished in an excited puff of frost.
“No good will come of this.”
“Guess it’s a good thing you’re already dressed as the belle of the ball.” Lex chuckled at my dilemma as he pushed himself to his feet.
“Yeah, laugh it up, she’ll be after you next, trying to dress you in a doublet and hose. Just you wait.” I shook a finger at him in warning, and Tybalt snickered.
“You’d look good in some nice pastels, guardian.”
“Not a chance.” Lex shook his head firmly. “Well if there’s goin’ to be a party, I guess I’d better go catch a shower. See ya ’round.”
I frowned at his back as he wandered away, feeling rejected. Didn’t I at least deserve a hug after being a blood bank? Well…I wasn’t about to let it bother me, just like I wasn’t going to pay any mind to the fact that as he walked away Lex looked as good from behind as he did from the front. Tearing my gaze away from that perfect posterior, I turned to Tybalt, who was watching me pensively.
“Come walk with me, cousin.” The faerie led me to a familiar spot up on the wall of the keep, a walkway that would have been patrolled by the castle’s defenders, if there’d been a need for them. There hadn’t been a war in Faerie…ever, actually. I think they must have left those tendencies behind on Earth. Tybalt often came up here when he needed to brood, which true to his namesake was a fairly regular occurrence. With nervous care I brushed away the snow and hitched myself up to sit on the edge of the wall, smoothing the skirt of my gown into place around me.
“So you two are back together now?” Tybalt asked without preamble. I blinked in surprise, startled.
“I suppose so.”
“You don’t sound very sure of that.”
“I said I was willing to give it another try. I don’t know. I’m still not sure what he sees in me. Lex needs the kinda girl who’ll bake cookies for his kids and be on the PTA council, and in guardian terms I’m practically an ex-con.”
“Don’t be silly,” he scoffed.
“It’s only a matter of time before I screw up again. Tick tock. In fact he’s already mad at me again.”
“Because you were foolish and let a vampire feed from you.”
“A chronicler, not a vampire.”
Tybalt rolled his eyes. “The difference is purely academic. You’re just making excuses. Kitty, I know that you know not all men are base villains like your father, and I can generally tell the good from the bad, which is why I tried to talk your mother out of marrying Dorian.”
“And?”
“And despite the fact that he hurt you, I’ve come to think that Lex is a good man. He cares a great deal for you. He stayed by your side from the moment he brought you here until I dragged him out into the courtyard for some fresh air.”
Squirming, I fidgeted with the fabric of my skirt. “We’re a bad match. I already failed once at being a guardian’s girlfriend. I don’t play by the rules enough for him.”
“I’m not so sure. Magic needs a balance-masculine and feminine, lord and lady, order and chaos. I think if you worked at it, you could make it a good match. You’re obviously attracted to each other, since I hear you’ve been, ahem, kissing again.”