Mina couldn’t help but liken her to a small, aggressive Chihuahua.
“I’m here for the food, of course.” A snarky comment felt like the best course of action. She didn’t feel the need to elaborate.
“I knew it,” Annalora huffed. She turned and sat down next to Ever, crossing her arms and casting an annoyed look toward the others. “I heard there were only eleven, but she makes twelve.”
Another beautiful girl in an emerald green dress approached her. Her skin was tanned, and her hair a dark green piled high and woven with leaves and vines throughout. Her reception was much kinder than Annalora’s—the girl clasped her hand gently and gave it a warm squeeze. Mina noticed that her skin, though soft, had an odd pattern to it.
Oh. It wasn’t skin, but very soft, supple bark.
“I’m Dinah, a wood nymph. Welcome, and I’m sorry for Annalora’s reception of you. After all, she’s part gnome, and we all know gnomes have no manners.” There was no hidden malice behind Dinah’s comment. She’d stated it as fact.
Mina glanced over and watched as Annalora just gave a shrug of acceptance and looked away. Other than Annalora’s stature, there was nothing similar to what she’d envisioned a gnome to look or act like. The girl was not rosy cheeked or good natured. In fact, she was quite mean.
“Come sit with us. You must be nervous.” Dinah motioned to a long padded bench.
Mina sat next to her, studying the girls, while Dinah gave quick introductions. Her head spun as she tried to match the names with the faces and races. She finally settled on trying to go by the color of the dress—or in some cases, the girl herself. Fuchsia, a pink fairy, had small iridescent wings. Shaya was a nixie with green skin and dark waist-length hair. She sat closest to the fountain with her shoes at her side, dipping her toes in the cool water.
Ever was the most surprising; she was so different from modern-day Ever. Her jet black hair fell in soft curls down her back. Her pale blue dress was trimmed with silver lace. Her face showed hints of mixed anticipation and anxiety. She kept clasping and unclasping her hands, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, but her expectant eyes never left the door. She wasn’t paying the other girls any attention, even seeming to tune out most of Annalora’s complaints.
Mina was about to move and try and speak with Ever, but the door opened and a page entered, clearing his throat. The small talk died immediately as all eyes zeroed in on the young man. “Follow me, please.”
Dresses ruffled and shoes clipped along the marble floor as eleven anxious girls and one terrified interloper followed him out into the hall. Mina picked up her pace and cut in line to squeeze next to Ever, receiving a scowl from one of the girls with star white hair—Stella, Stellya—or something.
Mina stared at the back of Ever’s head, willing her to look over her shoulder and recognize her, but the pixie never did. She knew that Ever had fallen for Jared and that they’d been friends for years. She’d just never realized until now how many years, since the Fae aged differently than humans. Of course, it could’ve had something to do with how immature Ever acted on the human plane. Like when she was thieving French fries from Mina’s tray at lunch.
Something soft brushed against Mina’s face, and Ever jumped and turned around, her eyes filled worry. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to bump you with my wings.”
Mina paused as Ever’s long pointed wings shimmered into view. They were more spectacular than Fuchsia’s wings. The fine spirals of iridescence created a mosaic of color.
“Why are you hiding them? They’re beautiful. You should be showing them off proudly,” Mina said softly.
Ever’s cheeks filled with color as she blushed and stammered. “It’s because I can’t control them. They reflect my mood. When I’m excited or angered, they flutter uncontrollably. And right now, I’m extremely excited. I’d die of embarrassment if the Fates saw me like this. I mean, who knows what kind of tests we will have to go through before he gets to choose one of us.”
“Tests?”
“You didn’t think the next queen would be selected on beauty alone did you?”
“Queen?” Mina knew she was starting to sound like an idiotic parrot who repeated everything. But Ever didn’t hear her and kept on talking.
“We’ll be weeded down to a few based on certain requirements, and only then will one of us be betrothed.” Her cheeks flushed a pretty pink again, and her wings fluttered, causing a stir in the air. “Oops, see? There I go again. It’s so embarrassing.”
“I think they’re beautiful.” Mina tried to process what Ever had said. She quickly looked over the girls in front of her and couldn’t help but feel sorry for Ever. She seemed so hopeful, but Teague—and then Jared—were obviously not in her future.
“Thanks.” Ever’s face lit up with joy. “I think they’re pretty special too. I’m Ever.”
“Nice to meet you, Ever. I’m M—” A towering set of double doors opened with a sharp crack, and it was a good thing. She’d almost blown her cover.
They were ushered through the doors into a room that Mina had been in before. It was hard to hold back her tears as she glanced around at the tall glass ceilings and the white pillars lining the room. She looked past the fountain by the windows as she searched for the golden cage she knew wouldn’t be there.
There. Right there was where her brother had been held captive. In the future. Mina froze and caused a bit of a traffic jam as the girls behind her suddenly had to stop, dresses swishing. When Mina didn’t budge, the others quickly bypassed her to gather around a large pedestal in the middle of the room. In years to come, it would hold the Fae book; right now it held a small crystal bowl filled with water.
But Mina’s mind was plagued with guilt-inducing memories and terrifying thoughts. She had messed up and was the reason that Jared ceased to exist. The self-loathing she’d been fighting to keep deep inside of her—that she’d been ignoring for weeks—roared to the surface. She started to quiver as silent tears formed.
No, that wasn’t true. It wasn’t her fault. It was Teague’s.
It was his fault Jared was gone. He was the reason her brother was kidnapped; he was the reason that her father had died. When she turned to face him like the other girls had already done, she’d see that same disarming smile. But the packaging didn’t matter. She knew what he would become. She knew the evil that was inside of him. This handsome charmer was a façade. Her hands shook in anger, and she clenched them within the feathers of her dress. She sniffed back the tears and refused to let anyone see her cry. She had a job to do, and she couldn’t be distracted by emotions. Not when so much depended on her having a level head.