Ironside (Modern Faerie Tales 3)
She looked over her shoulder and shrugged. Her long fingers turned the tea cup, warming her hands against it.
"I take it we're not going to make it to your mother's show.”
She looked up at him and he was surprised to see that her eyes were wet.
"I don't know," she said. "How am I supposed to know? I don't know much about anything.”
"Okay, okay. What the hell happened?”
"I told Roiben I loved him. Really loudly. In front of a huge audience.”
"So, what did he say?”
"It was this thing called a declaration. They said—I don't know why I even listened—that if I didn't do it someone would beat me to it.”
"And they are . . . ?”
"Don't ask," Kaye said, taking a sip of the tea and shaking her head. "I was so drunk, Corny. I don't ever want to be that drunk again.”
"Sorry. ... Go on.”
"These faeries told me about the declaration thing. They were kind of—I don't know—bragging, I guess. Anyway, Roiben told me I had to stay in the audience for the ceremony, and I kept thinking about how I didn't fit in and how maybe he was disappointed, you know? I thought that maybe he secretly wished I knew more of their customs— maybe he wished I would do something like that before he had to send someone else on a quest.”
Corny frowned. "What? A quest?”
"A quest to prove your love.”
"So dramatic. And you did this declaration thing? You declared.”
Kaye turned her face, so that he couldn't read her expression. "Yeah, but Roiben wasn't happy about it, as in not at all." She put her head in her hands. "I think I really fucked up.”
"What's your quest?”
"To find a faery that lies." Her voice was very low.
"I thought faeries couldn't lie.”
Kaye just looked at him.
Suddenly, horribly, Corny understood her meaning. "Okay, hold on. You are saying that he sent you on a quest that you couldn't possibly complete.”
"And I'm not allowed to see him again until I do complete it. So basically, I'm not going to see him ever again.”
"No faery can tell an untruth. That is why it is one of the nice quests given to put off a declarer— no endless labor," said Lutie suddenly. "There are others, like 'Siphon all the salt from all the seas.' That's a nasty one. And then there are the ones that seem impossible, but might not be, like 'Weave a coat of stars.'“
Corny moved onto the bed next to Kaye, dislodging Lutie from his knee. "There has to be a way. There has to be something you can do.”
The little faery fluttered in the air, then settled in the lap of a large porcelain doll. She curled up and yawned.
Kaye shook her head. "But, Corny, he doesn't want me to finish the quest.”
"That's bullshit.”
"You heard what Lutie just said.”
"It's still bullshit." Corny kicked at a stray pillow with his toe. "What about seriously stretching the truth?”
"That's not lying," Kaye said, taking a deep swig out of the mug.